I recently had the opportunity to hear Cindy Gallop speak at the Montreal International Startup Festival and also participate in a group discussion where she shared her wisdom and insights on- doing your own thing, following your passion as well as that little thing many of us dread called ‘self-promotion.’

Cindy Gallop is a TED speaker and “has turned her illustrious advertising career into a lifelong pursuit of changing the world.”

Below you will find the highlights ..I regret not recording it to better capture the amazing insights that she shared!

1.”You need to stop comparing your inside to everyone else’s outside” -gapingvoid

Because who hasn’t looked at someone’s accomplishments and thought to themselves, ‘man, what is WRONG with me..why am not bigger/better/faster/richer etc’. Well, we need to stop doing that because it’s not helping us move forward! And we can’t always judge the outcome without knowing how much work and effort the person has put in to get there. The social web makes it particular difficult since it seems that people are always sharing the highlights of their lives.

2. There is no such thing as job “security”

The group eagerly soaks in Cindy's wisdom

Not anymore, at least! And no one cares more about your security than you do! Why not build something yourself and put your security back in your own hands? Instead of working on someone else’s passions and dreams; why not work on your own? And as Cindy mentioned, there doesn’t seem to be a better time than now.

3. “Out of discomfort comes greatness”

Whether that is working with people different from you ..whether  the opposite sex, or with people who have different ways of thinking and approaching problems ..it is only when you get out of your comfort zone does the magic happen.  You have to  experiment and learn new things to keep moving forward.

4. It’s not the title that matters but the value you bring

Cindy mentioned that how after she had resigned from her executive position to work on her own startup, she wondered if she would get the same attention and recognition as before.. However, she soon realized that it was the value that she brought that made people want to  work with her and not just the organization/companies that she represented. I know titles are something that I often struggle with and often not sure what to call myself outside of the corporate world..but this helped bring back the focus on what pain-points can you help people with, what value can you bring and less about labeling yourself.

And one of my favorites..

5. Self-Promotion is not a dirty word

Yet, women in particular tend to struggle with this. But…if you don’t toot your own horn, who will? It’s just a matter of finding the right way of approaching it so you don’t necessarily come off as bragging (all the time) but rather sharing what you are doing and your accomplishments. People are watching and listening and this sends out cues as to what you are all about and what type of work and opportunities you may be available for. Cindy makes no apologies for being prolific on Twitter and sharing her accomplishments and is even proud of being on a few ‘these people brag’ twitter lists! We all need to follow  her lead and show the world how awesome we are more often!

It was really awesome of Cindy to take the time out of her busy festival schedule and share her experiences with us. She is definitely unstoppable and paving the way for more women to follow in her lead.

Thank you, Cindy!