Panelist Spotlight: Pete Danielsen, Danielsen Design

October 11, 2017

We’re excited to feature some of our panelists for our upcoming event with Changing the Conversation in a series of blogs, where we’ve asked each to describe a challenge, offer a piece of advice to their former selves, and comment on their experiences with being or having a sponsor. Our first featured panelist is Pete Danielsen, Owner of Danielsen Design and the former EVP of Programming for BET Networks. Check out what he has to say below, and don’t forget to get your ticket for the event on October 26th at 6:30pm!

Describe a challenge that you’ve overcome in your career.

Giving presentations used to be a gut-wrenching, nail-biting, sweaty-palms experience for me. Now it’s easy and I enjoy it along with the “audience” interaction. You just need to find opportunities to keep practicing.

What’s a piece of advice you wish you could give your former self?

Whether you work in a big company or a small one, treat the job like you “own” the company, regardless of your title. It helps clarify your planning/decisions/actions/reactions. That’s what leaders do.

What’s one way that being or having a sponsor/champion/mentor has improved your company’s performance?

I have been a sponsor and I’ve had a few incredibly smart coaches in my career. In both cases the “output” made us work “smarter.” Not harder, but smarter -- more productive conversations/decisions/ideas, and less time revisiting the work over and over again.