Don't post that to LinkedIn...

Media People Newsletter
Written and curated by Victor Genova · February 23, 2024 · Issue #4

Welcome to the fourth issue of the Media People Newsletter. Subscribe here if you haven’t already. In this issue:

• Matt Devlin from PHD Canada stops by the podcast

• Your LinkedIn posts could be hurting your career

• How to have a good conversation

• Recommended reading: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

• From the Media People Podcast archives: Wine Renaissance Woman & Entrepreneur, Angela Aiello [2020]

Episode 92 with Matt Devlin—PHD Canada Managing Director, Marketing Science, is LIVE! We chat:

• What the Running Room taught him about sales

• Why he majored in Cinema Studies & Semiotics

• The increasing role science plays in marketing

• Working for Zenith’s UK office

• His current role with PHD

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and online at mediapeople.ca.

LinkedIn is like Thor’s hammer—It can be a tool to build or a weapon to destroy. And depending on how you utilize LinkedIn for growth and branding, you could be ‘hammering’ your career. My advice is to steer clear of politics, controversial topics, and grievances. Post, comment, and interact with content that showcases your professional prowess and curiosity. I promise you this—hiring managers will find you on LinkedIn (and other social media sites), and your online conduct will impact your candidacy. Will it be positive or negative? That’s up to you. Need examples of what self-destructive LinkedIn posts look like? This video from the A Life After Layoff YouTube page contains a few.

How to Have a Good Conversation

In a polarizing world it’s becoming harder for people to communicate. Celeste Headlee—veteran radio journalist, author, public speaker, and the host of Retro Report on PBS, knows this first hand. Good journalists have to strike a balance between listening and talking, which makes them the ideal experts on conversing. And this is exactly what Headlee outlines in this Tedx Talk—how to have a good conversation. Journalists aren’t the only ones that need to be strong communicators. Whether you’re managing up or down, the ability to communicate and listen intently is instrumental to career success.

Recommended Reading: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

I was never much of a Matthew McConaughey fan. Romantic comedies aren’t my thing, and I couldn’t make it through Dazed and Confused. But along came The Lincoln Lawyer, Dallas Buyers Club, and The Wolf of Wall Street, instantly transforming America’s answer to Hugh Grant from conventional love interest to leading man and Academy Award winner. Greenlights is a chronological set of personal stories showcasing success, failure, personal growth, fear, and the risks & rewards that come with fame. What I enjoyed most about the book was reading how McConaughey realized breaking free from the romcom typecast was critical to his long-term career—detailing the lengths taken to change this. This included turning down multiple roles, lots of money, and being unemployed for almost two years until the right part presented itself. McConaughey describes a greenlight as a sign from the universe that you should keep moving. Greenlights is available at Amazon, Indigo, or wherever you get your books.

From the Media People Podcast Archives: Wine Renaissance Woman & Entrepreneur, Angela Aiello [pka ‘Super Wine Girl’]

Angela Aiello has spent the better part of her career helping young adults make sense of wine. Angela started in hospitality while at university, working in the Four Diamond restaurants at some of the Niagara Region’s biggest wineries. After graduation she relocated to Toronto, continuing in wine retail. From there she moved into the corporate world, working at XM Satellite Radio before pivoting into Executive Recruitment. But Angela continued to pursue her passion for wine on the side. She harnessed the power of social media, uploading self-made wine info videos to YouTube. Those videos laid the foundation for what would eventually become the iYellow Wine Club, Toronto’s premier wine club. Angela sold the iYellow Wine Club after more than a decade, and is focusing her time on covering the wine industry. A dedicated wine journalist, content creator, and influencer, we learn why she is affectionately known as the 'Super Wine Girl'. The episode originally aired in June of 2020.

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and online at mediapeople.ca