Deborah Brown-Volkman is the Founder of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc. She’s a career strategist who provides both career and Executive coaching. She’s written three books on getting the most for yourself out of your career and at work, as well as a couple of books about building your own business or coaching practice. She’s an expert on all things career and today Deborah speaks to Jonathan about career planning, how to know if you’re on the right career path, and understanding the importance of developing a vision for your career.
Deborah talks at length about transparency of pay, how to know if you are underpaid and what specific steps you can take to address this critical component of your career.
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Key Takeaways
01:13 – Jonathan introduces today’s guest, Deborah Brown-Volkman, who joins the show to share her money story and her thoughts on the human component that is missing from the job market
07:53 – Defining a career vs a job and ‘career planning’
09:44 – How to know if you are on the right career path
11:32 – The process of Becoming and developing a vision for your career
15:28 – Coping with the feelings of being underpaid and resources to combat this
19:41 – Transparency of pay and advice on how to address being underpaid
25:08 – Why sometimes it’s as simple as asking
27:17 – The importance of empowerment and overcoming fear
32:47 – Coaching, career and vinyl record stores
35:28 – The number one action to take before asking for more money at your job
36:43 – Deborah’s latest projects, including her online career goals program
37:30 – The last thing Deborah changed her mind about and one thing that he would like people to know about her
40:09 – Jonathan thanks Deborah for joining the show and let’s listeners know where to connect with her
Tweetable Quotes
“I think that Generation Z gets a bad rap. They say they don’t want to work. I don’t think that’s true. I think they just have more boundaries.” (06:27)
“A job is something you do to pay your bills. A career is something that you do that you love. It should inspire you. It should light you up. It should get you excited.” (08:02)
“How you found your purpose in life is when you’re doing something that you would do even if you didn’t get paid for it – it means that much to you – and that you’re just naturally good at it. I’m naturally good at writing. I’m naturally good at coaching. When I was in the workplace, my favorite part of the job was having conversations with people and coaching people. I never thought I could make it into a profession. It became my profession. It was always going to be my profession, I just didn’t realize it. And, being unhappy in your career really forces you, in a good way, to do some deep dive analysis to ask yourself who you are and what’s important to you. Your purpose unfolds over time as you go through the journey.” (10:18)
“It’s good to have that outside validation because it gives you a little bit more courage to ask for it. For a long time, you would know you were being underpaid, but you didn’t really have anything to hold on to. But the research now gives you the ability to walk into someone’s office and say, ‘Here’s what I’m doing, and I’m not getting paid enough.’” (17:16)
“I think that there’s a self-worth piece and a confidence piece that gets increased when you recognize what you’re worth and you go in there and you ask for it.” (26:48)
“Fear only has power over you when it’s a secret.” (27:57)
“You have to do your legwork. You have to do your research. You want to get a sense of what you’re doing and what it’s worth in the marketplace. That’s the number one thing to do. You can’t ask if you don’t know.” (35:50)
Guest Resources
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