Choose Your Fellow: Emily Fraser
Meet Emily Fraser, 2022 VFC and RBC Fellow. She is currently working as a Sales Development Manager at #Paid, a technology company that builds tools for the creator economy.
What does being a Connector mean to you?
Coming from a manager position, being a Connector is being the steps between the idea and the result. I’m connecting my team with the ideas, and then I’m connecting the ideas with the execution. I see myself as the periods and the commas in the story that gets written. Being a Connector comes from being vulnerable enough with somebody who has the same ambitions as you.
As a Connector, what are the things that you engage with to keep you inspired and motivated?
I think it’s really about how I connect and engage with others, and being open to connecting with people. You can go to events and conferences and symposiums, but if you don’t actually talk to people then you’re not going be able to get anywhere with it. Show yourself just as much as you expect others to show themselves.
What’s one piece of advice you would leave for someone trying to step into becoming a Connector?
Connections are often seen as external, like “Who am I connecting with? What am I connecting to?”. But before you can ever do that, you have to connect with yourself. You have to have your own alignment. Unless I know how I want to talk, and how I want to come across, and I’m comfortable seeing myself through my own lens (and not how they see me), I’m not going to be able to connect with anybody because I’ll just be a reflection of them.
And so my advice is to connect with yourself and get down and dirty in reflecting on who you want to be and where you want to go. That way, when you’re talking to someone, you’re able to come off authentically.
How do you think Connectors thrive in an entrepreneurial space?
As an entrepreneur, you’re connected with an idea, business, or dream, and you see so much potential behind it. Your goal, then – in between investors and getting people signed up – is to get other people to connect with it.
You have to have that vulnerable moment to say, “This why I’m actually here”. The most successful businesses have a meaning behind them or some sort of intention, and they’re able to connect others to that intention. Yes, you have to sell yourself – but if people don’t believe in the idea that you have behind you, it’s not going to go anywhere. You have to be able to connect yourself to the story just as much as the intention behind the business.
