“Learn to move forward,” Christel Mosby from Grand Canyon Education

Meet Christel Mosby, Chief Marketing Officer at Grand Canyon Education (GCE), where she leads all communication efforts. Christel proudly heads a division that gives GCU students the chance to gain professional agency experience while offering the same innovative and professional marketing services to PK-12 schools at a reduced rate.

Christel has three decades of marketing experience and has been leading GCE for 20 years. She serves on the Foundation Board of the Scottsdale Charros, the board of the Camelback Chapter of National Charity League as Vice President of Philanthropy, and the Phoenix Diocese Night of Hope Committee. The arts are close to her heart, and she is honored to support Ballet Arizona as a newly appointed board member in 2023.

In her Pass The Mic interview, Christel sat down with Deirdre Locksley, Associate Director, Content Marketing, and spoke about inspiring others to do their best, coming prepared for anything you do, and how to learn from your mistakes and move on. Tune in to the full interview below, then check out highlights from the conversation. 

You’re going to make mistakes. 

Highlight: “The first part of your career is, especially if you're an A personality with a lot of drive, a lot of ambition, you're going to make mistakes along the way. It's just going to happen. You just need to learn to move forward, and hopefully you're surrounded with people that will help you learn from that.” - Christel Mosby

Own your mistakes. 

Highlight: “When you accept that you made a mistake instead of fighting it… it's just so much easier if you just own it, if you just say, ‘You know what? I made a mistake. I'm so sorry. I want to do better.’ As a leader, when you hear that versus someone who's trying to combat it, it just makes you want to root for them and makes you want to stand up and say, ‘It's okay, we're going to go out there and do this together right the next time.” - Christel Mosby

Don’t compare yourself to others. 

Highlight: “I would say one of the hardest things is to try not to compare yourself to others. That's a really difficult one to do. But there's just too many things to think about, and you just need to stay focused on your goals.” - Christel Mosby

Come with a plan. 

Highlight: “If you're coming with a problem, come with a solution. Don't come with just the problem. If you want a promotion, come with a formal plan. If you want to increase your budget for your department, come with a formal plan. If you want to hire additional people in your department, come with a formal plan. Think about it clearly and come with a plan.” - Christel Mosby

Inspire others to do more. 

Highlight: “The majority of my time is spent on people. It's building trust, which hopefully leads to loyalty, which then hopefully leads to longevity... I think one of my favorite leadership quotes is from John Quincy Adams. He says, ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you're a leader.’ And to me, that's what I aspire to do for the people that I serve.” - Christel Mosby

Keep your creativity alive. 

Highlight: “For those that are rising, don't lose that creativity. Continue to be creative, innovative, be a problem solver. Look at all of the new technologies that are available to you now. It's crazy the amount of things that are out there that will improve efficiencies and add value to the organization, which is what you should be focused on doing.” - Christel Mosby

Christel has inspired us to learn and grow from our mistakes, focus on our goals, and come prepared to any situation. If you’re ready for more inspiration like this, check out our Pass The Mic page.