I was doing my Master in International Marketing in London when I fell in love with the city. Not wanting to leave yet (I’m German), I was keen to secure an job in marketing before graduation.
At the time, one of my friends in the program had an offer to interview for LoopMe, an advertising platform that uses data and AI to optimise media delivery. She wasn’t really interested and suggested I should interview instead. We had only touched the surface on digital advertising in university and ad tech sounded like an exciting and rapidly-growing industry.
After one (very patchy) Skype call with Founder and CEO, Stephen Upstone, I knew I had to be part of this company. I stayed at LoopMe for 6 and a half years and I’m incredibly proud to have been part of the team and the company’s growth over a very exciting time, when we moved from tiny banner ads to rich media and video for the world’s biggest brands.
Later I found out that my dad actually worked in advertising too when he was younger (creative agency side), so I like to think I’m following in his footsteps – even if he was secretly hoping I’d become a lobbyist instead.

I am the Head of Marketing at A Million Ads, a creative ad tech company that creates data-driven, dynamic audio ads at scale.
I head up all of A Million Ads’ marketing projects, helping to raise brand awareness in the market and support our amazing sales team in booking campaigns. As part of my role I cover PR, events, awards, collateral, research and work with our fantastic Growth Marketing Manager across our CRM platform, email marketing and more.

Believing in myself and moving out of my comfort zone – In my previous role we had a situation where we had a few client workshops and events in the diary but none of the usual senior staff were available to host at the time. I was the only person who could take charge of these workshops, so I had no choice but to step outside of my comfort zone and lead the presentions. After this, I stopped doubting myself and my abilities.
Putting yourself out there can be uncomfortable and scary, but the feeling is fleating and does not stand in relation to feeling proud of yourself for doing something that scares you and gaining experience and confidence. We all have to start somewhere.

One of the best managers I’ve had was Niki Stoker, previous COO at A Million Ads. She always managed to find the perfect balance between pushing me in the right direction and being hands-off, which gave me the freedom I needed to make the role my own and grow my skills and responsibilities. She’s been incredibly supportive and helped me become more confident in myself.

Trust yourself and your judgement. When you are new to a job it can be difficult to make your voice heard sometimes or diasagree with a colleague. But remember, they hired you because they think you are the best for that job, so when you think you know best in a situation relating to your expertise, say so (nicely of course) and trust your gut!
Another great couple of pieces of advice came from Amy Kean, another powerhouse woman in tech: “Push outside of your comfort zone – that’s how you grow.” and “Stop apologising and just keep having fun!”.

Personally, I thrive on positive feedback and praise, but everyone is different. I recommend communicating clearly with your manager what motivates you in the work place and to make sure you build a framework together that works for you.
Also, for anyone working from home a lot, aim to take regular breaks away from your laptop and get outside. A bit of fresh air does wonders for my energy level and motivation.

Creative. Organised. Comitted.

Tech wise, I expect machine learning and AI to play a heaviliy integrated role in anything from ad delivery to creative production.
On work in general, I think the 5-day office week will be a thing of the past. In fact, I think we’ll be moving to a 4-day work week (hopefully). If the pandemic has made one thing clear, it’s that it doesn’t matter where you work, as long as you have a laptop and good internet connection. Most companies in the space seem to have embraced the remote working or hybrid model already, giving employees a much better life work balance. Something that I think is here to stay.