From ‘sign girl’ to swagger: how curiosity can unlock your career growth

One of the best parts of my job is the people I get to meet; leaders who have often earned their wisdom the hard way. I’ve been able to learn from so many brilliant people, and sometimes the exchanges are so rich that I feel compelled to share them with you. That’s exactly what happened when I interviewed Wanda Johnson, CEO of the American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN), as part of PCMA's Ascent Pathway 100, sponsored by Visit Baltimore, where I’m honored to serve as the Leadership Coach and Event Speaker.

I walked away inspired and energized by her professional journey. Wanda is the kind of leader who speaks with clarity and humility, sharing her journey from her early days as a banker, a self-proclaimed “sign girl”—yep, that means literally hanging up signs at conferences—to leading a major healthcare association, and her strategies for success.

Here are five powerful lessons I gleaned from our conversation. Thank you so much to Kireem Swinton, Meredith Rollins, and Meredith Douglas for this opportunity!

Curiosity is a superpower

Wanda isn’t the first CEO I’ve spoken to who believes in the power of curiosity. It’s been proven to have a slew of benefits, from increased creativity to better problem-solving. Wanda’s desire to continuously learn motivated her to take on stretch projects and build influence—and she did it with strategy in mind.

“I am innately curious,” she said. “When I was in banking, I would ask people who had jobs different than mine what they were doing and why they were doing it. And they would teach me.” That mindset followed her into the association world, where she applied the same approach: asking questions, learning how each part of the system worked, and connecting the dots between operations and business strategy. “I need to understand how you're going to make your money so I can understand how I might be able to utilize that information to further or enhance the position of my organization.”

That curiosity made her indispensable. As she recalled, “They would give me projects that I wasn’t technically qualified to do, but they needed a body to figure it out—and that ended up being me.” One of those moments came when she was handed a seemingly straightforward set of Continuing Medical Education accreditation paperwork. “As I started reading it, I’m like, oh—this is more than just papers being filled out. This is a whole thing, a process. We need stuff.” So she wrote a memo outlining what it would take to do it right. The CEO’s response? “Fine, go do it.” And she did.

Before you add more to your plate, it’s important to note that Wanda wasn’t taking on random extra work. Not all work will help you advance, so follow her example and be strategic. “I was willing to take on things that may or may not have been what my job was,” she said—but these were high-stakes, high-visibility projects that often had the CEO’s attention. She didn’t volunteer for invisible work—she volunteered for impact. Curiosity gave Wanda access, but excellence kept her there. Over time, that combination built a career with real influence.

Want a better understanding of what questions to ask and a framework to explore what’s possible for your professional future? My free Career Productivity Toolkit can help you find the clarity it takes to become more strategic with your own career.

Ask yourself: Where could curiosity in my current role lead to greater influence, visibility, or growth?

Maximize the value

How you approach a task matters. Completing it is good, but looking for ways to make it more valuable creates opportunity. This mindset started early for Wanda. “When I started at the Endocrine Society, I went to their meeting as the ‘sign girl,’” she said. Her job? Make sure the right 22 x 28 sign was in front of the right room at the right time. It was temp work, but she didn’t approach it like that. “I didn’t fully understand why people needed that much signage,” she said, “but I didn’t know the industry. So she created an opportunity for herself to learn. “You can’t walk in saying, ‘I’m just the sign girl.’ I never had that attitude.” Instead, she brought her questions—and her curiosity. She asked “6,000 questions,” and those who answered took notice.

It’s a powerful reminder: Every job is a chance to learn, to contribute, and to be seen—if you choose to think about it that way. “Once you sort of start getting the momentum of feeling like you are accomplishing things,” she said, “don’t be afraid to tell people.” But it’s not just about self-promotion—it’s about relevance. “I’ve completed this report and it shows X,” she explained, “but I was wondering; what if we looked at it from this way? Or how will you be able to utilize this to help you with what you’re working on?” That kind of perspective—viewing your work through the lens of multiple stakeholders—can turn a routine assignment into a force multiplier. That outlook not only makes you smarter, it makes you more valuable.

Ask yourself: What can I do to turn the next task I’m given into more than a checkbox?

Know your worth, and be willing to make the case

If you want to build a high-growth career, knowing your worth and being able to communicate it clearly is essential. When Wanda went to the leaders for a raise, she came prepared. “I ended up writing a proposal to show that I needed to be paid more,” she said. But this wasn’t a plea. It was a business case. “I didn’t just say I need to be paid more because of X,” she explained. “I provided evidence—job surveys, whatever I could find—and wrote a compelling proposal about what that raise would give me and what it would give them.”

That line is key: what it would give them? It’s not about just arguing for fairness, it’s about the mutual benefit. A raise wouldn’t just help Wanda feel valued; it would help the organization retain a high-performing, highly engaged leader.  So often, we’re told to advocate for ourselves, but we’re not told how. Wanda gives us a model: collect the data, build the case, and position your ask not as a personal demand, but as a strategic decision for the business.

Ask yourself: What assumptions might I be making about my worth that could be limiting how confidently and effectively I advocate for myself?

Get out of your own way

When we seek career growth, it’s often the internal roadblocks that hold us back. “We’re our own worst enemies,” she told me. “We will convince ourselves we’re not qualified, we’re not worthy, what we’re doing is not good work.” It’s a sentiment I often hear from high performers, especially those who are growing into new levels of leadership. When self-doubt creeps in, combatting it with a hefty dose of reality can be incredibly effective. “You have to say, what have I accomplished? Did I move the needle?” That kind of reflection builds momentum and confidence—but only if you’re willing to acknowledge your own progress. If that’s too hard right now, pretend your track record belongs to someone else for a moment. I like to envision it belongs to someone you care about, like your partner, your child, or a close friend. What would you say about your accomplishments if they belonged to someone else?

It’s easy to be hard on yourself, but Wanda offered an important reminder: “Be gracious… [and] know that you are doing an incredible job. You’ve worked hard, you continue to work hard, and you’re moving things forward.” Even if your progress isn’t everything you hoped for or doesn’t look like a polished plan on paper, it’s still worthy of celebration. “You’re doing something,” she said. “Celebrate that.”

Ask yourself: How might my perspective change if I viewed my record with the same kindness and objectivity I’d offer to a colleague or friend?

Don’t shy away from who you are

One of the most candid and compelling parts of my conversation with Wanda came when she opened up about what it’s like to pursue a CEO role as a woman of color. She shared the painful awareness that some organizations she interviewed with had no real intention of hiring someone who looks like her—and that some recruiters knowingly sent her into those situations anyway. “I got to the point where I would ask them how open the organization was to leadership from someone like me,” she told me. When one recruiter told her never to ask that question, Wanda immediately stopped working with them. She was direct, unapologetic, and clear about what she deserved.

That clarity extended to how she assessed opportunities: “You’ve got to know when to walk away,” she said. Early on, she wanted someone—anyone—to take her on as CEO. “I want somebody to want me,” she recalled thinking. But eventually she realized, “You don’t sacrifice yourself for that. It still has to be a good match.” She refused to shrink or conform to be accepted, and instead focused on whether the role fit what she was looking for.

This helped her confidence evolve. “This is a swagger that has developed,” she said, reflecting on her growth from a quiet, behind-the-scenes team member to a bold leader. “There are a lot of people out here who fake it till they make it, and I never did… I had to be that one true person that didn’t fake anything.”

Ask yourself: What signs tell me an opportunity aligns—or doesn’t—with my values? And what might I risk by compromising who I am to fit in?

Meeting leaders like Wanda reminds me of a truth from George Bernard Shaw, “Don't wait for the right opportunity: create it.” Wanda’s story shows us that when curiosity, courage, and clarity come together, we’re ready to step into that moment—and make it ours.