mPowering You: Own the Room

(Dethra Giles.)

NASHVILLE—“The most valuable place is up front, but it comes with a cost,” said Dethra Giles, CEO of ExecuPrep, Atlanta.

“We have been conditioned to be quiet,” Giles said here at mPowering You, MBA’s Summit for Women in Real Estate Finance. “We are conditioned to stay in our comfort zone—and everyone else’s comfort zone. We need to find our voice, love your voice, raise your voice and have a lasting voice.”

Giles said “owning the room” means getting out of your comfort zone. And it starts with finding your voice.

“When we find our voice, we find ourselves,” Giles said. “When you find your voice, you will find where you belong,”

Similarly, Giles said, owning the room means raising your voice. “It’s not about being the loudest in the room,” she said. “It’s about talking less, but saying more. Raising your voice is about making your voice easy to follow. Make the time in which you talk matter.”

Allyship is a key factor for owning your voice, Giles said—even if it’s uncomfortable. “When you know you’re there to make space, you navigate it differently,” she said. “Owning the room means that your message goes beyond the words you say.”

“Until you find your voice, and until you raise your voice, and until you lend your voice to everyone, then you earn the right to stand in front of the room,” Giles added. And ultimately, she said, finding your voice is about losing your voice.

“You need to find someone who will take your spot,” Giles said. “You need to be a mentor; you need to prepare other women to fill your role. Your hindsight should be their foresight. No more women should find themselves ill-prepared to move into a position of leadership. You need to lose your voice to create more voices.”