What Professionalism Looks Like in 2025

Meredith Metsker:

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The Career Everywhere Podcast. I’m your host, Meredith Metsker, and today I am joined by Allie Danziger, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of AscentUP. AscentUP is a student success platform that bridges the gap and offers support for learners of all ages about professionalism, career readiness, academics, finance essentials, and more through training, coaching, and access to paid internship opportunities. They’re also one of our content partners here at uConnect for our curation kits and our forthcoming classes module, both of which plug into our virtual career center platform. Thank you for being here, Allie.

Allie Danziger:

Thank you so much for having me. So excited to connect with you [inaudible 00:01:21].

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, likewise. And I’m excited to talk to you today about what professionalism looks like in 2025. And this is often a hot topic, especially as our workplace has become more intergenerational and the definitions of professionalism start to sound a little different depending on who you’re talking to.

So I know this is something that you and the AscentUP team have a lot of experience with, given the work you do to create that professional training content and those lessons for students. So I’m excited to dig into this topic with you. I know our audience of career services professionals will certainly be interested in the trends you’re seeing regarding professionalism.

So before I get into my questions, Allie, is there anything else you’d like to add about yourself, your background, or AscentUP?

Allie Danziger:

No, I love talking about this topic. I think there’s a lot of unwritten rules of the workplace that go into professionalism and that’s what I’ve dedicated the last five or so years to helping break down for students and also to help employers better understand what those realistic expectations are and how they can help to be part of bridging that gap, as well as universities career services professionals. So super excited to dive into this and if there’s anything we don’t hit, then I can cover it at the end.

Meredith Metsker:

All right, before I get into my specific questions about our topic today, I do want to kick us off what a question I ask all of our guests and that’s what does career everywhere mean to you?

Allie Danziger:

Well, I think in the topic of professionalism, it’s something that is everywhere and has to be kind of a part of us, as there’s no work-life balance. I’m talking to you from an office that is separate from where… I work at a co-working space separate from where a lot of my colleagues are based. So we’ve created this office environment that is in our homes, is in co-working spaces, is in real time, real person, live action when we do come together occasionally.

So everywhere is so meaningful because you have to really understand how to be professional everywhere, no matter where your work takes you, whether that’s, again, an office, your home, a networking event, a conference, or just a casual lunch with a colleague or with someone that you’re networking with. It all can really follow you into how people perceive you and then what your professional opportunities become.

Meredith Metsker:

I love that. I think you’re probably the first person on this podcast who’s taken the everywhere part of that and mentioned at home, the different ways that we work these days, which, as you can see, I’m talking to you from my office in my home here in Colorado. So that’s a great point. It’s being professional in an office, on Slack, at home, over a work lunch, on LinkedIn and so forth

Allie Danziger:

On TikTok, on Instagram. You never know where it’s going to follow you and it can be really intimidating. It can also, to the point of the unwritten rules, if you don’t know how you’re supposed to show up and how people will perceive you in different instances, it can make you feel frozen because you don’t know what to do and then you don’t show up to experiences as your authentic self or confident in who you really are. So I’m so passionate about really making sure that individuals of any career stage have that confidence to thrive.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah. I love that. And again, I love your emphasis on the unspoken rules because I think that’s a big one, especially as any career services leader will tell you, especially for first generation students who maybe they don’t have that family history in higher ed, someone to show them what some of those expectations are. So we can dig into that more here in a little bit.

But now I would love to dig into our topic, which is, again, what professionalism looks like in 2025. So I’m just going to kick us off with the big question, Allie, what does professionalism look like these days?

Allie Danziger:

There’s so much to think about there and to unpack. So I wrote down or I thought about just a couple of things that professionalism means to me. One that has been in my 20 plus years of professional world that I don’t think anyone teaches you is that change is constant, you will always be… You will be changing, the company you work with and for will always be changing. The people around you will always be changing, whether those are your colleagues, your customers. So being prepared for that constant change is so important to make sure that you can thrive in the workplace. And to show up professionally through those moments of change is key.

So just being ready to roll with those punches, being ready to roll with that change, whether the technologies that you’re using, those technologies change. The company might change the technologies that you’re allowed to use or that you’re not allowed to use. So it’s just something to, I think, be really mindful of. So starting with change.

I am so big on clarity of roles and responsibilities and clear accountability. That, in my mind, whether you are an intern or the CEO, being able to ask clarifying questions and provide clarity of what you need in order to do your job effectively is what can separate a professional completely. Because if you don’t have clarity of what’s expected of you, then there’s no way you can do the job, and so being comfortable asking those clarifying questions. A lot of times managers don’t set clear expectations, don’t set clarity on the roles, your responsibility versus your colleague’s responsibility. So asking those tough questions and getting clarity of it will set a professional up for success.

The other is with ChatGPT and all these different AI tools, especially early career professionals are often concerned of like, “Oh, is AI going to take my job away from me?” But by being human, by being authentic, by building relationships within your workplace and with your colleagues is part of being a professional. Because otherwise, yeah, AI might be able to do your job. And putting the thoughtfulness and the analysis into what you’re doing, I said asking questions on clarification. Also asking hypothetical questions, “Why are we doing this? Is this meeting really necessary?” Now, you have to do that in a professional way, but by showing up, that you are willing to ask questions and make sure that you are showing up as your best self and the best use of your time, I think can really set up professionals to be professional.

Other things to keep in mind is work-life balance or the lack thereof. Kind of talked about that in the term of career everywhere, but there isn’t as much work-life balance as I think there once was. But knowing when and where and how to set those boundaries for yourself in a professional way is what can really set someone up, again, for that success and make sure that they are seen as a real professional.

And then two last things is do what you say you’re going to do. That is just so important, again, no matter what stage of your career you’re at, and having a very strong learning velocity. So that is what I am always hiring for is do you have the interest and willingness to learn? That’s what, in a lot of the programs that we provide, whether we’re working with schools or non-profits or directly with employers, we are assessing if entry-level employees have the velocity to learn. If they’re committed to growing and having a growth mindset and are willing to put the work into learn what needs to be learned, then they will be successful as a professional.

Meredith Metsker:

I have lots of follow-up questions.

Allie Danziger:

Great.

Meredith Metsker:

But I want to first touch on the one you just recently talked about, the learning velocity thing. So I’m curious, how do you as an employer assess that? In an interview or over lunch, how are you sussing out if someone has that learning velocity?

Allie Danziger:

Yeah, so even if a young professional has zero experience, it’s the first job, they’ve maybe been a babysitter or maybe a lifeguard, if you’re committed to bettering yourself and you’re willing to put the work in, so whether that’s by getting your lifeguard certificate or a babysitting certificate or constantly reading blogs or listening to podcasts on interests that you have, even if it has nothing to do with my job, but just I can tell that you are trying to become the best version of yourself, then I can see if you have the potential to learn within this job. And if that’s something that’s just a core strength of yours or a value of yours, that you will always continue growing in your own skills and in your own ways.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, I love that. It’s like trying to see if they’re a curious person.

Allie Danziger:

Right, and you can tell. If someone’s like, “Oh, these are the four blogs that I read,” and it’s the same ones that they were told in the industry that’s what you’re supposed to read versus if they really are focused on the constant growth within the industry, within themselves, their leadership skills, etc.

Meredith Metsker:

So I’m curious, if you were to put yourself in the shoes of a career coach who’s trying to talk about this concept with a student, what advice would you offer the student?

Allie Danziger:

If they do not have that? Like-

Meredith Metsker:

Or how to show that they are a curious person who has that learning velocity?

Allie Danziger:

They’re in school, right? So they probably are learning what they need to learn right now in order to get their degree or their degree requirements or whatnot. But they have to be willing to go a little bit of the extra mile, beyond just the bare bones. So if they’re meeting with their career professional, they probably already are doing the right things and taking the right steps. And a lot of times it’s just about communicating it, right? It’s about explaining, maybe on your resume, maybe in an interview, and practicing and getting comfortable with things that feel “normal” to you or easy to you and really making sure that you understand how to emphasize that as a strength.

Meredith Metsker:

Awesome, I love that. I know our career services folks in the audience will appreciate some of that tactical advice that they can give to students as well.

I want to go back to the second thing you mentioned. So asking for clarity on roles and responsibilities, that’s hugely important. I’ve definitely seen that in my 10 plus year career. So again, putting yourself in the shoes of a career coach talking to a student, how would you advise students to ask those clarifying questions to figure all of that out in a professional way?

Allie Danziger:

So first is to actually see what is given to you in training or onboarding. Then if you don’t… Take notes on it. So you don’t want to miss what they’re saying and then ask a question that someone’s already explained to you. Then ask a colleague that might be on the project with you. Say, “Hey, I’m kind of confused on my role. Do you understand?” See if they can help you to better understand what that is. And if you’re still not clear, then going to your manager and saying, “Here’s what I understand. I understand x, Y, and Z is my responsibility. What I’m not totally clear on is X. Can you help break that down for me?”

If it’s about a specific task, what I absolutely love to do, and I love when people do this to me, is they take a first stab. And sometimes it’s completely wrong and they’re like, “What I heard from you is that these are the three slides that you wanted from me in the PowerPoint. I took a stab at it. There’s not formatting in it, didn’t waste too much time, but this is the content that I think you were asking for from me. Here’s where I found… Here’s the other places that I pulled that content from or where I got this research from. Is this right?”

So let’s say that your manager asks you to have that PowerPoint by Friday afternoon, right? I would say giving them that… And you get the assignment on Monday. Getting that first stab to them by Tuesday end of day, so that you have time to get feedback and still complete the assignment and make sure that it is aligned with their expectations before the deadline is best. And taking that first stab, explaining the steps that you went through to try to answer the question yourself really shows your manager that you are being proactive but still not clear on what the expectations are there.

If it’s a roles thing, like if you’re not clear what your job is as compared to your colleagues, then I always recommend sitting down with your colleague first, saying, “Hey, let’s hash this out. Let’s try to figure out what the expectations are between us,” and then get consensus among the two of you or five of you, whatever it is on the team team, and then come back to your manager and say, “Hey, we all weren’t totally clear on the various roles and expectations and how we’re going to divide and conquer for this project. Here’s our thoughts on what we are going to do. Is this in alignment? And do you see any gaps?”

And sometimes it can be, “Yep, that’s exactly what I expected of everyone.” And then oftentimes, you can get really helpful feedback of, “Hey, Meredith, you’re so good at speaking and getting podcast guests to open up. You ask really insightful questions and organize your content really well. So because of that, that skill didn’t show up in this roles outline, I want to make sure that when we’re thinking about asking insightful questions on our blog or on our website, you’re a key part of that process.” So you can get helpful feedback of how your manager sees you and where they really want to hone your skills and talent.

Meredith Metsker:

That’s great advice. And I love that emphasis on taking initiative because I think that’s just a common theme. It’s like your boss might be supervising half a dozen people or more, so they’ve got all these people they need to keep track of, all these roles they need to be clarifying. So if you can come to them with some, at least a start. Like you said, taking a stab at it.

Allie Danziger:

I always say, it’s always so much easier to edit than-

Meredith Metsker:

Yes.

Allie Danziger:

… write something on white piece of paper, always, no matter what it is. So I love having that first step to be like, “Not exactly what I had in mind,” but then it’s also helpful for the manager to understand how they can be a better communicator moving forward without managing up too much.

Meredith Metsker:

Okay. I also wanted to dig into, let’s see, the fourth thing you mentioned, which is the work-life balance issue. That’s a big one. Again, I work from home, I have for like five years now. And it’s hard, especially when you work from home, to not blur those lines between work and home.

So I’m curious, I guess what advice do you have on that front for a young professional? Maybe it’s a college student that our career coaches are working with that is going into the workforce for the first time. They want to advance, they want to give it their all and make a good showing, but they also want to have a life.

Allie Danziger:

Yeah, so I see a couple of different trends when we’re working with young professionals. One is that people start off their careers and they immediately say, “Oh, I want to build my own schedule. I want complete autonomy. I want to work from home,” and have the flexibility that they hear and see is the trend of 2025. And that’s great, but I feel like as a young professional, you’ve got to prove yourself first. And there’s important lessons that you have to learn that you won’t be able to fully grasp and get that amazing experience by focusing solely on the work-life balance. Excuse me. So I think for career coaches to help set that expectation from the beginning and while they’re in school is so helpful so that they can come into the workplace with a clear understanding of how they can be set up for the most success.

Now, there’s a ton of opportunities for hybrid and for work from home jobs out there today. And I’m not saying that those aren’t great opportunities, but to understand that you are going to have to put yourself out there more, you’re going to have to be more proactive to build relationships with your colleagues in ways that when you’re in person, you just don’t really have to. So just kind of, I guess, understanding that everyone needs to set boundaries, right? If you’re working from home, you have to know when to shut it off and set that clear expectation with your managers and make sure that it’s aligned.

But it’s hard. As we all have mobile devices and texting and Teams and Slack and email and all that on our phones, and sometimes you just have a manager that does expect you to respond at certain times, especially when you’re working from home. And that’s what I try to emphasize is that it gets blurrier as you work from home, the work-life balance. So setting those clear expectations with your manager and making sure that they’re aligned is, I think, just so key and so important.

When I have new colleagues working with me, I like to be very upfront about what my schedule is. And it’s weird, it’s so different than most of my colleagues. I work in a different time zone than a lot of my colleagues. I wake up at 4:45 because that’s my choice and my brain is at its best at 5:00 AM. Just is what it is, doesn’t work for everyone. So I love to just have my coffee and dive right into the hardest part of my work from 5:00 to 6:00 AM.

But then I sign off for a couple of hours and I’m on mom duty and doing other things. And then around 10 o’clock my time, eight o’clock my colleague’s time, is when I get back in. And then I’m in meetings most of the day until six o’clock my time, four o’clock their time. But when I took this job, I knew that by six o’clock, I’ve already been awake and working for 13 hours and it’s time for me to sign off and to go back to mom duty or whatever personal things I have.

I will always make sure that by the time I sign off at 6:00 AM the next day, I responded to everything from the evening before. But you have to set those expectations, close the laptop. And also know that that works for my colleagues and we’ve gotten into a rhythm that that works. The first couple months, I had to build that trust that I would respond to everything and nothing would fall off with that kind of schedule.

Meredith Metsker:

I can totally relate to balancing the mom duty and working and everything. I have an almost five-month-old son. So I have to go, I pick him up from daycare, I have to leave work at 4:30 my time and that’s been a learning curve. Like, no, you’ve got to stop. You can’t just keep working, you can’t work late if you have to, you have stop. Go pick up your baby, hang out with him, feed him, put him down for a nap. Then maybe you can get back into it, though I try not to. But it’s hard, it’s really hard.

Allie Danziger:

It’s really hard. And by the time you had that, you had built the trust that you would get everything done. And it’s just something you kind of have to earn in order to build that kind of schedule.

And to go back to early career professionals, oftentimes that’s just something they have to learn and have to figure out. And sometimes if no one has explained that, quote unquote, going back to the unwritten rules of the workplace, they can walk into disappointment, frustration, and misaligned expectations with their managers.

Meredith Metsker:

I’m thinking back on my career path and I started as a journalist. I was a reporter for a daily newspaper and I did not set work-life balance boundaries, and I burned out after about a year of full-time reporting because I wasn’t ever fully signing off. And granted, it’s hard for a journalist to ever clock out. The news stops for no one. But I think that I learned from that that I need to be intentional about finding ways to check out of work somehow.

Well, throughout all of the professionalism trends you just made, I kind of see this undercurrent theme of communication. So I’m curious what your advice is for career coaches who are trying to advise students about professional communication? What does that look like? How can they do that when they’re entering the workforce?

Allie Danziger:

Yeah. I think the biggest is by having people… This podcast is a great example. Having people who are in it, who can talk about what professionalism means to them, what it’s like to work in the real world, outside of a university or outside of school, what that experience can look like. By getting internships, by getting work-based learning experiences and access to mentorship or just to see it, I think is the best way for career counselors to explain it.

There’s so many times, you mentioned you’re a mom, I can say something to my kid. They don’t listen to it and then their friend says the exact same thing, or even I see that with my husband or with my mom. And you just sometimes have to hear it from someone who is not the person whose job it is to tell you that. And that can be so… It’s so frustrating. And it’s so meaningful when a student has heard it multiple times, the same message, right?

So I would say don’t get frustrated. Keep bringing in guest speakers, guest lecturers. And that’s what AscentUP does. We have a platform that offers this training in short-form, bite-size chunks. Also bringing in young professionals talking about their experiences, dealing with imposter syndrome or working with their managers or showing up to meetings, and good situations that have come from that and also the failures that have come from not being prepared or handling things with the right professionalism and how that’s then impacted them.

So I think that access to that type of information, again, whether it’s this podcast or whatnot, can be the missing link and can really change the game for students as they have to build that confidence and those skills that they just, oftentimes, you mentioned first-generation students don’t have access to. They don’t have the parents at home who have gone through those life experiences and can say, “Hey, do it this way,” or, “Don’t do it this way.” And that just is the game changer oftentimes for students in how they show up in the workforce.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, I am glad you mentioned AscentUP and how you all work in that space. And again, if any of you listening are uConnect customers, AscentUP are our partners for our curation kits and our upcoming classes module, so definitely keep an eye out for their content there. Allie, is there anything else you would like to add about how career services teams can go about educating students on professionalism?

Allie Danziger:

Again, I think it’s really just about taking the time to teach those unwritten rules of the workplace and breaking down the imposter syndrome that happens if you think there’s something that everyone knows and you don’t know. Everyone has the same imposter syndrome, everyone’s dealing with it, and oftentimes students are struggling so much with this because it feels like this big scary world out there. Well, it is this big scary world out there, right? It doesn’t just feel like it. And they don’t know where to jump in. They don’t have the confidence to necessarily raise their hand or apply for the job or succeed in that job and raise their hand for the promotion or for the next opportunity because they don’t have the benefit that, frankly, I had when I started my career where you’re in a cube and you can hear what’s happening with your colleagues in the same room. Because we’re often hybrid, because we might be more siloed in the work that we’re doing, you just don’t get that benefit.

Nobody goes on Slack and says, “I accidentally just made 20,000 copies instead of 20. How am I going to go talk to my manager?” The psychology of the way that we show up with our colleagues has just changed. That is something that happened to the person who sat next to me in my first job, and I learned from that. I learned that they didn’t handle it well, and then what ended up happening and how that spiraled. They didn’t talk to their manager proactively. They got “caught and in trouble.

And it was such a great learning experience for me. It was a great learning experience for me before I ever attended a meeting in my first job to see how my boss would walk the client to the door, and that’s when the meeting actually happens. It’s not like in the meeting, it’s those key two minutes as they’re exiting the meeting, but all through osmosis. So by not having access to that osmosis anymore, it’s up to schools to help teach these lessons.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, absolutely. And I-

Allie Danziger:

That’s a really long answer, sorry.

Meredith Metsker:

No. No, that was great. I think that’s a great point and something I want to just double click on. For career coaches listening to this, or even if any students are listening to this, professionalism will come with time. You will learn over time with different employers, different bosses. You’ll start to pick up on some of those things. So if you’re feeling a little lost right now, hang in there.

Yeah, exactly. So you kind of touched on this a little bit, but how have you seen professionalism change over time?

Allie Danziger:

Yeah, well, kind of what I just mentioned is a huge change. We don’t have the opportunity to learn based off of our colleagues’ mistakes or successes. We have to learn every single lesson independently, especially entry level employees who are in a hybrid work environment.

And I see it, and it’s frustrating to me as a manager sometimes. Like, “I wish you guys were just talking about this because y’all are making the exact same mistakes.” And we can do our best to try to coach and mentor in group settings, but until you’ve been through it, it can be hard. So I think that’s one is just that the length of time, to your point, Meredith, that it takes to sometimes learn some of those lessons because you’re not learning from your colleagues quite as much.

And also because we’re not as in person as we once were. Professionalism used to be like, did you show up to the interview in a suit? Did you have your resume printed? Proper handshake, eye contact. And okay, great. Yeah, they seemed like a professional. And now there’s so much more that goes into it. It’s like, how do you share your screen? What’s your zoom background? Are you dressed professionally? Do you have the right energy that can come through in a Teams or whatever environment?

So there’s so much more, it’s so much harder and so much more complicated, which again leads to that imposter syndrome and the fear of the unknown and the lack of confidence. But that’s why it’s just so much more important to have more and more exposure and to keep practicing and to keep putting yourself into uncomfortable situations so that you can learn through those.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, absolutely. So kind of in the same vein, what do you think the future of professionalism is? What trends do you anticipate?

Allie Danziger:

So much about AI, right? It’s so much more about showing up as a human. I have interviewed people where I can tell that they have completely used AI both on the resume as well as to answer any of the questions that I’m asking them in the interview. It’s crazy. So to find ways to really be thoughtful, analytical, and do things that a chatbot cannot do, I think is just going to continue to be more and more important.

Having that transparency and just general authenticity is just key. We spend more time at work than we do anywhere else, and so you want to be around people that you can connect with while still having those professional lines and boundaries. So I think that’s going to just continue to get stronger and stronger as we build trust between humans.

Meredith Metsker:

What I see a lot with career services leaders is they’re figuring out AI and AI’s role in some of the things they deal with, like resume creation or cover letter creation. And I think the agreement is it’s a great starting point. Certainly can use AI to help you get started, but you got to infuse you into that. Like you said, it still has to be authentically you because that’s the differentiating factor now.

Okay. Yes, yeah. So from your perspective as an employer, you are hiring this next generation of employees, what do you wish that career services teams in higher ed knew or did more of regarding professionalism and preparing students for the workforce?

Allie Danziger:

I think a lot of it is yes, communication and asking those hard… Sorry, it feels hard. They’re not hard question, but asking clarifying questions. That’s not just from my own experience. We’ve worked with over 1,000 businesses, and that’s what they also say is their number one frustration, that students don’t know and don’t feel comfortable asking for clarity. So then they don’t push themselves or their teams to do it the way that it needs to be done. And that lack of clarity, that lack of professional communication is what leads to frustration on both sides, passive-aggressive behavior oftentimes, and then just overall not a great work experience.

So it’s what we’re really trying to train and really trying to find ways, how do we infuse this information as quickly as possible to students through, whether that’s videos or checklists or email templates or whatnot? That is the number one thing that I still continue to find with young professionals. And I think just arming students with more experiences to ask those questions, whether that’s with professors or in their internships or whatnot, will really make the difference in setting them up for success and being able to walk in confidently and then start succeeding right from onboarding.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, that’s a great point, that asking for clarity. I think that it’s sometimes hard because you want to put off the vibe that you know what you’re doing. You don’t need help, you’re good. You’re going to start contributing right away. But-

Allie Danziger:

It can really, really hurt you.

Meredith Metsker:

It can backfire.

Allie Danziger:

Yeah, it really can.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah. That was another lesson I learned as a reporter was just if you need a clarifying, if you need some clarity, just ask the question. Don’t worry about looking stupid or whatever, just ask. You’ll be glad you did later.

Allie Danziger:

Always. And we oftentimes hear that if you ask the question in a group, there’s probably five other people who have the exact same question and they’re just too scared to ask it. So it also sets you up as seeming like a better leader and a better communicator when you’re the one asking that question that everyone in the room is also thinking. As long as you’ve done your research and it hasn’t already been answered for you, because that can also can backfire. So you have to make sure you’re really paying attention and-

Meredith Metsker:

Well, and you’ve offered a ton of great advice already, but is there any other advice you would like to add for career leaders who are trying to be effective in teaching professionalism to their students?

Allie Danziger:

Thank you for the amazing work that you’re doing. And just keep offering them more and more experiences and more access to information, mentorship, coaching, training, and internships.

Meredith Metsker:

And keep up to date on those changing trends.

Allie Danziger:

Yeah.

Meredith Metsker:

Because as you said, the-

Allie Danziger:

[inaudible 00:34:46].

Meredith Metsker:

… only constant is it will change.

Allie Danziger:

Be ready for the change. Even if you’re not keeping up with it, just know that everything’s going to keep changing forever. This isn’t just a 2025 thing, that’s been in my whole career and I imagine will be in the rest of my career. So just be ready for it and more teach the acceptance of change.

Meredith Metsker:

That’s true. Yeah, being adaptable, flexible, those are traits that will serve you well in the rest of life as well.

Okay. Well, Allie, if people would like to connect with you or learn more from you, where is a good place for them to do that?

Allie Danziger:

LinkedIn. I am pretty easy to find online. But yeah, my LinkedIn, I always love connecting with people and helping them thrive in their careers, in their personal or professional realm.

Meredith Metsker:

And for those you who are watching or listening, I will include a link to Allie’s LinkedIn profile so you can easily find and connect with her there.

Okay. So Allie, at the end of every interview, I like to do this answer a question, leave a question thing. So I’ll ask you a question our last guest left for you, and then you’ll leave a question for the next guest. So yeah, our last guests were Andrea Franklin and Tracy Austin from Clemson University, and they left this question for you. If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?

Allie Danziger:

I’d say Experience the Experience, that is my life motto. I try very hard to be present in whatever experience I’m in, live that moment fully and not dwell on the past, the future, and just be fully present wherever I am. Again, whether that’s a micro moment or a season. So because that’s my life motto, I guess that would be the name of my biography.

Meredith Metsker:

I love that, Experience the Experience. That’s a good way to put it. All right. Well, what question would you like to leave for the next guest?

Allie Danziger:

I always love hearing about people’s first internship experiences and then what they gained from that that maybe led them to where they are today.

Meredith Metsker:

Oh, that’s a good one. I’m curious, what was your first internship?

Allie Danziger:

Yeah. My first job was at a kid’s bookstore when I was 16 years old. I ended up not knowing that I was an entrepreneur, but in that moment, at a young age learning that I was an entrepreneur because I loved working at the bookstore. I loved helping kids fall in love with books and reading, helping parents find gifts for kids.

And it was a huge gift place. People would come in from the neighborhood and from all over the city to find gifts for kids’ birthday parties. And I saw an opportunity to start a kid’s birthday party business within the store. So ended up putting on, every weekend, birthday parties for like two to four-year-old kids where we’d read a book and make a snack and do an arts and crafts project.

And it was a really great little side business for the bookstore, but I loved running those and leading it and it was a great first job. I learned a lot about myself as a employee, as a professional, as an entrepreneur. And maybe one day I’ll retire and open a kid’s bookstore again.

Meredith Metsker:

I love that so much. I want to go to that kind of party, that’s great. Can I have an adults book party?

Allie Danziger:

Yeah, [inaudible 00:38:11]. This was before You’ve Got Mail, but think… Yeah, think about Shop Around the Corner with Meg Ryan. That was the kind of bookstore.

Meredith Metsker:

I love that.

Allie Danziger:

It was fun.

Meredith Metsker:

I might have to do something similar for my own birthday party.

Allie Danziger:

Yeah.

Meredith Metsker:

We’re going to do an arts and craft, we’re going to read a book and we’re going to have snacks.

Allie Danziger:

Love it.

Meredith Metsker:

That sounds great. Well, that’s cool. I’m trying to think. I think my first internship was a sports reporting internship for the local newspaper, so I covered the University of Idaho women’s Soccer and women’s volleyball. And I remember-

Allie Danziger:

Well, you’re a really good interviewer.

Meredith Metsker:

Thank you.

Allie Danziger:

Yeah, they set you up.

Meredith Metsker:

I’ve come a long way. My first interview I did with the soccer coach, I literally showed up like a total nerd with a binder with typed out questions.

Allie Danziger:

Amazing.

Meredith Metsker:

It was so bad. I didn’t have a reporter’s notebook yet, so I just show up with this binder. Anyway, it went fine, but I just looked like a dork. Live and learn.

All right. Well, Allie, thank you so much for taking the time to join me on the podcast today, this was a really fun conversation. Great timely topic, so I know our audience is going to get a lot from this and I know they’ll appreciate it. So thank you again for taking the time.

Allie Danziger:

Thank you. Really appreciate it. Thanks for interviewing me. It was wonderful talking to you.