We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Parker Duerink. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Parker below.

Parker, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

I’ve learned that your value is not determined by the company that you work for. You determine your own value and set your own worth based on what you know you can do. Others will limit your potential based on their assumptions of who your are, and how it fits into their own experiences.

Parker, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started as a Instagram influencer and content creator, building my own brand. After a while, I wanted to start doing business with other companies to earn more income through collaborations. When that became more of my focus, I went into a more behind the scenes role doing brand building and expanding online presence for different clients across multiple industries.

I leveraged my field experience into a corporate marketing role. I started at a small startup company as their marketing copywriter and was quickly promoted to their marketing director after about two months. I did this by demonstrating my expansive knowledge, responsibility, and effectiveness — despite not having a formal education in the field. I went to the CEO and asked for what I felt that I was worth, based on the role I was fulfilling and the success that I brought to the table.

I never let anyone tell me what I deserve, or put a glass ceiling on my experience. That has allowed me to have rapid success through the industry in a short period of time. Companies more than anything, want someone who can do the work and who is willing to make the decisions necessary for success.

The experience that I’ve gained and leveraged has all been hands on. I didn’t learn it in a text book, I learned it by doing it. That has been an extremely valuable asset that many companies and businesses that I’ve worked for have appreciated.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Maintaining morale and leadership is all about value and connection. The people working for you/with you are adults. Each person plays a valuable part of the team and they should be treated as such. People want to know that the work they are contributing is being seen and appreciated. It is important to treat your team with respect and listen to their needs as people, not just as employees.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to stop limiting what I can do based on what other people expected. I would anticipate others’ perceptions of me, and then respond or act based on that assumption. It is detrimental to your growth as a person to navigate people this way. I started treating every interaction like a clean slate. Putting it in my mind that I have the control of the narrative, how far I want to go, and how successful I want to be. For example, when asking for a raise or promotion — the worst you can hear is “no.”

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_parkerjane
• Twitter: @parkerduerink
• Other: Tik Tok: _parkerjane

Image Credits
Parker Duerink