Hello and welcome back to the awfully quiet podcast. First of all, happy new year and welcome to the first episode of 2025. I don't know about you, but something about this year is creaming main character energy and I am so excited you're here to make it yours. If you're new around here, hi, I am so glad you found your way into the space.

And if you've been with me for a while, thank you. You're truly the heart of this community and I appreciate you so much. I hope your holidays gave you the chance to really recharge. Whether that meant finding some quiet space, curling up with a book, or avoiding every Zoom call inside, you've made it to 2025, and that is something to celebrate.

What I hope this year brings for you are some of those career moments that have you go, Wow. Is this real? Is this me? You know, those unexpected life changing opportunities that shake things up in the best way possible. That is what I want for you. And then the courage to speak up, to voice your opinion, to ask for what you're worth and call out All the BS standing in your way.

Now, speaking of BS, let's talk about today's episode. This one's a little nudge about something you've probably heard in the corporate world, maybe too many times. I've heard it so many times. In fact, someone said it to me just before the holidays. And honestly, I thought I had left this behind me, but instead of rolling my eyes, being dramatic, I realized, This is actually good content.

So you're welcome. You've probably heard a version of this at some point in your career. Something along the lines of, don't you worry, your time will come. You're still so young, you have your whole career ahead of you. Just keep doing what you're doing and things will work out. If you've heard these before, same.

And I have a feeling this is something introverts hear. Like a lot. But here's the thing. If you're hearing your time will come, it probably won't. Unless you make it so. And that is what we're diving into today. In this episode, we're going to unpack this little corporate catchphrase, what it really means, why you hear it, especially if you're an introvert, and what to do when someone tells you to just wait.

Sound good? Before we dive in, if you're enjoying the show, please take a quick moment to rate and review it. On Spotify, it's as easy as tapping those three little dots in the top right corner and giving it five stars. It's a small gesture that goes a long way, and maybe you consider it a little New Year's karma that will come right back to you.

I'm sure of it. All right, let's dive in.

All right, let's talk about your time will come and why it is a problem. It's essentially the professional equivalent of it's not you, it's me. It's not coming from a place of wanting to hurt you or hold you back. It's not a secret signal that your work isn't good enough or that you're failing in your role.

But it does mean something. And that's what I want to unpack with you. Here's what frustrates me most about these phrases. They reflect this unspoken, outdated career playbook in corporate life. The so called rules about what you can and can't do, when you can move up, and how you're supposed to play the game.

Principles such as time and role. You know how most roles in the corporate environment have a certain amount of time you should be doing them for before you can initiate conversations about your next move. Like, most junior level positions are at about 18 months time and role, while more senior level positions are like a good 3 to 5 years.

Then there are rules like, you need x experience before you can do y. Or to be a senior something, you first needed to be a junior in this role, or in this function. But here's the thing. Don't we all know someone who has completely ignored these rules and still skyrocketed? The manager who gets promoted after merely one year because they crushed it?

The high flyer who skips the junior role entirely? The twenty something who's leading a senior level team while the rest of us are still waiting for their time to come? There are always exceptions to the rule. And you know what? I have been one of those exceptions before. Despite being told, just wait and keep doing what you're doing.

So what's the secret sauce? What do these rule breakers do differently? It's not rocket science. In fact, it's so simple, you might roll your eyes. When they get told no, or not yet, or your time will come, they simply ask someone else. They go around it. When someone shuts the door, they find another. And you've heard this play out in every success story out there.

Think J. K. Rowling pitching Harry Potter to a laundry list of publishers until one finally said yes. Think Starbucks hustling to secure funding when everyone else said no. These stories always start with a rejection. Someone says no, and instead of giving up, they just try again. But for some reason in the corporate world, when someone says no, We treat it like it's gospel, like the door is slammed shut and we've got no choice but to sit and wait in the hallway.

And here's the truth. There is never just one door. There are five more opportunities where you're standing right now. Or if you watch Suits, as Harvey Specter would say, there are 146 other things that you can do. Let me tell you a real life story about how this played out for me.

Let me take you back to when I was told no. The corporate role I have today is one of those that come with rules. It's a senior level brand manager role for one of the biggest brands in the organization. The rule being you had to have been a brand manager on another brand in order to land or even apply to this role.

Spoiler alert, I did not check that box. I had marketing experience in other fields, but this would be the first time doing brand management. You know, media, comms, all the good fun stuff people think of when they think marketing. So picture this, I had hit the time and role benchmark in my previous job in marketing, in innovation, and I was ready for my next move.

Yeah. I reached out to the hiring manager of the brand manager role I wanted and floated the idea, asked if I could apply if the position opened up in the near future. Her answer? Big fat no. Why? Because according to her, I didn't have the right experience. She wanted someone who had already been a brand manager on a smaller brand first, in line with the unwritten corporate rulebook, and someone who knew how to juggle working with multiple agencies.

I'm not gonna lie, it stung bad because deep down I knew I could do that job. Was I delusional about it being easy? No. I had respect for what the role entailed, but throughout my career, I had proven over and over again that I learn fast, work hard, and make it happen. Every single manager I'd ever worked with would have vouched for me.

Of course she can do it. But this woman, someone who had never worked with me, she shut it down without a second thought. So yeah, crush doesn't even begin to cover it, but let's fast forward six months. I'm having a totally unrelated career conversation with the portfolio director in the same team. And she casually mentions that the brand manager role I wanted.

is now opening up. The current person is pregnant. Cue the door cracking open. She says they'll kick off recruitment soon and suggests I reach out to the hiring manager. And here's where the plot twist comes in. The hiring manager had changed. The new person leading the team was a fresh face. A total marketing rockstar in the company, like someone I seriously admired, the kind of person you simultaneously want to impress and are low key terrified of.

So I reach out, pitch myself for the role, and guess what? She's open to it. Fast forward a little more and suddenly it's me against 150 other applicants, internal and external talking about pressure. I go through the process, the assessments, the interviews, and I get the job. Two years later, today, I am still here thriving as a big brand senior manager, and I'm loving it.

I'm not saying this is J. K. Rowling pitching Harry Potter 12 times, but in my little world, this story gets pretty close. What I want to do now is breaking this down for you. What did I do right in the process? What can you take away for the next time you hit a corporate roadblock, for the next time somebody says no to you?

And let me just candidly say, I did not even crash the job interview. So let's unpack it together.

So, first things first. I stuck with it. I didn't crumble at the first no. I didn't let it shut me down. I stayed in the game and asked again. And I do appreciate that that is sometimes easier said than done. Because every no carries weight and has the potential to crush you. You take every no seriously, especially coming from seasoned managers in the organization who will just not give you the chance.

But here's what you need to understand. Their no is not a reflection of what is possible. It is not a reflection of your skills, capabilities, or talent. Their no is a reflection of themselves. Of what was possible for them of what they have been told to do and what way back when some other manager told them was possible.

It's a constant cycle. You will see people who have gotten chances in the past are more willing to take a leap of faith and give chances outside of the rule book too, but managers who have been told. a certain set of principles, who had to follow a strict career path, do the work, do what they were told to get where they are today, they will likely hold you to those same standards.

It's a reflection of what they think is possible, and it is never definitive. Remember that. That's the good news in corporate. Things are never quite as they were yesterday. A new day, a new manager, a new rule. Things change constantly. And when it comes to someone telling you no, that is a good thing.

Because the yes is just around the corner and you need to protect yourself just enough from feeling crushed to look out for that opportunity and be open for it. The second thing. I did that helped me is I leaned into my advocates, my manager and director at the time were incredible champions of me.

They had in fact been the ones who did take a leap of faith two years prior when they gave me my first ever marketing position in innovation. Again, the rule being you had to have been a junior brand manager in a local team before joining this regional team, which I hadn't done. Still, they saw something in me.

They took a chance and I crushed the role and proved that I can do it. So after two years, they were such fans, such champions. That they were willing to speak to that, to the new hiring team, because indeed, as I alluded to before, I did not crush that job interview, that internal assessment that took place for this role had so many candidates, internal and external, so much pressure attached to it.

That part of the assessment, I just felt like a deer in the headlight. I had so much trouble being myself and feeling like myself that I couldn't do as great a job as I would have wanted. But little did I know that the hiring team asked my current manager at the time and their boss for references. And they sat down, took the time for a call to walk them through their experience of working with me.

And it helped massively, so much so that I got the job. I keep saying this time and time again, and I will die on that hill. Having people in your corner who advocate for you is the single most introvert friendly strategy to get noticed and considered for positions outside of your team. When selling yourself or promoting yourself is not your strong suit, let others do the talking.

And just see the magic unfold now, certainly throughout the process and every conversation I had leading up to, and during the interview process and assessment, I was crystal clear on why I wanted this role. No half baked answers. I knew exactly what it meant to me and why I was the person for that job.

I was able to articulate what I bring to the table and how this job would help me build crucial skills and experiences towards my long term career ambition. So here's what I want you to do the next time someone tells you your time will come or not now. Smile, nod, stay calm, no drama, not worth your energy.

Step back and assess. What do you really want? Are you crushed because it's what you want or because your ego took a hit? Look for other doors. Opportunities are everywhere and rejection is often just redirection. And then trust yourself. Their no is not about you. It's about them, their experience, their rules, not your potential.

The rules don't matter when you're clear on where you're going and willing to find your way in. You need to establish that trust with yourself in these situations, that ability to tune in and gain clarity for what it is you really, really want. Because once you're clear on that, everything else is just a matter of time.

Learning to deal with rejection is a mindset game. It's not letting it get to you. It's putting it into perspective and it's prioritizing your inner knowing over someone else's version of what is possible. That's what J. K. Rowling did. And it is what you are capable of too.

Now, if you're in a leadership role, I want you to do better. Don't just tell your team your time will come. I find that lazy and uninspiring. Instead, give them real feedback, clear paths forward, and actual support. It is so easy to fall into that because it is such an easy way out of a potentially more difficult conversation.

And all too often we succumb to these corporate phrases that we have heard before. You don't always get the right manager. You don't always hear the words of encouragement you so desperately need in the workplace. But let me be your person to say. If it's in your head, the time will not come. You make the time come.

You are never too old to start a new dream, but you're also never too young to go for it either. If I know one thing for sure, it's that we're all on different timelines, different journeys. Yet the system tries to push us into these career paths, Our superiors were made to follow in the past, and that is not always the best fit for us.

I can't change all about how the corporate world works, at least not today, but I can change how you react to what is being thrown at you. Now, I hope that this episode leaves you feeling inspired, empowered, and so ready to crush it in 2025. If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or someone who could benefit from it too.

I say, bring it on, and don't forget to stay awfully quiet. See you next time.