The High-Five: 5 Questions with Client Solutions Manager Carmen Shum
Q. You recently joined LinkedIn as a client solutions manager from JP Morgan Chase, where you specialized in social media content strategy and marketing. In the wake of COVID-19, in what ways has your prior experience in digital helped you pivot to working remotely while, at the same time, staying connected to your colleagues, who you have only known a relatively short time?
A. It’s definitely an interesting time for all of us in the workforce, and working from home is a fairly new experience for me since it wasn’t something that I did often in my previous job. But my prior job did require me to be on video calls daily because the people I worked with were located in different offices all around the world. As a result, I’m quite comfortable with being on camera and staying engaged through a virtual format! Because my team wasn’t always in the same office as me, I understood that communication was very important early on in helping to build relationships and trust. Always take time to check in on others on how they are doing to see how you can help and share what you’re working on to advocate for yourself because people can’t always see what you’re doing.
Q. As a client success manager, how are you setting your clients, both existing and new, for success? How and what does that look like today?
“Always take time to check in on others on how they are doing to see how you can help and share what you’re working on to advocate for yourself because people can’t always see what you’re doing. ”
A. My first step is understanding what success means for the client because that’s different for everyone. It’s also important for me to get a deep understanding of their business to understand how they can grow. It’s not about overnight success, but instead about progress and helping them to build a plan that can help them scale and grow. Success with a client looks like a strong partnership where there’s trust between us and they know that I have their back when they need help.
Q. Eight-graders and high school seniors recently received their acceptance letters for high school and colleges and universities, respectively. You went to Stuyvesant High School in New York City, and are not too far removed from that period in your life. As a way of still providing meaning and a connection to the special moments outgoing seniors have collectively, some students are building replicas of their schools in Minecraft to host proms and graduations virtually. If you were an incoming freshman or a graduating senior, what experiences would you want to create for your former self, to help bridge this unprecedented transition in your life and in the lives of your fellow classmates?
A. I love how students are making the big milestones in their lives happen in creative ways. When I was in high school, I was on the Yearbook committee and was very excited to help create something memorable that would serve as a time capsule for our future selves to revel in. If I were a graduating senior again, I would love to create a yearbook where everyone had the chance to collaborate on to help everyone feel more connected to each other by sharing their stories, positive messages, and shout outs.
Q. You have served as a member, patrol leader and adult advisor for the Girl Scouts for nearly a decade. The Coronavirus pandemic has adversely affected their cookie sales and the way in which they connect with their community. Drawing upon your own experiences, what guidance would you give the Girl Scouts themselves and its organization, as it moves through this period of separation and isolation from themselves and the communities in which they count on?
A. When I was a member, I always looked forward to seeing my friends and getting together as a troop to do a new activity every week. So although scouts and troops might be isolated at home during this time, they should still try and gather together through virtual meetings to keep the excitement alive. This is a time more than ever where it’s important to have a community that can support each other and also come together to think of ways we can help those around us who are in need. Part of the Girl Scouts promise is to help people at all times and I don’t doubt that troops across the nation are gathering together right now thinking about way they can help their communities. The values and skills that I gained from being a Girl Scout are something that I still carry with me and have shaped me to be who I am today. I would hate to see any girls be left behind because they don’t have access to the invaluable resources that Girl Scouts provide.
Q. Life in perpetual BETA is essentially the notion that you are constantly and continually in the state of becoming. You’re never quite there and always are striving to improve. I have introduced B.E.T.A. as a mnemonic to explore ways in which one could bring about positive change in one’s life, or organization. Against what humanity is facing today and how we’re going to pull through it together, belief, empathy, trust and advocacy take on new and more significant meaning. Would you indulge me and share how you would apply these words as it relates to your personal or professional life?
A. Belief: Don’t dwell. There are no mistakes in life, only lessons.
Empathy: Always be kind, you never know what others are going through.
Trust: Trust the timing of your life. You are where you need to be right now.
Advocacy: Bring the people around you up with you.