The Professionals: Cindy Krikawa, a Woman of Many Careers

A paralegal turned marketing professional, Cindy Krikawa is now working on a marketing project for Tusk, and has a lot to say about career shifts. She also runs a blog, Quaint Handmade.   

What was your original career goal, and area of study? Other than being a ballerina and such, I don't think I had any idea of what I wanted to be when I ‘grew up'. I always seemed to copy my older brother and at one point I wanted to be a draftsman like him. Something I'm realizing just this year is the importance of music in my life and I'm a little bit cranky with my high school guidance counselor for not picking up on it back then. I don't think I had any clarity regarding a career path when I started college. I was the first one in my family to go to college and didn't really think about it until I got into a sorority in high school. The other girls were making plans to go and I followed their lead. I brought the idea of going to college to my parents.

When I started college I commuted from home, worked part-time, had a double major in Sociology and Criminal Justice, and took 18 credits every semester with a heavy emphasis on art. I probably had just about enough courses to qualify for a minor in art, but that wasn't in my mind, yet. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but wasn't sure, of course. So, after graduating from college I got a degree in Paralegal Studies from Baruch.

And where did the shifting start? I was a corporate paralegal in a small firm for several years and I loved it. I worked with partners most of the time and gained a lot of responsibility. I wanted to be an important member of the team so I took a lot of initiative to make including me worthwhile. For example, if I was proofreading a document, I would not only note typos, but include comments about substance. I would also take steps to prepare documentation in advance, which helped me avoid some late nights. When one of the lawyers with whom I worked for many years moved to a large firm I went with him. The shift started at that time because there were many layers between me and the partners - summer associates, first year associates, etc. I ended up competing for substantive work and teaching them the things I learned over the years. I didn't' want to be a lawyer and reached the ‘glass ceiling' of responsibility.

Fortunately, the same lawyer became CEO of a publishing company and I was able to move from legal to a corporate environment with a lot more opportunities for professional growth. Something many lawyers dream about themselves. We were there for about a year under very tumultuous circumstances before he resigned, which left me in a bind since I didn't have enough time to establish myself beyond legal.  But, while I was with the company I met a really wonderful consultant, Mark Monchek, who ultimately offered me a job in marketing even though I had no experience. I'm grateful to him as that was a pivotal moment for me. Subsequently, I obtained a degree in Business from NYU, took several courses in design at Parsons, and continue to invest my personal time in self-study.

Do you feel more equipped to do your present job having done your previous jobs? Working in legal definitely helped me with my experience in the corporate world. I learned about all the facets of running a business a company will encounter from incorporation to going public. I understand the concepts covered in contracts and there's a certain discipline that comes from working in a legal environment. There is a strong attention to detail and learning involved in order to be able to work with sophisticated concepts.

What's your day-to-day like with your present job? In a nutshell, marketing is the promotion of a service or product.  Essentially, it addresses the following core issues: product (specifications of the actual services/goods), pricing (cost either in monetary value or an exchange of services/goods), promotion (advertising, sales, pr, etc.) and placement (distribution). I worked in marketing/web management for a consulting firm and a technology start-up before my current company, Tusk, which is an accessories manufacturer. Marketing consulting services is much different than manufacturing. In consulting, you are selling an intangible result vs. a manufacturer who offers a tangible product. For example, you can't ‘see' the value of the strategic plan beforehand unlike a handbag.

I've always worked in small companies so my areas of responsibility have run the gamut from developing strategy to executing it. Wearing multiple hats has been essential and it can be a relief to work on more routine tasks from time to time. It gives me a chance to think about what we're doing in a strategic way. I enjoy the creative aspect found in marketing, although there are days when I think it was easier to work in legal as it is pretty much black and white. Sometimes, I think it would be great to work with a larger company with a big budget to boot, but those layers of management between the decision-makers and me might not sit too well at this point. I've been ‘spoiled' and have always had the opportunity to present my ideas informally to those who had control over the corporate purse strings.

I work part-time with Tusk, and recently I've collaborated with our team on the development of a branding brief so the company and our partners are all on the same page with regard to how the company is presented. We also have a sample sale about to start, so I've been in touch with the local press to cover the specifics about the event. We've just recently wrapped up a Spring Preview 2009 editorial campaign that involved working with a wonderful photographer and the subsequent promotion of it to our customers and the press. That was probably the most exciting project for me so far as the visuals are stunning and they speak for themselves.

If your job consumes your life, did you ever think that it would? I have a life outside of work and it's a deliberate choice. I've definitely sacrificed moving up the corporate ladder by not having more aspirational goals. But, I'm not trying to change the world. I just want to make my part of it a little bit better. Legal and marketing have consumed my life at times, but in different ways. Legal was a drain on time from late hours when a deal was in the works and trying to close quickly. Marketing consumes my life because it's not a 9-5 job. There's always something new that might be of use to us. If I read a fashion magazine, I'm not just enjoying it for the beauty tips, although I can always use them, it's work. I also remember what it was like before the Internet became mainstream and it's a whole new ballgame in play 24/7.

Any tips on career shifts? Or, how to know when one isn't working? If you think about it, we're all selling something, so you might as well like the service or product you're selling. Just like the college degree you will earn, a career shift does not happen overnight. And, it might not happen just once. I think the sooner you can identify the things that make you ‘naturally' happy the better. Although I worked very hard and did well, legal was probably not a good fit for me because I'm a visual person. Marketing certainly uses graphics to communicate a message whereas the law is all about the written word.

If you're feeling that you might not be in the correct major or in a career that doesn't fulfill you, take one step towards exploring an alternative. Take a class, read a book, schedule an informational interview. You will be amazed at how empowered you will feel even if that's all you do. I've seen many people get locked into a career they don't love and it's painful. But, it is easier to be a ‘victim' and blame someone else for your unhappiness. It's also not as risky as trying something new. Luck can't be discounted, nor can being prepared to take advantage of an opportunity that presents itself. I had no experience when I started to work on marketing, but thought I would give it a try. It really was that simple - I just tried really hard.

What have you learned through these jobs about life in general? I read a really great book a few years ago called ‘Make A Name For Yourself' by Robin Fishher Roffer. Although the book is directed at women, it is useful to everyone. It talks about treating yourself as you would a product and takes you through the steps of creating a personal brand strategy. There is a simple exercise that has you remember what you liked to do as a kid, before the adults interfered. I realized that I liked to make things with my hands, which probably explains why I took all those art courses in college. I'm not a fine artist by any stretch of the imagination and was never thought of to be a great talent artistically, but I really enjoy it. Thanks to my supportive husband, I've been able to work on creative pursuits as a business or simply as a personal expression through painting, sewing and photography.

Another exercise in the book helps you identity your core values. This was of tremendous help to me. Often, people say ‘they don't know who they are'. I'm not sure I can answer that question concisely, either, but I do know that my core values are love (a passion for I do, it's of personal importance), knowledge (curiosity) and authenticity (keep in real). I know that if those values are being challenged in anyway, I will become uncomfortable.

Finally, I will say that sometimes you can do all the right things, play by the rules, give it all you've got, and it might not work out positively. I think today's financial woes and related layoffs are prime examples. It won't be your fault, but you'll feel the pain. I did when I was with the publishing company. It can be heartbreaking, but you just have to keep going. You'll figure it out eventually and things will work out. I'm still working on it, and that's fine with me.