OYP Episode 25: Jessica Pargament

Jessica Pargament, Senior Director of Business Training at Luxottica and Co-Founder of Confab, tells us about the importance of being aware of the changing world around you, approaching self-advocacy as being your own PR firm, and how the PIE framework has been key to her success.

Interview

Peter Szczerba  - Welcome back to the Own Your Potential Podcast, where you'll hear stories from leaders across the globe about how they've taken control of their career growth lessons on how you can to. I'm Peter Szczerba. And today, I'm excited to be talking to Jessica Pargament, who's an entrepreneur and the Senior Director of Business Training at Luxottica. Jessica, welcome to the podcast. Very excited to have this chat. Let's just jump right into it. Can you start by telling us a little bit about your career journey so far?

Jessica Pargament  - Yes, that would be my pleasure. I started working right out of college at Deloitte for doing it consulting, it was more like risk consulting. And I realized pretty much right away that that wasn't the career path for me. So I did a Google search and I found a company called Brulent just searching for interactive media studies in Cleveland, got an interview there, got a job and ended up loving it. Brulent was bought by Rosetta, which was later bought by Publicis Sapient. So that's kind of my, my connection back to you. But years, that Rosetta led to years at Luxottica, which is where I am now, Luxottica owns Sunglass Hut, Lenscrafters, Ray Ban, so you're probably familiar with them, which I'm there now. So I'm a senior director with Luxottica. And I recently started my own startup. So I am a co founder and CEO of ConFab, which hopefully I'll get to talk a little bit more about later.

Peter Szczerba - Already, you know, a full full kind of background and career. And to be honest, I would love to dig in a little bit about how you made kind of the the leap of faith to start a startup and kind of dig into what that startup is based on. If you're if you're open to talking about that.

Jessica Pargament - Yeah, I would love to. So ConFab came to my co founder, Morgan and me, in January, the idea to what we really decided was that she had, she had a shopping problem. And I had a shopping problem that they were different hers was that she looked at her husband, who is a gamer, and really connects with his friends through online gaming. And she wanted something like that for her girlfriends and her, and I was sharing a shopping find with my mom and sister. And it was extremely frustrating it I was sending a text message with a link and a screenshot. And I was not able to get timely feedback from my mom and sister. And I realized that that process should be easier. And she realized that she should be able to shop online with her friends. And we talked about that together. And we thought, Hey, there could be a solution that solves both of these problems. So we came up with the idea for ConFab in January, ConFab is all about connecting friends so they can shop online together and in real time. And even though that idea was pre COVID. Now obviously with things being shut down, and people will kind of hunkering down more, it's actually even more relevant now. And people are more open to the idea of shopping online. e commerce has accelerated at unprecedented rates. So we're seeing some even more traction than we really could have imagined just because of the pandemic. So we have a little baby silver lining with the pandemic, which is that we were able to start our own business. check us out at confabco.com and download our browser extension.

Peter Szczerba  - That is awesome. And in such a incredible moment in time to have an idea like that. It's just the kind of like organic synergy of, you know, the moment is very cool. But, you know, we often on this podcast and with all the folks that we've interviewed to date, talk a little bit about, you know, actively contributing or making decisions and steering the direction of your career progression. And it seems like you've done that in a couple of different ways going from, you know, consulting agency, kind of back to kind of more technical consulting focus, then then over to the client side, and now even making the decision to do this in parallel to your existing role like that, that to me, screams active contribution to your career trajectory and progression. Can you talk to me a little bit about how you've, you know, been super cognizant of doing that?

Jessica Pargament  - Absolutely. I think that what you're describing is one of the most important Strategies for Success. You can't just be good at your job and expect that good things will happen to you if you're lucky and you have a good manager or a good mentor. Perhaps opportunities will come your way but what I found is that you have to be your own PR agent and you have to be your own cheerleader because most likely if you are Then no one else will. And so while you do need to be dedicated to your work and focused on the task at hand, every once in a while, I picture a Meerkat. Do you know that the cute little animal Meerkat?

Peter Szczerba  - Yeah, absolutely.

Jessica Pargament  - Okay, so picture a Meerkat, and you're doing your work. But every once in a while you stand up and you look around just like America does. You look around and you see, is the work I'm doing and totally focused on, is it still relevant? Is it still impactful? Does anybody care about what I'm doing? Are there other opportunities out there? Are there people doing interesting things. So while you need to be focused on the work that you're doing, and you know, what's currently being asked of you, it's just as important to stand up and look around and make sure that you're aware of the world around you and being aware of what's going on around you is the first step in, in being an advocate for yourself and, and taking the next step in your career. The only other thing I would say is that having a mentor has been extremely important for me. So not only should you advocate for yourself, but you should find people that are in leadership positions around the organization to also advocate for you. So find a mentor who is in a position that you admire, and is has a work style and ethical style, a personality that you admire, and get them on your side, find out how they got to where they are, and and have them be advocates for you as well.

Peter Szczerba  - I love that metaphor. And I want to continue the topic of mentorship in a moment. But I want to jump back to that because I think that early in your career, it's so easy to be heads down focused on delivery focused on the specific tasks at hand. And you're, you know, often people are telling you to you need to understand the big picture how you're impacting the larger vision of your organization or your clients organization. But I've never heard anyone, so simply describe that same need, but with regards to their own career, this idea of, of digging themselves out of the grind in the specifics and looking at how the world has changed around them and what they do. And I think that that's a really cool way of kind of explaining the necessity around that. So but I'm curious, though, because building on on that topic of standing up and looking around, I think part of that standing up is also to then say, Okay, well, this is what I've done. So you talked a little bit about being your own cheerleader, or your own kind of PR firm. You know, tell me some specific strategies that from a self advocacy standpoint is self promotion standpoint has really worked well for you.

Jessica Pargament  - So I think in some regards, your work should speak for itself, you you absolutely need to be cognizant of the work that you do, I would say, setting clear expectations with your manager and stating that you want those expectations so that you can exceed them. I think so often people are scared to ask what's expected of them, because maybe they think they should just implicitly know or maybe it makes them look weak, because they're asking for clarity. But setting expectations and setting them for those people around you, I think is really important too. I also think that and this is something that I talked about, not just for me and my own self advocacy, but for my team is focusing on what I've referred to as the PIE method. And I can't take credit for this. This is just out there in the world. But I absolutely live by this at work, PIE, performance, image and exposure. So performance is all about kind of what we're talking about now, making sure you do a bang up job you are you you're a baller, okay, you need to make sure you you kick ass at your job that what's expected of you, you knock it out of the park, and you you're a reliable, dependable worker, and that you know what your job is, and you just exceed expectations. So that's what performance is all about, is image. So you also want to make sure that your reputation reflects what you think you're doing. So, you know, maybe you think you're doing a really good job, but in in doing a good job, you've alienated all the people around you. You need to make sure you're balancing you getting your work done and you being a really good team member and that your reputation reflects that. So I is for image and making sure that the image of you matches your own self perception. And he is exposure. After you check the performance box and check the image box. You should move on to exposure, How can you leverage your mentor leverage the projects you're on leverage your boss or your manager to get additional exposure? How can you present something in front of the CEO? How can you present something in front of the head client? How can you get additional stretch assignments, work on new projects so that you're exposed to new parts of the business and new people in the business. Once you do those three things, so many new opportunities will open for you. And you'd be surprised how things can start to fall in place. But it's not a passive activity, you, you as the employee are in the driver's seat for all three of those.

Peter Szczerba  - So I'm curious, I know, you said that that kind of framework or acronym is out there. But how did you stumble across it because I absolutely love that.

Jessica Pargament  - I googled it, I heard someone talking about a framework that they that they had used in the past, and I couldn't remember what it was. And we were really trying to put together a training plan for managers at Luxottica, and how they could help with performance and talents manage talent management. And so I googled it. And it's amazing what you can find when you just do some creative googling, so nothing fancy, just Google that.

Peter Szczerba  - And that's fantastic. Because this doesn't have to be hard. This idea of taking control of your career, or finding tips and strategies doesn't have to be hard. All it takes is one, one or two clever search terms. And next thing, you know, you land on something as as poignant as pie. And so I think that's a really, really great takeaway already out of this conversation is just how simple it can be to figure out something that works for you. You did touch a little bit about, you know, again, ensuring that you're advocating for your team. And you talked a little bit about mentorship already. And I think those two things really come together about the importance of advocacy for others, so I'm curious, in in your successful ability to secure mentors for yourself and how they advocate for your, how did you develop kind of a strategy or approach to advocating for others and kind of how do you do that today to ensure the success of the people around you?

Jessica Pargament - So I would say in my first mentorship relationship, where I was the mentor, and I had a mentee, that's actually now my business partner, Morgan. So it's one of the most rewarding relationships I've ever had. Hopefully, she feels the same. But for me, it's just amazing what what comes from, you know, feeling like wow, you actually have knowledge to impart to someone and you can actually make a difference for someone. So when I talked to other people about finding mentors, or being a mentor, part of what I talk about is just the value in that relationship, I would say, the recommendation that I was given once upon a time, and what I talk about for other people is finding a personality match. So it needs to be someone that you really get along with and someone that you admire. And to start with adjectives, instead of starting with someone in mind, a specific person in mind, start with adjectives. I want a mentor who is like a, b, and c, or who does X, Y, and Z, and then let someone else your manager or another mentor that you have, or someone you respect, map that to an actual human, I think people don't always know who's out there, and who's available and who's interested. But if you start with what you're looking for, and where you're trying to grow as the person, it's actually easier than you might have thought.

Peter Szczerba - That's very interesting. And you know, I just find it really cool that you with your mentee was were able to kind of form this relationship. And now you find yourselves in this really exciting business venture together. And simply that resonates with me, because I think we we talked about this a little bit as we were kind of getting to know each other before we connected on this interview. But I also have a nonprofit organization focused on elite basketball training. And we also operate a prep school. And I founded that with one of my early mentors, who was my high school varsity basketball coach and teacher, yeah. And then so 13 years later, right, here we are three or four years into this venture. And to your point, we have very different skill sets. But where we are absolutely aligned. And one of one mind is in our vision for the challenges we are trying to address and the way that we are trying to address them. And I think that to your point, it's really important that you have that alignment there. And the use of the description of finding the right mentors through adjectives, I think is really important. I think that's that's something that I haven't heard anyone articulate yet. And I think that's something really important for people to walk away. Kind of internalizing from this conversation. I think that's awesome. So I'm curious. So, you know, you've had some pretty cool roles across a couple of different areas of kind of the various industries you're now in, in the startup space in parallel to being in a leadership position. That's a lot to be proud of. So I'm curious what achievement are you especially proud of? What's something that's really meaningful to you that, you know, let's say you if you were channeling that Meerkat again, you'd pop up and look around and yell at the top of your lungs, like, I'm proud of this.

Jessica Pargament - Okay? Is it fair if I do a three way tie? Because I think I have three things that I couldn't choose between, I'm just going to go ahead and say yes, it's fair.

Peter Szczerba  - Yeah, I'm okay with it. Let's roll with it.

Jessica Pargament  - Okay. So the first I would say is my expat assignment in Italy. So in 2018, for the year I lived in Milan, Italy, at our international headquarters for Luxottica. And I started up a small subset of our global training team focused on customer experience. And I was hand selected for that based on my experience in customer experience, strategy, and really understanding data and voice of the customer. And so I was asked to go there. And it was one of the best years of my life. And I just feel like, you know, I still reflect back on that as such a growth time for me. And if I could do that, I could do anything. And so I would say number one is I'm very, very proud of what I was able to accomplish, and just the fact that I had that opportunity to live in Italy for the year. I'm going to tack on to that. When I was in Italy, right after I got the job offer for to move to Milan, the very next thing I did was apply to be on House Hunters International. I don't know if you know that show. It's one of my favorites. And I was chosen to be on House Hunters International. So check me out on the episode is called moving on to fashionable Milan and it features my dog Bernadette and me moving to Italy and choosing our apartment in Milan. So that was pretty awesome.  Talk a little bit about an experience that I'd love to hear like, what because that's got to be one of the more unique experiences you've had in your life. Oh, it was so cool. It was five days of filming for a 30 minute episode, which was really crazy. I'm still friends with the crew. So we're still Facebook friends, and we still keep in touch. My sister flew out to be on the episode with me. I won't give away the all the behind the scenes secrets, but because there's lots that goes into actually making that episode be what it is. But oh, man, it was so fun. And I have such fond memories of that. And I felt a little bit famous for that period of time.

Peter Szczerba - I'm curious, I want to I want to ask, was there any impetus to applying that had something to do with for example, your exposure or breaking into a new area of your career? Or was it just something focused around like, I love this this show? I love this idea. And here's this opportunity, why shouldn't I try? Like, what was the driving force behind you applying for that?

Jessica Pargament  - I think I'm just naturally attracted to trying new things and doing things that are maybe outside of the norm. And that's in my career, but also in just other parts of my life. So I thought, wouldn't that be cool? And I actually I have to say I have that opinion about my career, too. If I ever have the thought, hey, wouldn't that be cool? Then I go after it. So I would say it was just more of a Wouldn't that be an amazing thing to do for me personally, and so I went after it.

Peter Szczerba - That's very cool. I think a great outlook to have on your career as well. But I digress. There's a third thing that you're proud of that I feel like I've tangented away from?

Jessica Pargament - Oh, yeah, okay. Okay. This is an obvious. This is just starting my own business. So, you know, I like I said, we had the idea in January. We were actually furloughed in March. And so we decided to take that time of being furloughed. We were only furloughed for two months, but in that time, we founded our LLC, filed a provisional patent. Fundraised $100,000 and launched a product. So we really took advantage of the time off that we had to focus on ConFab. And I'm extremely proud of the progress that we've made.

Peter Szczerba  - As I observe the the businesses, the ideas, the individuals who have successfully bubbled up to kind of the top of their respective spaces across COVID, and all the challenges presented, I've just been so impressed by some of the unique thinking and kind of creativity that has resulted in resilience and actually in like, exponential growth for certain ideas. And this is a great example of that.

Jessica Pargament - Yeah, I mean, they say crisis breeds innovation. So I think you know if we can reflect on that.

Peter Szczerba - Yeah, absolutely. There's beauty in the breakdown. I think there's a lot of ways to spin that but ultimately, yeah, like if you're able to think critically solve problems, be creative, and ultimately, just be resilient. it like you could really find opportunities to flourish in this type of environment. I think it's very cool that you've done that. I'm excited to see how your product and business evolve and kind of blow up. But on that note, though, you know, I think in a recent episode, I talked a little bit about my background in sports and how I feel that experiences sports very much overlaps with accelerated progress and, and performance in business in other industries. But I think one of the things that's interesting about athletes is how much they focus on legacy, right, and how much they focus on how they might be remembered, or what they're leaving behind, or how they've changed the game, let's say, quote, unquote, and I've, I'm curious, you know, you're kind of developing a little bit of a legacy. And is that something you're constantly thinking about? Is there a legacy you want to leave? Tell us a little bit about that?

Jessica Pargament  - I'm not ready to reflect on my own mortality quite yet. But I will try to set that aside to answer this question. I would say, I definitely don't think about it as the legacy. But I think about it more as the wake I leave behind, which, which really isn't all that different. What I am afraid I have playing in my head a lot. And this is specifically for women. But it really applies to everyone is empowered women, empower women. But you could say empowered people, empower people. So if you are empowered, and you feel empowered, then you should go and empower others. And I would say that's something that I've learned, because I certainly didn't act that way. Let's say 10 years ago, in my career, when I thought it was all about me proving myself, and I thought it was all about showing off what I can do to contribute. I've learned along the way, and sometimes through hard lessons, tough, tough lessons. That it's more about feeling empowered, and taking that feeling and empowering others. And I hope that that's the legacy I leave.

Peter Szczerba - So I absolutely love that. And that is a quote that now is going to enter my vernacular and it's going to be a mantra that I absolutely loved by I think that's a really great thought to leave off on. Just Jessica, I want to thank you again for taking the time to have this conversation. I think there's so much value for people to pull out of this. I have really appreciated to get to know you a little bit and I look forward to having future conversations and also seeing the future success of ConFab. So really appreciate your time Jessica.

Jessica Pargament - Thank you so so much. This was my pleasure. And if you ever want me to come back, it would be my absolute honor.