Partnering with Slack at SXSW to Highlight Five Essential Career Lessons

In its second year back post-pandemic, the Austin, TX-based South by Southwest (SXSW) conference returned. SXSW is a two-week long showcase of technology, media, music, film, comedy and conferences. Procore was thrilled to partake in the occasion yet again, this time in partnership with Slack.

Procore’s Elizabeth Locke, director of global communications, and Kelli Bonin, senior resilience engineer, spoke on a panel at the Slack HQ with Jen Johnson, senior product marketing lead at Slack. Together, they discussed five key career lessons: authenticity, voicing what you want, developing your plan, self-advocacy and making a pivot.

Johnson kicked off the panel by offering some tips on how to navigate a career in business and foster fulfillment, growth and resilience in one’s everyday work life. She unpacked each of the five career lessons, highlighting how each one can help create a successful, thriving career.

“You are your number one cheerleader, your number one advocate,” said Johnson. “Hold your head up high and be proud of your work.” For Johnson, these tips are ultimately intended to make attendees’ work lives simpler, more pleasant and more productive.

Locke felt lesson five, making a pivot, resonated most with her. Over the course of the conversation, Locke discussed her career journey and how she made the transition from construction to the tech industry. “If you want a bold, passionate career, you can’t follow the status quo or play it safe. Believe in yourself, follow your intuition and take big risks. You have to be willing to start over if you want to see real change. And if you fail, it’s not a failure as long as you are willing to learn from it,” said Locke. “I’m so incredibly grateful for all of my crazy dreams and pivots because they led me to where I am today in my position at Procore.”

Bonin connected most with lesson four on self-advocacy. As someone who works in incident management, Bonin often interacts with a number of different stakeholders to get her job done. “I realized that this driving force to advocate for others, and elevate their needs, showed me my own values and my own ambition and to be a part of places that view Incident Management as a place of learning, as a place of growth.”

Attendees left the event inspired and empowered to incorporate the panel’s tactics into their career journeys. Until next year, SXSW!