>> Hey, welcome back, everybody.
Jeff Frick here, with theCUBE.
We're in downtown San Francisco at Moscone West,
at the Professional Business Women Conference,
San Francisco.
This is the 28th year, 6,000 women, about 5% men here.
Talking about doing better in the work force,
inclusion, diversity, but this has been going on forever.
Jackie Speier: Started it years ago, wow,
almost three decades ago.
And we're really excited to be joined
by someone who's got some special tools to help people,
you know, really execute on this promise.
It's Lisa Skeete Tatum, she is the co-founder
and CEO of Landit.
Lisa, welcome.
>> Great to be here, thank you.
Absolutely, so first of all, impressions of the conference?
Have you been here before, what do you think?
This is my first time.
I can't believe I've missed it all this time,
to be here surrounded by all of these amazing women,
and the same mission,
which is how do we help people succeed,
and women, particularly, in the workplace--
>> Jeff: Right.
>> It's fabulous.
Well, let's jump into it because you actually,
as one of the keynote speakers said,
it's really not a strategy problem anymore.
It's an execution problem.
Everyone kind of knows what they want to do,
but how do you actually do it?
And your company, Landit has a real specific solution
to help individuals as well as companies,
so give us kind of the background on Landit,
and what you do, how long you been around.
Sure, well, first I want to thank LinkedIn
for inviting us here to collaborate with them
on this panel of personal brand, and particularly,
Jacquelin Jones and Ty Heath,
they're fabulous, fabulous collaborators.
But our goal at Landit is to increase the success
and engagement of women in the workplace
while also enabling companies to both attract
and then retain their diverse talent.
And we realize, as you said, that it's not
for lack of motivation, or skill, or traffic,
it is where do I start?
And so our goal, and our quest
for democratizing career success,
is to create a personalized playbook,
one size fits one, for every woman,
to more successfully navigate.
And we enable companies in a turnkey solution
to invest in their women, to essentially path them better.
>> Okay, so let's, I love
that democratizing business success.
>> That's exactly right.
>> Okay so from the individual side, what are some
of the specific tools that you found
that people were just lacking, or they just didn't know,
or they just needed that extra assist.
>> Absolutely.
Well, first, it starts from being at an inflection point,
and that could be their inner workplace,
or trying to figure out how to more successfully navigate.
Maybe they're stuck, which is where I was.
They don't know how to get out of it,
or they're looking for what's next.
And the questions that come up besides, "Where do I start,"
is, "What is it that I want to do that fits with all of me,"
maybe, "How do you develop your personal brand,"
which our session is about.
Because most people don't even know the power
of personal brand.
>> Jeff: Right, right.
>> And the fact that it accounts for 25% of your success.
"How do I connect with a coach?"
It's one of the best-kept secrets that most
of us don't know.
And then, "How do I manage my personal board of advisors?"
Right, so a lot of people think about a mentor,
but it's much more than than.
It's about a mentor.
It's about a sponsor.
It's about continued education.
So our goal is to knit all of that together,
and essentially path you, because it's overwhelming.
You think about, you get to one
of these inflection points.
You're like, "Gosh, I don't know where to turn,
I don't know who to connect with, I don't know
if there's quality, and I want it to be relevant to me."
Because there's a ton of information, but we're all busy.
I'm the mother of two teenage boys,
and so I want things that are relevant to me
that I can action on.
And companies, when they look at the massive problem
of wanting to retain their talent.
They've tried lots of things.
We give them one neat knit together turnkey solution,
where they know when they're winning.
>> Jeff: Right, right.
>> And they can measure.
>> 'Cause there's so much things you touched on, there.
>> Lisa: Absolutely.
>> So I want to jump into a couple.
What's the difference between a coach and a mentor,
and an advisor?
>> Absolutely.
So when you think of a coach, which again,
most of us don't have because it's reserved
for someone who's in the C Suite,
and we believe you have to bring it earlier on.
But this is someone, an outside expert,
who can help give you the framework,
help hold your accountable, et cetera.
So that is an expert hired person in your corner.
When you think about your board.
>> Let me, so like what type of coach is it, generally?
I mean, obviously if you're a CEI or a CEO
of a large company, they can hire the best of the best.
>> That's exactly right.
>> When you're not, and you're middle of your career,
what type of coaches are kind of the highest ROI?
>> And that's exactly what we address.
Because, in this notion of democratizing access,
why should I be CEO before I get access
to that high caliber.
>> Jeff: Right, right, right.
>> So we went, and we said, "Well what do they get,
and how do we bring that to anyone on the platform?"
So we're talking executive coach.
Someone who can move you forward, power you forward,
who's not in the risk of your day-to-day life,
but has the perspective and the pattern recognition
to move you forward.
So and executive coach.
The exact same thing that a CEO wants,
whether at a big company or small,
that's what we want the women on Landit to have.
>> And are these people, so you've got a resource bank
of these type of individuals--
>> Lisa: That's exactly right.
>> Jeff: Through the application.
>> All certified, very successful practices
that believe like I do that you've got
to democratize that access.
You have to get someone when they're at one
of those inflection points in order to move them forward.
To stop seeing, you know, we have the largest number
of professional, educated women, not fully engaged
in the workforce, as we said here today, workforce,
and they want to be.
>> Jeff: Right, right.
>> So that's one of the solutions.
Your question about the board.
If you think about a mentor, this is someone
who you have coffee with, you talk to, you bounce ideas.
If you think about a sponsor, this is someone
who talks about you.
Someone who opens doors,
someone who can help you see possibilities.
Or you think about a connector.
Someone who knows everyone.
My co-founder is CEO of Care.com, Sheila Marcelo,
she knows the world.
So when there's someone who I don't know,
and I want to be connected to,
I pick up the phone, and I call Sheila.
So you got to think about codifying your network,
so you have the right ask of the right person.
That's how you build your board, if you will,
of which a coach is a component of that.
>> Right, okay, then let's, this is so much,
we could go for like, two hours.
Hopefully you don't have much going on
for the rest of the day.
>> Hey, where you go?
>> Personal brand.
>> Yeah!
>> There's so much talk about personal brand.
Obviously, with Twitter and for famous people now, can,
for good or bad, can directly touch with their constituents.
Before, a mid-tier professional
or early stage professional,
what is building their brand, and how important is it
for people that just don't understand.
>> Absolutely.
Well, first of all, mid-career is too late
to start thinking about your brand.
I have teenage boys, I tell them now,
"You cultivate that brand."
Whether you like it or not, you have a brand.
The question is, are you in control of it?
So some people say a brand is what people say
about you when you're not in the room.
I say the personal brand is what do people say
about you that they want you in the room?
So you have to cultivate that early on,
but most people don't know the formula.
It accounts for 25% of your success.
>> 25%?
>> 25%, and what we realize a lot of time,
people don't even know the mistakes that they're making,
but it's holding them back.
>> Jeff: Right, right.
>> So it's not just about working hard
and keeping your head down,
It is what is the authentic message that you signal
to the world?
>> Right.
So what is the drop-dead dumb thing that most people
that's the easiest thing to fix for your personal brand?
>> They don't keep track of their accomplishments
on a weekly basis.
So they suffer from what we call, LIFO,
last in and first out.
So when it comes time to negotiate,
to do your LinkedIn profile, to advocate for yourself,
you don't have any facts, right.
So facts and information is power.
Something so simple, end of the week,
what did I do to further myself, my brand?
>> And it's just keeping it, just putting it your own--
>> Lisa: Keeping a log.
>> In your binder, your log, whatever.
>> And that's one of the features we have--
>> To put on your LinkedIn profile every week.
>> That's exactly right.
>> Okay.
>> And it's one of the features we have at Landit,
which is every Friday, you should be checking in.
What did I do for myself, what did I do for my brand,
what did I learn, and then, when it comes times
to do that profile, you can look at your repository
and say, "Oh, yes, I did add value," or "Yes,
I'm not spending a disproportionate amount of my time,
on housekeeping projects," which, unfortunately,
women often do.
I'm focused on things in the business world.
>> That's like the classic busy versus productive thing,
right?
It's just sometimes it's just so much easier
to do busy work.
>> That's exactly right.
>> Many of us are guilty of that.
Okay, so now, let's flip the bit here,
and from the employer's point of view,
what are some of the things that they need to do better,
to help the women in their companies be more successful--
>> Lisa: Absolutely.
>> And by extension, the company be more successful.
>> Absolutely, so I think one of the biggest challenges
that our clients face is
that they don't have a turnkey, scalable solution
to touch more lives.
So often, when you first join a company,
you get lots of love, lots of good snacks,
and then in the middle, what we call the forgotten middle,
not so much, because it's hard at scale,
to offer the tools that we do.
And if you make it through to the end,
you'll get some things.
But, that's where you have that whole leaky pipe issues.
So what they come to us for is,
whether it's your brand, your board, continuous learning,
coaching, we knit that together in a way that's seamless.
And we do it in a way that enables them
to touch more lives.
We have several multinational companies
that have women all over the globe,
and they can have a common experience.
But because we're technology, they can measure.
They can see the engagement, they can see the pathing.
>> Jeff: Right, right.
>> So, for them, it's a win, win.
But it's all about, again, the power of one size fits one.
And you can only do that through technology,
with the appropriate human--
>> But you start with, like, the big program,
and then it gets customized, or codified--
>> Lisa: Well, it's driven by the woman.
>> By the individual.
>> It's driven by the woman.
>> Jeff: Okay.
>> Exactly, so the elements of success, the playbook,
if you will, are common, but how it gets used,
what it recommends,
how it paths you is all about the individual.
And that's the power of being able to, again,
knit it together.
Powered by technology, but not forgetting
that there are humans involved.
You've got to have those touch points.
>> It's interesting because people just get so busy at work.
Everybody gets busy.
You get busy yourself, your boss is busy,
everybody's busy these days.
>> That's right.
>> So is it suggesting like, "Hey, you should go
to a professional conference,"
or "Hey, you should be doing some of this."
What are some of the little steps
that make a big difference that people just are too busy
to kind of pay attention to?
>> Sure.
So the best investment you can make is in yourself.
And if you think about our sponsors and the company
whether it's they're the head of HR or Development,
it's hard for them to manage the careers
of thousands of people, right?
And so we give them a way to allow the onus to be
on the individual, right, for them to invest
and manage their own career.
>> Jeff: Right.
>> We want to do it, we just don't have the tools.
Going to a conference,
like this is a fabulous conference,
but how do you knit things together in between conferences?
Because our goal is, I don't know anyone,
myself included, that's only had one inflection point.
So how do we give you what you need when you need it.
>> Jeff: When you need it.
>> That's exactly right.
>> Okay, so how long has Landit been around?
>> So we have been around, out of stealth mode
for about a year.
>> Jeff: Okay
>> Now, and we have amazing good clients.
We have women from around the globe.
20% of our users are international.
It's all ages, it's all functions,
it's all careers, and it makes my mom proud (laughs).
>> Oh, absolutely.
And she'll love you when she sees your CUBE interview.
>> Exactly.
>> And so as you look forward,
if we were to sit down together a year from now,
what are some of your top priorities about
for you personally, professionally, but as well for Landit.
That's kind of the next couple of big hurdles
that you guys want to take.
>> Absolutely, so we're on the quest for world domination--
>> Jeff: That's good.
>> But that aside, our goal really is to unlock the talent
of women around the globe.
So we want to touch as many lives,
whether it's women coming directly on the platform,
or as many companies as possible.
And keep refining our product so
that we're meeting our promise,
which is we're going to give you, again, what you need,
when you need it, in a one size fits one way.
>> Well, Lisa, I can't wait to watch the story continue
to unfold.
>> Lisa: Thank you!
>> You've got great energy,
it sounds like a terrific product,
and, can men login as well?
>> They absolutely can.
And I should say, we don't do all tools for women,
we do all tools for success--
>> Okay, good.
>> We just happen to focus on women.
>> Okay good, because I know I'm too busy to keep track
of that stuff.
All right, she's Lisa Skeete Tatum, from Landit.
I'm Jeff Frick, and thanks for stopping by.
>> Thank you so much, it was a pleasure.
>> Absolutely.
You're watching theCUBE from the Professional Business
Women of California Conference, 28th annual,
thanks for watching.
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