[00:00:00] It.
[00:00:43] Well, thanks. Thanks, Jim. Thanks for having me. So excited to be here.
[00:01:07] Yes. Yes, that is correct. Yeah.
[00:01:10] So like you rightly said, I'm a very technical professional. You know, started my career in engineering.
[00:01:16] These days I'm in project management.
[00:01:18] But just outside my nine to five commitments, I actually spend my time coaching and mentoring professionals, particularly my community, honestly speaking, and just trying to empower them to make informed care decisions, empower them with skill development programs and just help them better navigate the very complex job market we find ourselves today.
[00:01:55] Yeah, that's. That's a good question. So I think for me, over the last couple of years, even from when I was a student, I had a lot of support through my academic years and now, you know, in my career. And this is just me paying it forward. Right. If someone has helped me, I should be able to help other people. And I'm a Christian. And because of that, you know, we have this belief that to whom much is given, much is expected. So. And I also see it's better to give than to receive. And one thing my parents always taught me is givers never lack. So I try to give my, my time, my resources, my knowledge to help people in my community and beyond. But all of this, at least when it comes to coaching and mentorship, started for me when I was actually at eight years, automation. You know, this was four or five years ago.
[00:02:41] You know, a few people looked up to me who we are trying to become engineers or project managers.
[00:02:47] But funny thing is there wasn't a lot of people that looked like me in that space. And I was able to get into that space and people were drawn to me. They approached me like, hey, Kelly, how did you break into the space in the first place? Can you coach me? Can you mentor me? I'm willing to pay you.
[00:03:02] And that's how it pretty much started for me. So I started with mentoring people. It was overwhelming at the start, but over time I got into this flow and just because of the volume coming my way, I decided to actually monetize my time because I knew what I was delivering was a lot of value and people were willing to pay for it.
[00:03:51] That is correct. So I think when I landed in Canada as an international student from Nigeria, one of the first things I did was actually to open up my LinkedIn profile, like to create a profile from start. And I pretty much leveraged it through my academic years in terms of finding jobs and just building and growing my network because I knew when I'm done with school, I'm going to come into the labor market. And I need to have some sort of network that could help me down the line.
[00:04:21] And when I joined ats, it was very instrumental for me. I had a lot of mentors that told me, you know, leverage LinkedIn the right way.
[00:04:29] Use it, you know, with connecting and networking with people within your company, but also outside and just building and growing that network.
[00:04:36] And yes, there's a lot of companies that are not social media, LinkedIn friendly. I can tell you right now, ATS is not one of those companies.
[00:04:44] Actually. ATS sort of actually encouraged the behavior, and not formally, but actually encouraged it. I felt open, I felt free. There was no limitation for me to actually leverage my LinkedIn, because, again, I was also publishing things about the work I did about the company. So I was also helping them grow their brand. And today, if you look around ATS now, I see a lot of people, I worked with, a lot of people in the leadership team actually leveraging LinkedIn now, because LinkedIn is a tool, when used effectively, can be used to grow the brand of the company and also to attract the best talent. And that's why I felt free to be able to use LinkedIn while I was at ATS. And it worked beautifully for me in terms of, you know, building a network, but also for my peers to see me as a leader, because I had my own thoughts and I was able to put them out.
[00:05:48] Oh, absolutely, absolutely. So, like I said, LinkedIn from my days as a student to now, has open doors that I never thought were possible.
[00:05:59] I keep telling people, actually my first corporate client was actually from LinkedIn, off because of LinkedIn. And this was at an event. I shouldn't have actually been at this event, but I was. And I was on my way out, I saw this lady. I stopped, I said hi. We exchanged some words, and got to the point where the lady's like, hey, we're looking for.
[00:06:20] We're trying to run a workshop, and we need someone with some LinkedIn experience to come facilitate this workshop. I was like, guess What? I've used LinkedIn, you know, for the last decade. I can definitely help you guys out. And, you know, a couple of months later, we exchanged ideas. She looked on my LinkedIn, see what I was doing, and, you know, I was sent a check with a couple of zeros. And that's when I knew, okay, there's something with LinkedIn.
[00:06:46] But for me, I would say my current job, obviously from LinkedIn, in terms of other speaking gigs, I've gotten them from LinkedIn as well. And just collaboration in the community as well. Straight from LinkedIn, people see me. I walk around when I go to events. Now people see me and they call me by my name, you or Kelly.
[00:07:05] Ten years ago, no one knew me, or five years ago, no one really knew me. But now, just because of my brand, I've built on LinkedIn. I go to places and people can recognize me and they tell me stories like, you know what? You made me bold to be able to use LinkedIn. I was so scared and sheepish about it, but now I'm very comfortable with it because I watch you and you are inspirational.
[00:07:36] Yeah, I do get a lot of questions, but one of the couple questions I get a lot, I think one of the first one is how do you stay consistent on LinkedIn? How do I stay consistent? And there's a bit of trick to that. I tell people it's just like driving. The first time you get in a car and start driving, you're scared, you're very vigilant, looking around. You don't want to drive at night. Absolutely. But over time you become a pro at it. You can go on the highway, you, you know, driving over a hundred kilometers per hour. That's how LinkedIn is all about. You start, but you have to start small. But over time it gets into your workflow, it becomes a habit where you don't really struggle with it anymore. So it's more like, how do you stay consistent? So one thing I tell people is this.
[00:08:19] There's something I do on LinkedIn, it's called bulk creating. So I learned that from the days during COVID when, you know, I was a young man living by myself. Covid happened. I started working from home and there was nothing much for me to do. The gym were closed, everything was closed. So I started dabbling with TikTok. So I started creating on TikTok. But something I quickly realized was I started getting burnt out on TikTok. But over time I learned, okay, if I can create content where for the next maybe one week I have maybe two, three content to post where I don't have to think about content on my feet. And that's what I did. So creating in bulk allows you to have 3, 4, 5 content that over time you can publish them without having to worry too much. Another question I also get is how do you know what to talk about or post about on LinkedIn?
[00:09:11] This is a big one because if you go back five, maybe 10 years ago, LinkedIn was more of this very static, professional looking platform. A lot of people call it this static blue platform. But these days, LinkedIn is a bit more humanized. People are showing their soft side. People are showing what they do outside their regular 9 to 5.
[00:09:32] So there's a lot you can actually post about on LinkedIn. Yes. You can post about your career growth, your journeys, your failures, your successes, any side project you're working on, any project you're working on at work, as long as it's not confidential. If it's public information, you can talk about it. You don't want to share confidential information for sure, but you can post it about anything. Your trip, you went to Bali and some of the struggles you had, you can post about that, talk about your journey. Because something I quickly realize is sometimes people tend to focus on the now. But I always tell people, focus on your past. You can tell stories about your past. You can tell stories about where you are now. You could also tell people about your aspiration and where you want to go to. Okay. And another way of posting, knowing what to post on LinkedIn is outside work. You should have passions, you should have hobbies. So those are the kind of things you could also post on LinkedIn. I try to connect them with some story of growth or challenge and so on and so forth. Yeah, That's a great question.
[00:10:50] Honestly speaking. No. I would say when I started LinkedIn and then I would say the early days of my career. Yes. Sometimes I'm like, okay, why is this person sniffing around? Why they're looking around. But over time, I just never worried about it because I think if you do that, you're worrying about the wrong things. Because LinkedIn is a tool that almost every professional has, which means that people would come onto your profile to maybe source. Maybe they're trying to source out a good talent. That's one. Or sometimes it could come to your profile because you posted something about an event or a piece you wrote, and then you just come in to read about it or get more information or. Other times, excuse me, other times, people just want to network. So, you know, they see your name pop up. They're like, okay, who's this person? Or where have they been? Or which school did I go to? So the fact is, people are always going to look at you on LinkedIn. So these days I don't worry about it. I see. Just because of the volume of people that look at my profile, I don't worry too much about it. You? Yes. Sometimes I see my bosses looking at it, I see my directors looking at it. But I also know, I notice there's A trend. Most times, let's say I put a post about maybe this grand project or these new industry trends, then I see people come to my profile. So I don't overthink it. Honestly, it's just good for my mental state like that. I just try not to overthink it because again, people are always going to look at you. That's just the honest truth.
[00:12:22] Yes, yes. I do have some contents that get a lot of traction.
[00:12:28] There's a couple of ones I noticed anytime I tell a personal story where I'm telling people, oh, here's where I am, but here's where I'm going, or here's the challenge I faced and here's how I learned and grew from that. I get a lot of traction because I noticed as much as we're all professionals, you know, we also humans. And sometimes LinkedIn can be very static where you're just like, you know what?
[00:12:52] Just numbers. Growth. But sometimes talk about your personal life, talk about that growth, both personally or professional.
[00:12:59] Sometimes people just want to connect with that. And a lot of people see themselves in that story. And sometimes people get inspired. And that's why I get a little pull from those, from those kind of published content on LinkedIn. Other times when I post about like a new technology or like a new industry trend where a lot of people are not really familiar with it, but then I break it down, I see a lot of growth there as well. And then I would say, finally when I post about, you know, how crazy the job market is today, I see a lot of pull there as well. Because right now in Canada, a lot of people are going through a lot.
[00:13:32] The market is tough. So whenever I'm posting, hey, here's what I see in the market, here's what my clients are telling me. People relate to that. And I would say one of my biggest content on LinkedIn actually was when I was at ATS, I created this post about the high tech companies in the Kitchener Waterloo corridor. I had, I created these graphics where I had like the company logos. Ats, Eclipse Automation, Toyota, Clear Parts Robotics, GMP Systematics, you know, all of these companies. And I published it. You know, I didn't think much about it.
[00:14:05] I went to sleep, woke up the next morning, I woke up to over 20,000 impressions on LinkedIn. I was like, okay, I see something here. Because I had, you know, I had like sales managers, account managers, directors, commenting like, oh, you forgot about us. You forgot about us. Don't forget about this company. You should have mentioned this company. And I Even got a like from Andrew Heider, the CEO of ats. That's when I knew. Okay, okay. I think this, that's how I started experimenting with content. So now there's sometimes some things I put on LinkedIn where I'm like, okay, I'm going to see a lot of traction here. Other times I'm like, I just want to share my story and put it out there. But I don't always think of I need to go viral LinkedIn. I just put out what I think and that's it. If it wants to go viral, sure. But those are kind of things that gives me a lot of traction on my profile.
[00:15:05] Is bigger always better? To some degree, yes. But I always tell people, focus on quality as opposed to quantity. The fact is, if you focus on quality, over time, you see growth, you see people come and approach you and, and if you can create value upfront to people, the fact is you will be like a magnet. That's just the truth. So it's one thing to grow your network, but I also tell people, don't just end there, don't just end. By growing your network, also become what is called a connector. So be a networker, but also be a connector. Because I found out that when I try to connect people, whether it's peers or friends, organizations together, there's some value waiting for me up front. It's almost like a paid forward mindset. So I try to do that. But. But the best way to grow your network on LinkedIn, there's a couple of things you need to do. I tell people to stick to the basics, right? It's not rocket science. So I would say connect with people you share mutual interest in. So these are people, maybe you work together as colleagues or you worked in a previous company together, you went to college together, you share the same industry, you belong to the same club, or you met at an event, make sure there's a common ground. Start there. Because the fact is, if you cannot connect with people you have shared interest in, you really cannot connect with that stranger who's like, you know, 20,000 miles away. So connect with people with shared mutual interests. I would say join LinkedIn groups within your industry. So whether you're in advanced manufacturing or you are in robotics or you are in automotive, just find a group within LinkedIn and join them because there's this mutual interest as well. And then try to participate in LinkedIn events. Lots of events happening on LinkedIn, they are virtual attend because there's a lot of people looking to connect as well. And then I would say try to create and reshare very value driven content on LinkedIn. The fact is, if you were giving out value on LinkedIn with your post, people would come automatically. That's just the truth. And then I would say the last one would be followed by companies and thought leaders in your industries. Sometimes when I talk to people and like, okay, what sort of companies do you want to work for? I hear things like I want to be at Microsoft, at Google, at PayPal. But then when I look through their LinkedIn, they don't even follow these companies in the first place. So I'm like, okay, how do you stay up to date on what they do if you don't really follow them on LinkedIn, where else are you going to follow them?
[00:17:25] So those are a couple of things you can do to start growing your network, at least on the platform.
[00:17:54] Oh, absolutely. Most definitely. I'll take ATS Automation as a case study here.
[00:17:59] Prior to leaving ats, I knew they had a marketing team that would, you know, they finish an equipment, we take pictures, we just publish here and there and just catalog it. But now what I'm seeing is people I worked with that are not social media gurus or fans of social media. Now they're coming on camera now to actually like talk about equipment, talk about the process, talk about the capabilities. I just saw a video the other day from, I think it's Ben Thierno, I think maybe he's manager of systems engineering there and he was in front of a camera talking about the capabilities of nuke, of laser welding and all that when it comes to battery cells. And I'm like, wow, Ben on camera. So. And the fact is it's helping grow the brand, it's helping grow the company and it's helping attract the right talent to the company. So like I said, if it's used the right way. And visuals are very important on LinkedIn. That's why you see my post on LinkedIn, when I write stuff, it has to go with a visual. Whether it's a picture, a video or an art piece, it has to go with it. That's just the truth. And then one other thing actually, in terms of greener network as well, is yes, online is good to start, but I also tell people, go to that cocktail event, go to events. That is one place I actually grow my network. Most times I go to events and when I leave 10, 15 people already connected with me on LinkedIn. That's one way of growing your network. So going to event, you know, have your LinkedIn ready. That's another way to also grow your LinkedIn.
[00:19:40] No, that, that is true. I see a lot of people do that sometimes.
[00:19:45] And there's a certain way you need to set up your LinkedIn to give out the right narrative, whether you are a corporation, whether you're an individual. There's a couple of things I tell people to always do to make sure their LinkedIn is set up again, you know, stick to the basics. Sometimes I get people message me on LinkedIn saying, hey Kelly, I've been on this platform for three years but I'm struggling, I just cannot figure it out or I'm just not getting any traction whatsoever. But the funny thing is some of these people that message me, they don't even have a profile picture in the first place. So I'm like, that is one of the reasons why you're struggling. People don't want to talk to ghosts. Start with a profile picture. People want to know who they're talking to. But a couple of things you can do after that, apart from having like a quality profile picture, you need to have a simple and clear banner, right? But again, whether you're an organization or you are an individual, simple and clear banner that highlights who you are and maybe highlights your brand as a company or as an individual. I would say a short out of the box headline that communicates your value. I think you mentioned that already. Something where if I look at your profile I can easily tell if you an automation company or you like an account manager and sort of the industry you service. Right. Those are the kind of things you need to do. And then your about section on LinkedIn you need to be able to tell people a narrative of who you are and your additional value proposition. I think when we started this call, you look through my LinkedIn and you can see what I'm up to.
[00:21:04] You need to have an about section because it's key. I go to people's about section and I read about them, honestly. So you should have that and then try to create high quality content on LinkedIn, especially if you're a corporation, like you said, you're working with a client where you've asked them to get a camera, take pictures and put them out there. It's important. High quality, authoritative content, make it visual. That is the best way to pull people to your profile. And then make sure you're also engaging with your community, you're engaging with the industry experts like yourself, Jim, and influencers right in the space. And also tell people, try to be consistent because the algorithm on LinkedIn. If you're not consistent on LinkedIn, you would not be.
[00:21:46] When people look for you, you wouldn't be at the top of the list. You'll be at the bottom, bottom of the barrel. So try to be consistent, try to be authentic, and if you follow these steps, I guarantee you will start seeing success. It worked for me, and I think it could work for anyone.
[00:22:24] Mm.
[00:22:29] Oh, that's a great question. So, yes, there's a lot of things you shouldn't. There's a lot of things you should be doing on LinkedIn, but there's a group of things you should not be doing on LinkedIn.
[00:22:38] You know, LinkedIn is not Instagram, so try to be focused on LinkedIn.
[00:22:43] One thing I tell people is this. Avoid over promotion on LinkedIn. So if you're trying to promote, let's say an event or a product or a service, yes, promote it. But try not to over promote it. This is not Instagram. It's almost like you're spamming now. So try not to over promote on LinkedIn. Another thing I would say is try or avoid discussing topics you're not fully aware of on LinkedIn. So, for example, things like abortion or the war in Gaza and Israel, I don't know much about it, so you wouldn't find me talking about those topics. Okay, let's say AI. Yes, I know a lot about AI, but when it gets to the ethics of AI, to the, you know, underlying foundation, you wouldn't find me talking about it because I have no idea how those large language models work. So you won't find me talking about topics I am not fully aware of. So try to stay away from that.
[00:23:33] Refrain from posting too many selfies. I know a lot of selfies are popping up on the platform now, but try not to post too many selfies. I actually noticed that when I post selfies, I don't get a lot of traction. When I post a picture of me post with maybe someone else or in a group, I see a lot of traction with those posts. So try not to post too many selfies. You know, selfies are for Instagram and for Snapchat. Okay. And then try not to post anything controversial. So I'm talking things like guns, politics, alcohol, sex. Try not to talk about those on LinkedIn. A lot of people frown on that as well. And then one last one, I'll tell people, as much as you're allowed to post whatever you want to post on LinkedIn, even about your work at a company, try not to post confidential company Information. This is a no, no. You don't want to get into a point where you've been called into HR and legal office to come explain yourself or divorce company secrets. Do not post that.
[00:24:36] The truth is to have any advice there. So here's what I'd say. When it comes to sending invitations to people on LinkedIn, I always tell people, make sure you have a network. Make sure you build this network before you have to approach them for something.
[00:24:54] Sometimes I get people approach me where, let's say they connected with me today and then immediately they're asking me, hey, Kelly, can you recommend me for this job? Hey, Kelly, can you recommend me for this person? The fact is, I don't really know you, so I'm not willing to put my name on the line. So the right time to connect is now. That's just the honest truth. If you think you need to connect with someone, think you need to follow them, or you're inspired by them, connect with them now as opposed to connecting with them when you need them, you know, two months later or two years later. So the right time is now. And I also tell people this as a professional. Your network is your network. I think this is a common phrase in corporate Canada.
[00:25:30] So start building a network. Connect with people now. Connect people we share mutual interest with. You don't have to wait. What's the point of waiting? Connect with them now so later when you need them, at least you build some familiarity, Right? You build some relationships with them and approaching them will be much easier.
[00:26:04] No, absolutely. Yes, I remember. Maybe, I think, yes, you did reach out and I think you were talking about, I believe there was an event at one of the restaurant. I think it was grain of salt and you were bringing some players in the industry and I couldn't attend. But you see, you offered value upfront and I knew if I was there, I would have met all of these people, but I just couldn't make it. But you see, over time we've built the relationship, we've built some familiarity where if you come tomorrow and say, hey, Kelly, there's this event, maybe I need you to speak or I need you to meet these people, I need to connect me with that person. It's easier for me to do that because I've put a face to the name and over time I am comfortable with you.
[00:26:53] It's actually Consult with Kelly.
[00:27:13] Absolutely. So, yes, I, I run a career consulting and coaching business on the side called Consult with Kelly Inc. And you can actually find
[email protected] and what we do there again is just trying to help people with right career strategies and empower them with skill development program and just help them navigate the very complex job market we find ourselves today. So that's what we do at least at consult with Kelly and you can definitely check us out and reach out if you, if you feel stuck or you're looking to transition or maybe you're aiming for a promotion. We are here to help you.
[00:27:54] Actually.
[00:27:56] Yes, maybe I'm just going to throw this one in there.
[00:28:00] Yes, I've got my full time job but again running consult with Kelly on the side.
[00:28:06] There's also a couple of things I do on the side as well. I'm very involved in the community, at least here in Kitchener Waterloo and not a lot of people know this, but I'm also one of the, or should I say I'm part of the ownership group of a company called Skill Dev Inc. And it's an ed tech company focused on launching motivated professionals into their dream tech careers. And we do that through e learning and career development platform. And you know, audience can check us out at www.skilldev ca and reach out because now tech is big. Everybody wants to go into tech or tech like careers and we're here to help those people get there on the side.
[00:28:47] Not sure how I'm able to do all of this, but I'm also the founder of a nonprofit called Black Innovation Network and we are actually on a mission to advance Black led innovation across Canada.
[00:28:59] We aim to break down the systemic barriers in Canada's innovation space by providing mentorship resources, a support network for black innovators across Canada and you can learn more about the work we do right now in the community at BlackInnovation CA.
[00:29:16] Yes, like I said, our mission is to advance Black led innovation across Canada and try to break down those systematic barriers in the innovation space.
[00:29:23] I think that's it.
[00:29:38] Yeah, definitely. So yes, I am very active on LinkedIn so you can obviously find me there, connect with me, send me a note, let's, let's chat. And you could also look at our website and see, you know, what, what are items we have there that speaks to you. But for me I'm always looking for ways to connect and, and collaborate with amazing individuals and organizations and yeah, so reach out to me on LinkedIn. If not, you know, check me out on my, on my website and we can chat.
[00:30:11] That is correct.
[00:30:18] Now. Thanks for having me, Jim. This is good. This was fun.
