April 8, 2025 • 7 mins
In this episode, Charity McCurdy sits down with Fran Yanity, President and CEO of Noisy Trumpet Communications. Fran serves in leadership roles at The PM Group and Noisy Trumpet Communications, both of which are award-winning agencies in the marketing, advertising, and communications fields. The PM Group, leads in award-winning creative, media and marketing campaigns.
In honor of Women's History Month iHeartMedia highlighted inspirational local feamle business leaders. Fran shares why she thinks its important to honor women's contributions, challenges women in leadership face today, and those who have inspired her along the way.
In honor of Women's History Month iHeartMedia highlighted inspirational local feamle business leaders. Fran shares why she thinks its important to honor women's contributions, challenges women in leadership face today, and those who have inspired her along the way.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fran Freelinianity. I'm president and CEO of Noisy Trumpet Communications.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Fran, how did you know this was your calling? Was
a leadership position always the goal? Or did things just
have a way of falling into place for you?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Things fell into place for me, you know, I success
is not linear for a lot of people, and it
certainly wasn't for me. I really didn't know what I
wanted to do. I had people guiding me and telling me,
just people that knew me, that knew my interests, like
my father or friends. Even I even had a professor
(00:37):
I was. My undergraduate degree was in art history, and
he was like, I really think you need to go
into marketing. And so there were these little tidbits along
the way that ended up guiding me in that direction.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And as you know, March is designated as Women's History Month.
Why do you think it's so important to honor women's contributions?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You know, we stand on the shoulders of giants, the
people that have come before. You know, I only need
to look at my mother or grandmother's generations and what
the options were for them, which were very limited. And
so what I'm able to do, what I'm able to
accomplish is just light years from even just that short
while ago. So it's important to me to just recognize
(01:21):
the contributions of women because we've made such a positive
impact in the short, short amount of time, but it
came from the people that came before us, the trailblazers
who really open those doors.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And as we continue to shatter glass ceilings, do you
think there's still more progress that needs to be made
on that front when it comes to women in leadership?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I do, and I think, you know, mentoring is a
very important thing to me at this stage in my
career because I did not have female mentors. I did
not have that support system, and so you know, I
made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I
(02:01):
it's important to me to talk with the younger generations
and to success set them up for success.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Is there a female leader in particular who inspired you
along the way? I know you mentioned some family members,
but was there anyone else in the business?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
You know, the reality is charity that there is no
single person that I really am inspired by, but individual
stories of everyday people, every day women who either have
overcome great odds to be successful or had an idea
for a product or service and you know, just brought
it to the market. Those are the stories that are
(02:41):
successful to me, you know, hearing the stories of everyday women,
every day people that have made a positive impact. So
there's no single CEO or person that I would say
I'm inspired by. I'm inspired by a lot of different
people that would be you know, in our everyday lives.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, what are some of the biggest challenges you think
females face and leadership roles today?
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I think it's having a network of other female leaders
to be able to talk to bounce ideas off of,
you know, keep us growing, to keep us fresh, to
keep you know, be able to get ideas from other
people that are in similar leadership roles. What's been successful
for them. I think it's more of the ideas sharing
(03:26):
and finding those networks to be able to keep us
strong in the positions that we're in.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And you know, we typically see males in leadership positions
even in the year twenty twenty five. What unique set
of qualities do you think women bring to the table
when it comes to these top tier positions.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I think women are great listeners and they read situations
that other people maybe can't as well. You know that
whole intuition. We bring some different just innate skill sets
that I think enable us to be successful in those
roles that we're We have compassion, we have kindness and
(04:09):
that intuition, and we're good listeners and that is really
critical in a leadership position.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And you know, I just think about what incredible multitaskers
we are. You know, we not only have our nine
to five jobs and we have another job that we
come home to. So there's they call it what the
invisible labor that women often have to deal with, and
I think they don't get far enough credit. We don't
get far enough credit for everything that we're juggling.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Agreed. And like you said, the multitasking and being able
to just power through, I think those are definitely skills
that women have and we're really good at it.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
And Fran, any advice that you would give the next
generation of aspiring female leaders.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Again, I would tell people that success is not always linear.
It's not always this and then you do this, and
then this happens. And I would tell people to be
open to whatever situations arise in your career to be
able to get out of your comfort zone. If somebody
presents an opportunity to you to take on a project,
(05:16):
and maybe you're not one hundred percent confident you can
do it, you should do it because you will be
able to do it, and it will expand what you're
able to do. You'll become just indispensable to that business
the more that you say yes to and you're expanding
your skills. And that's what I tell everyone that I
(05:36):
mentor is just say yes to those opportunities that come
your way and be willing to adapt and be flexible,
because those are the opportunities that really can make your
career different and get you to a different level in
your career, even if it's something that's new or maybe
(05:56):
you're not as confident about.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, sage advice, my goodness. And you know, I just
think having a positive mindset really goes a long way
because typically, you know, if you face a challenge or
you have a problem at work, it's easy to get
bogged down by that, and keeping that positive mindset and
just rolling with the punches is huge.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah. I think perseverance, determination, positive attitude, those are just
some of the critical skills that women have. A lot
of women have and if they just continue pushing through,
great things can happen.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That's so inspiring. Is there anything else you wanted to add?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I just you know, I feel blessed to be in
the position that I'm in to be able to encourage people.
That's the biggest thing that makes this all worthwhile, right,
is to help other people be successful. I say, there's
enough success for everyone to go around, and so how
do you help other people follow in your footsteps even
(06:58):
achieve greater things and go even beyond what I, myself
or maybe somebody else is able to achieve. Because ultimately
it's about creating that pathway for others that come behind us.
Fran Freelinianity. I'm president and CEO of Noisy Trumpet Communications.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Fran, how did you know this was your calling? Was
a leadership position always the goal? Or did things just
have a way of falling into place for you?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Things fell into place for me, you know, I success
is not linear for a lot of people, and it
certainly wasn't for me. I really didn't know what I
wanted to do. I had people guiding me and telling me,
just people that knew me, that knew my interests, like
my father or friends. Even I even had a professor
(00:37):
I was. My undergraduate degree was in art history, and
he was like, I really think you need to go
into marketing. And so there were these little tidbits along
the way that ended up guiding me in that direction.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And as you know, March is designated as Women's History Month.
Why do you think it's so important to honor women's contributions?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You know, we stand on the shoulders of giants, the
people that have come before. You know, I only need
to look at my mother or grandmother's generations and what
the options were for them, which were very limited. And
so what I'm able to do, what I'm able to
accomplish is just light years from even just that short
while ago. So it's important to me to just recognize
(01:21):
the contributions of women because we've made such a positive
impact in the short, short amount of time, but it
came from the people that came before us, the trailblazers
who really open those doors.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And as we continue to shatter glass ceilings, do you
think there's still more progress that needs to be made
on that front when it comes to women in leadership?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I do, and I think, you know, mentoring is a
very important thing to me at this stage in my
career because I did not have female mentors. I did
not have that support system, and so you know, I
made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I
(02:01):
it's important to me to talk with the younger generations
and to success set them up for success.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Is there a female leader in particular who inspired you
along the way? I know you mentioned some family members,
but was there anyone else in the business?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
You know, the reality is charity that there is no
single person that I really am inspired by, but individual
stories of everyday people, every day women who either have
overcome great odds to be successful or had an idea
for a product or service and you know, just brought
it to the market. Those are the stories that are
(02:41):
successful to me, you know, hearing the stories of everyday women,
every day people that have made a positive impact. So
there's no single CEO or person that I would say
I'm inspired by. I'm inspired by a lot of different
people that would be you know, in our everyday lives.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, what are some of the biggest challenges you think
females face and leadership roles today?
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I think it's having a network of other female leaders
to be able to talk to bounce ideas off of,
you know, keep us growing, to keep us fresh, to
keep you know, be able to get ideas from other
people that are in similar leadership roles. What's been successful
for them. I think it's more of the ideas sharing
(03:26):
and finding those networks to be able to keep us
strong in the positions that we're in.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And you know, we typically see males in leadership positions
even in the year twenty twenty five. What unique set
of qualities do you think women bring to the table
when it comes to these top tier positions.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I think women are great listeners and they read situations
that other people maybe can't as well. You know that
whole intuition. We bring some different just innate skill sets
that I think enable us to be successful in those
roles that we're We have compassion, we have kindness and
(04:09):
that intuition, and we're good listeners and that is really
critical in a leadership position.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And you know, I just think about what incredible multitaskers
we are. You know, we not only have our nine
to five jobs and we have another job that we
come home to. So there's they call it what the
invisible labor that women often have to deal with, and
I think they don't get far enough credit. We don't
get far enough credit for everything that we're juggling.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Agreed. And like you said, the multitasking and being able
to just power through, I think those are definitely skills
that women have and we're really good at it.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
And Fran, any advice that you would give the next
generation of aspiring female leaders.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Again, I would tell people that success is not always linear.
It's not always this and then you do this, and
then this happens. And I would tell people to be
open to whatever situations arise in your career to be
able to get out of your comfort zone. If somebody
presents an opportunity to you to take on a project,
(05:16):
and maybe you're not one hundred percent confident you can
do it, you should do it because you will be
able to do it, and it will expand what you're
able to do. You'll become just indispensable to that business
the more that you say yes to and you're expanding
your skills. And that's what I tell everyone that I
(05:36):
mentor is just say yes to those opportunities that come
your way and be willing to adapt and be flexible,
because those are the opportunities that really can make your
career different and get you to a different level in
your career, even if it's something that's new or maybe
(05:56):
you're not as confident about.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, sage advice, my goodness. And you know, I just
think having a positive mindset really goes a long way
because typically, you know, if you face a challenge or
you have a problem at work, it's easy to get
bogged down by that, and keeping that positive mindset and
just rolling with the punches is huge.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah. I think perseverance, determination, positive attitude, those are just
some of the critical skills that women have. A lot
of women have and if they just continue pushing through,
great things can happen.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That's so inspiring. Is there anything else you wanted to add?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I just you know, I feel blessed to be in
the position that I'm in to be able to encourage people.
That's the biggest thing that makes this all worthwhile, right,
is to help other people be successful. I say, there's
enough success for everyone to go around, and so how
do you help other people follow in your footsteps even
(06:58):
achieve greater things and go even beyond what I, myself
or maybe somebody else is able to achieve. Because ultimately
it's about creating that pathway for others that come behind us.
Popular Podcasts
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!