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Killer Quote: “When opportunity knocks, open the door. Be open and flexible. Take a chance. Right? Broaden your skills. And, when you get that chance, show up and work hard.” – Victoria Meyer
Looking to lead, grow, and stay ahead in the trillion-dollar global chemical industry? The Chemical Show - the #1 business podcast for the chemical industry - is your go-to resource for leadership insights, business strategies, and real-world lessons from the executives shaping the future of chemicals. Grow your knowledge, your network, and your impact.
Featuring interviews with industry executives - from startups to Fortune 50 - you’ll hear how they're tacking today's challenges and opportunities, their origin story (what got them here!), how you can take and apply these lessons and insights to your own business and career.
Founder and host Victoria King Meyer is an expert interviewer - who brings out the best in each guest. She gained her industry experience at leading companies, including Shell, LyondellBasell and Clariant. Today, she is a high-performance coach and advisor to business leaders in chemicals and energy, as well as the host of The Chemical Show podcast, and founder of The Chemical Summit.
Topics include: Growth, sustainability, innovation, business transformation, geopolitics, digitalization and AI, supply chain, talent, strategic marketing, customer experience and much more.
Episodes are published every Tuesday.
Websites:
https://www.thechemicalshow.com
https://www.thechemicalsummit.com
https://www.progressioglobal.com
Welcome to The Chemical Show, the
podcast where Chemical means business.
I'm your host, Victoria Meyer,
bringing you stories and insights
from leaders driving innovation and
growth across the chemical industry.
Each week we explore key trends,
real world challenges, and the
strategies that make an impact.
Let's get started.
Victoria: Welcome back to The Chemical
Show Where Chemical Means Business.
Today is a special episode focusing
on career advice for new graduates
who are embarking on careers inside
and outside the chemical industry.
And frankly, this is advice that
applies for professionals at all levels.
One of the favorite segments of the
Chemical show is when I ask leaders what
advice would they give to their young
self and when they were embarking on
their career, or young professionals
early in their career that want
to achieve their level of success.
And I've heard from a wide variety of
listeners that they love those insights.
So today I have compiled some of my
favorites, added my own points of
view, and put it all together for you.
So This is an episode to Bookmark, to
Save, and more importantly, to share,
share it on social media, whether
it's LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram,
whatever your social media choice is.
And of course, tag Me
and The Chemical Show.
And also share it with your new college
graduate, your colleagues, or a friend.
I hope that you're gonna enjoy this,
and I hope you come back to this as
you progress along in your career.
So it's graduation season.
We have a field of young college graduates
ready to embark on professional careers.
In fact, I've got one.
My daughter, Madeline graduates
from Texas State University, with
a degree in computer science and
she is ready to take on the world.
Now, on a side note, Maddie has also
been my podcast editor and in charge
of the blog for the past two years, so.
While you may not have gotten
to know Madeline, she has
definitely gotten to know you.
And I'm certainly gonna miss her
when she moves on and tells me she no
longer has time for the chemical show.
But be that as it may, what
I've got for you today is career
advice for new college grads.
So number one.
Embrace the journey.
So, you know, I think there's
always this uncertainty when you
embark on something new and it, it
was college and now it's career.
And what I have to say is your career
is a marathon and not a sprint.
I.
know where you're going or where
you think you might wanna be in five
or 10 years, and understand that
there are many paths to get there.
So stack your wins.
Be flexible, and enjoy this experience.
I.
It's gonna be one for the next,
you know, 10, 20, 30, 40 years.
Kind of scary when you
think about it in that term.
But enjoy the journey that
you're on today, over the
next five years and beyond.
So that's Kaur peace number one.
Career advice number two, use your voice.
You have a seat at the table for a reason.
So seat at the table in the office on the
zoom call, on a teams call, what have you.
You're there.
You're there for a reason and part
of your reason is not just to learn
and listen, but it's also to engage.
Engage, share your point
of view, ask questions.
I.
Do it respectfully, right?
Especially as you are embarking in that
new role, but you are there, you have a
voice, you have a point of view, use it.
Um, and that is really critical
as you start your career
and throughout number three.
Build and create your work posse.
I call it a posse.
Some people say, oh, you should
start building your network.
And I, I gotta be honest, when I was
early in my career, like that whole
concept of what is my network and what
is networking was a little bit ambiguous.
Right?
What I would say to that
though is start building.
Your posse, surround yourself
with good people, right?
And think about your posse
with multiple generations.
People that are more senior than
you, that are younger than you,
that you can go to for advice.
That will lend a hand, that will
give you a hand that you can
share a hand and lift them up.
one of the things I've found is.
Leaders often will bring their
posse with them to their next role.
So whether that's inside of a company,
when leaders are changing companies,
you might be destined for the C-suite.
You may be destined for a leadership role.
And often leaders like to surround
themselves with people they
know, like, and trust, know,
like, and trust how they work.
That they're gonna have their back,
that they're going to help them achieve
the success that they wanna achieve.
So even at this early stage in your
career, start building your posse.
Know who they are.
They may not be your best friends.
They may not be the people you socialize
with after work, but they are people
that have strategic insight, that
offer great mentoring and coaching
to you that have your back, that
can help support you in your career.
Know them.
Advice number four, have a lower
fear of failure than joy of success.
So I heard that recently from Charlie
Landis, and I love that statement, right?
Don't be afraid to take calculated risks.
I.
Some of this stuff is scary.
It's uncertain.
If it was all certain, we'd
all be doing the same thing.
I sometimes say, you know, if
my magic ball or my crystal ball
worked, uh, I would be a billionaire.
Right?
The reality is we don't know what
the future holds, but we can.
Take chances, take calculated
risks and pursue success.
So have a greater joy and
pursuit of success than you do.
Fear of failure.
You can fail and recover.
You can fail and learn, and
recover and move forward.
You're not going to have
those opportunities.
You're not gonna have those great
successes if you don't take a chance.
So number five, develop expertise, right?
So I've heard this from
a number of people.
You wanna develop expertise,
you want to become known as
the go-to person for something.
And, and in fact, there's some people
that would say, um, you actually
wanna have three career pillars.
And I agree with that.
You may not have them all at
to begin with, but be curious,
pursue and develop expertise.
Um, by the way, you may not find
out what that is right away.
It may take you five or 10 years.
So.
Be flexible, learn and grow, and
continue to pursue that expertise.
Dive deep.
Don't be afraid of diving deep.
You will develop expertise,
you'll develop insights.
You'll become the go-to
person for something.
Frankly, you could become the
go-to person for several things.
Again, back to the whole Build your posse.
People wanna surround
themselves with people that.
Have confidence know what
they're doing that they trust.
Part of that is having career expertise,
whether it's technical expertise,
marketing expertise, sales expertise,
business expertise, expertise in a certain
market approach way of doing things.
Don't be afraid to go out and find and
build your expertise at the same time.
Know your strengths and your
per your preferences, right?
So be flexible to learn things,
right, but know that you're also
not gonna be great at everything.
That the first thing you
try may not be your thing.
but go find it.
Try new things, figure out
what the opportunities are.
In fact, you know, if I think about
how the, uh, chemical industry in
all industries have evolved, right?
So, um, back when I was first starting my
career, right, I think about computers,
like they were big, clunky desktops.
And now, you know, and then along the way.
It migrated to, we all
took laptops everywhere.
And now you know what?
People travel with phones that
have more computing powder
than their original computer.
Did ways of working evolve your
skills and experience, evolve
the needs of the industry.
Whatever industry you, you end up in,
whether it be the chemical industry,
whether it be another industry, evolves,
but understand your strengths and your
inherent strengths and go after that.
my number seven, and this is really my
favorite, and this is something that I
have held true throughout my career, which
is when opportunity knocks open the door.
When you prove yourself, when you
develop that expertise, when you
demonstrate courage, when you, understand
your strengths and preferences.
Opportunity's gonna knock.
And often always, like your career
path is not necessarily exactly
how you laid it out on paper.
maybe one step of, it's how you
laid it out on paper, but that paper
keeps changing and shifting, right?
When opportunity knocks.
Open the door, be open and
flexible, take a chance, right.
Broaden your skills and, um, when you
get that chance, show up and work hard.
Right.
So Michael Hines, north American, CEO
of BASF when I interviewed him, talked
about showing up and giving 125%, um,
and how that creates opportunities.
Absolutely.
When those opportunities come, they come.
Because you're a hard
worker and perform, right?
So it's not enough just to work hard.
That's easy to say, oh, we
all think we work hard, right?
How about that?
We all think we work hard.
But the reality is you wanna work hard
and you wanna deliver, and you wanna
make sure that it's the right work hard.
So that's a extra piece of advice for you.
but when you do that, opportunity knocks.
Opportunities are gonna come to
you, open the door, understand
what that is, be flexible.
Take that chance.
Number eight.
Rome was not built in a day and
neither is your career, right?
So you are going to learn, grow, develop,
and test yourself throughout your career.
Where you start is not where
you're going to finish.
Um, where you start may be amazing and
you find out that, hey, this is it.
This is, this is the place,
the company, the, the direction
that I wanna be heading.
We may say, well, that was nice.
Now I know what I don't wanna do.
Recognize, again, I, I talked
about this at the beginning.
Your career is a journey.
It's a marathon and not a sprint.
Keep growing and keep going, right?
Number nine, Money matters, right?
So this, I, I'm actually grouping
a bunch of things into this
topic, which is, invest in your
company, 401k right away, right?
And increase it every time
you get a raise, right?
So that is maybe one of the best
pieces of advice I've ever gotten.
it's kind of that set it
and forget it mentality.
Just keep investing.
Right?
financial security.
It gives you choices, that to me
is one of the great things we don't
necessarily always talk about.
You think, oh, hey, I'm, I'm
coming into the industry, I'm
making a great amount of money.
It's frankly, lemme tell you a kid,
it's never as much as you think it is.
Um, because once you start paying
bills, you realize just how big your
bills are, um, and how expensive stuff
is when you're off of, mom and dad's
payroll or however that works out.
But.
Invest, invest, invest in your company.
401k.
Invest in a Roth IRA.
Invest in whatever financial
engine and tool that you want.
Don't be afraid to talk about money.
So I, you know, I grew
up in an era and, and.
It's hard for me to tell if you're
growing up in an era where we
didn't always talk about money.
learn to be comfortable talking about
money, talking about investments.
frankly, you know, no company ever wants
you to ask about, Hey, what's your salary?
And do salary comparisons, but
compare salaries, understand,
understand what, where you stack
up, um, from a salary perspective.
Talk about investments.
Don't be afraid.
You are not the expert.
How do you become the expert?
By talking to, friends
and colleagues, right?
You can talk to 'em and ask
them questions about, Hey, how
are you investing your money?
What have you talked about?
What have you done?
Talk to your financial advisors, right?
And they are there for you.
I'm gonna tell you, I don't think I,
I give you this feedback because I
think sometimes I, I've been afraid
to talk to some of these people.
Maybe, you know, you've had
that experience, being afraid
to talk to some of these people.
Engage, engage with Fidelity, Schwab,
whomever your, um, financial platform
is that your company provides.
That's for your 401k, your
external financial advisor.
Go find one.
You should have one.
Even when you've got.
A dollar to your name.
Go figure out who that
financial advisor is.
'cause they want you to
be successful, right?
Here's the secret, they
want you to be successful.
When your investments are successful,
you've got more money to invest.
That makes them all happier, right?
So money matters.
Know your money.
Invest your money.
Don't be afraid to talk about your
money, um, in, in appropriate ways,
right about investing and where you can
go and how you can think about that.
Because that creates
long-term opportunity.
It creates financial security.
It gives you a wheelhouse to start
maybe investing in your own company,
investing in somebody else's company,
retiring early, whatever it is that
you've gotten your goals and dreams.
Don't be afraid to talk about it.
and in fact, that brings me to point
number 10, which is communication is key.
I've heard that over and over again.
You guys have probably heard
that over and over again, but.
What I'm gonna tell you, you know, what
do, what should I be talking about?
Like, as a new young college grad,
as a young professional, heck,
as a mid-career professional,
what should we be talking about?
I, I like to talk about having,
being prepared for show and tell.
So you remember when we were in
kindergarten and you'd bring in your toy
or you know, Hey, I got a pen right here.
You bring in your widget and say,
Ooh, I've got this great blue widget.
Well, you're not talking
about that anymore, but
you're talking about yourself.
Who you are, how you're
contributing, what you're working on.
what cool thing did you recently learn?
What do you want to do next, right?
Because if you don't tell people what
you do wanna do next, what you're
doing, who you are, how you work,
what you're excited about, they're
gonna make all kinds of assumptions.
they may think nothing, frankly, 'cause.
You know, surprise, surprise.
We don't actually think
about other people.
Most people are egocentric.
They don't think that
much about other people.
Um, your boss is not sitting up at
night wondering what you're doing
and what you're thinking about
what your next career goal is.
Own it.
Talk about it, communicate it.
I like to talk about show and
tell and really being prepared
with an elevator pitch.
So really, like if you get stuck in an
elevator with somebody, you got 10 seconds
when the big boss says, Hey, how are you?
What's your, what are
you working on today?
Don't just say, uh, good.
You talk to 'em and you say,
loving this opportunity.
I've got at Company X.
Really excited to be working on
this project and, and the results.
So be interesting.
Be interesting and be interested.
Be ready to talk about your
contributions, your excitement,
where you're going, and really how
you fit into the bigger picture.
And frankly, communication, of
course, is always a two way street.
Ask questions, be curious,
create that dialogue.
So.
Those are my 10.
Um, this is long and yet
it's short and sweet.
My advice to you class of
2025, is enjoy the journey.
You've earned it.
Congratulations.
Congratulations to the new graduates
class of 2025, successfully graduating
from college and embarking on their
next steps, whether it be career
or more college and what have you.
Your future is bright.
Thanks for joining us
today on The Chemical Show.
If you enjoyed this episode, be
sure to subscribe, leave a review,
and most importantly, share it
with your friends and colleagues.
For more insights, visit
the Chemical show.com
and connect with us on LinkedIn.
You can find me at Victoria King
Meyer on LinkedIn, and you can also
find us at The Chemical Show Podcast.
Join us next time for more
conversations and strategies
shaping the future of the industry.
We'll see you soon.