How to Integrate Your Creative Passions into Mission-Driven Work

Linked In: [00:00:00] Linkedin presents.

Jonathan Fields: [00:00:09] And today, we're incredibly excited to be sharing a new feature here on the SPARKED podcast, Career Transformation Stories. So we're inviting guests to share inspiring stories of their career change from reimagining the work that they're currently doing. So it just feels so much more alive to leaving behind unfulfilling jobs, careers work to find or create new, more inspired, energized, purposeful, meaningful, and joy filled paths. And we're exploring how they're Sparketype has played a role in this journey. It's all about how we transform work into one of the best parts of our lives. So next up, we're diving into an inspiring example of having the courage to stay true to yourself while also serving something greater than just personal ambition. This story shows you how you can uncover possibilities for self-expression and impact within your existing job. So quick note here you'll hear us mention something we call Sparketypes in conversation. Well, what is that? Turns out we all have a unique imprint for work that makes us come alive. This is your Sparketype when you discover yours. Everything. Your entire work life, even parts of your personal life and relationships, they just start to make more sense. And until we discover ours, we're kind of fumbling in the dark. And just like today's listener did, you can discover your Sparketype for free at sparketype.com. You'll find a link in the show notes. So my guest today is Philippe Lazaro, communications manager and storyteller at the nonprofit Plant with purpose.

Jonathan Fields: [00:01:39] Now, despite initially taking on a traditional marketing role, Philippe found ways to really interweave his creative passions as a filmmaker, illustrator and performer into his work, rather than forcing himself into a mold that really didn't fit all that well. He gently reshaped his position over a period of about eight years to better align with who he was with his sparketype profile, which uncovered his primary Sparketype as a performer. The shadow as an advocate and the anti Sparketype as essentialist. You'll hear his journey of some trial and error, some building buy in over time, and ultimately crafting a role that lets him animate and important cause through powerful storytelling. So excited to share this conversation with you! I'm Jonathan Fields and this is SPARKED. Hey, and before we dive into today's episode, a quick share. So if you're a coach, a consultant or a leader, and you would just love to stand out more in 2024 and beyond with a powerful new credential and a set of results driven superpowers, we have got something for you. With nearly a million people now discovering their profiles, the Sparketypes have become a global phenomenon. People want their work to light them up, and oftentimes they would love some help along the way, which is why we developed our certified Sparketype Advisor training. As a Certified Advisor, you will discover cutting edge tools that spark profound work life client transformations.

Jonathan Fields: [00:03:10] Stand out with a highly unique credential and skill set in a crowded market. Find ease and flexibility with templated engagement flows. You'll become a part of a global network of change makers, and you'll rack up 40 ICF continuing education credits. Our fall cohort is enrolling now with visionaries just like you, and we would love to invite you to uplevel your capabilities as a coach or consultant or leader by becoming a certified Sparketype advisor. To learn more about the fall training and see if it's right for you, just click the link in the show notes now or visit sparketype.com. Slash pros. One of the things I love about your story, and we're going to dive deep into it, is so often when people feel like, you know they're not getting what they want from their work. The first impulse is just blow everything up. The only way I can get what I need is to completely go somewhere else, do something else. And that is an okay option for some people. You know, for the right reasons. What I love about your story is you kind of said, you know what? I have an ability to make this thing my own, to actually, like, not have to do that, but really create something special where I am. So I'm excited to just drop into that story with you.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:04:22] Sure. Yeah.

Jonathan Fields: [00:04:24] So tell me just a little bit about you. About about the life of Philippe.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:04:28] Sure. Yeah, there's a lot of aspects to it, but I am. I work as a communications manager for a nonprofit organization called plant with purpose. I've been there for about seven years, and it really realizes something I've wanted to do, basically from the time I was a student, which was to work in a humanitarian setting in an international context. And the bonus is that I get to do it in a way that applies some of my creative pursuits, which is also something that I've found it difficult to not include in the work I do one way or the other. Yeah, I consider my work to be that of a storyteller, especially in the world of, of climate and, and humanitarian issues. And in addition to that, I am also a dad. I have three kids who are all in those preschool years, so that keeps me quite busy. But somehow we keep going.

Jonathan Fields: [00:05:26] That's amazing. So you mentioned your creative pursuits. Tell me a little bit more about that too.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:05:31] Oh, yeah. So, um, it's a total blurred line about where when I apply it to work, because a lot of these are things I would probably be doing outside of work anyways, and I kind of do. Um, but for, for my job, I make a lot of videos, and I also make a lot of videos that go beyond work, but all towards taking concepts that are generally related to other cultures and just things that I find myself really curious about. Also looping in humanitarian issues. Things related to the environment and creating, I guess they call them explainer videos is the best description. And I've been able to do this both for for the the issues we work with at plant, with purpose, and for things a bit beyond that as well. And then on top of that, I also am an illustrator. I've gotten really into improv over the past couple of years. So I mean, it's just a pretty busy. Yeah, I.

Jonathan Fields: [00:06:24] Mean, that's amazing. So you end up working in this company and it sounds like, you know, this is interesting also, right? Because you have a real passion for the topic of, you know, and you found an organization where it's not just about a great paycheck and the opportunity to sort of like express yourself in interesting ways. But the the actual focus, the mission is something that really, deeply resonated with you. Tell me a little bit about how important that was to you.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:06:50] Yeah, it was it was quite important. You know, immediately after I finished college, I took a few internships at some great nonprofit organizations that similarly were international in terms of focus, that were very much geared around solutions to big problems. And there was this energy around that that I could not get away from, to have a whole team that was so aligned with a cause and who woke up and showed up passionate about what they were doing, just everyone kind of brought their own intrinsic motivation to it, and it set the bar really high for the type of work I wanted to do for the long haul. So I went back to school so that I could go a bit further with it and make it more than just a seasonal internship. And I managed that. And when the opportunity at Plant With Purpose came up, I loved the organization, just their whole approach, which was very centered on the agency of the people they were working with. It was, yeah, just a place I absolutely wanted to be.

Jonathan Fields: [00:07:51] Yeah. No, that sounds it sounds really well aligned So before we dive in, because I want to learn a lot more about the work and how you really made it your own, just to create a bit of a baseline. I know that you've actually figured out and found out what your Sparketype is. Tell me what the what what your profile is.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:08:08] I am a performer and that's. Yeah, my my primary my shadow is advocate and my anti is essentialist. But I think I especially gravitate to the the description of the performer which reading over the materials about that so much of it just seemed very applicable.

Jonathan Fields: [00:08:28] Yeah. And so, so for those who were if you're listening in and this is new to you, we're talking about the Sparketype, which is a free assessment for everybody. And it just helps you understand what are the underlying impulses for work that make you come alive. The performer is really fascinating. It's actually it's the least represented of all of the primary Sparketypes. And it generally it's an impulse to to energize, to animate a moment in interaction and Experience the advocate. Which was your shadow or your quote, runner up? Um is all about championing an idea ideal. Sometimes a community, sometimes inanimate beings. And the essentialists, which is your anti, which is generally for most people is the heaviest lift. Like you may be good at it, you may have gotten skilled at it. And often, often we are, because we kind of have to do it for part of our work, but it's not the thing that we'd want to do. It's the thing that we hand off as soon as we can. Generally, if we have that ability. So it sounds like and we're going to dive a lot more into it. Like what you're doing is just, is, is literally almost a perfect way to bring both the performer and the advocate into the mix. So when you start out, you say, yes, from what I understand that the the job description is marketing specialist. So like on paper, what does that actually even mean?

Philippe Lazaro: [00:09:43] I forget what was written on paper at the very beginning, but essentially we were a mid-level nonprofit, international in scope and had a decent reach. But really the big goal was to increase our brand presence and become more of a recognized name. We were kind of unique in that, you know, there's a lot of environmental organizations out there, but we really blended our approach with the economic and environmental concerns of rural villages that we were working in. So kind of approaching both issues like climate and poverty holistically, which, yeah, I felt was more unique and should be getting more attention. So all that to say, my my job, the main goal was whatever could make us more known, um, was fair game. At the time though, I was, uh, essentially a one person marketing department. And so that meant just managing all the basics. The newsletter, the, the social media handles, um, our communication strategy. And by the time just our coordination with our fundraisers and everything, by the time that was all done, it was whatever was left over I could kind of experiment with and yeah, see what else we could do to increase our profile.

Jonathan Fields: [00:10:54] Yeah, I mean, I love that. So for a lot of people, when they show up in a job like that, there's a little bit of terror involved because it's sort of like, okay, so literally there's enough for me to do and there's a need. And I'm deeply passionate about this, cause I could see myself potentially doing a thousand different things. And there's a need to probably do all 1000 different things, and there can be a sense of overwhelm and confusion for you. It seems like it planted a different seed.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:11:22] A little bit. Yeah. You know, I, having worked at so many nonprofits that I think were similar in the type of work they did, but I had started at some that kind of had this very grassroots movement feel to them. You know, one for one of them, my role was to tour around the country and essentially give pep talks at campuses and churches and things on, on refugee issues. So I was used to this very like on the ground campaigning sort of energy and moving into a non-profit where more of this work was being done in office. I kind of had this appetite to to just go out and talk to people and get spread the excitement more outward, which often felt like, okay, I had to check the boxes of making sure all of our marketing machinery was functioning well in order to do that, but so a lot of it was just I kind of looked at it as, let's try and take care of the basics, so then we could open up the opportunity to to get out there more and to free ourselves up. And I think that ultimately did happen, but it definitely took a good amount of time.

Jonathan Fields: [00:12:27] Yeah. So so tell me about the early days. I mean, because you step into this, you start doing the work and you're clearly you're somebody who is you're passionate not just about the cause, but as a performer and advocate. You love being out there evangelizing what this is all about. So how do you start to define like what you're actually going to do on a day to day basis?

Philippe Lazaro: [00:12:47] Yeah, honestly, a lot of trial and error and moving things around. And a lot of seeing what. What worked and what didn't work. I'd say what got better over time, though. Was, uh, learning how to apply this data and actual results, seeing, you know. Was the work I was doing, was this actually paying off and using that to. Inform my decision, rather than just going by the feel or or the energy was. Because sometimes those things didn't line up. And the more I made room for. That I think the more I was able to spend my time in areas that were effective. But also just bring bring the rest of the team on board and help create an. Understanding. I think sometimes it's really easy. I think this is probably the. Inner creative to have this big vision and to want to just execute on it right away and figure if I execute really well, obviously everyone's going to. Understand? But, um, no, especially in like a world where I'm working with a lot of environmental scientists and stuff, like having a real, more measured approach, being able to use data to to show there is a real strategy here. It's not just vibes, it's it's a bit of both. But yeah, there's some actual informed decision making going on. Really helped me grow in my role to the point where, yeah, we could see not just the excitement of what we're doing, but also why it makes sense for the organization's goals.

Jonathan Fields: [00:14:07] Yeah. That's such an important point that you bring up, because I think so often, you know, when we show up and we want to do the thing we want to do and we see in our mind, oh, this, you know, there are ten different ways I could do this. I'm so excited to do it. But in an organization, there are resources that have to get allocated to whatever it is that you want to do and time and money and and we can rarely ever operate in a vacuum. You know, you've got to have buy in from other people. And I feel like so often that's where we stumble. You know, we kind of just think it's so obvious to me. It should be obvious to everyone. And why is it not and not realizing it like part of our work, actually, even if it's not the thing that comes naturally to us or we don't love that part of it is we actually need to sit down and have those conversations and understand where are they coming from. Right. And how do we meet in the middle, especially with with what you're doing, because it sounds like you're really just creating this, um, almost from nothing, like you were saying, like this. You're really defining it, like you're building the ship as you go.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:15:06] Well, to some degree, um, so there's a part of it that was very much not created by me, which is the fact that the organization itself is, is actually older than I am. Um, so the, the organization and the program, the work that we were doing internationally that had been in place for a long time, but the part that was more novel was, yeah, trying to build more of a system around just getting the word out there. And, you know, now that we've built this well-functioning program that's impacting all these lives around the world, how do we get other people excited about that? And that part was a bit newer. We, um, had a pretty decent fundraising strategy. So we had, you know, some donors who were enthusiastic behind us. But yeah, really trying to go beyond there so that increasingly our organization and kind of the model that we have of doing the work we do could be more recognized and could generate some excitement.

Jonathan Fields: [00:16:00] So as you're making these decisions and as you described a lot of trial and error and just doing a whole bunch of different things and seeing what works, I'm curious, in the back of your mind, was there almost like a dual script running where you're asking what's going to represent this cause, this mission, this organization that believes so deeply in and also what's going to let me show up like this is especially when you're newer in the job, like, how do I get what I need from this? How do I feel like I can show up and really be alive and fully expressed?

Philippe Lazaro: [00:16:29] Yeah, I think so. So, you know, there were the obvious parts that just really line up with my passions and what I wanted to do, but there were also some funny parts where I'm like, I don't know if this is me. And, you know, I think one of the big ones was the the job title of marketing specialist. If you asked me to guess what my eventual job title would have been like ten years prior. I don't know if marketing anything would have been on the list. You know, when you actually unpack what marketing is, it makes more sense. But just on the surface, the idea of being in an in a role where I'm just constantly persuading or selling, you know, didn't seem like the type of thing that I would be cut out to do. And so there was actually a period of time where I would use that title more internally and then externally, just kind of used things that I thought described my day to day function better, whether that was a creative direction or anything else. And that actually ultimately did happen when I changed roles or let it evolve a bit. And I'm now the communications manager slash storyteller. And I think that the storyteller role is kind of a big one. It captures a lot of the the heart of what I do and relaying the stories of the communities that we work in. But yeah, just trying to go from, okay, this is sort of seeing the role as like a traditional marketing role. Here are Sort of the boxes to check. Then as we grow, figuring out how to strengthen that using the things that I, I very naturally do out of fun, out of curiosity and interest. And that's where a lot of the the storytelling and creative side started to show up.

Jonathan Fields: [00:18:04] Yeah. I'm curious, do you have a sense that you showing up, almost like not only representing something you believe in, um, but also knowing that you're kind of showing up fully as you like doing the thing that you might even do on the side just for fun, because you so believed in it and you just wanted to support something, even if it wasn't a job. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone about that part. Um. Do you? I mean, do you have this sense that people feel that that that that level of of alignment through the mission of the organization, like through you showing up and feeling just it's also deeply aligned with how you want to show up in the world. Do you sense that people feel that when you from you when you show up that way?

Philippe Lazaro: [00:18:44] Yeah, I think especially now as I've gotten more and more honed in on the role and everything. But I think what was interesting, you know, the organization has grown significantly since I joined. I'm thinking of just our US based team right now is close to 5050 team members. And at this at my start, we were closer to 15. So we've expanded a lot. Yeah. And you know, I was really at that point the only one who had the focus primarily on marketing and communications. Um, most other people worked either closely related to the programs with the org admin or with more direct fundraising. And so all that to say is I kind of brought, you know, thinking of my performer Sparketype, that was a little bit different than, I think what you saw more frequently throughout the organization. I would say humility was a strong hallmark of the organization and still is. And I think there's a whole bunch of ways to express humility, and you can be a humble performer for what it's worth. But you know just a lot of my teammates were not ones who would naturally gravitate towards, like being on stage or asking for a whole lot of attention. But in some ways that was built into my job, and in other ways it was just sort of what I naturally did. So I think for a little while it was, yeah, just figuring out how to how to make my intent around that understood. And, you know, people were very welcoming and adaptable. But yeah, it did. You know, I did recognize that difference at the start. And then I think another thing too, is that, you know, as our team has evolved and we've just brought on more diverse personalities and more like overall diversity to the makeup of the team that's no longer just, you know, any outlier in any direction. There's more people kind of all over the map.

Jonathan Fields: [00:20:29] Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. It's so interesting also that you describe, you know, it's almost like a humble culture. And then you step into that. And part of your job is I actually need to be very forward facing and very animated and really tell the story in a beautiful, glowing Powerful way. It's like an interesting potential tension there, right? Like, on the one hand, it's like. But but we're this kind of isn't who we are. Like, we're humble. Like, we're doing, like, really good, good work. And that's what it's about. But at the same time, everyone knows that there's a certain benefit of having somebody who's a powerful storyteller out front actually helping at the end of the day to to generate support and funds for this organization to do the work that everybody inside wants to do.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:21:13] Yeah, I agree. I'm kind of flashing back to actually my job interview. And one of the things that our CEO said to me, you know, because our program these days, we plant around 10 million trees a year. And we've seen we've measured the level of poverty in the communities we work, literally dropping in half. And so he explained, like, it kind of feels like we have a masterpiece sitting in a closet. And so I kind of took that to be like, okay, well, get get the masterpiece out of there then, and, and put it out in front of people. And yeah, I think he was referring more to so to some specific marketing endeavors that were heavily invested in and didn't quite make it out the door as as much as we had hoped. But that was kind of the way I understood what he was saying to. Yeah, just be bolder at putting our our message and our work out there. Um, and so I think that kind of was my early invitation to start inviting that performer side of myself out there, um, while also realizing that, yeah, it's just even though it is using the side of me, it's also in service of the work and for the benefit of others. Yeah.

Jonathan Fields: [00:22:14] No, I love that. And it's not it's not just about, hey, I want to be front and center because it's fun and I'm going to get praise and applause for doing this. You know, there was something deeper for you. You're like, you're telling the story of something that in your heart, you really believe is good work and needs, um, and needs to be energized and shared with other people. I'm curious, when you look back, how long have you been doing this now?

Philippe Lazaro: [00:22:38] Going on eight years. Pretty soon.

Jonathan Fields: [00:22:40] Okay, so so you've had, you know, like a solid amount of experience and through some really challenging times as well. What do you feel are like the big learnings in terms of your ability to do the work you want to do and show up the way that you want to show up?

Philippe Lazaro: [00:22:55] Yeah, I think overall one big takeaway, and this is something I often recommend, you know, I host a lot of interns who are with us for a period of time and then take the next step in their careers. And I always say to leave room for the things that you love, the things you enjoy and the things that make you, you. You know, sometimes at first it doesn't appear in your job description, you know, but there are all kinds of ways to, like, leave room for the things you love, whether it's finding some after hours pursuit to do it. And and just by not walking away from stuff completely, you never know when things are going to come, come back in. These days, I, I make at least one video a week in my role, if not more than that. And I'm about to leave for a couple of weeks in Thailand to do some film work over there, and bringing over a film crew. The funny thing is, is that I started way back to in college. I started my education trying to pursue a film degree, and I left. I quit that program halfway through when I started to feel like I wasn't actually having the opportunity to make things. Instead, I was just learning a lot of theoretical things about film. Uh, but it's funny how that has ended up coming back in the long run, you know? And I think that if you if you don't walk away from things, uh, oftentimes they don't walk away from you. And so I would just keep doing what you're doing and leave the doors open for, for it to be a part of what they do. And there's so many other examples of this throughout the organization. I'm thinking of people who have like a really specific interest in some something conservation related or biodiversity, who they were in their roles for like ten, 15 years. And just now they're starting to get new opportunities to play with those interests there. So yeah, it comes back.

Jonathan Fields: [00:24:47] I love that and I love that lyric. You had such powerful foreshadowing basically, like back when you were in school and you're like something was telling you like, this is in me. And eventually you found a way to circle back to it, but very much on your own terms, which is super cool. As we start to wrap up our conversation, do you think about, you know, what an amazing eight years carving out this ability to just show up and do this incredible work? Do you think are you the type of person who sort of like, thinks about the future, like what a vision for, like what this might evolve into looks like for you?

Philippe Lazaro: [00:25:21] Yeah, I, you know, I am the type of person who has typically moved around a lot and is usually itchy for the next thing. But I think the fact that I'm not feeling that itch at all after eight years is an indicator of how well it's gone. And also, they have not been eight stagnant years at all. Each one has been so different from the next. We've launched in two new countries since I've started and I've seen our team grow. I think that's been the exciting thing too. So we talked about how, you know, you start to realize the things that maybe aren't for you and find other ways to build around that. So we've brought on some team members who are really good at picking up the things that are best in other hands when when we have the chance to hand them off. And I think I'm also now at a stage where I can start helping other people develop skills if they're sort of on the same wavelength. And I found that part of my work to be really exciting, seeing people develop their their creative voice and being able to apply that to, to a cause to, yeah, a change they want to see in the world. So those are some of the exciting things going on right now, and I hope that the next few years just look more like that kind of just building off of what's happened.

Jonathan Fields: [00:26:30] Yeah, I love that. And I love the point that you made also like how you shared, like you were bouncing around a whole bunch before, but now you're eight years in the same organization because you keep finding ways to effectively show up the way you want to show up and do more of the work that makes you come alive within the same organization. And I feel like that is such an important thing to know so often. Again, going back to the beginning of a conversation, the minute things feel like they're not quite right, we start looking for the other job, the new company. And like I said, sometimes that's the right move for people. But oftentimes we never even consider like, is there a little bit of magic that I can actually create right here by getting a little creative, by going like by really looking for it. And so we don't even look for it. And and by not looking for it, we don't realize that it actually it does exist very often. And I love how you've sort of sort of said I'm going to look for it and then create it.

Philippe Lazaro: [00:27:20] Yeah, absolutely. You know, like I think for me, sometimes there's been this like, you know, what if like if I spend all my time here, is there something else I'm missing out on? But I've also realized that it can go the other way. Like, there's things you can miss out on by not making it to year eight. Of of being somewhere you know, of, not being somewhere long enough to see it evolve. And so, I mean, that's kind of been a lesson I've had to learn over time is, yeah, you you always miss out on something. You just have to kind of be selective about it and to choose wisely.

Speaker4: [00:27:52] Yeah.

Jonathan Fields: [00:27:53] Selective FOMO right? Selective FOMO and selective YOLO. Love it. Any any final. I mean, if for somebody who's listening to this and they're feeling kind of inspired. Any final just sort of like, thought or invitation for somebody tuning in?

Philippe Lazaro: [00:28:08] Yeah, I actually I don't know if I heard that before and just forgot about it, but I didn't realize that the performer was one of the least represented types. So I'd just say for for those out there who kind of feel feel similarly, there are so many ways to to implement that into your work. I think the thing that I really resonated with when reading that was just how it's all about creating experiences. And so if you just kind of focus on, yeah, what that actually looks like, how do you create experiences for the people around you, those in front of you. It opens up the door for a whole lot of fun to be had in the process, and to just realize that, yeah, sometimes you do feel this tension of probably having kind of a presence, but that can totally be used in, in the service of others as well. And oftentimes people are excited to have somebody who's willing to, to show up on stage or give a talk, because I think it might be the minority of people who actually want to do those things in a lot of settings.

Jonathan Fields: [00:29:06] Yeah, you're 100% right. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed the conversation. Sure thing. And if you'd like to share your career transformation story on the SPARKED podcast, to inspire others to maybe feel less stuck or unsure about their own career paths, we encourage you to apply to be a guest and check out the form in the show notes, because we believe that everyone deserves to find fulfillment and purpose in their work. And remember, if you're at a moment of exploration Looking to find and do or even create work that makes you come more fully alive, that brings more meaning and purpose and joy into your life. Take the time to discover your own personal Sparketype for free at sparketype.com. It'll open your eyes to a deeper understanding of yourself and open the door to possibility like never before. And hey, if you're finding value in these conversations, please just take an extra second right now to follow and rate SPARKED in your favorite podcast app. This is so helpful in helping others find the show and growing our community so that we can all come alive and work in life together. This episode of SPARKED was produced by executive producers Lindsey Fox and Me, Jonathan Fields. Production and editing by Sarah Harney. Special thanks to Shelley Adelle for her research on this episode. Until next time. I'm Jonathan Fields and this is SPARKED.