Copywriter Angela Ehle talks about speaking up in class, why neurodiverse employees are underestimated assets, and her mantra from Winston Churchill: never give up. She credits Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own with teaching her that writers need dedicated space and time.
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All right everyone, welcome back to the Business Blast podcast. Today I'm here with Angela L. She is a copywriter, and I will dive right into the first question, Angela. So the first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Okay, so it's funny, when I first, uh, read this question, it automatically brought me back to my college years. When I was a sophomore, I was taking a class called Creative Nonfiction, and it was an advanced class. I was the only sophomore and everybody else was a senior. And we were discussing a piece that day, and I really wanted to make a point to the discussion, like add in my opinion on it. And all these senior students were cutting me off and they would raise their hands and my professor didn't seem to notice. And finally, it was 5 minutes left of class, I finally stood up out of my seat and I said, wait a minute. And I said to my professor, I never got a chance to voice my opinion on this. And I had never done something that bold before. And all of a sudden the whole class stopped and looked at me and listened to what I had to say. And my point was completely different from what everyone else had said. And it just kind of, the underlying message in that meant that I can speak up for myself and I can make a decent point or an argument, whatever the situation is. But it just took a lot of courage up until then I had never done that. Before. So that was a real turning point, you know, of something that shows that, you know, I can be brave and I can do something, you know, that I'm really afraid of.
So of course. And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
One of the most valuable pieces of information I can give is, um, I'm still recently out of college and I've worked a lot of different types of jobs in corporate America trying to get my footing. And when I was in the Better Business book, I wrote about, you know, people who have ADHD in the workplace. And one thing that I can say to people who are either business owners or in a business is you just cannot judge people by if they say that they have a mental disability or you know that they do, because 5 times or 9 times out of 10, you can really use that to your advantage, especially if that person has ADHD or autism, like I've discussed before. You know, that's the most valuable piece of business information I can give is just really try to get to know that person, see what their, you know, strengths are and try to use that to the benefit of your company or a project you're working on. So that's the most valuable piece that I can give throughout the jobs I've had.
Of course. And so does that like, is it, would you kind of have the same answer then? The next question is what's your best piece of overall business advice? Does that kind of connect?
I would say so, yeah. Actually, that way it kind of connected both the questions, but yeah, that's definitely what I would say.
So then the next one is, if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
This one hits home so hard because something I still struggle with now, but— and this is to all young people out here who are listening, especially if you're in college or recently out of college— don't be so hard on yourself. I was always so hard on myself in high school and college. And it's actually two parts: don't be so hard on yourself and don't compare yourself to other people. Because it's so easy to look around and say, oh, this person this person got this job, this person got this promotion, this person got 3 degrees and is going to be so successful. But you're you. Be your best self and work hard to achieve your own goals. Who cares what other people are doing? And I know it's easier said than done, but that's the number one piece of advice I would give to myself, especially in high school and college when it's so easy to fall into that trap. It's just be yourself and Don't compare yourself to other people who think that they're more successful because the bottom line is everybody's working just as hard as you are to get where they need to be.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
The key to happiness, it's going to sound cliché, but it's definitely finding something that you're passionate about. And I don't mean, like some people say, find your dream job, but I really do think that you can find your dream job within whatever you're doing. So whether it's you like helping people and you wanna go into the medical field, or you like helping people in a different industry like teaching or even customer service, if you're happy by the end of the day, if you can say, wow, I really helped somebody today, or I made somebody's life a little bit better, you just feel a lot happier, at least I do. And to me, I really do think that's the key to happiness. You just wanna make sure by the end of the day you can realize that you helped somebody and know that you made their life a little bit better. So that's what I would say.
I agree. And the next question I have, besides the Better Business book, what's the best book you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?
Oh, this one's so tough because I was an English major in college and I've read a lot of good books, but one that has left an impression on me my whole life that came to mind when I read this question was Virginia Woolf's book, A Room of One's Own. And the most valuable thing I've learned from this book, it's a short little novella that a lot of people don't know about, but just learning about how you need your own space and your own time and just to take care of yourself and give yourself that time to just, you know, be you and really work on your craft. Like, she's writing about honing in on her craft as a writer. And to me, in college, being a writing major, this had a huge impact on me. And her point in A Room of One's Own is just you have to give yourself that time to work on your craft, your art, whatever it is. And I think it's just so important for all of us as— I'm sorry, writers, to really set aside time every day to really work on our craft because there's always a better way that we can do something. So that's one that's left a lasting impression on me for my whole life.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Okay, this one is definitely Winston Churchill's, "Never, never, never give up." It was the shortest speech he ever gave. I have it on a magnet on my fridge just because there's There are some days where, whether it's with work or dealing with everyday life, with paying bills, I'm just like, what's the point? I work to pay bills, but I just know that there's something better out there. And I know eventually I'm going to achieve my goal and get where I want to be. Like right now I'm working on my own book. It's very difficult to work on it, but just reminding myself to never give up. And again, it might sound cliché, but it's It's what keeps me going. And yeah, that's definitely my favorite quote.
And the last question I have for you, and thank you again for coming on, is where can people find you online? Where's the best place for them to connect with you?
The best place to connect with me is definitely like my LinkedIn page. So you can go to LinkedIn, type in my name, Angela, the last name is E-H-L-E, and you'll see me pop up. Message me on LinkedIn. I can give you my contact information. I have a link for the Better Business Box. So on my LinkedIn page, definitely check it out. And if you have any questions, just definitely send me a message. I'd be more than happy to talk with you.
Awesome. Thank you again for coming on, Angela, and we'll talk with you soon.
All right. Thank you, Tyler Wagner.
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