It's Wednesday, so it's time to meet this week's #WCW! Yesterday was this girl's 25th!
Meet Courtney Ou!
Can you tell me about your background? School?
I graduated from The University of Akron in December 2014
with a degree in Marketing Management and Supply Chain Management.
What do you do for a living? Tell me what lead you to this
new endeavor?
I work in digital marketing with my main crafts being paid
search, paid social, programmatic, and display media. About 2 months ago I quit
my full time job to spend more time traveling and just living life while doing
a little freelance work in my field on the side.
If you’re not doing it, what would your dream job be?
I’m always torn on exactly what my dream job would be, but I
think it would combine my craft + travel + food and a little splash of
non-profit/inspiring others.
How important is social media to your business?
Social media is a pretty big part of my business now that I
am my business. I’m lucky enough that my professional brand and my personal
brand are one in the same so there isn’t a whole lot of smoke and mirrors
behind anything. My social media presence is authentically me and any business
that drums up from it has to coincide with that.
What would you say is
your personal brand is?
I think my personal
brand is pretty open, blunt, and fun. I’m not really one to hold back and I’m
always down for an adventure. I think that most people that know me would agree
that that’s how I live and portray my world.
What can others learn from you?
I hope that others can learn a few things from me. Mainly:
it’s ok to be unapologetically yourself ; if you’re going to bet on anything,
it should be yourself ; life is too short to not make it one hell of an
adventure
How do you do under pressure? How do you handle stress?
I think I work best under pressure, to the point where
sometimes I have to create my own stress or pressure. I think it’s totally true
that we create the best versions of ourselves when we push ourselves out of
ruts and hard situations.
What’s the average day in the life of Courtney look like?
These days my “average” days are so over the place. It
usually involves some combination of the gym, netflix, plotting a trip, and
lots of food
Do you/Did you have a mentor/mentee?
I don’t think that there is necessarily one specific person
in my life that I pinpoint as a mentor, but more-so every person I have
encountered. Each person adds to your life in one way or another either forming
your views, perceptions, skills, etc personally or professionally. I think it’s
that ever-changing combo of people that really makes the impact.
How did you advance your career?
It’s always been all about networking and getting myself in
the right place at the right time. I think I had like 8 different internships
in college and each one broadened my network and built a different skill set.
And then from there it’s all about busting your ass, proving yourself every
day, and aligning yourself with the right people.
Why do you do what you do?
For awhile I was kind of bummed about the path I chose. I
wondered why I didn’t push myself to do something more fulfilling or something
that I deemed as a higher brain capacity field like becoming a surgeon. But
then I realized that A) I would be miserable if I did that because that’s not
my passion and B) that I’m actually pretty valuable at what I do. Once I
realized that my career was an ACTUAL career and not a fallback career, I
realized how much I love it.
How would you describe your personal style?
I’m all over the board. If it fits and it catches my eye, I
wear it. These days I’m mostly in athleisure since it feels like I’m always at
the gym or outdoors vs always being in the office. But even back then it was
all about comfort aka leggings all day every day.
What makes up your wardrobe?
Everything imaginable lol
Who is your fashion icon?
I actually don’t think I have one!
What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?
I don’t think my greatest accomplishment has happened yet.
If I had to pick something though I think it would be taking the leap and
quitting my cushy desk job at a top agency to just “live” for an undefined
period of time. It was pretty ballsy and kind of strayed from my usual extreme
Type A personality.
What is your ‘must have’ accessory?
I think my must have accessory is a good attitude. Because I
can be moody AF and nothing good comes from that lol
What advice can you give others that look towards you to
gauge success?
At the end of the day you have to figure out what makes you
happy. And then fiercely chase that. I think that’s the best measure of
success. Are you happy? Are you growing? If you can answer yes to both of
those, then you’re succeeding in my book.
What advice can you give on failure?
It’s awkward and it’s painful, but it has to happen. That’s
where all the growth comes from.
What was your big break?
I don’t know that I can really pin one thing as my big
break. I just always tried to make a name for myself wherever I was and
whatever life phase I was in whether it was UA, an organization, an internship,
or work. Your brand carries you from there.
Are you a member of any organizations? Trade Organizations,
etc.
I was super into all of that stuff in college, but fell off
after that.
What’s next for you?
Only time will tell! The world is my oyster :)
Thanks Courtney!
Here's hoping 25 is a kick ass year!
xo,
KJB
Make sure you're reading all about Courtney's adventure: here.
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