Authority can be earned and expressed in a variety of ways. Sometimes it’s built slowly through systems you design, people you teach, and decisions you make that have a broad impact on others.

Mallory Contois has built her career that way. Across growth, community, education, and operations, she’s earned authority by doing the work, sharing what she’s learning, and building infrastructure for others to grow. In this conversation, we talk about how she defines authority, why teaching should be on everyone's radar, and what it looks like to build influence on the internet without losing yourself.

‍

1. You’ve built a portfolio career across growth, community, product, and operations. What does that portfolio look like today, and how intentional was it?

My portfolio includes:

Leading growth @ Maven: My full-time role is leading growth at Maven, which includes instructor acquisition, onboarding, and success as well as overall brand. I manage a team of 5 and work closely with our top instructors to build the future of learning online. My career in tech and growing early-stage companies is what I focused fully on for the first 10 years of my career out of college.

Running the Old Girls Club: I started OGC in 2022, and today it has 2,800 paying members. OGC is a community of successful mid- to late-career women who hold their career as a core part of their identity. I have a team of two part-time folks that help me with operations so I can focus on the curation of it all. This was my first ‘side project’ - I started it alongside my FT role at the time as a passion project and a way to connect with others after COVID. Over time, I realized I could add it to my portfolio long-term.

Teaching two courses: I teach two courses on Maven (I was teaching before I joined the team) - one on building your personal brand and the other on the art, science, and business of community. I love teaching because I get to learn from my students and nerd out on the stuff I love with them. I also enjoy it because it’s an activity I can scale up and down as I have more or less time to dedicate to it. This was the third addition to my portfolio.

Writing Good Work: I started writing Good Work earlier this year on Substack and it’s been such a fun creative exercise. I’m not sure what the future of it will look like - right now I’m using it as an opportunity to get back into longer form writing and to connect with my audience in a new way. This is my latest addition, and I chose this because I felt like I needed a more creative lever in my portfolio.

‍

2. An early cancer diagnosis was a pivotal moment in your life. How did that experience reshape how you think about time and ambition?

I just wrote this Memento Mori piece, and I think it helps to explain some of the transformation cancer created for me. Most people don’t truly face their mortality until the tail end of their career, when it’s too late to take big swings. Having dodged death at 25 helped me to realize both the seriousness and absolute lack of seriousness that our careers hold. We are simultaneously making decisions about how we spend our precious minutes on earth, and also floating around on a rock abiding by a made up set of rules.

‍

3. Authority is often confused with confidence or visibility. How do you define it and what do people get wrong about it?

I define authority as earned trust at scale, built through demonstrated judgment, lived experience, and consistent public proof of taste and outcomes - not credentials or volume of content.

Authority isn’t a zero-sum game - many people can have authority in a topic - and it’s also more of an art than a science. The most effective authority comes not from lecturing or speaking from a pedestal, but instead from using your knowledge and experience to raise others up along with you.

‍

4. You’ve said everyone should teach. Why do you see teaching as essential for people to build their authority or influence?

Not only does teaching visibly establish you as an expert in a topic, it also creates a forcing function for you to continuously uplevel yourself. When you teach, your students will ask you questions you won’t know the answers to, they’ll expect that you understand the latest trends and developments in your field, and they’ll benefit most from clear explanations of frameworks and foundations. In order to do these things, you have to stay on top of your subject, which will make you the best version of yourself in that field.

It’s also such a helpful medium to understand the broader perception of the topic you teach - what do people actually want to learn about the topic? What do they really lean into, vs. what is actually not that applicable for them?

‍

5. Many people feel “not ready” to teach. How do you know when you’re ready?

You’re ready when you’re 2-3 steps ahead of a group of people, and you can help them get to where you are faster.

‍

6. Why did it feel important to build Old Girls Club? And what is your perspective on gender dynamics within leadership roles? Do you see progress being made in your circles and more broadly?

Unfortunately I don’t see a lot of progress being made at the institutional or company level, but I do see progress being made in women’s financial security and the strength of our bonds outside of work to support each other - that was the main reason I started OGC, and one of the foundational pillars of how it’s developed over the years.

I know many more women who angel invest and are the breadwinners of their homes than I did 5 years ago, but I still see most of the same problematic dynamics in the workplace that have been present for decades. I think the progress is coming from women supporting women and finding new ways to access capital and resources without their company’s help.

‍

7. You’ve built influence on the internet without becoming an internet caricature or feeling like a salesperson. How do you think about visibility without self abandonment?

I’m going to plug another one of my recent essays - everything is sales - as an acknowledgement that I’m totally a salesperson even if it doesn’t seem that way. I do think I’ve avoided the ‘salesy’ aesthetic by keeping a very human tone, both in voice and in what I share. I try to share a spectrum of content, from aspirational to acknowledging failure, to remind folks that I’m just a girl trying to do interesting things and get paid for it.

‍

8. For people who want more authority without posturing or self-promotion: What should they focus on building first?

Storytelling! You can build so much more authority through transparency and learning in public than you can with lecturing or posturing. Start with finding your storytelling medium - do you enjoy writing or speaking? Then lean into that medium on a platform you’re comfortable with.

‍

9. Do you think authority today requires a personal brand? If not, what are the quieter ways people build real influence?

I think everyone has a personal brand whether they put effort into it or not - authority requires that you take ownership of that brand and establish it as credible.

‍

Bonus Round

‍

10. What’s one belief about career growth or influence you had to unlearn?

That it’s a ladder.

‍

11. What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone looking to build more influence in their career?

Get exposure to as many people, companies, and situations as you can, and always ask follow-up questions in conversation.

‍

12. What’s the one hill you will die on when it comes to work and our relationship to it?

We should use lifestyle goals (the type of life you want to lead/what you want your days to look and feel like) to plan our careers, not titles or salary.

‍

13. What’s your subway hot take?

The golden rule is a bad rule - you should treat others as they want to be treated, not as you want to be treated.

‍

About Mallory

Mallory is a startup growth exec (currently leading growth at Maven), the founder of the old girls club, a teacher of community building and personal brand, and the writer of Good Work on Substack. She’s been at 6 early-stage high-growth companies over her 15 year career.