Diana Ecker helps business people communicate why they love what they’re doing

For much of her professional life, Diana Ecker has been asking people questions. An East Coast transplant, she first came west to work at Stanford, following a stint as a journalist in New York City and then a position as career counselor at Syracuse University. She’s now happily ensconced in downtown Menlo Park helping people be successful in their chosen business pursuits.

“When people ask me ‘what do you do?’, I tell them that I help other people answer that question so that others understand what they’re offering,” she says.

This week, she’ll be sharing her advice about positioning and messaging at Connect Work Thrive, a “return to work” conference scheduled for  Nov. 6 at NestGSV in Redwood City. “I love working with people to get them where they want to go in the next step of their careers,” she says. “When you apply for a job, it’s binary — you get it or don’t. But building a business is limitless.”

When asked a common mistake people make in regards to positioning, Diana replies, “Checking out the competition and thinking you need to sound and look like them.”

Most of Diana’s clients are “people who are thinking about opening a consulting or service business in their area of expertise.”

“Often they’ve given it a shot without assistance and are a little bit frustrated,” she says. “But that’s great because that means they’re really motivated. I think people sometimes lose sight of why they’re doing what they’re doing. It’s easy to drift off course. I help them recapture what they love about what they’re doing. And  put it into words that resonate with others.”

Most of Diana’s clients come via word of mouth, as do people seeking her assistance in what has become a sideline business. “I help people with their online dating profiles,” she says. “To me, it’s the same thing as with my business clients — helping someone share the best of themselves in order to connect with the people they are meant to meet!”