Get Gravitas on LinkedIn ✍️ 🧠

How to massage a non-traditional career path into the CEO’s journey.

When last we left our heroes, I showed you 5–7 areas in which you can really double down on creative content to create a more personality-driven LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn profiles aren’t meant to be a digital copy of your resume; that’s what PDFs are for. 

We found “copy’tunities,” areas where we can plug in branded copy and juicy nuggets to enhance your profile: headline, about, zones of genius, CEO-stuff, and recommendations (oh and two more you might not have even been thinking about: education and volunteering.)

Let’s see it in storytelling!

My girl Abi had an interesting conundrum. She had just spent the last year developing a breakthrough program that would really help corporate teams foster engagement.

Abi’s team of behavioral psychologists, leadership experts, and engagement specialists agreed on one thing: the golden ticket to enhanced performance, employee retention, and team cohesion was in deliberate, continuous engagement activities that play to strengths and communicate leadership goals.

They have developed a series of evergreen programs that can be plugged into virtual/global team development, each one customized to the client.

Abi and her company Se7enth House are bringing joyful engagement to the forefront of corporate HR and employees everywhere are glad for it; now, business builders and team leaders are thinking more deeply about the idea of worker wellness.

There was just one problem. Abi had a big, fat, dumb case of imposter syndrome.

In the land of LinkedIn, she struggled with what seemed to be an impossible task: with no higher-ed credentials, related work experience, or big resume wins, how could she communicate her business savvy and proof of concept? Why would anyone (who did not already know the kind of woman Abi is today) believe that she is a legit businessperson?

It doesn’t matter how you got here; it just matters that you’re here.

I am sharing Abi’s story to show you that even the most non-traditional career paths can lead to great careers in the thing that you’re passionate about. You can represent strongly on LinkedIn — and in the boardroom — by establishing a reputation built on the journey you’ve taken rather than the degrees you’ve earned or the steps you’ve taken on the corporate world.

The modern business arena no longer requires a linear resume. In fact, a multi-splendored work history has a tremendous advantage on the power of a person to ideate, innovate, and diversify.

Take it from an old bartender, nothing seals like a deal infused with hospitality. Now, let’s learn from a stewardess.

How to massage a non-traditional career path into the CEO’s journey.

Don’t let the lack of formal secondary education or a service-based work history hold you back from stepping into your power. Use creative “copy’tunities” to develop a robust personality-driven profile that fills in the blanks and invites curiosity.

Start with soapbox.

Once you have done the deep, bittersweet work of crafting a pitch-perfect Positioning Statement (you can cross that off your list 👏👏), it’s relatively painless to create a solid ABOUT section that outlines your position and platform, loaded with juicy, Google-friendly keywords.

Present your company like a badass.

When you outline your business endeavors into “Zones of Genius,” it becomes abundantly clear what you bring to the table.

Cheerlead your charity.

Just because it’s not on your resume, doesn’t mean it’s not valid work history. Fully flesh out your volunteer experiences and double-down on a “show me” strategy.

Don’t dumb down service.

After all, we’re all in the service business in some ways. Whether you worked in hospitality, retail, or a stay-at-home mom/dad, that work is not trite or trivial. Just be honest about it.

(This is how I do it 👇)

Le voila!

Your profile is as transformative on the outside as your mindset is on the inside. 💥

Now, you can confidently go forth and prosper with the confidence of an engaging, personality-driven profile that speaks to your strengths and contextualizes the unconventional.

How have you infused personality and pizazz into your LinkedIn profile? Reply back to this post and let me know. I’d love to see how you’re seasoning your special sauce and serving it to the good folks “living it up in the LinkedIn Lounge.”