I got into ad tech the way many of us do, which is “by accident.” An interest in journalism led to an internship at NBC, which led to a very kind fellow alumnus, Eric Karaffa, taking me in for my first job. His team was so driven and successful, but also fun and full of energy and I knew that was the kind of environment I wanted to be in. I really fell in love with the people of the ad industry, and the tech part followed.

I’m a Group Director at Teads, managing a sales team and overseeing partnership growth. It’s a role that lets me mentor and build my leadership skills, but also keeps me close enough to the brands and connected with brains who really make the campaigns come to life.

I was lucky enough to join Teads in 2014, when we’d only recently broken ground in the U.S. While it was exciting to be a part of something new, coming to market as an unknown start-up and with technology the industry hadn’t yet seen meant we couldn’t skip over the client education step, couldn’t fail a single test, and, most importantly, absolutely had to have the right people in place. I knew the tech was great, but if brands didn’t understand it (and our team didn’t believe in it), it would fail. It took every member of our team – from interns to the CEO – to be inspired and driven by the same vision and get into the mud to make Teads U.S. what it is today.

I’m very grateful to have had some amazing managers throughout my career. They’ve challenged me, inspired me, and become dear friends. One in particular, Lauren Thomas, made an impact by treating me like an equal, while still teaching and coaching me.  She has an incredible knack for making you feel like her business partner rather than her employee, and she’s truly a cheerleader of others.   

“Squeaky wheel gets the grease.” This one goes to my Pop. The phrase usually means “whoever complains the loudest gets the attention” but he taught me how to apply it positively to all scenerios: If you’re not being seen for your worth; if someone else isn’t being seen for theirs; if there’s a problem to solve or idea to bring to life, you have to advocate for yourself and others.

You have to, have to, have to focus on the bigger picture. If you obsess over every chip in the bricks, you’ll never build a house. If you let yourself be distracted by every low quarter, missed promotion, or negative piece of feedback, you’ll delay success and kill your confidence along the way. When you make a mistake, ask yourself if it will matter in a month and, if it won’t, learn the lesson and move on.

Bold, empathetic, optimistic

Technology has evolved so much in just the last 3 years that I can’t even imagine where we’ll be in 10. The ideas we have now (of the metaverse, QR codes, attritubution…) will be the landline phones of that time. That said, I do believe accountability will be table stakes. Phrases like “last-click” and “view through” will sound like a foreign language and anything that doesn’t garuantee a result will be left behind. I also believe we’ll be in a place where diversity of all kinds will be a given in ad tech, and the authentic voices of our multicultural talent will receive the respect they deserve without the need for campaigning. But again, I’m an optimist.