Skills That Stick: How Professional Development Drives Success
Every year, the Setup team is fortunate enough to attend TEDxAtlanta as a professional development investment. We always leave inspired, with the best part about these conferences being how their themes and speakers align with our values:
Honorable
Approachable
Insightful
Tenacious
Innovative
The 2025 theme, 'The Future We Create,' highlighted key opportunities and challenges marketers face in an ever-evolving industry, aligning with the insights of top leaders and innovators. Below are the three key topics that were threaded throughout most every talk of the event.
TedxAtlanta Takeaway #1 - The Importance of Empathy
No matter your industry, the one thing that connects us as humans is empathy. It is our strongest asset, often forgotten. Talk after talk advocated for people to have empathy for others. Empathy shapes how we navigate the world—from making sustainable fashion choices that reduce waste and protect communities, to supporting those who are grieving, to how we come together to celebrate communities.
That innate human characteristic that allows us to go beyond our self-interest is what connects us to one another. Empathy can help us become better leaders, marketers, workers, friends, and community builders working towards change.
TedxAtlanta Takeaway #2 - Connection’s Role in Growth
Many of the speakers were community driven, imploring the audience to connect with others to make global change. From exploring nature to tasting and respecting different foods, we can connect with and impact one another’s lives by further understanding ourselves and others.
Connecting with ourselves could look like going on a 100 mile walk, or it could look as simple as taking the time to breathe and feel rooted in our body and movements. The deeper we understand ourselves, the more open we are to connecting with others, and that community aspect is what enacts power and change.
Great practices to implement this mindset include:
Finding a place in nature that connects to you
Taking the time once a day to breathe into and move your body
Explore cultures different from your own with an open mind and ask questions
TedxAtlanta Takeaway #3 - Embrace Technology
Humans will always advance in technology because humans have always been curious. There is no way to avoid technology. As many of the talks expressed, we need to embrace it. Whether it’s research that helps doctors detect diseases faster, or training AI to become a collaborative creative, the main theme was that AI is not a threat, but a mirror of nature, capable of exploring and expanding human thought to help us become more knowledgeable and limitless.
TED Talks are empowering tools to expand your thinking, and we are grateful that our CEO invests in us every year. Since we work with an array of industries, personalities, and people of different backgrounds, it’s important that we freshen up our skills in networking and learning constantly.
As a leader, what are you doing to invest in your team’s professional development?
Some professional development methods for your team may include investing in:
Leadership + Executive Coaching
Marketing + Sales Training
Industry Conferences + Networking Events
Cross-Functional Training + Upskilling
Mentorship + Peer Learning Programs
Technical + Digital Transformation Training
Emotional Intelligence + Soft Skills Development
Custom In-House Training + Workshops
Investing in professional development offers numerous benefits for both your company and team, including:
Stronger Leadership + Innovation – Develops strategic decision-makers and keeps teams ahead of industry trends.
Higher Productivity + Performance – Boosts efficiency, reduces mistakes, and improves collaboration across teams.
Increased Employee Retention + Engagement – Motivates employees, strengthens loyalty, and reduces turnover.
Attracting Top Talent – Enhances employer branding and makes hiring high-caliber professionals easier.
Future-Proofing + Adaptability – Equips teams with the skills to navigate industry changes and drive innovation.
At Setup, our goal is to connect marketers with the best people and resources. As a part of that, we not only connect brands and agencies for opportunities, but offer professional development training to help your teams become the most collaborative, connected, and informed as they can be. Some of the services we offer include:
Business Development Training for Agencies
Agency Growth Workshops
Team Building (for Brand and Agency teams)
Marketing Ecosystem Consulting for Brands
Agency Assessment Services for Agencies
At Setup, we’ve had the privilege of speaking with some of the most influential women in marketing over the years—leaders who are driving change and making an impact in their organizations and beyond. Here’s what we’ve learned from their stories.