2008 Woodie Awards
Nicole Williams rivets crowd with impassioned motivational speech
Katie Brown
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: News
This past Tuesday, Nicole Williams, a career expert and best-selling author, presented to an auditorium of predominantly female Union College students about "Bringing a Career to Life."
The Becker Career Center co-sponsored this event, along with all the sororities on campus.
Katie Loeb, '09, of SDT, organized the women of Union's sororities to co- sponsor the event. Williams was part of SDT's programming last year and inspired Loeb, as well as many other members of the sorority, with her motivating speech. She was asked to return to Union College this year in order to spread her word to a broader spectrum of the student body.
Williams is accredited with redefining the attitude and tools that young professional women need to succeed. Her career boomed after nearly a decade of success in the corporate world, when Williams went in search of a book that could help her take her career to the next level. When she failed to find such a book, she set out to write the book herself.
Williams released a book, titled Wildly Sophisticated: A Bold New Attitude for Career Success, which earned her a record-breaking six figures from Penguin Group Inc., as well as the title of a national best seller. While writing the book, Williams also launched Wildly Sophisticated Media (now WORKS by Nicole Williams), a company dedicated to redefining the world of career development, while making it glamorous, fun, and relevant to women. In 2005, she released a second book, titled Earn What You're Worth: A Wildly Sophisticated Approach to Investing In Your Career and Yourself. That same year, she co-created a reality television series on the Oxygen Network, called Making It Big, based on her real-world career strategies. Williams has made many guest appearances on television's Good Morning America, CNN, Good Day New York and Fox News. She is a contributing writer to Elle, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, The New York Post, The Washington Post and The Financial Times.
According to the Associate Director of Becker, Rochelle Caruso, "it is Katie Loeb's and my hope that by bringing Nicole Williams back to campus for a wider audience, it will motivate more students to take the next steps in their own career exploration, or internship or job search."
During her time at Union, Williams reached out to the students by speaking about "The 21 Things I whish I Knew at Age 21." Though she titled her speech to convey a message relevant to Loeb's upcoming birthday, it was pertinent to all young women and college students searching for career information applicable to their own lives.
Among Williams' suggestions, a common message stood out: a sense of self-respect, self-confidence and hard work. Her anecdotal form of speech, which encompassed many true-to-life stories, made it easy for listeners to connect to the message she was trying to express. She suggested that while one must always strive for excellence, it is dangerous to take oneself or one's work too seriously. She also stressed that "no one is going to do this for you-your career is your responsibility."
The Becker Career Center co-sponsored this event, along with all the sororities on campus.
Katie Loeb, '09, of SDT, organized the women of Union's sororities to co- sponsor the event. Williams was part of SDT's programming last year and inspired Loeb, as well as many other members of the sorority, with her motivating speech. She was asked to return to Union College this year in order to spread her word to a broader spectrum of the student body.
Williams is accredited with redefining the attitude and tools that young professional women need to succeed. Her career boomed after nearly a decade of success in the corporate world, when Williams went in search of a book that could help her take her career to the next level. When she failed to find such a book, she set out to write the book herself.
Williams released a book, titled Wildly Sophisticated: A Bold New Attitude for Career Success, which earned her a record-breaking six figures from Penguin Group Inc., as well as the title of a national best seller. While writing the book, Williams also launched Wildly Sophisticated Media (now WORKS by Nicole Williams), a company dedicated to redefining the world of career development, while making it glamorous, fun, and relevant to women. In 2005, she released a second book, titled Earn What You're Worth: A Wildly Sophisticated Approach to Investing In Your Career and Yourself. That same year, she co-created a reality television series on the Oxygen Network, called Making It Big, based on her real-world career strategies. Williams has made many guest appearances on television's Good Morning America, CNN, Good Day New York and Fox News. She is a contributing writer to Elle, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, The New York Post, The Washington Post and The Financial Times.
According to the Associate Director of Becker, Rochelle Caruso, "it is Katie Loeb's and my hope that by bringing Nicole Williams back to campus for a wider audience, it will motivate more students to take the next steps in their own career exploration, or internship or job search."
During her time at Union, Williams reached out to the students by speaking about "The 21 Things I whish I Knew at Age 21." Though she titled her speech to convey a message relevant to Loeb's upcoming birthday, it was pertinent to all young women and college students searching for career information applicable to their own lives.
Among Williams' suggestions, a common message stood out: a sense of self-respect, self-confidence and hard work. Her anecdotal form of speech, which encompassed many true-to-life stories, made it easy for listeners to connect to the message she was trying to express. She suggested that while one must always strive for excellence, it is dangerous to take oneself or one's work too seriously. She also stressed that "no one is going to do this for you-your career is your responsibility."
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