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

Hi Sue, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I am a big believer in taking educated risks when they make sense and the opportunity is right. In 2008, in the middle of a recession, my husband and I both quit our jobs and moved from North Carolina to Minnesota on our own dime with no job lined up for either of us. It was insane. But it was also extremely rewarding and set me up to transition from journalism to communications/social media. In the end, that turned out to be a terrific move that set me up for this phase of my career. Serna Social is now entering its third year, and I feel pretty confident in saying that this latest gamble of starting my own consulting company is also going to pay off. It’s my personal philosophy that you shouldn’t take stupid risks. But there are definitely times in life when you SHOULD risk it all. I actually wrote an article about taking risks: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/taking-new-leap-faith-sue-serna/

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Serna Social is a social media consulting firm that specializes in a few specific areas: 1) corporate social media strategy
2) social media security, safety and governance
3) social media training

I work with companies including Owens Corning, Charles Schwab, Novartis, Johnsonville sausage, Boston Scientific, Trimble and Zebra on refining their social strategies, keeping their corporate brand safe online and training up their employees.

I bring a totally unique perspective to these projects because I have lived the life and been in those shoes. In my previous role, I was the global director of social media for Cargill, one of the largest B2B companies in the world. At Cargill, we had more than 350 social media channels everywhere from North America to China. I have faced every issue you can think of in corporate social media – hacked accounts, loss of control, dealing with compliance and IT, auditing online properties, and making sense of what I call “the Wild West.” I am an expert in best practices for social media identity management and security. And I am a tool expert for social media management systems, listening tools, etc. Prior to joining Cargill, I was a newspaper reporter in Lansing, Mich., and then Raleigh, N.C. Please feel free to read my extended bio: https://www.sernasocial.com/about

On a more personal note:
-I grew up outside of Philadelphia (go Phillies!) but have made my home in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Here are some random and hopefully interesting things about me:
-I am a superfan of the band Trampled by Turtles. I’ve seen them in concert more than 40 times.
-I love Minnesota’s North Shore, especially Duluth – which is pretty much my favorite place in the world.
-I love organizing stuff and I hate clutter – my favorite store is The Container Store!
-I am a dog lover, especially beagles (sorry, not sorry, cat people).
-I am an avid gardener, and I love succulents. I have almost 50 of them!
-I love to bake, especially holiday cookies!
-I am pretty much always goofing around (except when I’m working, of course. Then I’m very, very serious. Really.)

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I have become a huge fan of a book called “Thinking in Bets” by professional poker player Annie Duke. In this book, Annie discusses how to make decisions when you don’t have all of the information. In social media/communications and also in my life, I find myself needing to make choices like this all the time. Is it the right thing to start my own business? Obviously, if I was able to see into the future, I would have more information and would be able to make a more educated decision. But until they create flying Delorean time machines that actually work, that’s not possible. I had to decide whether to start my own business with only the information I had at the time. In her book, Annie talks about separating the decision that you make from the outcome that you receive. So for instance, in poker, you might play a hand “perfectly” and still lose the hand. You didn’t do anything wrong per se. You played the odds. But the odds just weren’t in your favor for that particular hand and you still “lost.” But that does NOT mean you made the wrong decision. Being able to separate the decision from the outcome has been a really helpful way to think about things for me as I take this new risk and start a new career adventure.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I was promoted from an individual role to a manager role, I found myself repeating the same piece of advice over and over to my team: “You have to assume good intent.” I think that in Corporate America especially, there’s a tendency for workplaces to become highly political and there’s also the tendency for especially younger workers to feel like their coworkers are doing things specifically to “get them” or to “get back at them.” But it’s just not true most of the time. It is hard for this proclaimed pessimist to put a rosy view on things, but I found myself saying this so much that it became kind of part of my overall management style. Any time you think someone has done something “to you,” take a breath, take a pause and then ask them what they are really trying to achieve. You’ll usually find that their real core desire is a good and well-intentioned one. But they have simply jumped the gun and demanded something of you without having the conversation about whether it’s the right thing to want. But they are not demanding the thing because they are trying to needle you personally. I think there is a ton of bad mojo created in America’s largest offices simply because of this mentality that every action has a nefarious motivation. It’s honestly one of the things I really do not miss from my corporate role.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sernasocial.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sernasocial
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sernasocial
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pulse/taking-new-leap-faith-sue-serna
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/sernasocial
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC9EsRWCznXDTgGaniWVifCA

Image Credits
Angela Divine Photography