Chris Cicconi

Paying it Forward 👉 One Day at a Time

Salesperson 💸 --> Coach ✍️ --> Leader 🙋‍♂️
Sometimes a content creator 🎥 - always a goofball 【ツ】

I love building things, but not physical things.

I have a passion for building teams, networks, processes, procedures and revenue but most importantly people. 

This had led me to helping founders pivot from founder led sales to a sustainable and scalable sales engine.

Hit me up if you want to talk sales, fractional leadership, 👟or ☕️.
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I was once given an opportunity that has allowed me to build my wonderful career.
I want to make sure others have the same chance.
#payitforward

Content Creator

Host of "The War Room: The Kards Pre-Game Show" by 983 Media (a game by 1939 games)
Host for all Kards Official eSports events, including the World Championship Series
Host of "The Frontline" The Official Kards Podcast by 983 Media
Gwent Qualifier Caster and Gwent Partner (a game by CD Projekt RED)

Chris 🦄 Cicconi

Certified Executive Coach (ICF) | I help women leaders amplify their performance + presence to become Executives | Wife & Mom of 3 | Exec Group Coaching Program launching in Aug 2024 | Book a call today ⬇️

Apply to work with me for Executive Coaching: https://linktr.ee/executivematerial For Brand Partnerships (brands only) please email me at team@aprillittle.co 

April Little

Growth and grief can exist in the same month.

Layoffs are still happening across industries and that reality is heavy.

I still can’t get over why companies aren’t sanctioned for layoffs as they benefit from
Paying less taxes. 🤷🏽‍♀️

At the same time, I have watched clients accept Director roles at Fortune 500 companies.

Another client stepped into a Sr. Director offer after months of prep. 

People who were out of work for months secured roles they did not have to settle for.

Last year around this time, I turned off the news to protect my mental health.

I made the same decision again this year and committed to a full month without it.

The quiet has returned to my leadership, my business, and my home.

I stepped back from LinkedIn and grew 20,000 people across TikTok and Instagram.

Speaking engagements expanded me and has changed my business model. 

Sharing more about the latest one tomorrow. 🎉

I’m also reading new fiction books this month. 

Faith without discipline is noise.

Discipline without faith feels hollow.

March will hold both.

I hope you secure the promotion you prepared for.

I hope you land the role that reflects your real value.

Happy New Month and Happy New Moon.

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:1

—-

Drop a 🙌🏾 and share what you are building this month.

✨✨Building EXCLUSIVELY on Instagram & TikTok @iamaprillittle✨✨ | Ex-HR Exec Helping Women Leaders Break the Mid-Level Ceiling Into Executive Leadership ($200k+) | 2025 Time 100 Creator

After getting fired and moving back home, I slept on the couch for 6 weeks before landing another role I was sure I’d never get. 

At the time, it felt like life had slammed the door in my face. 

I had just paid off my car and it decided to die in the middle of an intersection. 

It wasn’t just raining it was pouring. 

Let me retell it - flooding 😅

We often label moments like this as permanent Cannon events.

Getting fired, divorced, delayed, or forced to start over can distort time and hope.

Your brain convinces you this chapter defines the rest of your story.

I always return to one grounding question when everything feels stalled.

Am I alive and healthy enough for the story to keep unfolding? 

More simply put, am I breathing? 

If the answer is yes, there is still room for something to work out.

Drop a heart if this resonates with where you are right now. 💗

Offline returning 2/24/26 🌴| Ex-HR Exec Helping Women Leaders Break the Mid-Level Ceiling Into Executive Leadership ($200k+) | 2025 Time 100 Creator

Last year, my client left her SVP role after 5 years to build a function from the ground up at a new company. She was promised hypergrowth, but after failed fundraising, she was laid off 8 months later.

She spent 3 months applying to 50 roles and was repeatedly ghosted. 

Ghosting happens at every level, including executive roles, especially when searches rely on headhunters and hidden markets.

As a busy mom of 2 juggling sporting events, school schedules, and travel, she was exhausted from spending her most non-renewable resource, her time, on a search that demanded more and more every week. 

When we began working together, I learned she was spending 45 minutes per application, rewriting the same bullets and guessing which keywords mattered.

I have spent 15 years in recruitment reviewing thousands of resumes, and the pattern is clear.

Roles now expect close to a 100% match, which means tailoring is not optional, even with an $800 resume.

This is where Teal comes in.  As a longtime #tealpartner, I had her start with Matching Mode, which compares resumes to job descriptions, highlights missing keywords, and prioritizes skills recruiters screen for first.

Within seconds, she could see alignment gaps, and we reduced her application time from 45 minutes to 10.

You can do the same here: https://tealhq.co/4pt2iqD

We used that recovered time to prepare her interview narrative and focus on a sustainable, network-driven strategy.

After a total 6-month search, she landed another SVP role at a 10,000-person company.

The average exec search takes between 6-12 months.

You cannot control every variable in hiring, including broken processes, but you can control how you prepare and where you invest your time.

Ghosting does not reflect your worth, but your approach changes your odds.

Tag and share this with someone who needs this reminder today.

In my 20's, I was a human doormat, staying silent when I should have spoken. Then, I overcorrected and spoke up about everything until I learned which battles deserved my voice. 

Perhaps that is why LinkedIn serves two purposes for me: to generate leads and as an outlet to help others. 

When I did pipe up, I was told I was "piping up" too much. 

I think that happens to many of us.

We trade one extreme for another as we seek to establish balance and boundaries. 

Emotional reactions are human, but so is learning discernment.

I do think it's human to suffer an emotional reaction to disrespect. 

I also think we have a responsibility to use our discernment to know when to respond and when not to. 

The real skill is in finding a middle ground.

Because it's not a good idea to give someone the impression they can say anything they want to you. 

What I've learned:
Not every perceived slight needs a response
Setting boundaries ≠ being a doormat
Choose your moments wisely

"The need to comment on everything is the definition of busy work. There is great peace in reserving your perspectives for the right time and people rather than always talking just because you have something to say." - Anonymous 

True power isn't in speaking up about everything - it's in knowing which battles are worth your voice.

credit: herleader on IG
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Hi, I’m April Little. I help current women leaders (Sr. Mgr, Director +) prepare for executive roles in 8 weeks or less. I am accepting 2 new clients this month. https://lnkd.in/gc-hbQBd 

 ✨ Recent Client Wins ✨
Director --> Vice President Promotion (on page)

Not everyone gets to be QUIET without consequences.

Years ago, a good friend of mine was reported to HR for not being “friendly enough.”

She was quiet. 

Focused. 

Got her work done and went home.

Eventually, she was fired.

The official reason? “Lacked enthusiasm” and “wasn’t a good fit.”

Here’s why HR failed her:

Coming in on time
Delivering high-quality work
Communicating updates clearly

That is enthusiasm.

We don’t owe anyone endless peformative chatter to prove we care.

And we shouldn’t be forced to act like the bouncy sidekick in someone’s workplace rom-com just to keep our job.

I’m both an extrovert and an introvert.

I'm not big on labels but I guess that makes me an ambivert. 

I know, firsthand that introverts have some of the most insightful thoughts that they share with people as well as extroverts - I don’t think one is “better” than the other.

Even though the world will say LOUD is better. 

(Not true) 

The problem wasn’t her.

It was a culture that confuses comfort with compatibility.

It was an organization that rewarded performative engagement and punished quiet excellence.

The real failure?

Expecting her to code-switch just to make someone else feel better about their own biases and firing her anyway.

Being introverted and being the one the only and the other. Whew an entirely different conversation altogether.  

True inclusion embraces all personality types.

It measures contribution, not charisma.

Because who gives a damn? 🤷🏽‍♀️

It makes room for Stanley Hudsons not just Andy Bernards.

(office fan) 

Because when we conflate enthusiasm with being a super chatter, we don’t just lose talent.

We signal that fitting in matters more than showing up.

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Last month, I spoke to 30+ directors and VPs who are ready for executive-level promotions. They all had 1 thing in common: they want to find new roles because getting promoted where they are is nearly IMPOSSIBLE. 

Being ready for the next level often requires patience: business needs, succession plans, politics, etc. 

There is a line that must be drawn between patience and action to avoid wasting time. 

Strategic waiting usually includes.
→ expanded scope
 → senior leader exposure
 → clear promotion criteria and timelines 

Time being used without return usually includes.
→ undefined timelines
 → repeated delays
 → roles that cannot change without disruption

(In other words, you're a central jenga piece.) 

Most people do not leave because they don't like their jobs. 

They leave when there is a clear incongruency between their goals, plans, and timelines. 

There are moments when staying is the right strategic decision.

And I still truly believe for most people the answer is not always a NEW JOB. 

However, there are also moments when staying benefits everyone else but you. 

Knowing the difference determines how long you remain promotable.

--
Hi, I’m April Little. I help current women leaders (Sr. Mgr, Director +) prepare for executive roles in 8 weeks or less. I am accepting 2 new clients this month. Link in bio. 

 ✨ Recent Client Wins ✨
Director --> Vice President Promotion (on page)

I changed my major 5x and barely graduated. Last week, I SPOKE AT HARVARD 🎉

Brianna Doe and I hosted a fireside chat at the WECode Conference where we spoke about the power of coaching and relationship building in your career. 

While I typically support senior leaders and executives, it was a gift to spend time with college women building their first chapters in tech.

We spoke about building a career or business with intention. 

Brianna shared how she mapped her business before launch and how she strategically made each decision. 

We also spoke about mentorship from both sides and how coaching impacts your confidence early.

The room was filled with future engineers, founders, and operators asking thoughtful, direct questions.

Several stayed after for chats to talk through internships, first roles, and long term vision.

Thank you to Thalia and Kristy for the opportunity and for leading such an important space.

“Start building the room you want to lead, long before you enter it.”

Thank you! 

#wecode #harvard

Black women have not stopped wanting executive roles. They have stopped trusting systems that do not reliably reward their talent.

90%  percent of my clients are Black women and women of color.

They are ambitious, capable, and deeply invested in their careers.

Even with everything happening in the world, that has not changed.

What has changed is how predictable and transparent advancement feels.

I speak weekly with women and men who want to build long-term impact at the executive level.

They are not disengaged.
They are paying attention.

They are watching patterns and outcomes.
They are noticing who absorbs risk and who is protected.

They are tracking which behaviors are rewarded and which ones quietly raise the bar.

Some of this response is fear.
Much of it is information.

→ Advancement that remains conditional
→ Visibility that increases scrutiny
→ Performance that expands expectations without expanding authority
→ Investment that does not guarantee continuity

In environments like this, caution becomes a rational professional response.

This is also why, in moments like these, job search often begins to outweigh development.

A job search offers options.
It restores a sense of control.
It feels responsive to uncertainty in a way development does not always promise.

That does not make development irrelevant.

It explains why one often emerges as the clearer immediate choice.

I’ll say this directly to you.

It is okay to be prudent with ambition.

Many of you are not done wanting more.

You are waiting for evidence that the conditions are worth reinvesting in again.

And when those conditions begin to stabilize, the leaders who move forward fastest are not choosing between development and opportunity.

They are prepared for both.

View newsletter: Executive Material (on Kajabi)

Thank you for reading Executive Material. Every Monday, break down how power, positioning, and executive communication actually work at senior levels,

Open article: Why "Just Find a Sponsor" Falls Flat and How to Borrow POWER and PRIVILEGE Instead  by April Little • 6 min read

Why "Just Find a Sponsor" Falls Flat and How to Borrow POWER and PRIVILEGE Instead

Instagram Live Event ✨How to Position Yourself for Executive Interviews

EDIT: 2/11 & 2/12 Events are cancelled for now. Thank you!

Executive interviews reward preparation that happens before the first question is asked.
Not resume prep. Not answer practice. Positioning.

This session focuses on the pre-work senior candidates need to do so their experience is interpreted correctly once interviews start.

If you are entering $200K+ interviews and want to avoid being read as too tactical, misaligned, or unclear despite strong experience, this session sets the foundation.

Follow me on IG: https://lnkd.in/g38Dj2Ax

View event: How To Position Yourself For Executive Roles - Instagram Live

How To Position Yourself For Executive Roles - Instagram Live

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Chris 🦄 Cicconi

April Little

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The Battle

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April Little

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