“Give yourself room to grow," Suzanne Salas from MSC Cruises

Meet Suzanne Salas, Senior Vice President of Marketing & eCommerce for MSC Cruises USA, where she uses her passion for data and data-informed decisions in all aspects of her marketing strategies. In addition to her impressive career, Suzanne has a Bachelors of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Florida and a MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. 

Suzanne joined Laura Fernandez, Sales VP, Travel & Tourism, for a Pass the Mic interview. Suzanne discussed the power behind choosing your battles, finding the right people to support you when you can’t choose, and allowing yourself the room to grow through others.

Listen to the full interview below, then check out some hot topics from the conversation. 

Pay attention to people in the room.

Highlight: “The ability to observe others is an extremely valuable tool—and one of the most valuable tools that we have in our day-to-day jobs. It's really allowed me to learn from the people that I admire and aspire to and also learn from the people that I think may do things in a way that may not be effective. So, you pick up the good, you observe the bad, and you say, ‘I don't want to do this,’ and it just helps give me more self-awareness. So, I encourage everyone, pay attention to the people in the room, how they communicate, what you appreciate, what you think doesn't work too well. And then curate the bits and pieces to help give yourself more room to grow.” - Suzanne Salas

Bet on yourself.

Highlight: “There's a lot of things that I would have told my younger self. The one that comes to mind that I think is most important is: really betting on yourself. There were times where I had to make tough decisions in my career. And my husband, I remember him telling me, ‘I support you. You bet on yourself.’ You're your own best advocate. Stand up for yourself. Ask for what you want. Really bet on yourself and advocate for yourself. - Suzanne Salas

Pick your battles.

Highlight: “Things aren't always fair, and things are not always going to go your way. That's life. That happens to all of us. Grit and tenacity are two things that I think are important to build and be aware of. And combining that with knowing which battles to pick and when to advocate for yourself, and your point of view, and when not to. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches. Sometimes you have to say, I'm not going to pick this battle.” - Suzanne Salas

Draw inspiration from others.

Highlight: “I learn every single day. I observe every single day. I look to draw inspiration from the people who I find are especially patient, because I'm not patient. I've had to work on that my entire career, and I know that. And I think I've come a long way. But I also know that there's a lot of growth left in me. I'll never be perfect. I also look for ways to influence others in a broad setting. I pay attention, I observe, and I learn ways to improve my own ability to influence others as well.” - Suzanne Salas

Encourage and motivate your teams.

Highlight: “In terms of encouraging and motivating the team, I think communication is really, really important. People need to know things that they may not know they need to know, but what are we doing that may impact you down the road? So, I think communication is number one. Number two is ensuring that people know at all levels of the organization that they matter. What they are doing really has an impact to the company's success and performance overall. That's something that I make sure my direct reports know and something that I really emphasize that my direct reports should be cascading down to their teams as well.” - Suzanne Salas

Find people you can trust.

Highlight: “Really finding people that you can trust and rely on for different perspectives and advice—that can come in various forms, whether it's a mentor, peers, friends. I have a core group of women that I went to business school with who have been my best friends for over 20 years. They are there when I need them to provide me support and advice. And it's something that I cherish so much, and I have so much gratitude. I use them to give me a sounding board and different perspectives, which I think is really important.” - Suzanne Salas

Suzanne’s inspiring words demonstrate that when you bet on yourself, you can only grow stronger. For more content from powerful women, check out the Pass the Mic page.