Always Lead with Empathy - An interview with Elliot Lollis

“Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.” Robin WilliamsA quote by the late Robin Williams that lives on because of the mindfulness of people like Elliot Lollis. Elliot, a proud University of South Carolina PR grad, brand strategist, serial question asker, and resident cheerleader at Up&UP, a marketing agency serving higher-ed clients, was my latest guest and subject of today’s marketer story.I first met Elliot and her team at #AMAHigherEd last November and thought, “that’s a fun group,” with their cornhole game in the middle of their conference booth. I later connected with each of them on LinkedIn after the event. Elliot, however, caught my attention with her engaging and meaningful content that started to appear in my feed, which I consumed with delight. Her storytelling ability, transparency, and the rhythm of her sentence structure were a breath of fresh air in an otherwise often saturated LinkedIn feed usually littered with rants.She leads with empathy and made it her mission to encourage others through words of affirmation, ensuring those within her charge that they are valuable because of who they are, not because of what they produce for the company. Wise beyond her years, I say!Three lessons she’s learned thus far in her career as a marketer: 1) Never stop being curious. Realize you can’t learn it all at once, but you will grow as you move forward, one step at a time. 2) Be flexible and adjust. There will be stumbling blocks. Expect them, and adapt accordingly. 3) Marketing isn’t a one-man show. Regardless of your firm’s organizational structure, it takes a team moving toward a common goal to achieve favorable results. 4) It’s not about you. It’s about the people you’re serving. And the more empathy you have, the more you understand those you serve. Hear! Hear! 📣She draws her knowledge from people-focused books like “Brains on Fire,” co-authored by @Gregg Cordell, which offers actionable steps for creating a word-of-mouth movement for corporations, products, services, and organizations. Check it out. 📚I’m grateful for Eliot’s time and the wisdom she shared with me. I walked away a better marketer for it, and I hope that you will, too.Want more life-giving and thought-provoking content in your LinkedIn feed? Follow Elliot Lollis today and reach out to her for all your higher-ed marketing needs. And if you enjoyed this story, like and follow me for more marketer spotlights in the weeks to come. Know any marketers I should feature on this show? Tag them in the comments below. Until next time. ✌️