“You can’t let one section of your life own your time without your consent.” | Women Empowerment in Advertising & Beauty: Meet Suzannah Tarkin

As Senior Director at Fohr , Suzannah is proud to lead the Sephora Squad ambassador program since 2019, uplifting underrepresented voices in beauty. Her desire to empower the next generation of leaders can also be seen in her work as a career coach.

Miss EmpowHer: What does women's empowerment mean to you? Why is it important?

Suzannah Tarkington: Woman empowerment means creating space for the voices of all women to be heard, recognized, valued, and prioritized. As a woman in the historically male dominated advertising industry, having female voices in the room crafting strategies, making decisions, and leading change is integral to creating more human-centered work. I’ve seen that by unlocking the power, knowledge, and care of the woman I work with, we’ve created work that deeply resonates. I would love to see a world where women in society consistently were told and felt that they were valuable, unleashing their potential in bigger and bolder ways.?

Miss EmpowHer: What advice would you give to other women looking to succeed in your industry? What qualities are the most important and what skills should they focus on developing?

Suzannah Tarkington: Trust yourself, you have everything innately within you that you need to succeed. Do not make decisions out of fear or trying to prove yourself, make decisions from a deep place of purpose that’s aligned with your values. Speak up, don’t hold back. Be willing to fail at full speed and use every experience as a learning opportunity. Take time for stillness and reflection daily, you will never be able to serve or support others without supporting and loving yourself first.?

"Speak up, don’t hold back. Be willing to fail at full speed and use every experience as a learning opportunity. Take time for stillness and reflection daily, you will never be able to serve or support others without supporting and loving yourself first."

As you go through your career in advertising or influencer marketing, you’ll usually be spending time in one or multiple of these key pillars: creation (making & sharing), exploring, visioning, auditing, or coaching. Over time the percentage of time you spend in each of these areas will fluctuate depending on your seniority. Get good at recognizing where your time is currently spent, how to maximize the quality and outcomes of that type of work, and then what area you need to level up in for you to grow into the next level of your career.?

Miss EmpowHer: Tell us about a woman who has influenced your career and how their guidance has impacted your professional growth.

Suzannah Tarkington: My coach Shelley Kay has had an incredible impact on my personal and professional growth. I came to Shelley at a time when I was feeling burnt out, uninspired, and uncertain in myself. I had been afraid in the past to ask for help but reached a point where I knew that I needed to take my future into my own hands instead of passively allowing others to choose my path for me. Shelley showed me a path towards grasping my potential, creating habits to set myself up for success daily, and building trust in my instincts. Since working with her, I’ve won the first award for excellence at Fohr and been promoted to Senior Director. She also inspired me to start the journey of receiving my own coaching certification.

Miss EmpowHer: How do you handle work-related stress and pressure, and what techniques or practices do you use to maintain your well-being while pursuing a successful career?

Suzannah Tarkington: You have to deeply understand that you can only create the environment for success but it is up to the people around you to choose what they do within that environment. You cannot control their reactions or decisions, all you can control is how you react and how you place your attention on the present moment (vs. harping on the past or worrying about the future). Don’t let worry bankrupt your time. Having a million dollar morning routine (check it out from Mel Robbins ) and a rock solid evening routine is extremely important to me! Each morning I spend 5 minutes journaling, 10 minutes in meditation, and 10 minutes on a walk outside to ground myself. Your most valuable and scarce asset is not time, but your attention in the time you have. By giving my brain a break, I’m able to realign and create more space for focus on what’s truly important.?

"...all you can control is how you react and how you place your attention on the present moment."

Miss EmpowHer: Can you share any lessons or insights you have gained from failures or setbacks in your career, and how you have turned them into opportunities for growth and learning?

Suzannah Tarkington: During challenging moments, I’ve learned to listen to my intuition and dig in or let go. This takes practice and time but will change the way you see failure. For me, failure is innate to change and if things are not changing that I’m not making any progress. Failure is important as moments of “failure” are your greatest teachers. You bond more with the people around you in a moment of failure that brings you together than in 100 moments of celebration. You just have to be willing to be open, be vulnerable, and move forward without shame or guilt.?

"Failure is important as moments of “failure” are your greatest teachers."

Miss EmpowHer: Can you share any strategies or tips for building a successful network and fostering meaningful professional relationships that have helped you in your career?

Suzannah Tarkington: Be authentically you and don’t let fear of judgment get in your way. Fear and doubt are your worst enemies when it comes to building a successful relationship or network. They will crawl into your head and say - don’t speak to that person, you won’t know what to say or meeting new people is scary, protect yourself and stay with those you already know. Betting on yourself and asking “what happens if I make a new connection, I build a deeper relationship, ect.” is the most important first step.?

"Be authentically you and don’t let fear of judgment get in your way. Fear and doubt are your worst enemies..."

When you start to connect with someone, don’t try to sell yourself. Instead be curious, ask about the other person, genuinely get to know them, and then find ways that you naturally connect or have things in common. Build a bridge where you can both meet half-way and then follow up. Remember people’s names, fun facts, things that they love. Pay attention and listen to them fully vs. listening to your own inner voice.

Miss EmpowHer: What strategies or tactics do you use for setting and achieving your career goals, and how do you stay motivated and focused on your objectives?

Suzannah Tarkington: Take time to get clear on your goals, make sure the action you’ll take is at the forefront of the goal, and don’t set too many. I really love this science-backed technique from Mel Robbins to set goals. Track your goals weekly, I use the Best Year Journal from Intelligent Change. Goals are great but only if you think about them and work towards them often. I have my five goals for the year in my notes app and I look at them almost every day, working in little ways to move towards them. Effective goals should be something you are excited to work towards because they have a deeper meaning for you. They empower you and allow you to change through small steps to become the person you want to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e86ie1xLlnE&ab_channel=MelRobbins

"Effective goals should be something you are excited to work towards because they have a deeper meaning for you. They empower you and allow you to change through small steps to become the person you want to be."

Miss EmpowHer: What motivated you to choose your current career field, and what do you find most fulfilling about your work?

Suzannah Tarkington: I received a degree in Strategic Design and Management from Parsons which is a BBA focused on the intersection of creative problem solving and design thinking. I started working in PR and traditional advertising but the opportunity to work at Fohr on the SEPHORA account magically fell into my lap based on lots of hard work and the network I built at my last agency. There was something about the people and the spirit at Fohr that inspired me to take a chance on influencer marketing, it was a risk but I listened to my gut. Currently, what I find most fulfilling is being able to empower the next generation of leaders - both at my company but also in the beauty space holistically. The Sephora Squad program has truly helped transform the face of beauty and it has been a joy to work with so many talented creators over the last five years!?

Miss EmpowHer: Can you discuss any specific trends or changes in your industry that you see impacting careers, and how you are preparing to adapt to these changes?

Suzannah Tarkington: Social media is evolving at an incredibly rapid pace. Brands have to evolve to keep up with shrinking consumer attention spans. Fohr recently came out with new rules of influencer marketing, focused on how brands need to adopt, be more agile, and lean into creator led edu-tainment in bigger ways! Building authenticity, relatability and reacting in-the-moment will be key for clients moving forward. We are focused on creating ways to be extremely agile, work more quickly, and seek out the right moments for our clients to react based on their goals and strategies.?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZPZZ_nsunM&ab_channel=Fohr ?

Miss EmpowHer: What advice do you have for individuals who are starting their careers or looking to make a career change, based on your own experiences and lessons learned?

Suzannah Tarkington: You will spend more time with your coworkers than with your friends, family, and loved ones. Make sure that you find people who will invest in you, support you, and are kind.?

Putting yourself out there can be exhausting, but it’s extremely important. You have to start somewhere. Everyone has been in your shoes at some point - don’t be afraid to ask for a coffee chat with someone and tap your network.

Be willing to try new things, you might not be the perfect fit but your work could be translatable.?

Get clear on your statement of purpose, people are skimming through resumes. Include your purpose statement clearly on yours, if it’s the one thing people read - make it memorable.?

Miss EmpowHer: How do you approach professional development and continuous learning to enhance your skills and stay relevant in your industry??

Suzannah Tarkington: READ as much as possible, be informed, follow newsletters and publications, follow editors on social media, take time to do this daily.?

Attend events, get out there, meet people, be curious.?

Share your thoughts openly, post on linkedin, share in your team slack, be hungry to share and receive.?

If you find yourself lacking in a specific area, don’t sit on it. Look for a way to improve it - take a course, sign up for training, work with a coach, show that you are proactively willing to invest in yourself.?

Miss EmpowHer: Can you discuss any significant achievements or accomplishments in your career that you are particularly proud of and what you learned from those experiences?

Suzannah Tarkington: Launching Sephora Squad as a three person team at Fohr alongside Sephora in 2019 was a huge accomplishment, it was the first application-based influencer marketing program of its kind and we had over 15k people apply. It was a beautiful whirlwind that I’m incredibly proud to see until this day!

Starting my journey towards becoming a career and leadership coach. Being able to help work closely with others to find their inner power and strength is an absolute joy! If anyone is interested in learning more about the coaching experience or curriculum they can reach out to [email protected]

Last year I won Fohr’s first award for Excellence, nominated by my peers. This was an incredible, humbling moment. It’s a beautiful thing when your hard work and approach are seen and recognized by those around you. As the youngest Senior Director ever at Fohr, I see it as a great privilege and honor to continue building an environment of excellence for my team.?

Going from a team of three when I first started to overseeing a team of 14 people has been an incredible, challenging, and beautiful experience. I’ve been able to work with and foster relationships with so many incredible people!?

Miss EmpowHer: How do you balance your career ambitions with other aspects of your life, such as family, hobbies, and personal well-being?

Suzannah Tarkington: It has taken me a long time to find a deeper sense of balance between my work and my personal life. A big realization was that I’m always one person, there is no “work Suzannah” and “personal Suzannah”, I have to foster and support the whole person daily to show up as my best in both areas. It’s really all about what you prioritize, how you use your time, and where you put your attention. If spending time with your family is a large priority, then you’ll do that. If needing to wrap up a project at work to be the highest quality is a priority, then you’ll do that. The biggest thing is that you can’t let one section of your life own your time without your consent. For me, this was the reframe that rejuvenation is an essential part of productivity and that I truly deserve to love myself enough to take care of me before being in service to others. Create habits and boundaries for yourself that allow you to show up mentally and physically as your best self no matter what you’re doing.?

"The biggest thing is that you can’t let one section of your life own your time without your consent."

Miss EmpowHer: Are there any specific books, podcasts, email newsletters, thought leaders/influencers, or training courses/programs that you would recommend for personal or professional growth?

Suzannah Tarkington: Books & Journals:

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

Do Less by Kate Northrup

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by David J. Evans, Bill Burnett, Dave Evans

101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest

The Five Minute Journal by Intelligent Change

The Best Year Journal by Intelligent Change

People / things to follow:

The Mel Robbins Podcast

Tiffany "The Budgetnista" Aliche

Ezra Klein?

Steven Bartlett

Women In Influencer Marketing

Coaching:

If you’re interested in becoming or learning more about coaching: https://coactive.com/

Shelley Kay Coaching: https://www.shelleykaycoaching.com/

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