ROCK STAR of the Week… Hilary Corna

Hilary Corna is a young professional that ventured off to Asia after college to land a job with Toyota. She wrote a book on her experience called, One White Face. During her first week in Asia, one of her higher ups told her that she was the one white face within the company. Ouch, talk about a warm and fuzzy your first week on the job!

One White Face tells the story of Hilary’s pursuit to succeed in an international career as the only Caucasian working for Toyota’s Asian regional office–giving up love for a career and finding all the while that success would not just be defined in her career but  also in her ability to discover and accept herself.

A friend of mine recommended I check out Hilary’s blog a few weeks ago because she is the type of lady I dig and she’s making a profound difference in the world in her own way. This is important because society has its way of putting everyone (especially women) in the same darn box. Rock Star of the week is about getting out of the box and embracing your own YOUniqueness.

Hilary is making impact in the world by establishing a few key points.

1. Dream BIG, dare yourself to do something different
2. Take action, try. Succeed & fail

I messaged Hilary today and let her know that I would be highlighting her as Rock Star of the week, needless to say, I’m impressed with her tenacity. I’ve changed the front of my website to include her TEDx talk (also included below) and I’ve tweeted her talk on a couple of different occasions over the past couple of weeks.

I’m celebrating Hilary and commending her because she did something uncomfortable. She did something people told her not to do. She did something outside of the box… she is paving the way for more women to reach out into the global market. A territory not yet traveled by too many women here in the U.S.

Here’s the kicker and the point of today’s post, everybody gets their own definition of success. Maybe you are currently trying to define success as a job, a title, the amount of money you make, a specific body weight, an appearance… whatever! But what I would ask you today after reading this blog and watching Hilary’s TEDx talk is this, “What really defines success for you?” For Hilary, it didn’t necessarily end up being her job, it ended up her being herself in her job.

People often say to me as a coach, “Yeah, but how do I get what I want out of life?”. Honestly, it comes down to 3 little words… do something different. The number one thing I see from clients is fear to venture into the unknown and fear to try something different. As humans we have been conditioned to make excuses in exchange for our happiness. It’s right there… we either have to change the way we are looking at it or change the way we are going about it. 

So, the focus of this post is to get us grounded in who we are and what we want as women. We can’t do something different without knowing who we are and what we want. As the tag line goes in DreamSurge… What’s possible in your world? Well, over the next day, month and year… let’s find out.

Leave us your comments and let us know what is YOUR definition of success? Being a good mom, giving to charity, peace of mind, getting up the career ladder, being a good wife, changing the world… what is it for YOU?

Check out Hilary’s 9 minute TEDx talk, think about it and let us know!

Technorati Tags: Careers, Changing the world, Fun, mentorship, Success, Women in Leadership