Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Angela Cantu, Sr. Engagement Manager at Fairmarkit.

Where did you grow up and how would you describe your childhood?

I was born and raised in Corpus Christi, TX.  Home to Tejano music, country music, great Mexican food (especially home cooked) and culture.  Corpus Christi was a good size city to grow up in, not too small where everyone knew everyone but not too big where you were lost in a sea of people.  I was a quiet, well behaved, school focused child.  I didn’t make trouble for my parents, my brothers did haha. So I was “the” good child.  

My parents divorced when I was eight and my mother shortly after met my stepdad, whom I call Dad because he raised me.  From the moment they came together, they fought to make a better life for their children.  My Mom and Dad didn’t have a biological child, but my brothers and I from the day we met him, were his children, end of story! Prior to my Mom meeting my Dad, I watched my mom and grandma go through a lot of adversity and overcome all of those challenges i.e. divorces and no financial support from the biological fathers.  My grandma did get her nursing degree and worked two jobs to provide for her four daughters and today my mother has her Master’s degree, retired as a Pediatric RN with over 30+ years and is now an adjunct professor at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.  Watching all the women in my family go through adversity and overcome obstacles made me the woman I am today. 

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments that got you to where you are today?

Interestingly enough, what got me where I am today is my daughter.  I had my daughter at the age of 26, and I was not prepared to be a parent.  At that time, I had gone through three different degree plans.  I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I “grew up.” 

At that time, I was a part-time college student at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi studying Communications and Public Relations and was a full time employee at a local news station as a reporter.  I loved it! However, becoming pregnant and working the long hours I had didn’t work.  So I had to get my life together for her and make sure I could provide for her.  

I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Minor in Public Relations at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi all while being a single parent, working full time, going to school full time and working part time as a writer for a local magazine.  Once I graduated, I worked for a year at the YWCA in their business development office and realized being a single parent with just a Bachelor’s degree wasn’t going to cut it. I decided to move to Houston, TX to get my Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Houston-Victoria.  One semester before graduating with my Master’s degree, I was hired at Halliburton Energy Services, an Oil & Gas company, as an Analyst.  That is when my professional career began.  

While at Halliburton, I was afforded the opportunity to work in many different roles within their Supply Chain organization.  One of the opportunities I had was to learn and deploy the Frictionless eSourcing system. I volunteered to work with another peer to deploy the eRFx module, and my manager and I developed and deployed the eAuction program globally.  When working on deploying the eAuction program, I was able to travel to all our procurement hubs.  I never would have imagined I would one day work in the IT industry, but this was where my journey and passion began for working on transformational programs.  After deploying the eAuction program to the final region, I moved into procurement compliance, spent two years working on Mergers & Acquisitions and a few years in Category Management.  I had an amazing career at Halliburton, amazing managers/leadership and my knowledge and experience at Halliburton is what led me to the tech industry and specifically to Fairmarkit.

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I am a Senior Engagement Manager at Fairmarkit.  I worked on the Customer Success team where I help lead our customers implementation and integration of their ERP system to our Fairmarkit sourcing application. I’m responsible for understanding customer’s procurement/sourcing compliance requirements, ensuring their sourcing teams and suppliers are trained to use Fairmarkit and ensuring customers are achieving process efficiencies, and most importantly, savings through the competitive sourcing process.

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position?

I absolutely never saw myself in the Tech industry nor did I even see myself in Procurement/Supply Chain.  I also never saw myself living in Houston, TX.  In fact, the only thing I did know was that I never wanted to live in Houston or work in the Tech industry. Life honestly led me down this path.  I always wanted a career where professionally I was challenged and in a constant state of learning.  I also wanted to be able to provide a good life for my child as a single parent. In my career, I have been an individual contributor and managed teams.  I have worked on global programs to small initiatives.  In each case, I was learning and growing and that was important to me.  I originally set out to be a Registered Nurse, then moved into Teaching, then moved into Journalism and landed in Supply Chain.  When I moved to Houston, I had no idea what Supply Chain was, or Procurement much less Category Management.  BUT I was going to learn everything about it. 

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals?

Always volunteer to take on new projects if there is an opportunity to learn.  A lot of peers I’ve worked with have not taken on projects for fear of not knowing the content, responsibilities, or the industry.  If I had that same mentality, I would not be here today nor had the experience or knowledge I’ve developed over the last 10+ years in my career.

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well?

Learn how to make decisions.  This is one of the most important skills to develop. Good leaders make decisions and don’t pass the buck.  They take ownership.  

Become a subject matter expert in your role.  Learn everything there is to know about what you do for your company. 

Work yourself out of your job, if possible. This means you are looking for process efficiencies.  You’re looking to leverage technology to improve not only your experience, but your stakeholders experience as well.

Ask questions! Don’t just assume because you have a degree that you know everything.  There are peers you will work with, who will know more than you do simply due to their experience.  Learn from them, be gracious and be open to collaborate.

Don’t be skeptical about sharing our knowledge for fear that someone else will take your job.  This shows you are a proponent of cross collaboration training.  Sharing your knowledge also provides others an opportunity to learn something new.

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging?

What I have always found rewarding is making a positive contribution/impact to a company. Wherever I've worked, I’ve always wanted to make a difference.  I want to be a positive influence and emulate that change and development is good.

Bringing up change, change management is an area that I feel has always challenged me in a very positive way.  It’s extremely challenging to drive and deploy transformational programs.  People who have been working for many years doing the same job or driving the same repetitive process can be completely resistant to change.  Some people don’t want to change, but for me, I find the positive in process efficiency and driving success through measurable metrics.  I really enjoy the challenge of change.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

When I volunteered to take on learning and deploying eAuctions at Halliburton, I was recognized within our Supply Chain organization globally with the MVP award due to directly impacting the company’s bottom line. There was a lot of time, energy and global travel spent in deploying this solution and to be recognized as an MVP in Supply Chain was an amazing accomplishment for me.  There can be so many challenges stacked up against women, and despite all the adversity, I did make a name for myself at this Fortune 500 company with over 50,000 employees.  It was truly an honor, and of course, I couldn’t have done that without the amazing support of my manager and the leadership who gave me the autonomy to drive this program globally. 

Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’m currently looking for hobbies! My daughter just finished high school and prior to that my life was consumed with her activities, competitive cheer, FFA, volleyball, soccer, basketball, traveling to cheer competitions and of course visiting my family and friends.  With that chapter now closed, I’m in search of hobbies.  So for now, my free time consists of traveling to visit family and friends.'

How do you manage stress?

Listen to music, dance and spend time with my family.  I will travel on a weekend at a moment's notice just to destress and get out of Houston. 

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day?

I have at least two cups of coffee but sometimes three. I’m quite addicted to coffee.  My love affair with coffee started my grandma when I was really young and became even stronger during my graduate program.  It was the only way to survive late night studying.  

Any book or podcast recommendations? 

I was given a new book on my birthday by one of my best friends from high school that is just awesome and all about empowering women, it’s called Badass Affirmations by Becca Anderson.  It’s a compilation of quotes from successful women all over the world in all different types of careers and industries.

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Be humble.  Be willing to learn ALL the time.  Volunteer for projects that are out of your comfort zone.  Don’t bring a problem without a Solution to your manager. And last, but not least, be passionate and love your work. Life is too short to not enjoy your career and personal life.

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Terry Trail, Senior Manager of PMO at Paperless Parts.

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child?

I grew up in Nashua, New Hampshire and attended a large high school where I enjoyed all the opportunities of a big school - chorus, swim team, track team, fellow students from a wide range of backgrounds and upbringings, an expansive class selection, and an overall unique experience. I always liked to try new things, even if I was not good at them, and I think that made me resilient to stick with things later on in life.

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school?

I earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration at Babson College, with a concentration in Literature and Visual Arts. At Babson I learned our number one mantra: “Think outside the box”. I started work as an Implementation Consultant and worked for seven years in that role before moving on to manage teams in Implementation and Project Management.

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments that got you to where you are today?

I have had a series of good fortune moments which became key points in my career, powered by longer periods of hard lessons, a desire to constantly improve, and thinking outside of the box. All my best roles came from connections with friends and my network of former colleagues, and the more challenging times in my career taught me how to adapt, stay positive, and learn from the people around me.

First: Friends

Starting in the role that I now manage was my first critical moment - I didn’t know that I was going to enjoy project management, but a friend of mine from Babson referred me for a job at Bullhorn, where I think I was around the 70-ish employee. I grew a lot in this role, got to travel the world, saw Bullhorn’s sale to a private equity firm, and met fantastic people there (including my husband and a few more people I’ll bring up later). After over six years at Bullhorn, I wanted to try my hand at mobile apps - they were the cool new technology and I had just gotten an iphone. 

Second: Network

My next critical moment came when a former colleague from Bullhorn had a Program Manager role open at Runkeeper - the first app I downloaded from the app store!!! I gladly accepted the role in which I led development of our brand offerings, had amazing experiences with the best coworkers anyone could ask for, learned what Agile Development really was, and saw Runkeeper’s sale to ASICS. 

Third: Skiing (more of a coincidence, but you’ll see what I mean)

I loved working at Runkeeper, but in 2017, my husband and I wanted to move to the mountains; it being pre-pandemic, remote work wasn’t as readily available and moving out of the city wasn’t cool yet. We left our jobs and took new roles in Vermont, where I tried my hand at Product Management in the ski and hospitality tech industry. While Product Management is really cool, I just kept wanting to project manage everything (and my friends will tell you I do this in everything in my life). A layoff sped up my search and that led a Runkeeper friend visiting for a ski weekend to refer me for a Project Manager role at ASICS, the company I had left in 2017. My latest critical moment came with another ski weekend this past winter - my friend and former Bullhorn colleague Jon Dorr came to my house in February under the guise of catching up over a beer. He immediately told me about this new start-up he was joining, Paperless Parts, and told me he wanted me to join him and build-out and manage the Project Management team. This was exactly what I wanted to get back to doing - and a combo of friends, network, and skiing (and maybe mostly my experience) aligned - I interviewed as soon as I could and started in May.

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I manage the Paperless Parts Project Management team, which guides our new clients through the process of Onboarding onto the Paperless Parts platform. My responsibilities include managing and mentoring the team, facilitating improvement of our processes, helping the Project Managers with escalations and progression of their projects, interviewing potential new PMs (We’re hiring!), collaborating across the company for client prioritization and internal processes, assigning new onboardings and monitoring progress of our in-flight onboardings, and overall being the central point of contact for all Onboardings internally and externally. I love all of it because everyone at Paperless is collaborative and genuinely nice - and our clients are pretty awesome too.

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position?

Yes it was always my goal to be in a position of building a team and mentoring Project Managers. Had I not taken a break from managing a team to try out Product, I think I would have reached this position earlier in my career, but getting that experience was invaluable to building my awareness of Product as a function and the people that manage it. I tell this part of my story to people because I think we sometimes are too afraid to “get off our path” to try out something new. To those people I always say, “Think about what the worst case scenario is and if you want to risk that happening. Is it the possibility that you would have to leave your position and realign your career because you found it wasn’t a good fit? Is it that you might give up the really comfortable position you have now? How bad would that be for you and what would be the steps to work through that scenario? What would you learn?”. Thinking through what might happen can help you weigh that risk and maybe realize that the potential risk isn’t really that bad.

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals?

My advice for someone wanting to manage and build teams is to learn the position you are looking to lead inside and out, and learn how to have fun in it. You can’t lead a team if you don’t enjoy the role itself. The way I learned to enjoy Project Management is through the teammates I worked with, the places I got to travel to, and the relationships I built with clients. I can’t tell you how many times I meet up with an old coworker and we laugh SO hard at some of the good and tough times we went through together. Additionally, getting into a leadership position can be tough - you have to prove you can both do the role and have leadership potential, and you also have to hit your timing right for when your company or a new company is looking to hire for this role AND they are willing to take a risk on someone who hasn’t led before. My advice here is to communicate with your manager on your desire to be a leader, ask for direct feedback on what you need to do to get there, and actively take action on the feedback. 

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well?

Empathy. Transparency. Relationships.

Empathy - Appreciate where your teammates and clients  are coming from and show them by repeating back what they said, helping them come up with solutions, and being honest with them.

Transparency - Show that you are not hiding anything by being open about what is going on - do you have a delay with a project? Explain why and what you are doing to work through it. Is there bad news to deliver? Share it with the individuals it affects the most first, so that they can process it and ask questions.

Relationships - A friendly relationship with your coworkers and clients builds trust and makes working together so much more enjoyable. 

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging?

The most interesting part of my work is the people I work with. I love getting to know people, figuring out what makes them tick, and tailoring my approach with them so that I can truly help them. The most challenging part is trying to fit everything I want and need to do into my day. It is frustrating when you know what you want to do but can’t find the time to put towards it.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

I’m going to cheat and say two. First was when I led the creation of a new offering at Runkeeper that enabled us to natively bring sponsors into the app, which created cool experiences for our users and opened up a new revenue line. We weren’t sure what we were doing, but the team was amazing and we figured it out. Second has been building the Project Management team at Paperless Parts. Everyone at this company is collaborative and supportive and I’m so glad I started here in May.

Are you involved with any professional organizations outside of the company? Volunteer work?

I volunteer in various organizations in my community in Vermont.

I am also a certified PMP - Project Management Professional. 

Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I love being outside. Hiking, running, swimming, paddling, skiing, back country skiing, snowshoeing are all on my list throughout the year. I also am an ameateur potter and am part of a cool studio near my home in Vermont.

How do you manage stress?

In general I use exercise to proactively keep stress at bay and believe that a walk or a workout can abate anxiety and stress. A glass of wine can help too.

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day?

I drink decaf iced coffee. I made a point to not become dependent on caffeine when I was in college, then I carried that through when I started working. It started as being able to deal with an apocalypse or something like that and eventually I just realized that I get anxiety from it and can’t sleep that night.

Any book or podcast recommendations? 

Podcasts: I listen to Wall Street Journal’s What’s News every morning while I’m getting ready for the day. Stuff You Should Know is one of the original podcasts (I think they may have been in the first 100?) - so funny and I’ve learned a lot from them.

Other favorites: Criminal, This is Love, Noble Blood, How I Built This, Freakonomics

Books: I’m a nerd for historical fiction. In the Heart of the Sea is possibly my favorite and just recently read The Hour of the Witch and The Rose Code, which were both fantastic. I also love drama/mysteries - I more recently enjoyed The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Cloud Cuckoo Land, and The Bone Clocks.

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Know that most people are happy to help you; don’t be afraid to reach out to people on LinkedIn / through your network to learn about their experiences and network with them. When you do meet to network, make it easy for them and come with questions so that they don’t have to drive the conversation.

WayneandGarth - I once went as Wayne and Garth from Wayne’s World with my dog Bear - people loved it and I got stopped in the street all over Boston.

HikingwithBearandRhonda - As I mentioned, I love hiking and took this photo last Fall with my dogs Bear and Rhonda.

PaperlessPartsHat - I rocked my Paperless Parts hat on a hike up Mount Washington this Summer - this is us crossing over the Cog Railway track.

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Carolyn Pampino, Vice President User Experience at SmartBear.

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child? 

I grew up in a suburban community just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I am the youngest of six kids, and yes, I still make the face I’m making in the picture, especially when I’m making an important decision. <wink> 

Early on, I was shy and perfectly content with creative projects or reading – until a YMCA opened a swimming pool. My parents were enthusiastic supporters. So much so, that when the YMCA ran out of money and could not finish painting the pool, my father collected exterior paint, rollers, and a crew of volunteers from the neighborhood. I have a vivid memory of standing in the corner with a paint brush while the volunteers bustled about with paint rollers determined to open the pool on time! The white was a funky beige, and the “black lines” were an eery blue, but the pool was painted! And it opened as planned! 

Holiday Hills YMCA. Circa ...too long ago to admit, but check out those bathing suits!  

That surge to meet deadlines has served me well throughout my career in tech! More importantly, the community felt like we owned that pool. After all, we made it happen! That spirit of coming together and allowing everyone to have a part in making something great happen has formed the basis of how I approach my job.  

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school? 

I am the first in my family to graduate from college and work in tech. When I announced I wanted to study sculpture at Carnegie-Mellon, my parents didn’t know how to react. We were a blue-collar family, and Carnegie-Mellon is just as prestigious as an ivy league school. It would be great if I wanted to study something they considered practical, but art? Somehow, they managed to accept my ambition and support me. Then, I saw my first Pixar movie – Luxo Jr. At that time 3D animation was new, and I found myself spending time in the computer lab enamored by the idea. The processors were horribly slow, and there were very few classes, let alone a chance to major in computer animation. In my senior year, I went to a career fair and was recruited by an alumnus to join his software company in Boston. They developed high-end graphic design software primarily used for product packaging and high-end printing. They also rendered the design in 3D so manufacturers could test packaging ideas. Allured, I accepted the job and learned how to provide customer support to graphic designers. Hearing the customer confusion using our product helped me to develop empathy for their experience. 

My favorite getaway with friends at Carnegie-Mellon dreaming of our future.  

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments that got you to where you are today? 

My path wandered a bit as I explored different opportunities. It wasn’t long before I was recruited to quality assurance as a tester. Then a rare opportunity opened to sculpt for the New England Aquarium, and I leapt at the opportunity. We created a groundbreaking work. Instead of putting sculpted pieces into the aquarium, we built great structures to hold the aquariums. The effect was like walking through the Amazon Rain Forest.  We obsessed about the visitor experience as they moved through the aquarium from one exhibit to next – visitors entered into the Rainforest canopy seeing the birds flying among the leaves, next they were beside a rushing stream with three giant tanks of fish, turn right and come face-to-face with a poison dart frog at eye level in a tree! Looking back, this was my first lesson in experience design. 

It was a temporary job, and afterwards, I reentered the software industry testing fonts, then to complex document publishing software at Interleaf. It was here that I discovered user experience design, and then progressed through a variety of roles such as project management, product management, and engineering manager. I was a product director when Interleaf was acquired by BroadVision in 1999. I will never forget snowshoeing in Vermont and receiving a phone call to come back to Boston. We drove late at night through a wicked snowstorm. The next day, I was participating in the due diligence meetings with the executives. BroadVision was a Silicon Valley success story, and we were thrilled to be acquired by them. Our stock options took off, and I was a millionaire – on paper, as most of it wasn’t vested. I sold some, and I will always remember driving down US 101 in Silicon Valley, telling my stockbroker Vinny to “Sell, Vinny! Sell!” It sounds like a Danny DeVito movie, doesn’t it?  

After BroadVision, I joined Rational Software and soon after IBM acquired us. Rational was known for software development tools and its unified development process. A defining moment at Rational came when I was asked to do a “red thread.” The product managers were hearing our customers wanted integrated products. The “red thread” was intended to show how hard it was to accomplish a goal using more than one product. We changed the name to “green thread” to focus on the positive, or “to be.” If you have heard of the term “user journey,” this was an early form. In our case, we tracked the journey of a team of people working together to deliver software and identified the tools they needed to do their jobs. The shockers always came from counting the number of tools our organization was asking them to use, along with the gaps that prevented a team from using them efficiently. From then on, I was enamored by the storytelling that came with a user journey and the designing for an experience. I became a design manager, and then a director. 

Now my focus is creating environments where designers can thrive. I’m attracted to roles where I can transform a team and create a culture of collaboration with the peer disciplines. Afterall, it takes a team working together on journey to deliver great software, similar to how it took an entire neighborhood of volunteers to paint the bottom of that new swimming pool!  

What is your current role and responsibilities? 

I am the VP of User Experience Design at SmartBear. SmartBear creates products to help development teams deliver quality software. I view my responsibility as creating an environment where innovation can thrive. Our customers deserve to experience one SmartBear. This means our products must be easy to discover, try, buy, use, and support. It is my responsibility to make it easier for our product teams to work across boundaries, to think differently about the problem to solve, and to enable them to do their best work. This means we collaborate with our product peers and also our web, branding, sales, and support teams. In terms of the UX design team, I am hiring designers and writers to create a team and a design practice. All design practices come into play, such as visual design, interface and interaction design, user research, user experience design, UX Writing, and Technical Writing, along with the lesser-known practices of information architecture, content strategy, service design, design thinking, and design system design.    

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position? 

Definitely not when I first started. Initially, tech was my back up plan to fund my desire to sculpt!  Eventually though, I was lured into the excitement of creating software solutions to improve people's work lives. Then it became a mission finding ways to work with my peers to empower teams and deliver better software. As important as this all was, the pride in my dad’s eyes as I advanced propelled me the furthest. 

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals? 

I heard an expression used by TV writers: “Be good on the page, be good in the room, and be good to work with.” This translates perfectly to designers, and any discipline in my book. 

Designers today are more likely to be learning and growing in organizations that are supportive of their work. Designers and engineers are graduating with the training to collaborate as a multi-disciplinary team. However, not all organizations have this culture. This was the case for me. So, the first piece of advice is to ask questions about the culture before you join. Some companies are product-led with a strong emphasis on design, others want designers but don’t incorporate them into the culture in a healthy and meaningful way, still others diminish the role all together. A good designer knows how to ask open-ended questions and listen to the themes. Do that with your interview!  

Once in, be good on the page. Learn your products, your domain, and your design system if you have one. Most importantly, get to know your users! Make sure your designs meet the needs of your users while fitting with your brand and design system. Design and usability test with the people who will use your product when it’s released. Bring the best from the outside into your practice and hone your craft. 

Be good to work with. Get to know your peers on a personal level. Also involve them in your design decisions. Be prepared and ask meaningful questions. Collaborating to co-solve problems will improve your reputation as someone others want to work with. As a trained designer you have a unique advantage. You can use your powers of empathy to understand the pressures your peers face, and then use your creativity to solve their pain points with a design method. By this, I mean there are many situations where the team you are working on is struggling. In that moment, do you know a design method that can help them solve the problem? Try to convince them to do it together, or just do it yourself and present it back to them. Sometimes it works on the first try, sometimes it doesn’t. But try – with moderation. Go too far and you are no longer good to work with! So, try to balance it by reading the response. Are they open to your suggestions because you are winning them over or are they turning away? Through it all, you are gaining skills in problem solving, collaborating, influencing. When it works, it not only wins trust, but it also shows leadership. You willingly leaned in, made a recommendation, and helped advance the team’s mission!  

Be good in the room. Throwing your peers under the bus in meetings is a bad way to advance your career. A friend once taught me the expression of being “dead right.” It means you are right and you’ve angered everyone around you to the point that they no longer listen to you. Don’t do that. 😉 If you are good on the page and are appropriately involving your peers as you evolve your designs, team meetings and reviews will go much smoother. Learn how to present your work and to listen to feedback. This may be one of the most important skills you can hone – how to present a design and direct your audience’s attention to where you need their feedback. David Royer and Suelyn Yu offer good advice for presenting a design in this blog. 

Read obsessively. Not just design blogs & books, but business blogs and books, too. It’s important to learn the language of the business to align your work with business outcomes. Learn about leading change, about influencing without authority, and apply one lesson at a time. Then, when someone opens a door of opportunity, run through it with all your glorious superpowers!  

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well? 

See the previous answer. 😊 Design can be a misunderstood discipline. Many people assume that designers make something look good, when in fact, good design defines how a product works and the impression it creates in the mind of the user. This involves uncovering what people need, help defining the problem to solve, then solving it by working through a strategy, creating, and testing prototypes, and eventually nailing the screen layout and visual impact. Educating our peers, winning trust, speaking the language of business, and gaining trust are fundamental to your success.   

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging? 

A designer's job is to create solutions that make people's lives better. Studying people is fascinating.  Ideating with a group of people to solve human problems is energizing. Making that solution easy to use and aesthetically beautiful is both frustrating and rewarding. It is incredibly difficult to make hard tasks easy. It is equally challenging to scrap a design and start over. But when you observe those people take delight in using your solution, it is worth it!  

There are many situations where the different disciplines on a team haven’t figured out how to work together. Often, design skills are misunderstood, and designers are brought in too late. This creates frustration for the designer and places an unfair burden on the product managers and developers to do the work a designer could have done. When you get the mix right, the designer thrives, and the product manager and developer jobs get easier. You can feel and see the stress levels go down. Together, they build momentum and the solutions they deliver to their customers are better as a result. I find this incredibly rewarding. It’s human nature to rely on what you know when you are under pressure. Introducing change and convincing teams to try working differently can be challenging. So, I look for opportunities and coach my designers to look for opportunities to lead. There is always a moment where the designer can lean in with a proposal to solve a problem. Once they do, trust builds, and eventually the designer can find themselves exactly where they belong – as a trusted leader on the team. 

What is your proudest professional accomplishment? 

I have a couple. Interleaf, 1999. Uniting as a team to have Interleaf acquired for $851 million was an amazing experience. We were a small but united team that managed to get noticed by one of the early high-flying internet companies, BroadVision. It was thrilling, and that’s what created the “Sell Vinny sell” moment on US 101. Then about a decade later, the scenario work at IBM Rational became the underlying thread that drove a line of products. By driving integrations across three products, we managed to triple their revenue.  The value proposition is what was implemented, tested, marketed, and sold. Again, a team of people came together and united around a mission. Moments like these give me goose bumps. My last one was at my prior company. We had groups of designers who were brought in by acquisition, who hadn’t been treated appropriately for their skills. The same could be said for the technical writers. By the time I left we were a united team, and the individuals were thriving and growing. I know I left them in a better place than where they were when I met them. It’s now my newest mantra: If I were to leave today, are they better off than how I found them? This drives me each day. It’s less about perfection, and all about incremental improvement each day to enable designers to do their best work. 

Are you involved with any professional organizations outside of the company? Volunteer work? 

I try, but honestly, I leave it all on the “working field.” I do donate food to a local food pantry and the Newton Freedge. The Freedge is a 24/7 pantry that anyone can donate or take food from. Food security is something that is personally important to me. It feels good to stock the shelves and the fridge with food people need.  

Q&A 

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? 

My Cardigan Corgi’s hypnotize me into giving them most of my free time. They make me smile, play, and take long walks. I’ve had other dogs, but the Cardigan Corgi is different. It is as if they have hypnotizing powers, and before I know it, I am doing exactly what they want me to do. Their full names are Shapeshifter Sam, and Sookie TruBlu, but they answer to Sam, Sookie, and ‘treato!’ I could fill this entire article with their stories.  

I’m currently tending to a small vegetable garden – I have seven varieties of potatoes in grow bags. I can spin quite a tale about the virtues of growing your own potatoes. Really, home grown potatoes are better, just like home grown tomatoes are better. Seriously. I haven’t bought a potato in three years. And the varieties you can grow are so much better than the store offers. All it takes is a growbag. 

I still pick up a hammer and chisels to sculpt alabaster when I can. Right now, I’m creating two clay sculptures for a friend from college. I gave him a sculpture when he graduated, and recently a new cat knocked it off the shelf. He contacted me asking if I could recreate it! The first led to a request for a second, new piece that includes his children. Here’s a photo of the original, and the recreated version still in “draft” form.  

How do you manage stress? 

See my free time. 😊 I have many approaches to suit my mood and energy levels. The fun I have in my free time is my best stress reliever. When that isn’t enough, I practice yoga, cycle using the app called Zwift, or solve puzzles. 

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day? 

One 

Any book or podcast recommendations?

Professional: The Outward Mindset: Seeing Beyond Ourselves. The Arbinger Institute. This was introduced to me by a peer, and it’s a fantastic example of how approaching situations with empathy can lead to extraordinary outcomes. The book is filled with stories which makes it an easier read and inherently creates an outward mindset in the reader. For example, one story involves a police team raiding a home. Amidst the chaos one officer notices a screaming baby in his mother’s arms and warms a bottle of formula to comfort the child and the mother. They were a group that took a very different approach to their role in their neighborhood. We could use a lot more of that now.  

What advice do you have for recent college graduates? 

For design graduates, I have two requests.  

First, apply to the appropriate position for your level. I don’t know how many new graduates I see applying for senior and even director positions! The second I see that, you’re out.  

Second, your resume and portfolio are your key to the interview. Apply your design process to creating these two important representations of your talent. The care and attention you give to these two artifacts speaks volumes about you as a designer. Start with empathy for the hiring manager. Hiring managers have open positions – this means they are understaffed, which means they're incredibly busy! They receive upwards of hundreds of applicants. How are you going to catch and hold their attention? What do you want them to think, feel, say, do when they look at your resume? Now design it for the right outcome... which is to open your portfolio.  

Now that they see your portfolio what do you want them to see and do? Take everything you know about design into account. What is the ‘gestalt’ impression. How about the visual hierarchy? What story are you telling us? When you only provide images of your work how likely will they understand what it is, what your contribution was, and whether it solved an important problem or not? The details matter! Please take the time to explain your process, the key decisions you made and why you made them, whether the design succeeded at the intended goals, along with the key learnings.  Consider choosing one case study and explain the full process. This is more valuable than a bunch of images with no words. The designer who can tie their solution back to the user problem and back to the business goal is that one that impresses the most. And don’t password protect it! I pass over applicants simply because they added a password to a portfolio. I’ve adopted this because of the number of passwords that didn’t work!  Interviewing is labor intensive. Adding any friction to that process, such as a password on your portfolio, could lose the chance of an interview. So, apply the design process and win yourself that job!  

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Alison Durant, Chief Marketing Officer at EngageSmart.

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child? 

I was born and raised in Massachusetts and was a competitive sailor growing up. Sailing has always been a huge part of my life and has shaped who I am today. I was only a few months old the first time my parents took me on the water, and I began competing as soon as I could hold a tiller.

I was and still am extremely competitive and learned a lot of valuable skills competing in a sport that requires both quick-thinking and a true partnership with the rest of the crew. Sailing is a sport dominated by men, so what I lack in strength and size, I make up for in skill, determination, and communication skills. All of this has translated over into my professional life and success today.

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school?

I studied Campaign Management at Franklin & Marshall College and landed my first job as an Account Executive at an agency focused on medical devices and diagnostics. I took on several public relations agency roles before moving into a leadership position at Horn Group where I spent ten years building the Agency’s Boston practice, shaping the external communications programs for startups and what are now some of the largest companies in enterprise technology. PR requires both quick and strategic thinking as well as close collaboration with a variety of personalities in high-stakes scenarios - similar to the skills required to win on the racecourse.

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments or turning points that got you to where you are today? Was there a person who influenced and/or inspired you along the way?

A real pivot point on my professional journey was the shift from client service and strategic communications on the agency side to in-house marketing. Suddenly, I had one client but more stakeholders than ever to consider in day-to-day operations. When I joined Endeca (acquired by Oracle), there was a very palpable sense of building something great together with some of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with. My Endeca colleagues have gone on to build amazing new companies and to take leadership positions in formidable enterprises. It didn’t feel like a turning point at the time but looking back it very clearly stands out as the point when I realized that the companies and teams you surround yourself with matters. We should be asking ourselves - are you inspired and challenged to think bigger by your colleagues? Do you feel supported by your team to try new things and take risks in the spirit of innovation and competitive advantage? You can say you are going to do all those things, but without an atmosphere of mutual support and good humor at work, things easily fall into status quo. 

Sabrina Horn was certainly a big influence early in my career. So much of what she embodied as an authentic leader, confidant to CEOs, and mentor to her teams still shapes the way I view my work and my role as a leader. Authenticity is talked about a lot because it matters. Sabrina walks the walk and during the decade I spent at Horn Group, she inspired her people to bring not only their best selves to work, but their whole selves. I strive to do the same thing for my peers and my team. We can’t possibly be as innovative, competitive, or productive otherwise.

What is your current role and responsibilities? 

As the Chief Marketing Officer, I oversee all aspects of EngageSmart marketing. This means wearing many hats, but my primary focuses are building our corporate brand identity and supporting our solution marketing teams in their efforts to build and grow awareness in the markets they serve. 

Much of the value in EngageSmart is in the strength of our vertically tailored solutions: SimplePractice, InvoiceCloud, DonorDrive, and HealthPay24. While these solutions have been connected for several years, the EngageSmart brand is fairly new, so a big priority for me is to help build awareness for and understanding about Corporate brand both internally and externally. Another, and equally important, priority is to grow our Enterprise business. Each vertically tailored solution serves a distinct audience (municipal tax and utility billers; enterprise nonprofits; and healthcare and hospital systems).

In addition to working with EngageSmart leadership and the executives of all our solution groups, I partner across the organization with key functions like HR to drive internal communications and employee engagement, corporate communications, content marketing brand identity, public relations, social media, and so much more.

I joined EngageSmart in the fall of 2020 as the company’s first marketing leader and less than a year later, we took the company public. Many critical functions worked to together to ensure our teams were operating in complete alignment required to be successful as a public company. This was a huge undertaking, and one that I’m very proud to have been a part of. But in a lot of ways, the real work has just begun—we have a whole new set of audiences to engage. It’s exciting, and it’s going to require a lot more people to help us continue to develop our amazing solutions and continue to delight our customers and their clients as we grow. Did I mention we are hiring?!

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position?

As a competitive sailor, I grew up on teams and have always enjoyed working with others. I knew I wanted to be around smart, creative thinkers and doers. People with vision who also put in the work to make it happen. Marketing and strategy appealed to me, but I’m not sure I understood what it entailed until I found myself doing it. Again, it was the people and learning opportunities that I sought out first; the actual subject or area of the work came second to that. I think it's extremely important to be open-minded when entering the job market because you never know when new opportunities will present themselves. I entered the working world and joined an agency following college graduation based on a relationship I had in the sailing world.  

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals? 

In terms of long-term career goals, I can’t stress the importance of working with people you can learn from. Much like sports, you only get stronger, smarter, and more skilled by playing with folks who excel in areas you don’t. Also keep in mind that if you have joined the right team, you bring a unique point-of-view and skillset to the job. You want to be around people who inspire you to learn and grow, but who also support your curiosity and build the confidence of the team in positive ways.

Spend time considering who influences you. Is there a mentor or two you can consult and strategize with? Will they also be your champion in the workplace? Do you have confidence among your peers that you can turn to on the hard days? Finally, who are you mentoring and championing for? A solid network is critical to success. I’m not just talking about connections in positions of influence; I’m talking about people you can directly learn from and vice versa in very tangible, productive ways. Who you surround yourself with on a daily basis, how you treat them, and how they treat you can make a much bigger impact on your career path than simply a few powerful contacts. I also believe that our networks make for a happy work life—something we all need, or the journey just isn't’ worth it. 

EngageSmart’s company culture really stood out to me when I was looking to make the next step in my career. EngageSmart has leading products in the markets our solutions serve, delighted customers, and most important to me, employees who were excited to come to work. I knew I wanted a position where I could grow as a person, and where I’d be supported in building something new. I think most people want to make an impact in some way and to also be impacted positively by the people they work with – I found this at EngageSmart.

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well?

The ability to understand, and connect with, your audience cannot be understated. On a day-to-day basis, I may be connecting with four or five different audiences. It can be easy to over-simplify the audience groups into internal and external, but if it’s internal—which solution am I connecting with? And from an external perspective, am I connecting with clients? Shareholders? What message do I want each audience to walk away with? What do I want them to do? Understanding and connecting with your audience is a critical foundation of marketing and communications in any organization.

Adaptability and creativity are next on my list. We live in a time of rapid change and growth, what may have worked well six months ago can suddenly stop working. Having the ability to think outside the box, quickly problem solve, and adapt to our ever-evolving environment is key. 

Finally – the ability to stay focused. As a leader overseeing multiple solutions, I often find myself being pulled in different directions with competing asks—which could lead to distraction and stalled execution. However, staying truly mission-focused allows me (and my team) to quickly weed through the work that may not directly align with our strategy and goals—and focus on what does.

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging?

I touched on this a little bit, but culture at EngageSmart is extremely important — and working with such dedicated, fun, and supportive people really is rewarding. Our leadership team has worked hard to build an inclusive work environment where employees are excited to come to work.

Given that the EngageSmart brand is still relatively new, one of the biggest challenges for me as a marketer is around sharing the overarching brand story. It takes a lot of thoughtful work at the strategic level, but our biggest challenge (and of course, opportunity) is building understanding and advocacy from employees throughout the organization. We’ve got distinct solution groups under the EngageSmart umbrella that have established brands that are known and loved by their respective customers and employees. I need to partner with the solution teams and help preserve the enthusiasm for each of these while also building equal understanding and excitement around our corporate brand. 

One thing I love about marketing is the ability to craft a brand’s identity and connect with customers in meaningful ways. The good news is that every member of our team is united behind the company ethos to make people’s lives easier with our products and solutions. At EngageSmart, we believe that every time someone says “it shouldn’t be this hard,” they’re right. Whether it's paying bills or booking an appointment with a therapist, our jobs  help make our customers’ lives easier. That is really gratifying.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

There are two separate things that come to mind. First, I love helping employees grow within our organization, and to develop their own career. I’m proud to be a mentor to some of the amazing former colleagues. It's very rewarding to support these talented individuals and watch them achieve their goals, many of whom have moved on to run their own marketing departments and build their own new teams.

I’m also extremely proud of our team’s work taking EngageSmart public last fall. Leading the marketing efforts for our IPO, alongside colleagues in Finance, HR, Legal, Operations, and more was both challenging and rewarding. Working together as a newly established team to become a public company was an important step in our company’s growth, and I’m proud to have been a part of that. With amazing solutions and a team of top talent, I’m also very excited about the next stage of growth for EngageSmart.

Are you involved with any professional organizations outside of the company? Volunteer work?

As I’m sure you can tell, sailing has always been a huge part of my life, and still is. I’m on the leadership council at the Buzzards Bay Coalition, as well as the Board of Directors for the New Bedford Yacht Club. I think it's important to find meaningful causes outside of work, so I’m fortunate to be a part of these organizations and their missions to support the Southcoast of Massachusetts. I have also helped fundraise and plan events for the Community Boating Center of New Bedford, as well as the Lloyd Center for the Environment. It’s been great giving back to the community that introduced me to my favorite sport and hobby.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?      

We are an active family and I spend a lot of time outdoors with my husband and our two kids. We split our time between Sunapee, New Hampshire and Dartmouth, Massachusetts and spend a lot of time sailing together in the summer and skiing in the winter. It’s great to share sports with my family that we all enjoy and can do together. The newest addition to our family is an Australian Shepherd, named Rhea, who ensures hiking is a part of every-day life,    

Both my son and daughter are involved in high school sports and watching their games is priority for me. Not sure the kids feel the same way! Being the parent of a pitcher and a goalie is tough stuff! 

I’m so fortunate to work for a company that prioritizes health and well-being and encourages employees to take time with their family. There is a fair amount of data that shows that people are not taking enough vacations even when they have enough paid time off. I try to lead by example and encourage my coworkers and employees to do the same.

How do you manage stress?

Getting outside is my favorite way to manage stress. Whether it’s a dog walk or a quick trip on the boat, the fresh air is renewing. I also love working in the garden – pruning and weeding are little projects that provide instant gratification. I’m totally clueless, but herb gardens are hard to mess up! 

I love talking to my kids about their day, their games, their goals – even weekend plans. I try to set evenings aside for that stuff, and while I can’t say it happens every night, it does help me stay rooted in what really matters.

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day? 

Ha! A lot – probably eight. I also am known to enjoy a box or two of candy during the day. Hot Tamales, Good-n-Plenty and Peeps!.

Any book or podcast recommendations?

I highly recommend reading Make It, Don’t Fake It by Sabrina Horn — it's one of my favorite books. Sabrina is one of my mentors, and I worked with her for about ten years. “Make It, Don’t Fake It” is something I strive to live by in my professional and personal life. An enjoyable and sustainable workplace needs to be driven by authenticity, as does any marketing strategy or business plan designed to put customers first.

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Network as much as possible! People are often hesitant to reach out because they don’t want to seem annoying or assume they don’t know anyone who can help them. Your network is much bigger than you think — you have friends, family, coworkers, and alumni networks. It may surprise you how willing some people are to help. Networking is more than just looking for job opportunities. It's about building relationships and maintaining connections for the future. 

And, when you’re out there interviewing, I think it's extremely important to focus on the company’s mission and try to envision yourself working there. Hiring is a two-way street — while the company is interviewing you, you should be making sure the company is a good fit for you. Pay attention to how companies present themselves publicly. Do their values align with yours? How do they support their employees? How real is the person interviewing you willing to be about the challenges of the job? Consider the opportunities it presents. Ask hiring managers what they do outside of work—and how much they know about their colleagues’ own passions and pursuits. That can tell you a lot about the people you’re going to be working with, and in turn, the culture of the company itself and how it supports the whole selves of its employees.

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Christine Ho, Senior Director, Technical Programs Lead at Motional.

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child?

I was born in New Jersey, but was raised in Hong Kong and Tokyo. My parents immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong, my sister and I are first generation Americans. The global nature of my upbringing made me culturally aware at a young age that there was much more to learn. This translated into my career as an engineer. I've always had a sense of curiosity and wanting to problem solve, whether it was puzzles, clocks, door knobs, or light switches.

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school?

I received a BS in Material Science and Engineering from Rutgers University and a Masters in Systems Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology. Initially, I was interested in learning more about materials, but that passion evolved into wanting to make a greater impact on society. My first job after college was the Engineering Leadership Development Program (ELDP) at BAE Systems. It’s a rotational program to see different parts of the corporate world.

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments that
got you to where you are today?

There have been many moments but a few that stand out to me:

• At BAE Systems, I had the opportunity to see different life cycles of a program: Final test set-ups (understanding the customer needs to develop something to be easy), to mature products, to continually integrate them.
• At Gogo Business Aviation, I leveraged system engineering foundations to accelerate architecture and design for in-flight connectivity and entertainment systems.

I would say the most critical moment is what got me to where I am now at Motional. I realized I wanted to diversify my skill set and jump into an industry, autonomous vehicles, that I had zero exposure or prior knowledge about. I took a leap of faith into this world of cutting edge technology - it’s been an exciting journey.

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I serve as the Technical Program Leads at Motional where I oversee a large group of talented technical programs managers. We’re focused on bringing our fully driverless (SAE Level 4) robotaxis to market, starting in Las Vegas in 2023.

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally? Was it always your goal to be in this position?

I’ve always known I’ve wanted to make an impact on people's lives and be surrounded by a strong team that’s passionate about our mission.

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals?

I’d say to never give up on your goals, stay focused on what excites you. While mentorship is frequently discussed, it’s not always easy to enter into that type of relationship. Even without a formal mentor, you can still learn from those around you. Find colleagues or leads who you work with and pick one or two attributes you would like to adopt and use day-to-day. I’ve implemented habits that I admired in leaders
throughout my career.

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well?

In such a dynamic role, it’s critical to:

• Listen to other people's ideas
• Be attentive and present in the conversation
• Obsess over the details
• Trust your colleagues and your strategy

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work? What’s the most
challenging?

At Motional, I’m really fortunate to work with an incredible group of people who have an
unwavering focus on our mission, making driverless vehicles a safe reality.

The most challenging aspect is what we’re building, the technology, level 4 autonomous vehicles. This is one of the most challenging engineering projects of our lifetime. It’s rewarding to work through problems that have never been solved before and see our vehicles hit the roads. AVs will significantly improve transportation for communities around the world, and we’re responsible for making that a reality.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

Delivering products to market. At Motional, I worked on the team that was responsible for reaching a significant technical milestone - fully driverless operation in 2020. There are very few companies in the world capable of this, and we’re one of them.

Earlier in my career at Gogo Business Aviation, I helped to deliver a modular platform that is now known as the AVANCE Platform. I was involved in the process to certify the product to meet DO-254 Design Assurance Level (DAL) D which was a first for the company at the time!

Are you involved with any professional organizations outside of the company? Volunteer
work?

Professionally, I’m part of SWE, Society of Women Engineers. In my personal life, I’m an avid golfer and am a part of the LPGA Amateur Golf Association. 

Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

As I mentioned before, I’m an avid golfer.

How do you manage stress?

Going for a walk with my partner and dog around Boston’s North End, and of course, golf.

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day?

Depending on the day, 1 to 3 cups.

Any book or podcast recommendations?

Anything Malcolm Gladwell - Blink or Outliers.

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Don’t compare yourself to others. You are a unique individual on your own adventure: you get to define, learn, and iterate through every step in your career. Also, you are your own biggest cheerleader and advocate. This advice is especially relevant for women who often aren’t as vocal in advocating for their advancement, whether it’s taking on a new project, position, or raise.

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Caitlin Reiche, Chief Commercial Officer at Zus Health. 

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child?

I grew up in Newton, Massachusetts - close to Boston. I loved school but wasn’t particularly athletic, and spent much of my time outside of school with my parents, older brothers, and kids around my neighborhood. 

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school?

I went to Middlebury College, a small liberal arts school in Vermont. After switching my major three times - from economics to history to poli-sci, I finally settled on Psychology, for no other reason than I realized my psych classes were the ones I was always most excited to attend. In retrospect, I realize that the basic concepts of psychology are probably the most important to understand to navigate all relationships, including those in business contexts. But I didn’t always want to go into business - I thought I would be a clinical psychologist and so followed that “path” out of undergrad, and coordinated clinical research trials in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital. It was in this role where I was first exposed to the inadequacies of existing HCIT and the opportunity for improved technology to provide efficiencies and superior care. 

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments that got you to where you are today?

During graduate school at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, I did a consulting internship at Deloitte and worked on a value-based care project for Harvard Business School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. I knew that value-based care (as opposed to fee-for-service) was going to change the way we think about and pay for healthcare, but I quickly recognized that very little technology existed to support these new models. 

After a number of conversations with folks in my network, I decided to pursue a role at athenahealth, one of the most innovative and transformative healthcare technology companies during that time. Athena was growing quickly at the time, providing a number of opportunities for someone early in their career, like me. I was able to chart my own course there, holding roles in Product Strategy, Corporate Strategy, Enterprise Business Sales, and Product. I recognized I loved building new teams, launching products, and managing and mentoring people.

I have been lucky enough to continue this work at PatientPop and then as Chief Operating Officer at Buoy Health, where for 3 years I built out the organization from 24 to over 100 people. At Buoy, I also had the opportunity to work with emerging digital health companies as they figured out their go-to-market strategies - and this is when I knew I wanted to help this new era of virtual-first healthcare companies succeed, prompting my move to Zus. 

Tell us about your new role at Zus Health?

At Zus, I oversee our new Commercial Team, which includes building out our marketing and product marketing functions, our business development and sales teams, and our partnerships and developer community. 

As a relatively new company, I also spend a lot of time developing our go-to-market strategy. I love the cross-functional nature of the role, and enjoy having daily conversations with some of the most innovative digital health companies that will truly change the way we receive healthcare over the coming years. 

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position?

I wish I could say I planned it, but of course much of the evolution of my career happened organically. Early on in my career, I didn’t think of myself as a salesperson. However, over time, I realized that external, strategic, customer and partner-facing conversations were the most invigorating parts of all of my roles - that introspection helped me realize that a Chief Commercial Officer or a go-to-market leadership position is the best fit for my interests and skills.

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals?

I think a tendency is to say - I want to lead a Commercial organization, and therefore I need to “grow up” in sales. I actually think another way to be successful in this type of role is to experience different opportunities in other parts of an organization. Time spent in product or R&D will give you empathy and understanding of the product development lifecycle, time spent building out teams in any role will give you leadership and management skills, a marketing role will train you in critical top-of-funnel strategies… the list goes on. Become a well-rounded professional and then pick the area where you want to lead. 

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well?

Organization - this may be underestimated, but being really organized about our go-to-market strategy and the tactics that will lead us to success is really important at a macro level, and day-to-day organization and deep preparation around customer conversations, presentations, and follow up is critical. 

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging?

I love this early stage because success (and really, company survival) necessitates that the whole organization puts their energy into go-to-market. This means I get to work very cross-functionally, bringing product managers and engineers into customer strategy sessions and conversations and spending a lot of time sharing insights across the company, 

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

The times I was able to help another individual realize their full potential through mentorship or management – these have always been the most satisfying experiences for me. 

Are you involved with any professional organizations outside of the company? Volunteer work?

I’m a member of Chief and also mentor for The Roux Institute, a graduate and entrepreneurship organization here in Portland, Maine. 

Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Time outside of work is spent with my family. I have 3 children under 7 and we love our family adventures here in Maine - boating, skiing, and generally spending time outside.

How do you manage stress?

To-do lists and calendar organization, and trying to find some free time during the day when I can take my dog for a walk or go for a run.

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day?

At least 3… but never after 1pm. 

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Sofia Kaufman, Chief People Officer at Aura. 

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child?

I was born in Riga, Latvia and moved to Brookline when I was a little girl; haven’t left Massachusetts since. I was pretty shy as a child, I liked to observe the world around me and catalog my observations. Sports helped me come out of my shell and I quickly found my immensely competitive nature. 

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school?

I studied Economics in college. While in college I worked at a retail banking branch. Graduated and quickly realized that wasn’t for me and found a job at a comp consulting firm.

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments that got you to where you are today?

I’m definitely one of those people that are in HR that never thought they would be in HR. I enjoyed telling stories with data and found my way to compensation consulting. I quickly realized that family and billable hours required to excel in consulting 20 years ago didn’t mix and found my way to the corporate world. 

My first corporate job was on the compensation team at what was then Genzyme.  It opened my eyes to what a great and respected people function looks like. How partnering with the business through creative and effective programs, strong organizational design and an enduring culture help to drive results. After Genzyme, I worked my way up the ladder in the tech industry. First in compensation, then broader total rewards, and then to Chief People Officer. 

I don’t know if there were specific critical moments in my career or just the journey overall that has placed me where I am. I have been and continue to be incredibly fortunate to work with and for some pretty amazing leaders and have hopefully picked up a bit of their strengths along the way. For example, I learn from Hari Ravichandran, the CEO of Aura, every single day. His insights on category creation, deep knowledge of the capital markets, and drive for growth have taught me endless lessons for which I will always be grateful.

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I am currently the Chief People Officer of Aura - an intelligent digital safety company. We are on a mission to create a safer internet. I lead a team of amazing people that are responsible for shepherding our awesome people-first culture, attract and retain our greatest resource - our talent, and ensure we are helping our employees grow and they in turn power Aura’s growth.

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position?

I always thought I would be in leadership, but definitely not in HR. When I first started college I thought I would go into medicine or the sciences, like the rest of my family. Freshman year chemistry was a humbling experience and I quickly pivoted to economics. I found that I love telling stories with data and then using that data to make immediate impacts. I eventually found my way to compensation consulting. When I transitioned to the corporate world I worked for some of the best CHROs/CPOs in the game. I saw the immense impact that they had on organizations and have been inspired ever since.

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals?

Two things both equally important:

1. Never turn down any opportunity to learn about the business. People functions are so critically important to the success of any organization. But if we are not aware of how an organization ticks, the long term goals of the organization and how people and people strategy align to those goals, then there is no point. 
2. You don’t need to know everything to do the job. Many times people (especially women) think that because they don’t meet every qualification on the job spec that they are not ready. Most people are willing to help you if you are willing to ask questions. 

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well?

1. Empathy above all else. Building people programs requires one to be able to recognize that people are ultimately driven by emotions and to understand various perspectives of any given situation/program and its impact.
2. Growth mindset for everything: self, team, company. It's super easy to get comfortable in past accomplishments, but the best feeling is when you keep pushing to level up. It's contagious and makes everyone around do the same.
3. Sounds cliche, but being strategic. It's very easy for the People function to just do the HR things because it's what the calendar says to do or because that's what the proverbial HR playbook prescribes. But truly using people and org decisions to drive business outcomes is critical to success.
4. Being very comfortable in the abstract. People don’t fit into neat little boxes - nor should they. 

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging?

The answer to all of the above is the people. It is so rewarding to work with the smartest, kindest, most interesting people in the industry. 

Building culture is challenging, hard, and incredibly rewarding work. There is no one size fits all, so keeping everyone happy is impossible. The magic is when most of the pieces start to work together and create a rocketship like the one we have at Aura.

Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Spending time with my family is tops. I’m a workout junky: hiking, running, yoga, gym sessions. 

How do you manage stress?

Staying active for sure. Also sleep; I’m famous for my early bedtime, but it truly is important. 

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day?

Zero. I am trying to break a decades-long dependency and sticking to tea.

Any book or podcast recommendations?

I love the Pivot podcast. Always pick up interesting tidbits of info about the world there.

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Network, network, network. You never know when you might find your next boss, mentor, or ally. 

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Anita Peterson, VP of Client Services at InvoiceCloud. 

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child?

I was raised in Winthrop, Massachusetts. My parents immigrated to the United States from Kolkata, India, so I’m a first-generation Indian-American woman. I also have a younger sister, and she’s my best friend—most people who know us call us twins because we have the same mannerisms and look very similar, even though we’re seven years apart. 

When I was a kid, I was a little reserved at school, mainly because of my height—I’m six feet tall, which is pretty unusual among Indian women. The areas where I was more confident were sports (my height was a real asset here) and art. I loved to draw and paint, and I still do. 

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school?

I went to Bentley University, where I majored in marketing and minored in computer information systems. 

My first job out of college was at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where I worked in the case management department. I handled patients leaving the hospital and helped with researching what kind of follow up care they might require

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments that got you to where you are today?

After Spaulding, I worked at Paradigm Properties, where I assisted in managing all aspects of the building's occupancy and maintenance. I was the first and last face people saw as they entered and exited the building. I communicated with tenants regarding property related issues, coordinated with tenants and vendors to address maintenance and facility issues, and helped to resolve any complaints or building violations. My work at Spaulding and Paradigm helped me hone problem-solving skills like prioritization and strategy implementation, which have proven indispensable at InvoiceCloud, where I am today. 

After Paradigm, I moved onto MCC, which was a startup electronic bill payment and presentment (EBPP) company (the same space as InvoiceCloud). Because MCC was a startup, I got to touch every aspect of the business as a marketing and sales manager. It was a huge learning experience—in my 12 years at MCC, I ran our presence at marketing and trade shows and I met with schools and municipalities to learn about their different needs and to see how our software might help solve some of their challenges. I helped with product direction and development, and I became very well acquainted with the municipal space. I really learned what it means to have a SaaS solution for EBPP—in simpler terms, it means a digital payment solution that can be accessed anywhere online. Before MCC, I would have thought that sentence was nonsense.

I recognized that there was a lot of opportunity for growth in the online payments space—there were so many towns, cities, and utilities looking for a solution like what MCC had to offer. InvoiceCloud entered the market a few years after MCC, and I joined the InvoiceCloud team several years later after that.

Looking back, you can see a path that wasn’t apparent at first: working directly with people in a variety of situations, assessing how I could help them and be of service in some way, and honestly, just doing my best to make life easier for the folks I encountered every day, regardless of the job or the company I was working for at the time. InvoiceCloud, and our parent company EngageSmart, both have that ethos of service and impacting lives for the better at the heart of everything we do. 

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I’m VP of Client Services, which means I oversee customer-facing teams and I provide support to clients. When you boil it down, I’m really there to remove impediments and roadblocks for both my team and our customers.

I review caseloads and issues my teams face, I look for trends, and then I take everything I hear from my teams and from our customers and I distill them into a message that I then articulate to the organization—I’m kind of like a megaphone for the needs of our clients and teams. My goal is to make sure we provide superior customer experience, and not just according to the metrics we aim to meet, but also by ensuring that any time someone reaches out to us, they have a positive experience.

At InvoiceCloud, we’re constantly asking, “How can I make this customer’s life easier?” And the answer usually entails making their customer’s life easier—that’s every person who’s ever had to pay a tax or utility bill, which is just about everyone. It feels really good to be a part of something bigger like that. 

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position?

As a high school freshman, I thought I’d be a basketball player or an artist. I had a basketball coach who worked in marketing and customer success. He was enthusiastic about this work, and he shared what he did and introduced me to that world, and I really started to take an interest in business.

That’s why, when I was deciding what college I wanted to go to, I focused on business schools. I chose Bentley, which opened my eyes and expanded my understanding of what success means in business and what it would take for me to succeed. I knew I wanted (and had it in me) to be successful, and I knew I wanted to be in some position of leadership—growing up, I had always been the “leader” in my group of cousins, taking charge of whatever little-kid things we were doing back then. 

Once I was at MCC, my career goals became pretty clear, and this is exactly where I predicted I’d be.  

But your question is about long-term goals, and I have to admit that I have never been a long-term planner. I believe life is unpredictable and that in order to succeed, you need to be able to adapt and adjust. This is part of the reason I am where I am. In client service especially, you need to be ready for the unexpected. You may have the perfect plan written out in permanent marker, but then something will inevitably happen, and you have to start over again. 

This goes beyond just my day-to-day work and career—I have a general vision of what I want for myself and my family, but I’m not a long-term planner, and this has allowed me to remain open to opportunities, even if they’re not what I had envisioned. As I mentioned above, there are recurring themes in each chapter of my life and career thus far, and a commitment to making people happy is certainly one of them. That brings me joy and fulfillment, and holding on to that, even in times of constant change, helped to define my path in ways I didn’t notice until later. 

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals?

First and foremost, find good mentors that can help you on your journey. It can’t be said enough: every woman’s success is due in some part to another woman’s guidance.

Always be prepared: Every time you find yourself in front of leadership, treat it as an opportunity for professional growth. I also think it’s incredibly important to take ownership of your mistakes and successes, no matter what level you’re at. 

Adopt a roll-up-your-sleeves attitude when it comes to work—if there’s an issue and my team can’t keep up with a client’s needs, I’ll drop everything to start answering phones and taking on cases myself. There’s nothing more important to me than my customers and my team. Without them, I cannot be successful—and it’s important that I make that apparent to them through my own words and actions. Walking the walk matters.  

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well?

At the risk of repeating myself, I’d say that the ability to adapt and roll with the punches has been indispensable. I need to be able to make decisions quickly and switch up what I’m doing at a moment’s notice in order to be good at my job. There are some leaders who, in the heat of a crisis, stand above and strategize and assess where people need to go and what needs to happen, and these leaders are certainly needed. And then there are some leaders who charge ahead and lend an active hand fixing what needs to be fixed right alongside their team—I’ve always been that kind of leader.

I also think empathy and emotional intelligence are incredibly important. They’re what allow me to relate to my team and my customers and to really listen to what they need.

Finally, a sense of humor is one of the most unexpected and vital things I need to do my job well. At the end of the day, if you can’t find levity in your experience, if you can’t take a step back and have a good time, it’s probably not the right job for you.

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging?

The most rewarding part of my work is solving a problem. I get a rush from it, honestly. I’m very gratified by the satisfaction of making my customers and team happy, and by crossing a problem off my list. 

I also think the kind of people we work with in the municipal space are really interesting. I’m working with my neighbors—to be in public service, you need to live in the town itself. That means our clients are active, involved members of their communities. I love working with people who are committed to solving problems so hyper-locally, and to serving real people right in their own backyard. There’s a very tangible satisfaction to this kind of work and it tends to attract people with good-natured, can-do personalities. 

With regards to what is most challenging, I think not being able to give everyone everything they want gets tough for me. I always want to help my client, and I try to see things from every perspective, and it can be really challenging to have to say no when things just can’t work out the way they want. I’m pretty determined to find a way, even if it’s not exactly what they wanted, and sometimes finding a solution that neither of us considered before can be really satisfying.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

Hands down, my proudest professional accomplishment is my team today and the culture we’ve built together. 

We hire well at InvoiceCloud, which matters. I also work to hire and train and promote within the organization. In fact, people from my department have infiltrated nearly every other group at InvoiceCloud—product, implementations, finance, etc.—all because of the knowledge they’ve gained working on my team and because of the kind of dedicated, curious, and service-minded people they are. 

I am incredibly proud of helping create career paths for my team members. I have a track record of finding professional growth opportunities for my people in client services, and it’s what attracts people to come work on my team. 

Are you involved with any professional organizations outside of the company? Volunteer work?

I’ve coached my son’s soccer and basketball teams locally in the past, and these days I help out where I can while my husband is a coach and member of the board. Being a cheerleader for my two kids takes up a chunk of my time, including weekends—it has been really fun to share my love of sports with them, especially because I’ve been heavily involved in athletics from the time I started middle school (again, my height certainly helps!).

Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?    

The truth is, I don’t have a ton of free time, between my somewhat hectic job and raising my family. But art always has been and still is something that still brings me so much joy. Take a look at my notepads at work and you’ll find some serious doodles—it helps me pay attention to keep my hands busy, and as a bonus, my notepads are like a work of art!

When I can, I still sketch and paint. And I still play basketball in a women’s league. I also work out quite often and spend time with friends and family. I read a fair bit, as well.

How do you manage stress?

Honestly, I tend to work better under stress. I think more clearly under pressure. But on extra-stressful days, working out or doing some kind of physical activity is helpful. Being with my kids is also a great stress reliever, and I just picked up drawing at night again to help me unwind.

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day?

I love my Nespresso, and I have two cups of coffee a day. I like really, really dark coffee.

Any book or podcast recommendations?

I love to read! I read every night before I go to sleep to get my mind to quiet down a little. And I will read any book that everyone is talking about, regardless of genre. 

Give me a good beach read, a quick read like Nicholas Sparks, a procedural drama like Jodi Picoult, a heavier historical drama like Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale. Right now I’m reading It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, and I’m enjoying it! I also really liked The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger.

And I’ve recommended professional books or books on leadership to my team—I’ve even done summer reading club for the past several years with them. Last summer’s book club was the classic 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Take every opportunity you get to get yourself in front of company leadership or a department you’re trying to work your way into—be prepared for these moments, because they can change your career. Don’t be afraid to take any entry-level position and work your way up to where you want to be.

And be yourself. I don’t believe in completely separating your work and home life. I want to work with well-rounded people because I think they make better colleagues. Tell me about your family, your hobbies, your favorite book. Let your sense of humor shine through. I want to work with YOU, not some anonymous corporate mannequin. 

PrismHR is proud to be a tech company comprised of 50% women!

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Thuy Hill, Vice President, FP&A at PrismHR. 

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child?    

I was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States when I was five years old.  I grew up in Kennebunk, Maine.

As a child, I was hardworking, always had a drive to do well, and very athletic.  Some might have described me as a tomboy.  Growing up with seven brothers, I grew up playing sports and being outdoors.  There was always a neighborhood kick ball, wiffle ball, or basketball game going. We challenged one another and enjoyed it at the same time.

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school?

I studied International Affairs with a concentration in Economics at the University of Maine, Orono.  After college, I moved to Atlanta and got my first job at Premier Technologies as a billing specialist.   

Can you share the details on your career path?

At the start of my career, the job found me more than I found the job.   As I progressed in my career, it was important for me to grow into my roles, to learn new skills, and to stay relevant.  I always made sure to note what I liked and didn’t like about my job.  As I advanced in my career, I focused on what I enjoyed.  By doing this, I was able to find a job I enjoy.

What is your current role and responsibilities? 

VP of Financial, Planning and Analysis at PrismHR.   I lead a team of financial analysts at PrismHR, a SaaS software and services company for the human resource outsourcing and staffing markets. My responsibilities include managing the corporate planning and forecasting process for all of the company's business units, and working closely with the executive leadership team on corporate strategy.

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position? 

No, early on in my career the job found me.   From there, I found the career.  It is important for me to be challenged and to enjoy what I’m doing.  There are things we do that we do not like to do, but if most of what you do on any given day is enjoyable, you build a career around it.  This is what I’ve done with this position.   

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals? 

Understand the data you are working with, ask the questions, and at times challenge others.  Understanding the business and using data is important for an Analyst.   I enjoy working with data and organizing data to help answer questions.  You want to ask the “why’s.”       

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well? 

Being able to work with large amounts of data and using the data to tell a story is the most important part of my job.  Another important skill is being able to build relationships.  We need to work together to achieve our goals and targets.  We are more successful when the people around us are successful.  We need to build each other up and bring each other along.

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging? 

The most rewarding part of my job is being able to build a plan or strategy from the bottom up.  Once the model is built, it’s making sure the plan is managed and achieving the goals and targets that were set.   At the same time, it’s also the most challenging.  The challenge is making sure everyone is on board to achieve the plan and targets.  We have to work as a team.

Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? 

Most of my free time is spent at a soccer field, a gymnastics event, or on an indoor cycling bike.  I also volunteered as a costume designer for an elementary drama club dressing over 150 children for each production.  I enjoy watching my children do what they love.  Mostly, I enjoy being able to create and craft, which is very different from my job.  

How do you manage stress? 

I manage stress by working out.  Pre-pandemic, I was attending bootcamp.  Now, I enjoy being able to get on my indoor cycling bike, being outdoors, and hiking.

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day? 

I drink 1 to 2 cups of coffee a day.  In the summer months, I will switch to matcha lattes as an option in the afternoon.

What advice do you have for recent college graduates? 

Don’t let your first job define your career.  There are many graduates who know what they want to do coming out of college and it works for them.  If you’re like me and not sure what you want/wanted to do, explore.   You can refine your career along the way.  

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Holly Knights, VP, Digital Marketing & Analytics at SmartBear. 

Where did you grow up and how would you describe yourself as a child? 

I was born and raised in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Growing up, I was very interested in space and jets and always thought I would be a pilot or astronaut. To this day, I still love going to airshows! I was always curious, an avid reader, and loved learning new things. My high school years were spent working hard both inside and outside of school. I was very active in school activities and sports, often taking leadership positions in clubs like drama, chorus, and yearbook.   

What did you study in college and what was your first job out of school? 

I studied Communications in college, focusing in on television production. I loved the coordination it took to put a show together, so many moving parts and the creativity of it all. My senior year, I interned with Hearst Media (parent company of WCVB), working at their Needham facility. While it was exciting being in the TV industry, I quickly learned that was not the career I wanted for myself. I ended up taking a job in the telecommunications sector right after graduation, in customer service. While there, learning the business, I moved up into project management, eventually coordinating large scale data networking projects nationally, keeping them on time and on budget. It was such a learning experience. I feel very lucky to have been able to understand the technical side of the business with IP addressing and the foundations of data networking, while also being able to build my business knowledge with understanding project costs and margin. I credit the people there, from my strong female boss to the engineers, with helping me round out those important skills. 

Can you share the details on your career path and what were the critical moments that got you to where you are today? 

A key moment in my career path came when the tech bubble burst in the early 2000’s. I was laid off from the telecommunications company I had been at for over five years. I ended up taking a job with a small startup called iProspect. It was a very small agency focused on a new concept at the time called search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). That was a turning point for me. I was able to learn the inner workings of Google, which was in its early stages at that point, how to get websites ranked in the engine and how paid search worked. I managed a number of clients from B2C to B2B, and it was so exciting to see how much search marketing could do for a business. Looking back now, those years were the most impactful of my career and the start of my career in Digital Marketing. I’m still very close to those people I worked with then, and we’re scattered all over the world. What we didn’t know then is we were working in a part of marketing that would become one of the most important drivers for any business. 

After that, I worked in-house for a few companies doing Digital Marketing for both startups and enterprise companies alike. Each one afforded me the opportunity to keep my search engine marketing skills sharp while also taking on more responsibilities from Social Media Marketing to Analytics to Web Operations. I was also leading larger teams and having P&L responsibilities. My technical and business knowledge both came into play across all of those roles, helping to drive better business outcomes and reduce costs. 

What is your current role and responsibilities? 

Today, I am VP of Digital Marketing and Marketing Analytics at SmartBear. This was a net new team I was able to build from the ground up when I started over two years ago, and we continue to grow and evolve as the needs of the business change and mature. My team and I manage all of the digital marketing activities as well as the marketing reporting and tracking across all of the SmartBear product suites. That includes paid advertising, (our biggest channel being paid search), search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization, A/B and multivariate testing, and marketing analytics. We work cross functionally across the business, closely partnering with Growth Marketing, Product, Product Marketing, and Web Operations to ensure our sales team and ecommerce business are receiving the right amount of leads and trials, at the right cost, to achieve our business goals. 

Looking back, is this where you thought you’d be professionally?  Was it always your goal to be in this position? 

To be honest, I was always more opportunistic in my career path, versus deterministic. Saying yes to stretch my skills and learn new things as they came to me was a big factor in where I am today. As I said before, I am a very curious person by nature and love to acquire new skills, so that helped me move forward in every position I had. In a way, being rooted in search engine marketing helped me become an expert in any business I was in, because you have to put yourself in your customers’ shoes to understand their search behavior and intent. I credit that mindset to helping me get up to speed quickly and uncover new opportunities. 

For people who are looking to be in a similar position, what advice would you give to others in terms of helping them achieve their career goals? 

1. Start at a marketing agency. I have spoken with many grads and always encourage them to start there. Being at an agency gives you the opportunity to work across many different clients and industries in a short period of time. It helps you understand what you like and don’t like - trial by fire. You are also able to try different marketing activities and learn the ins and outs of them all. Then, you can move “in-house” and focus on one industry, business type or discipline. I would not be where I am today without my hands-on agency experience. 
2. Be versatile. Be open to going outside your comfort zone and try new things, and learn about those new things. It sounds cliché, but you need to be flexible and willing to get uncomfortable to stretch and grow. Say yes, and don’t ever pass up those opportunities because you’re comfortable in where you are. 
3. Be yourself, be authentic. I think people are at their best when they are fully themselves in their work. You’ll want to think you need to be more like other people, but then you aren’t being true to yourself and that eventually will set you back.  
4. Take a presentation skills course of some kind. I was lucky to take a Dale Carnegie course early in my career (thank you, iProspect), and I still use those skills today. It was hands down one of the best courses I have ever taken. We all need to learn how to explain our thoughts coherently and with enthusiasm. It becomes more important as you speak with leaders who have limited time. 

What are the most important skills that you need to do your job well? 

Empathy. To be a good leader you need to start by being a good human, and caring is at the heart of it. I need to understand what’s going on with my team not just in work, but outside of work as well. I care about each of them and what they’re dealing with personally and professionally in order to keep us moving ahead. 

Adaptability. Both marketing and analytics are constantly changing. You have to be able to move, pivot, and adapt. That skill is a hard one for me, but I have gotten better at it over time. Practice not getting upset or troubled by change. I learned to take a breath, dig into what’s happening, and move ahead. 

Have a north star. A vision. A good team doesn’t need to be told how to get somewhere; they need guidance on the end point. Knowing what you want to accomplish is key, and communicating that vision to your team, involving them in the development of that vision, making them part of that vision, helps the team all be invested in the outcome. 

What do you find most interesting/rewarding about your work?  What’s the most challenging? 

Seeing the fruits of our labor. Achieving, or better yet, surpassing the goals we had set and knowing what we did to influence those achievements. I also love challenges, knowing we have an issue that needs to be solved and trying to solve it. I like to get my hands dirty and dig into the data to see what’s happening. 

On the flip side, the most challenging thing is lack of time. My team has so many things coming at them and things they want to work on that we’re always trying to prioritize and then reprioritize. They do a great job, it’s just a constant challenge of trying to be efficient. 

Q&A 

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? 

My husband and I have two small children, 7 and 5, and we love to spend time with them. Whether it’s playing outside, jumping on the trampoline, going to the park, riding bikes, or our annual beach trip to the Cape, we try to be present when we’re with them. 

How do you manage stress? 

Sounds funny, but I actually work better under stress. I tend to get hyper-focused and can block out the noise that way. 

How many cups of coffee do you have in a day? 

I usually have one large one every morning. 

Any book or podcast recommendations?

I don’t have a ton of time so I like The Pivot podcast. I also just started Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin. 

What advice do you have for recent college graduates? 

Don’t be too picky about finding a job. When you get one, use it as a learning experience and get as much as you can out of it. Learn the business, and always ask questions. If you start at a marketing agency, try and understand your clients’ businesses. It’s a unique opportunity to have a broad perspective across industries to see what works and why. 

And don’t forget to take a presentation skills course of some kind. You’ll learn skills that you’ll need throughout your career.