“Turn a negative to a positive,” Liz Rutgersson from iProspect

Meet Liz Rutgersson, Chief Executive Officer at iProspect, where she leads media development, client growth and integration, and network and industry relationships. Liz is a collaborative leader who is passionate about building innovative media teams. She believes that data and identity should fuel all media decisions, with customer experience at the center of each marketing agenda. She is also focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

With over 17 years of media experience, Liz frequently contributes to thought-provoking industry events and panels. Throughout her career, she’s honed specialist knowledge, awarding her a unique perspective that challenges traditional norms and instigates contemporary market solutions.  

Liz sat down with Nidia Serrano, Vice President, Sales Marketing, in SiriusXM Media’s beach-side cabana at Cannes Lions, where they discussed understanding yourself and others better, taking opportunities as they arise, and turning negatives into positives. Press play on motivation, check out their full discussion below.

Turn a negative to a positive.

Highlight: “When there's something challenging, or when there's a negative situation in the work environment, understanding the other person's perspective first and trying to understand where they're coming from has really helped me find positivity in a negative situation. There's always another perspective, and someone always has something else going on and something else that they're feeling.” - Liz Rutgersson

Take every opportunity. 

Highlight: "Take every opportunity that's presented, regardless of the reason. I spent a lot of time early in my career getting the token female invite to something like, ‘We need a chick, someone bring her in.’ And I think that could irritate people, or people could find that frustrating. I didn't. I took advantage of it and said, ‘I will go. I will be the only female in this meeting, and I'll try to make the most of it and learn and grow.’ And that was a really challenging, scary moment many times, but I think it's really helped me grow.” - Liz Rutgersson 

Learn more about yourself. 

Highlight: “Once I knew more about myself, what I cared about, and what really made me tick, it helped me decide what career path to take, what jobs were going to be right for me, what things were likely to be challenging, and how I would get over them. That guidance of learning about myself has been super helpful, and I have been able to pass that on to as many mentees as possible.” - Liz Rutgersson

Take it one moment at a time.

Highlight: “Everything that happens, happens really for a moment in time. So, trying to take that helicopter view of your career or your life and looking at things just as a moment-by-moment is an easier way to tackle challenging things that you're facing at the time” - Liz Rutgersson

After hearing those inspiring words from Liz, we’re changing our negatives to positives and saying yes, one day at a time. For more inspirational content like this, check out the Pass The Mic page.