“Do something you love,” Shelley Smit from Omnicom Media Canada

Meet Shelley Smit, CEO of Omnicom Media Canada, where she oversees strategy, performance, culture, and capabilities across the network. With more than two decades of experience spanning both agency and client-side leadership, Shelley is known for combining high-performance standards with a people-first leadership style. She is also a passionate mentor and advocate for women, and is committed to creating environments where people can thrive, grow, and bring their full selves to work.

Shelley Smit met with Morgan James, Content Marketing Specialist at SiriusXM Media to discuss resilience, optimism, authentic leadership, and why loving what you do is one of the most important ingredients for a successful career.

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

Find work that energizes you.

Highlight: “Do something you love… It's a long path. I hope for everyone that they're doing something that they truly love, that they're passionate about, that they are curious about. Because in our business, things change every day. So you constantly have to be curious about what’s next… It's gotta be a lifelong curiosity because it's never static. Having that consistency day in and day out, of doing that, you have to love it… Work should not be draining you, it should be energizing you.” - Shelley Smit

When you’re down, it will get better.

Highlight: “There’s this saying, ‘Don't let the wins go to your head or the losses go to heart.’ That's really important in our business because there are amazing days, and then there are really tough days, and you need to be able to know the balance between them. When you're down, it will get better. And prepare yourself that when you're up, it could go down, and be ready for that. So, it's this resilience you get over a period of time.” - Shelley Smit

Surround yourself with optimistic people.

Highlight: “When you're in a negative mindset, it's almost like a red light. You focus on one thing, and your brain can't really come up with different solutions because it’s in fight-or-flight mode… But when you’re positive, when you're optimistic, and you're having a good time, and you are enjoying life, and you're grounded—all of a sudden, your mind opens up, and you can be more creative, you can be more solution-oriented, possibilities just come to you. And that's a great state to be in. So there's definitely a benefit to surrounding yourself around other optimistic, positive people. And then thinking about those points of gratitude each day.” - Shelley Smit

You don’t have to be the loudest voice in the room.

Highlight: “There weren't a lot of other women in the room when I started. And so, I'd go to meetings, and I would be really quiet. I wasn't sure what my voice should be, and I was really hesitant to speak up. And then it took someone to say, ‘You're here because we want to hear your voice and you're in the room and so you need to to express yourself, contribute, and know that if you have a question about something, five other people in the room also have the same question’... You don't have to be the loudest voice, but you need a voice.” - Shelley Smit

Balance your time.

Highlight: “You should be able to bring your full self to work. But that also means there are times where parts of your life are dominating other parts, and that can impact it… I think about a virtual pie, and in the pie it's divided between work, family, friends, and myself, and how I spend time and effort on all of those… And if one starts taking over, I consciously try to put more into the other buckets as well to start balancing it out. ” - Shelley Smit

Be who you are.

Highlight: “Just be who you are. If you try to be someone else, it's too hard to show up consistently every day if you're not true to yourself. The only way to have a long tenure at a job where you're coming off as a real leader and somebody people can really relate to, or at least understand, is to be yourself, because that you can consistently be.” - Shelley Smit

Shelley’s career is proof that success doesn’t always come from following a perfectly mapped-out plan. By staying curious, embracing challenges, and trusting herself through both wins and setbacks, she built a career rooted in resilience and purpose. Her advice is a reminder to find work that energizes you, use your voice, and surround yourself with people who believe in you—because those are often the things that help you grow the most. Check out the Pass the Mic page for more inspiring content from female leaders like Shelley.  

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