This episode is brought to you by Sendlane.   How do you best tell your story on social media? That's the goal of Loomly and Sendible, two social media management platforms that allow you to manage all your different channels from one place.   The platforms are led by CEO Katelyn Sorensen, who cut her teeth in software testing after college before setting out into sales and marketing and then management.   "I did lead generation - so cold calling for over four years - and you build a bit of a tough skin doing that," Katelyn says. "I learned a ton talking to people, understanding what they were looking for."   For those looking for lessons from her success, Katelyn recommends two things. First, participate fully and approach all projects with curiosity. Second, ask for what you want - especially if you're a woman. That doesn't mean you'll get it right away.   "That doesn't mean that you'll get it right away," she adds. But ask yourself how you get there. Where are the gaps? What do you need to work on?   "It all allows you to understand what you need to do to exceed expectations and deliver value," she says.   Likewise, the skills needed to be a great leader aren't exclusive to any particular gender. A phenomenal leader should hit and exceed goals and drive value for customers, Katelyn says. Having tough conversations is part of the winning strategy, and as a society, that quality is typically associated with males.   "There's a shift for all leaders to move away from that, and there are degrees to which our society accepts that," she says. "I think it's cool to have the opportunity to show that I can be successful, that women can be successful ... and driving the same results that maybe take a different tactic."   In Part 1, Katelyn talks about:   * Gratitude toward a boss for believing in her potential and encouraging her to advance at the company. * How her career path took some unusual stops on her way to becoming a CEO. * How cold-calling helped her better understand what people are looking for. * Advice for those seeking a path forward in their careers. * Why being a great leader isn't determined by gender.   Join Ramon Vela and Katelyn Sorensen as they break down the inside story on The Story of a Brand.   For more on Loomly, visit: https://www.loomly.com/    Subscribe and Listen to the podcast on all major apps. Simply search for “The Story of a Brand,” or click here to listen on your favorite podcast player: Listen now.   *   This episode is also brought to you by Sendlane.   If all DTC companies were forced to turn off Facebook ads, they'd be dead on arrival. Why is that?   They over-invest in paid acquisition and under-invest in retention.   Luckily, Sendlane makes it easy to solve this problem. Sendlane is an E-Commerce Customer Experience Platform helping hundreds of DTC brands to tighten their existing customer relationships.   Sendlane automates personalized customer experiences through Welcome and Abandoned Cart workflows, SMS, Deep Data Integrations with Shopify and WooCommerce, multi-store functionality, and much more.   Plus, they don't stand for lazy customer support. Their San-Diego-based team has an average 1-minute response time from a live human, making sure you never get stuck in a chat queue ever again.   Curious about how Sendlane can help your DTC brand grow? Schedule a demo with a Specialist. Visit https://www.sendlane.com/story