Divya Sangam, Global Communications Manager at Value Penguin was Named a PRSA-NY 2018 15 Under 35 Winner

Divya Sangam, Global Communications Manager at Value Penguin was interviewed by Carolina Osma, Senior Marketing Associate at D S Simon Media. They spoke about Divya’s big career break, advice she offers to people starting out and the best advice she ever received from a mentor or older colleague.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

CAROLINA: I am Carolina Osma Senior Marketing Associate at D S Simon Media and I am here with Divya. She’s the Global Communications Manager at Valley Penguin and she’s honored for 15 Under 35 Award at PRSA New York’s Big Apple. So congratulations. And so what was a key moment in your career that led you to success?

DIVYA: You know it’s going to sound crazy but the time I almost got fired. So it so happened that when I was two years in a PR I was given this huge responsibility of taking up a content marketing position. And I was really excited about it except I knew nothing. And so along the way I made a lot of mistakes and I was pretty sure that I was going to get fired for incompetence. But at that point was 23 years old. I was really stubborn and I told myself you know what I’m going to dig deep. I’m going to learn. So I read every book I could find. I’ve met with people I corrected my mistakes and when I tasted my first success it really felt sweet. And that’s when I knew this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

CAROLINA: That’s amazing. I think making mistakes is so important I think people underestimate that. So what was actually a really great piece of advice that an older colleague or maybe a mentor gave you when you were just starting out?

DIVYA: Just one word listen. And this was given to me by my very first boss. He basically said you need to stop talking and listen more and it’s a piece of advice that I hold very dear to my heart because the secret of my success is I spend a lot of time listening. I listen to editors I listen to my industry peers. I listen to experts in my field and by doing so I can anticipate what people want from me and I just get really good at my job as a result so that’s great.

CAROLINA: And so then maybe you had a colleague though significantly younger it was just turning out in PR what piece of advice would you give to them?

DIVYA: I would be curious you know be willing to make mistakes learn from them and ultimately whatever opportunities that are thrown your way however crazy they are. Take them and run with them. You may make mistakes but you’re going to learn from them and ultimately you’re going to become very successful.

CAROLINA: That’s awesome. Thank you so much and congratulations on your award.