Hello and welcome to our second Introvert Interviews!
Annie Pettit is the Chief Research Officer at Peanut Labs, a marketing research firm; Editor In Chief of Vue Magazine; author of the novel/social media research guide The Listen Lady; a ukulele player (there’s a video below!); and an introvert!
You work as a Chief Research Officer at Peanut Labs–can you describe what a Chief Research Officer does and how much of your time is spent on face-to-face interactions?
Peanut Labs is a marketing research firm so I work with a team to make sure that the quality of our research products is as high as possible. The interesting thing is that most of my team is on the other side of the country so I do a lot of communication via skype and email. How perfect is that! I also do a lot of education work which includes writing white papers, case studies, and blog posts about various marketing research topics. Strangely enough, I speak at research conferences to groups from 30 people to 300 people.
Are you aware of your temperament when attending or speaking at conferences? Do you do anything in particular to recharge before, during, or after the event?
I am very much aware. I think of myself as two people – the real me, and the conference me. (click to Tweet) The real me wants to sit in the garden and watch the birds at the feeder. The conference me appears extraverted and comfortable around people and on stage. In fact, most colleagues think I am an extravert and refuse to believe otherwise.
When I am speaking, I like to find the room where I will speak ahead of time, usually the day before. I’ll stand on the stage, take note of where my laptop will be, where I can put my notes, where the screens are, how big the steps are. The day of, I arrive early, possibly way too early, and find the exact seat I want. I try to avoid surprises at all costs. It usually takes me a long time to unwind afterwards but usually it means getting the hell out as quickly as possible – out for a walk, back to room, anywhere but there.
I avoid cocktail hour where possible but if I have to go, I show up as late as possible or leave as soon as possible. And, there’s nothing wrong with going for five minutes, wandering the halls of the hotel for half an hour, and then going back for another five minutes.
You’re also the Editor-In-Chief of Vue Magazine. What would you say is the most rewarding aspect of the job? Are there any introvert challenges?
The part I like the most is holding the finished magazine in my hands. It’s a lot of work to find all the bits and pieces that the team will turn into a great magazine – sourcing authors with interesting viewpoints, finding book reviews, columnists, industry news, and cartoons that will interest our audience. And then when the authors are thrilled to see their own articles, it’s icing on the cake.
The biggest introvert challenge for me is that some people want/need to discuss their contribution over the phone. However, I know I communicate far better over email. I can usually keep a conversation online and I have a lot of templated answers for the common questions but some people still try the phone route. That’s when I end up telling them I’ve answered all their questions and more in a summary sheet which I will send them via email. It’s strange how some people can’t do anything without a phone in their hands while other people can’t do anything with a phone in their hands.
What was it like speaking at a Canadian Senate Committee?
That pretty much made my year. It really is an honour to get speak with the government about important topics that affect your entire industry. I was quite nervous but I had speaking notes which I stuck to very carefully. I was asked a number of questions afterwards and I know I didn’t answer them as best as I could have had the answers been allowed in writing the next day, but many times in life, things must be done now. The committee seemed to recognize that me and my colleague aren’t regular contributors to discussions like these and were relatively kind to us. You can’t always have things your way but you can do whatever you possibly can to keep them in your favour as much as possible.
How much of an effect do you think being an introvert has had on your career?
I’d have to say quite a lot. I tweet and blog a lot at conferences because I don’t know what else to do (start a conversation? Are you serious?) and it is quiet time for just me. But a side effect is that a lot of people see the tweets and blog posts, and then recognize me, and remember my skill set later on. I am clueless when it comes to in-person networking so all of mine takes place in social media. This social media activity means that people recognize me before I recognize them such that I’m not the one introducing myself everywhere. Other people do that for me. Thank you Twitter. If social media was not there to share my voice, it would have NEVER been shared otherwise. And without social media, I would not have been asked to speak in Bulgaria, Venezuela, Colombia, Australia, UK, and more. The stress of being around huge groups of people is countered by experiencing amazing countries around the world. Social media has allowed me to become kind of the Canadian expert in my field without ever leaving home.
How do you recharge your batteries?
With awesome weekends spent at home reading, gardening, baking, and taking walks with my SO. Wanna meet for lunch? No thanks, very busy. Wanna go to a party this weekend? No thanks, very busy. 🙂
If you were able to travel back in time, is there any advice you would give to your younger introverted self?
You can eat at restaurants, shop at the mall, and go to movies by yourself. People are more concerned with themselves than what you’re doing so you might as well do what you want to do. Also, people do not know who you really are. If you present yourself as an extravert, they will believe you are an extravert. Which means they won’t make a big deal and put you on the spot when the ‘introvert’ does something out of character.
Where can people find out more about you?
http://facebook.com/anniepettit
http://lovestats.wordpress.com
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/anniepettit/
