“Ask questions,” Nicole Purcell from The Clio Awards

Meet Nicole Purcell, CEO of The Clio Awards, a global awards platform that celebrates creative excellence in advertising. Since joining the organization, Nicole has helped transform The Clio Awards from a traditional awards show into a year-round ecosystem that celebrates and connects creators and brands around the world. Today, the organization spans across six distinct award programs, celebrating creative excellence across advertising, entertainment, sports, music, health, and more. Their growing media presence and year-round thought leadership and networking events have created new opportunities to engage the global creative community beyond awards season. At the heart of Nicole’s leadership is a belief that creativity thrives when community, culture, and connection come together. 

Nicole sat down with Morgan James, Content Marketing Specialist at SiriusXM Media to discuss the importance of speaking up, being the bigger person, and knowing what you’re worth. 

Listen to the full interview below, then check out some highlights from the conversation.

Start a new connection.

Highlight: “If you're sitting next to someone during one of the panel conversations and you're seeing they're laughing at the same things you are or you have a question, ask the question. No one's going to say no to you or be mean to you because you're asking a question, or because you want to see what they're doing or what they are getting out of it as well. I think that's the easiest thing that you can do. And then hopefully you'll start a new connection.” - Nicole Purcell

Say your piece in the right way.

Highlight: “Open your mouth; say your piece in the right way. Not when you're in a meeting full of people and you're being disgruntled, or you want to say something. No. Take someone aside and have a real conversation. And just say, ‘Hey, this has been bothering me’ or, ‘Can I change this?’ And most of the time, it's going to go—if you do it in the right way—it's going to go right for you.” - Nicole Purcell

Build your community.

Highlight: “I think being with people is so important. I think learning how to deal with people, being with each other, coming up with ideas, going out for a drink is so, so important… I need to be around people, have conversations. Because these conversations that come up, if you're going through something, so is that next person. But you don't know that if you're not with them, and you build this rapport with them, and have a conversation with them. And it does make you feel better.” - Nicole Purcell

Be the better person.

Highlight: “Always be the better person. Always be good… As long as you care, and you show empathy, and you're nice to people, I just can't imagine someone really putting you down enough that you would be the one to lose the job.” - Nicole Purcell

Learn to let go.

Highlight: “I've learned to let go. And I think that comes with learning and all your experiences over the years. To say, ‘Okay, I'm ready to let go and have people to take charge of things. I don't need to be fully involved.’ I would say in the last 10 years, my whole outlook has changed on so many things. And I believe I've become a better leader because of that. And I want people to grow. To me, seeing someone, even if they leave us for something else that they believe that they love and wanna do, I support them and help them. That makes them happy, that's wonderful.” - Nicole Purcell

Nicole’s advice is a reminder that knowing what you bring to the table, speaking up when it matters, and having the confidence to lead with empathy plays a big role in building your career. Strong leadership can be both confident and compassionate. For more inspiring conversations like this, check out the Pass the Mic page.

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