Purpose-Driven Work

Speaker 1: hi I'm Melanie bar welcome to the she builted experience with Melanie you're here because you want to experience the life and business that you crave join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it a career and business that they love we dive into the topic of how they built it and talk about everything from Having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech innovation magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let's dive in I'm so thrilled to welcome Danielle Deets Danielle is the director of strategic Partnerships and development at University of California Los Angeles her experience throughout her career has helped Advance organizations's Business Development cause marketing and philanthropic missions we are so thrilled to have you with us today

Speaker 2: Danielle thanks Melanie for having me I'm a fundraiser and enhance programs and initiatives through philanthropic donations and Partnerships personally one of the biggest leaps I've made was moving across the country from New York to California when I was just 22 years old I came out with just a couple of suitcases minimal savings and no job to this day that's probably one of the best decisions I've made for both my lifestyle and my career I love living in Southern California and more specifically in the South Bay right by the beach professionally moving from the nonprofit sector into a university Affiliated healthc care institution has really been one of the biggest career leaps I've made potentially lower in entitle overall but it's ultimately given me such a larger platform for my career growth and development what gave me the courage to make these leaps was my own personal determination and competitive nature I'm mostly competitive with myself I've been the type of person who thinks if someone else can accomplish that thing I can also achieve those same achievements if I work hard enough and commit to reaching those goals sometimes it takes a step back to make a Leap Forward I'm

Speaker 1: so glad that you did that and we have several things in common I moved to LA when I was 19 much like you with Without Really knowing what I was going to do making those leaps really give us that grit and resilience to continue making leaps in our life and in our career and I'm in the South Bay as well it's a hard place to leave and you mentioned being competitive you're a runner and I know that that helps with the stress of work and also being competitive in our jobs and in our roles because you and I are also similar and that I think we both have a love of Business Development because I don't think you can be in your role as a fundraiser which is such a wonderful thing that you're doing without having a Lev of Business Development and relationships right you can accomplish so much that will continue to enhance

Speaker 2: the business structure and I've always felt that growth in in business and philanthropy goes hand inand as does marketing because they they're all just so intertwined people want to get behind institutions and organizations that are doing Innovative things they want to continue to support that success by getting behind something that already has a great institution or organization and people behind it and when you think about it business development when you're selling something to someone it is for their benefit it's most often because what you are selling them is going to help enhance their life or their business in some way I currently work as the Director of strategic Partnerships at ecla I'm in the health Sciences development team and my focus area for the past eight years has been in Children's Health I rais money for both clinical care with the hospital and pediatric clinics and also research so whatever is happening in children's health and basic science and translational research that benefits children what I most enjoy about this role is the mission when people ask me what I do I'll sometimes say I raise money for children's health or I raise money for sick kids and most of the money that I fund raise directly benefits like research or different activities and patient programs that directly benefit children and that's been one of the biggest factors for me shifting my career from the nonprofit field to the higher education healthc care field you have more of a direct impact on some of the specific programs and research and clinical programs that are happening in that area at UCLA I think I most love about my job is how much I get to learn about research and healthare overall there's so much happening in healthcare and science and medicine and being a part of the Health Sciences team I'm constantly exposed to information from a trusted Public Health institution and over the past year with Co that's been more invaluable than ever

Speaker 1: what an amazing thing for you when you go out to fundraise and in your business development role you are helping to save lives so that has to feel pretty amazing and I'm sure that brings you Joy within

Speaker 2: your role definitely it's rewarding and that's probably what's kept me in this industry the longest staying on task and

Speaker 1: implementing the best management strategy that works for us individually is so important when building our careers what is your strategy for management and for staying on task to accomplish what you set out to do and also to motivate those around you that's

Speaker 2: a great question and looking back at my personal management path I feel fortunate to have had such a wide variety and high quantity of managers in my career at the time probably felt like a challenge have going from one management style to another but it's taught me so much about how I best grow and thrive in my career so I've taken those positive techniques and strategies into my own team and implemented those with my own team members and personally for me the the best way I feel like I

Speaker 1: motivate those around me is to empower them by giving them ownership of the projects and assignments that they're tasked with and that's always been helpful for me because when you own a project and really feel that responsibility you're more likely to go above and beyond of what you would normally do because that success is a direct reflection of of your efforts

Speaker 2: that's so true and mentorship is so important so I'm sure you're taking those management skills and also teaching your teams and those around you

Speaker 1: what you've learned well that's a great point when you are assigning responsibilities and trying to achieve something as a team really understanding what the members of your team are both interested in and want to become more fluent or successful in is is really important because because understanding where they want to grow in their own career will help make those personal wins and achievements all the more rewarding for them and that's really what I felt when I've expressed interest in a particular area or have been heard and listened to from a manager it it's always helped me work harder and try to achieve more and be more motivated in my

Speaker 2: own personal career it's so true it makes you want to work harder and in return it makes the overall organization so much better definitely our careers and businesses are shifting and pivoting at such a rapid speed today and I love how we can learn from others and how they've overcome obstacles and challenges because we all have them can you share a recent business challenge that you came up against and how you

Speaker 1: were able to overcome it yes and this is a great question especially now I think everyone can relate to having Face One Challenge or another directly related to co fundraising has always been a face-to-face industry and and that's just been one of the pillars of of what we do having that iners FaceTime so having to social distance and quarantine really put a halt on what we were doing with inperson fundraising events donor meetings and activities to our largest fundraising events which are all inperson activities that were completely shut down I'm really proud to share that our team Children's Health at UCLA was able to quickly adapt to be able to connect with our supporters and our volunteers virtually and not only that we were the first to host a virtual fundraising event at UCLA which happened last October and that was our annual party on the peer event and just to provide some background that event is the largest annual fundraising event for the Children's Hospital at UCLA in both revenue and size so so this is a 2,000 person event on the Santa Monica Pier I think you're familiar with it because you've been there yes it's an excellent event yeah it's a really fun day and it's for the whole family it really reflects our mission and what we do we were able to take those elements from the event and incorporate them into a virtual format by keeping it fun informative and Mission driven and not only were we able to have a really successful virtual program we also actually exceeded the past Year's net fundraising efforts by almost $20,000 because wow congratulations good

Speaker 2: for you that's so great thank you so

Speaker 1: much when you look at the Silver Linings of what we've all gone through over the past year taking elements of what we've been able to accomplish in this virtual format and bringing those tools and those same programs into future events and activities will ultimately help create a more well-rounded a fundraising strategy for improving Revenue cutting expenses and ultimately achieving more of what we want to accomplish through

Speaker 2: philanthropic funding good for you for pivoting so quickly because a lot of businesses they had to shift to technology and that can be scary and are we on the right platform and are we in the places where our donors are living and are we able to reach them in the way that we want to so good for you for having such a successful event and

Speaker 1: executing it so well thank you just watching so many events having to be canell was was really awful and I am not saying that we were able to completely shift and adapt because of course we had challenges there were some things we couldn't shift to a virtual format and there were some things that we had to uh really change our way of thinking about with how we communicate with people and how some of our other programs and initiatives will run for example one of our programs did have to get canceled but taking what we learned from the virtual fundraising event we're implementing some of those strategies into this program to be able to continue it in

Speaker 2: 2021 good for you that speaks to your grit and your personality of being good with taking on a challenge so wonderful that you were able to Pivot so quickly with the recent shift in technology today are there any Tech platforms or apps that you use in either business or your personal life that help to make your life and career easier or better

Speaker 1: this is such a great question and and this made me pause when I first thought about all the apps that are out there because I feel like I'm finding a new one every day I think personally I could not live without my Google Calendar if it's not on my calendar it's probably not happening for me that day that's

Speaker 2: what I say too it's not going to happen

Speaker 1: if it's not in my calendar exactly it's been really helpful to have the thinking of my calendars during this time since we're constantly virtual and I think i' my screen time has gone up probably every ones at least a few hours of I

Speaker 2: know they remind you about your screen time do you really need to remind me how

Speaker 1: much I'm staring at my phone exactly and to your point with zoom it SS to everything completely sometimes I give myself a pass you know what I had five Zoom meetings that day so those five hours were well spent right exactly but one of the other apps I will say that's really become useful for me in the past few months has been tiny scanner it's an app that lets you PDF something through just taking a photo of it so I recommend for someone who doesn't have a scanner at home just being able to be able to sign something and then send it over via email through PDS if you don't have one of those industrial printers that you find in usually your office space it's just been a really useful tool these

Speaker 2: past few months that's a great point because many of us were so used to going into offices where they had everything that we need and now we're at home and we might not have all of those things at our disposal quite so easily since we are all dreaming of travel right now we would love for you to take us on a journey somewhere else for a minute what is a favorite trip that you've been on where did you go and why did you love it

Speaker 1: I love traveling internationally just being able to immerse yourself in another country it's one of my favorite ways to learn and often it's really a humbling experience right out of college I was fortunate enough to backpack across India for three months and that experience forever changed the way that I look at the world and the opportunities that I've been given and have been able to take advantage of

Speaker 2: three months is a long time

Speaker 1: yeah when we got to India and realized how much there was to explore we ended up staying there it was eye opening to see how another country lives but so many parts of that country and different cultures within so that was really really fun the food was really

Speaker 2: absolutely Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy what is one tip you can leave with us about how you find and live your joy what brings me

Speaker 1: the most joy in my day-to-day work life is the connections I make with people and and building relationships it's such an integral part of my career in business development and I've really reaped the benefits by creating relationship that have lasted for years I love being able to connect people and help them Foster their own relationships to achieve Mutual goals that's how we met when uh you volunteered for an organization nonprofit I worked for and that's lasted for years and it's brought me into this she built it community and it's something I value greatly and as well as being able to meet your children and watch them grow from six months and and see the amazing young people they

Speaker 2: are becoming yes we've loved having you as a part of our life thank you

Speaker 1: and I understand I was an accounting major in college and I worked for the Marriott hotel and they said we want you

Speaker 2: to learn the audit accounting and I remember for hours I sat in front of the computer looking at numbers and while I liked it and I enjoyed accounting I thought I'm a social person I like to talk to people I want to meet to be interacting with people all day so good

Speaker 1: for you for knowing those strengths within yourself and going towards something that you're really good at and comes naturally to you

Speaker 2: well thank you I appreciate the opportunity to be featured on this podcast and also hopefully continue to meet such incredible women I love that your organization focuses on women and connects women because I've always believed that women in general have a natural ability to be able to help other women and and can understand where they're coming from and Elevate the women around us and I've been so fortunate to be part of this group and meet like-minded people who also want to volunteer and give back in my own career that have fostered those positive and incredible relationships that will take with me throughout my life and my future

Speaker 1: career leaps I love that and to the men listening to the podcast we enjoy working with you too but I agree with you Danielle something magical happens when women get together and support support each other so thank you for sharing your career Journey with us today what you're doing to fund raise to help save lives and make lives better is truly incredible so thank you for being

Speaker 2: with us today thank you for having me I'm a subscribed member so I look forward to more podcasts in the future

Speaker 1: thank you can you please share with us

Speaker 2: how our listeners can find you I am on LinkedIn do Danielle Deeds that's probably the best way to connect with me if there is someone interested in learning more about fundraising development or a career in philanthropy I would be happy to connect with you so please reach out to me on LinkedIn and please feel free to send me a message having those connections early on in my career really helps me get to the place I'm at and I would love to be able to pay it forward and give that to someone

Speaker 1: else if you are new to Sheil it we'd love for you to join us we offer a community memberships masterminds Innovative virtual events and meaningful connections to entrepreneurs and corporate leaders please also check out our she built it shop curated products from women-owned businesses who put their heart and soul into their beautiful and Innovative products we offer Sheil it business Consulting and the Sheil it blog thank you to everyone around the world who joined today thank you to my editor Rich stalino please download And subscribe wherever you get your podcast and until next time together let's let nothing stop us from experiencing the life that We crave