Career Confidential: ILANA

Full name: Ilana Strom Harkavy (don’t forget to donate to her IndieGogo campaign, here)

Position / Job title: I am a recording artist (singer) and songwriter as well as the CEO and founder of nailed it! media and the founder of The Just, Girl. Project

1. What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to other career-minded women?
You HAVE to never give up and you HAVE to let yourself be angry sometimes.  You will have days where you absolutely love that your life is so rewarding and you can’t believe you are doing what YOU want to do, but you will have other days where you feel completely discouraged and unmotivated.  You must find motivation within yourself and doing what you love most in the world will completely satiate that.  It will encourage you to always continue. Also, find people around you that encourage you often and it never hurts to talk to someone (therapist, friend, family) and vent!

2. If you could look into a crystal ball and see 20 years into your future, what would you want to see?
I want to be a huge role model to girls everywhere. In a word…I want to be what Demi Lovato is for girls.  I want nothing more to be a Pop Star. I’m not going to sugar coat it. I’ve wanted this since before I can even remember.  And I’m unashamed of that.  I want that power and that influence so that I can do something valuable with it.  And honestly writing and singing is my niche.  But I also want The Just, Girl. Project to be a huge movement.  I want to utilize my entrepreneurial drive and spirit to continue building my empire.  It’s SO important to activate that side of yourself because it grounds you and keeps you conscious of others and how you can impact society in a *hopefully* positive way.

3. What is the best piece of advice that you have ever received – career-related or otherwise?
“You shouldn’t hold expectations!” – It seems like a cliche and simple thing to say but it is the thing in life that can make or break you.  I think it’s important to set personal goals and to try everyday to meet them, but when those goals aren’t met, if you crumble, you are only doing a disservice to yourself. When it comes to relationships, this is always an issue.  I constantly want so much out of my partners and its just unrealistic because in the end, they will bring to the table what they bring and I have to accept or not accept that.  Your expectations are only yours. No one really shares them.  I’m not saying to lower them. I’m just saying, try and not let them define you. I struggle with this everyday. It’s ongoing and it’s rough, but I hope someday I see that my expectations are only holding me back and that my dreams are the things I need to focus on most.

4. Should you work for the money, or do what you love?
I guess I don’t understand why you can’t have both?  You have to decide what you want in life and then decide where you are. If you are in high school and you want to be a pop star…well…DO IT.  I think it’s important, especially now to have some sort of parachute.  So, for example, I started my own business so that I could make money and help others. I think you need to have that thing that is yours that you can turn to when times get tough. Whether that’s savings, a blog that generates income, or even a Twitter account with 100k+ followers, try to have that thing that is yours that everyone wants. Numbers don’t lie my friends.  You hold the power if you have the audience.

If you don’t do what you love in life, its not the end of the world because love is evolutionary and your dreams and your hopes are constantly going to change.  But it would be a damn shame if you didn’t try because guilt and regret are awful things to live with.  Being scared…being paranoid…being worried…we all feel this way but its such a waste of energy in the end.  It’s so much better to JUST DO IT. No one likes a talker ;). Be the fearsome doer!

5. On that note, do you think women can have it all? Both the baller career, and the happy family?
That’s a realllllly hard question. I’m 26 and a ton of my friends are already married with kids and I truly, truly at times envy that. I want to be a mother more than anything in this world, but I also don’t want to be a spiteful mother who hasn’t accomplished what she has set out to do (or at least tried). It’s hard because as women we have biological clocks that tick at every moment and we get worried. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve freaked out and wondered if I will be so old when I want to have kids that I won’t even be able to have them.  But that worry isn’t productive.

I do think you can have it all, but the timing is really important. And if plans change and you happen to fall into the happy family before the career…make it work, right? I believe in fate and destiny to some degree because it brings me piece of mind knowing something has happened for a reason.  Life is SO beautiful and SO hard.  But it’s also so short.  Strive for your career and believe that the happy family will come to you when it’s supposed to.  You can have both if you put your mind to it, but you need to be mindful of balance and in my opinion, family should ALWAYS come first.

6. What is the biggest career mistake you’ve ever made?
Simply put – NOT READING THE FINE PRINT.  When I first tried to create my EP (my new solo project) I worked with a man who gave me a contract that was in total favor of him and I neglected to read it.  I ended up losing all the money I had and getting nothing. And you know what…it was totally my fault.  Shame on him for taking advantage of me, but shame on me for not protecting myself by reading the contract through and really thinking things over.  It’s his gain and he is entitled to it legally, so I’ve let it go and moved on.  But now I know…ALWAYS utilize contracts and ALWAYS utilize lawyers :)! Protect yourself and then you can get on with the fun stuff.

7. Fast-forward several years/decades. How did you land (or create) your current position?
I can’t stand offices. I don’t like having bosses. I’m not someone who enjoys working in huge groups. I like power and I love control. I also like working with a close-knit group of people and I’m stubborn and set in my ways when it comes to my beliefs…so honestly I can’t even imagine myself working for anyone else but myself.  Maybe this sounds completely arrogant, but it’s coming from a place of total and brutal honesty.  I love working for clients because I can control what I do and cater to them, but having someone tell me what to do daily…that’s really hard for me to deal with and I just don’t thrive in those situations.  So how did I get here?  I worked my butt off.  I failed…a lot.  I lost money.  I cried. I got my heart broken.  I gossiped…I lied…and then I woke up.  I started to do something I truly believed in. I want to be a positive role model for girls and inspire them like they inspire me.  I got here because I knew I had no choice but to do so.  Yes, I’m intense…yes I’m maybe overly passionate and neurotic…but that’s who I am and I kind of love it.