Key Takeaways from May's Signature Luncheon with Cinnabon's Kat Cole

By Dana Jones

On Tuesday, May, 15, I had the pleasure of hearing Kat Cole speak at the AMA Signature luncheon. Kat Cole is the President of Cinnabon, Inc., and in my opinion, she is one of the most social media accessible presidents out there! She responds to Cinnabon fans and questions frequently from her own Twitter. After a wonderful introduction from Cynthia Good, founder of Little Pink Book, Kat Cole took the stage to talk about “A Multi Channel Approach to Business and Life.” Her discussion was very encouraging and uplifting for me. After enjoying a new social media manager role at an Atlanta based startup, I was laid off last month due to budgeting issues. The search has been frustrating, but I felt like Kat’s words were timely and uplifting. Here are a few great takeaways from Kat’s presentation just in case you missed it:

• Diversify where you get your sense of value personally and professionally
  Our purpose in life should not be directly tied to one particular thing. If it is, then we need to diversify our activities. Add new things like volunteering or mentoring in order to expand our purpose.
• Don’t just go anywhere because you can
  Kat is the former vice president of Hooters. She discussed how Hooters Air almost made the company bankrupt and how launching an airline wasn’t a good fit for a restaurant. Use this as an example in your personal life. Do you blog about marketing? Why go to an event about make up? That’s not a good fit at all.
• Have a general direction of where you want to go
  You don’t have to have all of the answers right this second. As long as you are headed in a general direction, everything else will fall into place!
• Perceived success is the biggest blinder to our career
• The most successful and sustainable businesses and leaders are the ones most connected to those they serve
• Never forget what made you great in the first place

We all have low points in our lives and careers. It’s really important to remind ourselves what makes us awesome! Never forget your strengths.

The biggest takeaway from Kat’s presentation for me was “know thyself.” To act on all of the advice above, everyone has to learn about themselves. In my continued search for new opportunities I am grateful for the opportunity to continue learning more and more about myself. I encourage the same thing for anyone reading. Enjoy the ride while you learn!

Dana Jones is a Social Media and Marketing Specialist from Tyrone, Ga. She has worked on social media and branding strategies for a variety of clients including Comcast, PSA Healthcare and PATH Foundation. She blogs and tweets as TheGreatDanaJ about social media, marketing, leadership and life. Earlier this year, Dana was named one of Atlanta’s top Twitter users by 11Alive. She was selected to present this month at Social Media Club Atlanta’s Pecha Kucha night.

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