Get to know Miami-based Thais Cedeno, the Business Development & Marketing Coordinator at Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP.

I met Thais through LinkedIn and we were able to build a strong connection despite living in different cities and during a global pandemic. This again underscoring the power of social media to help facilitate and nurture relationships.

Tell us about your career path.
After years of being a dancer, a dance teacher for kids and owning a dance studio, circumstances in my life (became a single mom with 2 young kids) forced me to go out and get a “real job.” I landed on a sales position selling court reporting services for lawyers and law firms, and one of my clients was looking for a marketing and business development coordinator and offered me the job. So I kind of started this career by accident, without experience and literally learning by doing and from other kind marketing and BD mentors, and by being committed to do well by this law firm that believed in me.

What do you love most about what you do?
I love that is multifaceted and I get to explore so many sides of my skill set. From being a people person and connecting with potential clients, fellow attorneys and community leaders for the BD side of the role, to expressing my creative self via branding and crafting social media posts, newsletters, etc. I also love that my firm and my attorneys are so lined up with my values, it’s so easy to share their message and what they’re all about. I love it!

What advice would you give to women in your field?
Don’t be afraid to be human, to be organic and to really really connect. As women we guard ourselves from being too friendly because we can seem flirtatious or we don’t want to send the wrong signals. We kind of turn off our caring, nurturing selves to not seem soft or unprofessional.

We sometimes get intimidated by people in positions of power to the point of not being able to create a meaningful connection, when to the contrary, I have found most powerful people love to be treated just like humans and most would love to help you. I truly believe all these traits make us better, and makes us stand out in the crowd. I say smile more, be warm, kind and friendly if you want to, just be yourself. The corporate world can be very gray, nothing like a pop of color and a breath of fresh air!