Empowering Career Transformations: How Rita Balian Allen Built a 20-Year Legacy in Leadership Development
Rita Balian Allen, President of Rita B. Allen Associates, embodies the rare combination of visionary leadership and practical career wisdom that has shaped countless professional journeys over the past two decades. As an executive coach, leadership development expert, and author of “Personal Branding and Marketing Yourself,” Allen has established herself as a powerhouse in career management and organizational development. With an MS in Organizational Leadership and designation as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), she has built an international consulting practice that serves industries ranging from biotechnology to financial services.
In an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur Loop, Allen shares her remarkable journey from childhood aspirations of entrepreneurship to celebrating her firm’s 20th anniversary. Her story is not just about building a successful business; it’s about creating a legacy of empowerment and transformation in the professional world. As she marks this significant milestone, Allen opens up about her entrepreneurial journey, the evolution of her practice, and her guiding philosophy of “getting comfortable being uncomfortable.”
Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.
I own an international career management firm specializing in executive coaching, leadership development, management training and career development and have worked with leaders across all industries and disciplines. My career spans over many years within the field of human resources in different capacities. I am also a lecturer at Northeastern University, a speaker, presenter and author of numerous articles, blogs and two books on the topic of “Personal Branding and Marketing Yourself”. I hold an MS in Organizational Leadership and a BS in Business Administration; and am also a Professional Certified Coach (PCC). In addition, I currently serve as a member of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers of the Supreme Judicial Court as well as the Board of Directors of Seeding Labs.
Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?
I provide coaching, training and consulting services for individuals and organizations representing a variety of industries including high technology, biotechnology, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, financial services, professional services, higher education, healthcare, manufacturing, service, not-for-profit and retail/consumer products. Working with all levels of leaders, managers and senior professionals, my mission is to assist individuals empower themselves to take charge of their careers and organizations to maximize their fullest potential and create strategies for growth, development and success. My goal is to partner with executives to achieve specific results and desired outcomes and ultimately build/enhance leadership capability. Executive coaching is a development opportunity for both the individual and the organization to stretch beyond their comfort zone and achieve greater value to impact individual and business performance.
What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?
Believe it or not, I always had a long-term goal of starting my own business, from the time I was a kid. When my friends would be playing house, I would be playing office heading up my own business. I knew I would go to business school and then allowed myself to learn, strategize and proactively work on envisioning and creating a path and roadmap that would allow me to realize that goal of starting a business. My career was launched in HR and all the career decisions I made and steps I took with the long-term goal in mind and how they would help me in that journey. Once I was ready to start my business as the third phase of my career, I ended up with a plan, however, allowed myself to stay open to unexpected opportunities and possibilities as well pivoting and stretching in new ways at times. My inspiration comes from my immigrant upbringing and growing up with values that included servant leadership. In addition, I have always been a person of strong conviction and passion to do things that matter, make a difference and have impact. I love to create, build and grow.
What have been your key strategies for growth and gaining traction/users?
I would say my number one strategy that is so foundational and fundamental to everything else is building relationships. Relationships make or break careers, companies, and success. It is all about establishing, building and nurturing mutually rewarding relationships. It’s about building trust and credibility. It’s about knowing, building, articulating and enhancing your personal brand. Being known in your field as a thought leader, making a difference, giving back and being a person of high integrity and standards. When you have strong relationships that include colleagues, mentors, sponsors, champions, advocates and trusted advisors as well as play that role to others, not only do you have allies but you have a strong source of support, referrals and resources. This allows you to not only build a strong brand but also to build a pipeline of clients, prospects, marketing opportunities and additional relationships. Be visible, be a resource, put yourself out there and be sought after as a subject matter expert. My favorite quote – ‘get comfortable being uncomfortable’ and I’ve learned to ‘say yes when it scares you’. Along those lines, I truly walk the talk as I have pushed myself in so many new ways. Through my work as a coach and leadership development trainer, I saw a need to help others tackle the difficult topic of personal branding and marketing themselves so I wrote a book on the topic in 2014 which continues to be relevant and a topic in high demand in my practice. As a result, I have now published a sequel to it that will be a Companion Workbook and being launched as we speak! (maybe add the link here??)
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out?
Trust yourself and your instincts more. Take more risks and allow yourself to make mistakes. Another favorite quote of mine is one from Nelson Mandela who says, “I never fail, I either win or I learn.” So true! Another thing that I did know because someone gave me good advice but did not realize what it really meant until I experienced it and that is to allow your business to evolve which may stray from your business plan. No matter how much planning, projecting, research and forecasting we do, we won’t know until we try. Once we try, sometimes we find certain things are not as marketing or rewarding as we planned and we must be ready and able to pivot. I had 3 core areas of focus for my business and I learned after year 3, that one of those areas just was not a revenue generator and so I pivoted and shifted quickly, and the result turned out to open up different doors that were even more sustainable and profitable.
What are the most important skills someone needs to be a successful founder, in your opinion?
Well, in addition to relationship building, I would say strong listening skills, actively listening, seeking to understand before being understood. We have to be able to reach our audience in ways that are beneficial to them vs. us. In order to do so, we have to be deep listeners so that we can tailor our message to meet their needs. Being able to empathize and serve requires strong listening in order to influence effectively. In essence, it is all about building our emotional intelligence. Knowing ourselves really well to start with – our values, strengths, opportunity areas, limitations, motivations, triggers, needs, etc.; and having an accurate self-perception along with a healthy self-regard; as well as being able to manage our selves and our emotions effectively. Being of service, having empathy, building strong relationships are all dimensions of emotional intelligence which is a highly important skill to be successful in life and career in running your business. There are lots of peaks and valleys and we have to be able to have a strong base to manage ourselves during these times as an entrepreneur.
What do you find most rewarding and most challenging about being an entrepreneur?
I find it so rewarding to have a vision, create a business to fill a need, to grow it and see the impact/difference you make. I also find it so rewarding to be empowered and not have my destiny in anyone else’s hands. We certainly can’t control what happens around us or the economy, however, we can control our ability to be equipped to respond, to react and to navigate through it all. I would say the biggest challenge is sometimes it can be a little lonely as not everyone knows what it is like, truly like, to be self-employed. That is why it is essential to make sure your network includes other entrepreneurs and trusted advisors to reach out to ask for help and/or to brainstorm with on a regular basis. It is also very rewarding to be that resource and support to other business owners.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?
Just do it!! Don’t allow the self-talk to talk you out of it and/or others negative talk to discourage you. Have trust, faith and confidence in yourself! Having said that, you should also do your due diligence, take the time to research, talk to a lot of people, write a business plan and reflect on the pros and cons. Be sure you are ready personally, professionally and financially to embark on this journey! If you put yourself through these paces, go for it! There is nothing more rewarding!
