Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Shannon Rose, VP Omni-Channel Retailing at Rue Gilt Groupe.

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

I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I was one of five children, 4 girls and 1 boy. As one of five children, 4 girls, and a boy, I was sporty, but chic and loved all things sports fashion. 

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

I went to college with the aspiration of being an attorney; however, I quickly realized that the law office environment was not my destined path after my first internship at a large firm.  After graduation, I joined my father’s family custom home building business as a superintendent. 

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

While there are several significant moments that got me to where I am today, the most critical moment was when I recognized imbalances at certain points in my career and had to figure out how best to navigate. For example, at the time, it was less common for a young woman to serve as a superintendent in the construction field. While I had the advantage of working for my father, where I felt more empowered to challenge the stereotypes, the experiences of navigating challenging the norm provided me a foundation to grow as a woman leader.  As I advanced my career at Simon Properties, I was able to leverage this foundation to become a leader who leads with a purpose, a voice, and respect.  

What is your current role and responsibilities?

Today, I am head of Merchandising and Brand Management for Shop Premium Outlets (SPO), Simon Property Group’s e-commerce off price marketplace, where I am responsible for overall growth and ultimate success of all our brand partners.  In addition, oversee key initiatives such as SPO Live and SPO external partners.

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

No, I thought I would continue in my father’s footsteps and carry on the family business! My childhood ‘passion for fashion’ ultimately secured my path to my current role.   

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 would be to expose yourself to every aspect of e-commerce business from operations to fulfillment to marketing.  The greater you are exposed to the holistic e-commerce business model, the better off you will be in driving overall growth for your business. 

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

We operate as a startup with a lean team.  Prioritization, time management, curiosity, and leadership are critical for the success of my position.

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

The most rewarding thing about my work is the ability to create change instantly.  The most challenging part of my work is that there is more opportunity than hours in the day to tackle everything.

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

With having a demanding job, I prioritize my time outside of the company to my family at home, so with two teenage kids, I enjoy volunteering at their schools for several sports and fundraising efforts.

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Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Spending time with my family, watching my kids play sports, and focusing on home decorating and projects.

How do you manage stress?

Commit to 30 minutes of exercise every morning and destress in evening on TikTok.

Any book or podcast recommendations?

I love podcasts!  

I enjoy listening to leaders in the industry across all disciplines talk about their business and experiences, such as:

• Remarkable Retail
• The Jason & Scot Show
• Watson Weekly
• Life with Marianna
• BOF
• Glossy

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Be curious at all times, absorb as much as you can and take advantage of every leader you are exposed to. 

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Meg Davidson Parillo, VP Global Renewal Management at CyberArk.

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

I lived in Somerset, New Jersey until 7th grade, then we moved to Overland Park, Kansas (suburb of Kansas City, Kansas. Yes, there is a Kansas City, Kansas and a Kansas City, Missouri!) where I was through high school. My dad always says that I still have my hand on my hip like a “Jersey girl” even though I spent a lot of important years in Kansas.

I was a shy kid when I was outside of our house, but I was kind of weird and wacky at home. Kids always assumed that I was nerdy and super smart (it was probably the “coke bottle” glasses that made them think that) to the point of kids often trying to cheat off me. I would assure them that cheating off me wasn’t a great idea. I wasn’t particularly good in school, I struggled with testing and just wasn’t a particularly good student. I plugged thru and did OK but it wasn’t my strong suit. 

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

I went to Springfield College in Springfield, MA which is where Basketball and the YMCA were founded! It is a school known for producing PE teachers, YMCA leaders, Physical Therapists, and Athletic Trainers. I went there thinking that Physical Therapy sounded “fun” until I realized it was really a Pre Med program! It didn’t take me long to realize that wasn’t for me, and I probably should have transferred schools at that time. But I liked it there and had great friends, so I stayed. I ended up finding a major closest to business as I could find there which was “Human Services Administration.” This is a degree for running non-profit organizations. I realized quickly that wouldn’t support me in the type of life I wanted.  I am fiercely independent and wanted to live on my own after I left college, so I needed to rethink my career path. The great news is that my BS in Human Services gave me a great foundation in business, sociology and other very relevant people studies. 

I was the first of my friends to have a job and an apartment in Boston. I graduated in May and started working on June 15th. While in college, I was a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons (favorite job ever) at a fancy country club in Weston, MA where many executives happened to play golf. I got to teach many of their kids how to swim. One of the parents asked me if I had ever thought about sales (I hadn’t!) and he said that he thought I would probably be good at it, and suggested I call him if I was looking for a job out of college. Which I did, and he hired me. InScribe Inc. $23,000 a year, job in Boston where I didn’t need a car, I was sold!  I was selling a software and hardware package for stationary stores to print invitations. We also sold a machine they invented that does Calligraphy which looks hand done! The White House and Tiffany Inc used it for their invitation addressing and party invitations. I got to travel around to stores and trade shows selling face to face. Lots of phones hung up on me, lots of conversations which ended with me sliding an order across the table for them to sign on the dotted line. Everyone should have to cold call at least once in their career! 

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

Meeting people and networking, even when I didn’t realize I was networking, proved invaluable to me. Not that I don’t think I would have gotten that first job on my own, but making a connection with someone who saw something in me that I didn’t see at the time, set me off on my career path. You never know who you are going to sit next to on a plane or teach swimming lessons to, so be ready! 

When I got tired of the trade show business, I found a job at an internet strategy consulting firm (later acquired by IBM) and continued selling. This one also gave me the experience of being laid off. I will never forget being walked down the hall to HR. I just knew, just knew this was the end of my job. Thankfully it was the end for about 100 of us, misery does love company. I didn’t sit around for too long. Instead, I worked the “help wanted ads," I called old connections (another woman from that same country club happened to be the CEO of Keds so she hired me as a temp to color drawings of sneakers while I looked for other work!), I wrote letters, and I landed at a software company called MathSoft which was a huge turning point for me. 

I started off the same way I had before, cold calling into engineering firms and universities. I was responsible for both opening new business but also working with current customers to renew their “maintenance agreements” that they had with us to get access to technical support. As we grew, my boss decided to split the job and have some people focus on new business and two of us focus on renewing customers. Being called a Maintenance Representative also meant that I would randomly get calls and letters from people wanting to sell me mops and brooms which was always amusing! I found that I loved working with customers, and I oddly really loved dealing with the escalations. The customer that was mad about a price increase, the one who had a terrible experience with our products or support, the one who got a divorce and sent us a letter saying that his “crazy ex-wife” took all of his stuff including our software and would we give him one for free! All of the letters that customers would send to our CEO would in turn land on my desk to “fix it.” I loved that part, and still do. That little software company was acquired by PTC Inc. where myself and my counterpart were brought into a whole department of 30 people globally who cared only about renewing customers which blew my mind. I spent the next 15 years in various roles at PTC, but all within the renewal organization including helping to merge acquired companies' renewal business into ours which I loved being part of. 

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I am currently the Vice President of Global Renewal Management at CyberArk. We are a cyber security software company and I am responsible for managing all of the recurring revenue. I manage a team of 25 people globally who are responsible for renewing all of our customer contracts and making sure they are happy and growing! I have been tasked with transforming the renewal organization to support our growing SaaS and subscription business. This has meant re-creating job models, re-casting how we engage with our customers, systems and process changes and everything in between. 

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

My 21 year old self working at trade shows would have NEVER imagined I would be where I am right now! I have grown in so many ways. My career is much more advanced than I ever thought it would be. I am so proud of all that I have done and all of the experiences that I have had, but I would never have dreamed I would be where I am right now. 

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?

Raise your hand! When something comes along that sounds interesting, volunteer yourself. When you see something that isn’t working as it should be, come up with ideas for solutions and volunteer to lead fixing it. And the old cliché is so true, do the job that you want even if it isn’t the one that you have right now- stretch, grow and show that you can do it before it is yours. 

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

Patience... change is hard, change takes time. 

Zoom in before you can zoom out. For me, I need to get into the weeds so I can understand what is going on before I can think about the big picture of where we need to get to. This can be hard to not get stuck in the weeds, I have to remind myself sometimes to zoom back out.

Priority management - there are so many things that are coming at me and there are so many things that I want to accomplish, but it can’t all be done at once (see above on change!). Understanding the company priorities, and the priorities of the leadership around me is key to helping prioritize what we can and should be focused on now vs. what can wait. 

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

I have had the chance to see change and the impact I am making firsthand. I can see it in my team, and I can see it in the work we are doing every day, but I am also hearing it from peers and other leaders in the company. We are making so many changes as we are growing and evolving, sometimes it is hard to see the progress when you are involved in the day to day. But hearing it from other people and seeing it in the team helps keep my focus on the big picture. 

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

Where I am right now! For the first time in a very long time, I know with confidence that I am in the right place, with the right leadership, and doing the right job for me. I am so proud of the work that I have done and all the experiences and hard work it has taken me to get here. 

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

I sit on a peer board with other Customer Success professionals which is a great opportunity to bounce ideas and learn from others in similar roles. I also am one of the leaders of my daughter's Girl Scout troop which has been a really fun and rewarding way to get involved with other things in the very little amount of extra time that I have. My commitment to her is that I will keep leading the troop as long as she wants to stay with it. 

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Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I am a beach bum. Before having kids, my husband and I would sit on the beach for hours reading, sleeping, and eating! My inner old lady loves doing puzzles and I am now the woman who likes to talk about my plants and flowers! I am not a great gardener, but I am working on it! Reading out loud with my kids is one of my favorite things to do together. They are 9 and 7 so any chance I can still get them to snuggle with me is bonus time.

How do you manage stress?

Sometimes not very well. It is something that I am trying to improve and most often the stress is self-induced. Like most of us, I put more pressure on myself than most other people do! I have found that exercise does make me a happier person so I am working to get more of that into my week to help. But it is a battle for me.

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

Only 1. Only hot. Only black. Only in the morning. 

Any book or podcast recommendations? 

Every time Barbara Kingsolver comes out with a new book, I read it. I still love her earlier books like “Animal Dreams” best, but her new ones are always an interesting view of a life which is different from my own. I prefer reading books about lives that I don’t have as opposed to books about people similar to myself. She is the first author I remember reading which my mom and her friends read and loved too which made me feel so sophisticated in my book choice at the time.

“Smartless” is a very fun podcast- Ryan Reynolds, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett are hilarious together and they interview fun people! 

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Don’t forget how important people and connections are. These may not just be people you know, but also people who your friends/peers know. Use them, many times they want to help you too. The impression you make on people matters and those people just may be the people who see something in you that can help you see it in yourself. 

 

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Ali Mapes, VP of Customer Success at Ordergroove.

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

I grew up in central Connecticut. As the third child I was always doing things to get attention. It was a constant struggle to keep up with my older sister and brother. Being the youngest of three taught me to be scrappy, self-sufficient, and loud! 

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

In college I studied Sport Management. I had the idea that I wanted to build and support sponsorships for sports teams. As commonly seen, big companies sponsor arenas and sporting events – this was a clear way to bring together my love for sports and a professional business career. During my internship after college at a minor league baseball stadium, I got my first taste of how low the sports industry was willing to pay and realized I needed to focus on my marketing skills that I learned to land a full time, well paying job. That led me to working at Travelers Insurance working as a Digital Marketing Specialist. While the work wasn’t sports related, I was definitely able to leverage my business knowledge that was part of my college education. 

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

My career has been a bit of a windy path. I first started in large corporate America doing marketing. After two positions of working in a cubicle at fortune 500 companies, I began feeling like a cog in the machine. I knew I needed to be with a small company where I could see the impact of my work. I continued my marketing career with a start up in Columbus, OH. At that company, I realized I was not fully utilizing my talents by sitting behind a desk all day. The idea of being in front of customers would be a better use of my skills. I partnered with management to build out a new function in the organization – Account Management. In this role I would work with existing customers to ensure they were taking advantage and receiving value from our partnership. I utilized this role to catapult myself into a post-sales world. I moved to San Francisco and specifically focused on install base sales and customer care roles. After building my base in the post-sales world, I worked my way up through various leadership roles and now sit as the head of CS within my current organization. The biggest moments in my career were ones I took control of – I raised my hand when I wanted something new (and then built it), I raised my hand when there were opportunities to lead, I raised my hand when there were projects no one wanted to work on. It was easy to feel imposter syndrome, but I threw myself into new situations on a regular basis and figured it all out by networking and learning what I could from experts in the space. 

What is your current role and responsibilities?

Today I lead the Customer Success team at Ordergroove. I oversee a team of 10 individuals that look after our customer relationships. The goal of our team is to help customers realize the value of their account leading to strong retention, advocacy, and growth. 

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

No, this is not where I thought I would be, but back when I was in college, I didn’t know how to identify my strengths as well. I am 1000% in a position that utilizes my best and most powerful traits, which is really important for my happiness. Everyone has a windy path and you never know where you will end up! 

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?

Speak up and raise your hand! When in meetings, especially with leadership, don’t be afraid to use your voice. Be confident that you have a unique perspective or idea that should be shared with the group. You don’t have to be the smartest or loudest person in the room, but sharing your voice is powerful. After you share meaningful insights on a regular basis, people will seek you out. 

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

Empathy is key in Customer Success. You need to understand what your customers want but you also need to understand what your (product/eng) teams are capable of producing. It is a balancing act to ensure happiness across your customers and your company, but it’s doable. Conducting discovery with both parties has been critical to my success.  

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

With every job, there are the highs and the lows. In Customer Success, the highs are working with a customer to achieve their goals and seeing it result in a case study that you are able to share with customers and prospects. It’s amazing to see the investment in your team and your customers come to life. On the flip side, not all customers end up being happy. When there is a mismatch between the needs of the customer and our offering, it is sometimes difficult to part ways. Being unable to turn an unhappy customer into a happy one is a downside to the role. 

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

My proudest professional accomplishment is helping one of my previous companies improve Net Revenue Retention by eight percentage points, which resulted in the company to go public in November 2021. I worked diligently with my CS leadership team to build a repeatable and scalable process for our CSMs that would result not only in retention but growth within our install base. Building very strong cross-functional partnerships with our sales team was a huge part of the process.  

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Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Most of my free time is spent with my family. I have two boys, Remy (2) and Bodie (11 months). Having a strong work-life balance is super important to me because the boys will only be little for so long. And, I’d imagine they will stop giving me endless snuggles at some point. When I’m not with the boys, my husband and I are dining all around the city. 

How do you manage stress?

Fortunately, I am not someone that gets stressed out easily, but I follow the logic of healthy body, healthy mind. I ensure that I take time for myself to workout, get massages, and go to the chiropractor

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

I just started to drink real coffee again. My husband had me on a decaf kick, but I will say it is nice to be back to the real stuff. One cup a day is usually good enough for me! 

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

1. Put yourself out there – don’t be afraid to sign up or do things that may seem intimidating; always be curious and have a learning mindset.

2. Share your voice – be confident in your ideas; share your feedback; be vulnerable. 

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Aurelia Solomon, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Drift.

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

I was born and raised in Washington, DC. Yes, the actual city - not Maryland or Virginia. I am the youngest of three so I was very observant but also a little feisty - I had to find my way with two older sisters. 

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

I majored in Geography with a focus in International Development, and double minored in International Studies and French. I’m half French so that second minor is a little bit of a cop-out :)

My first job out of school was in inside sales. Sort of like a SDR role. But I worked at a financial services firm, not a SaaS company. My job was to connect our clients (hedge funds, PE/VC funds, consultancies) with experts in the industries they are investing in via 1-1 phone calls. My job entailed a lot of research to find these experts, who could be anyone from a truck driver using a new driver tracking technology to a former executive at a competitive company. Over time, my scope expanded to owning specific client accounts where I was responsible for growing the spend of those accounts. I had revenue targets to hit each quarter. I also had the opportunity to manage a small team of 3 people. 

I had a monthly quota and most of my comp was based on my individual performance. As a former D1 athlete, I loved that. I’m very competitive. I work hard and like to get things done. I think I could have continued with a career in sales had I not found Product Marketing so early on.

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

This is a great, but also a hard, question to answer. I think there are a lot of moments, people, and opportunities that got me to where I am today. I’ll highlight a few that stick out to me the most.

1. Giving up management to focus on developing my individual skill set in the PMM function.
2. Taking the ‘leap into PMM’ based on an interest -- and then focusing on the same function but in different industries (energy software, health tech, food tech, and now sales & martech).
3. Following great people, leaders, and mentors (and specifically, to companies of different sizes and industries).
   
   3a. This helped me understand what size and type of company I enjoy working at, and where I can have the most impact (based on how well my strengths match the company structure, values, etc.)

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I lead the product marketing team at Drift. My team is responsible for messaging & positioning, pricing & packaging, win/loss & competitive analysis, buyer personas, voice of the customer, analyst relations, and product launches. We work closely with the product team to help inform product roadmap -- and in turn - translate the awesome products they build into stories that our CS and Sales teams can sell/communicate to customers. The key is understanding the problem -- and positioning our product as a solution that fixes it and creates value for each unique audience.   

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

I never really had a goal of where I’d be professionally. I didn’t know what Product Marketing was until one of my former bosses and mentors introduced me to it. So, I guess, no. But I also wasn’t driving towards a specific outcome. Based on what I studied in college, I definitely thought I’d be doing some development work or impact investing.

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 am a big advocate of networking. Meeting people. Learning their journey and their stories. This helps you see what you could do next (or someday). And most importantly, it helps you understand what you don’t want; what you don’t like. And then, through the process of elimination, you start to hone in on what you’re really passionate about - what motivates you and gets you excited to work each day. 

And remember, most conversations don’t come with a CTA. You’re already asking for someone’s time. That’s a lot to ask for. You might be looking for a job, but you’ll probably have 20 conversations before you connect with the right person. That’s part of the journey. You’ll learn a lot about yourself - and others - through this process.

One caveat - if you have a company that you know you want to work for, I believe firmly in putting yourself out there. Email the CEO, or the head of the department you want to work in. Tell them why you’re passionate about their company and the impact you think you could have. It won’t work every time, but as a leader of a department myself, I love this approach. It tells me a lot about you - and the type of teammate you would be. 

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

• Organization & project management: Product marketers manage a lot of different projects (big and small) and many stakeholders (at all levels of the organization) concurrently. You need to be very organized to do this. I’d say a lot of us product marketers love a process or a framework! But it’s equally important to find ways to test & learn, and fail fast. So you have to find a balance between process and trial & error.  
• Communication (written and verbal): Product marketers are storytellers, so communication is critical to this role. That might take the form of PowerPoint slides, an email to your C-suite, a presentation to 300+ customers, or a blog post. Whatever format or audience, the best product marketers know how to adapt their communication style to effectively influence.
• Strategic Thinking & Detail Oriented: This is the ability to dive deep but also see the forest for the trees. I call this the connector skill. It’s the ability to see different projects, needs, and problems across the business, your customers, the market, etc. -- and bring them together in a thoughtful way that drives outcomes.

If you like glory, PMM is definitely not the role for you. Reflecting on my soccer career, I think product marketing is a lot like my position in soccer: Center Back. You see the entire field. You can connect passes and communicate to bring 11 women together to play cohesively in rhythm. You’re the last woman back before your goalie. Your job is to organize the team, defend, and assist on set plays to give others - forwards and midfielders -- the spotlight. I never really thought about that connection until preparing for this interview. Another example of how conversations with people help you learn more about yourself!

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

Most interesting/rewarding: There are 3 parts of PMM that are the most rewarding for me:

1. The people. We work so cross-functionally and I get to meet and work with a diverse group of people every day. Customers. Executives. Peers. Partners. Recent graduates. I love the commercial aspect of our role. I love meeting customers and prospects, working with Sales and CS, and learning from executives who have been operating for 30+ years. 

2. The work. We get to work on many high impact, strategic projects that can move the needle for the business. Company positioning & messaging. Pricing and packaging. A product launch that drives pipeline and bookings. Customer advisory boards and feedback to spur innovation and drive adoption/retention. I think of a PMM as a mini CEO, the GM of our business unit. We see everything - and get to have our hands in everything. That gets me energized!

3. The product. It’s in the name of our role after all! But it ties into bullet 2 above. Product is a must-have criteria for me when evaluating potential opportunities. What problems does it solve? How sticky is it? What does it look like? What do customers think of it? Strengths/weaknesses? I have to believe in the product that I am marketing and selling.
   
   3a. The work we as PMM get to do with the product. I don’t actually enjoy building products (kudos to all my PM and Eng peers out there - it’s hard work!). But I LOVE commercializing them. I love thinking about how we turn it into a story for our customers with the right messaging, pricing & packaging, partner/sales/cs enablement, demos, and so on. People don’t buy features, they buy solutions to their problems. Even in the most complex enterprise sale, emotion (trust, partnership potential, likability etc.) will be the deciding factor 99% of the time.

Most challenging: Attribution. Or lack of KPIs/metrics to measure success. PMMs support a lot of things, but don’t own a number for anything. We are focused on driving win rate, adoption, pipeline, expansion, ASP -- but don’t live or die on the number. We aren’t responsible for the number at the end of the day. 

Some days I really wish we did. Then we’d have clear, quantifiable metrics to measure our impact and success. But on other days, I realize that PMMs ability to work cross-functionally and on many different types of projects is possible because we don’t have a number. We don’t have one number that we focus all our work on. And if we owned 5 numbers, I worry we wouldn’t be able to spend enough time on each one to consistently hit targets.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

I used to get embarrassed by these types of questions because I felt like I was flaunting my achievements. But, what I’ve come to love about this question, is that my answer has changed so much over the past 10 years. And it’s not because I’ve done something exceptional or won an award. It’s about perspective.

I liken it to college athletics. As a freshman on  Dartmouth’s varsity soccer team, I had to prove myself to get playing time, and to get the respect of the upperclassman. I was hungry to play and make a difference. During that year, I was very focused on myself - how did I play?, what can I do better? Transition to sophomore year, as a starting center-back, all I focused on was the team. What’s the moral like? How do we adapt based on injuries? How do I communicate effectively on the field to my teammates?

Coming back to the professional world, my proudest professional accomplishment is building the product marketing function and team from the ground up at Drift. We grew from a team of one (me) to a diverse team of incredible PMMs. And our function earned a seat at the table by showing the positive impact product marketing has had (and will continue to have) at Drift. 

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

I do a lot of work with Sharebird (professionally). I’d love to get back into coaching soccer as a way to give back to a sport that has given me so much in my life.

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Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Exercise is a core part of my day-to-day life. You can find me running (I’m currently training for the Boston Marathon in April), doing yoga, or cycling. I’m also a big foodie - I love to cook and try new restaurants. And I love to travel. I try to schedule 2 international trips and a handful of domestic trips a year. And lastly, I know this is sort of dorky, but I love to go to bed early. It’s a precious time where I can unwind, light a candle, and read my book or finish my crossword.

How do you manage stress?

Mostly exercise and sleep. And yes, definitely a glass of wine or dinner out at our favorite neighborhood restaurant/pub.

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

About 1.5-2. I used to have a venti cup every day!   

Any book or podcast recommendations?

An absolute MUST - A Man Named Ove. It’s clever, funny, and relatable. Not to mention, the writing is incredible!

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Make the effort to network and meet people. Whether it’s somebody you don’t know in a role you think you’re interested in, or someone at a company you might want to apply to, or simply someone in a field you’re interested in, take the time to reach out. Ask them to meet up for a virtual / in person coffee. 

If you're starting your first job, be a sponge! Try to just listen and learn as much as you can from the bright and hardworking folks around you. And don’t be afraid to ask why - to understand their thought process, decision making, etc. This, I have found, is the best and fastest way to learn. And, it will also help you build professional relationships. When you understand what each person cares about, you’ll know how you can help them and how to best position an idea or ask them to get what you want (when the time comes).

(the advice above still applies too)

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Olivia Salas, Sr. Director, Global Ops & SI Partnerships at Bullhorn.

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

I grew up in Dallas, Texas in a family of 6.  We were lucky to be surrounded by lots of family, most notably my grandmother.  She was the center of our world; most of my childhood was spent at her house learning everything about our family, history and culture. Our family gatherings were epic - we could easily fill a restaurant with 40+ of us! 

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

Going to college (Texas A&M University) was one of my proudest moments - I was the first in my entire family to attend college and leave home (moving 3 hours away was a big deal in our family!).  That being said, I was like a lot of first generation students - didn’t really know what I wanted to do or even where to start. I was lucky to have stumbled across a Latino student organization that had an amazing sponsor who quickly became a mentor for me.  She taught me how to navigate being away from home and finding my place in a school of over 50,000 students.  Through her guidance and that of other mentors along the way, I decided to pursue a degree in Psychology and earned a Bachelor of Science degree.  My first job out of college was working in an Admissions Office for a University in Houston, where I was responsible for recruiting and supporting other first generation students.  My passion for wanting to help others led me to pursue a Masters in Clinical/Counseling Psychology a year later. 

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

My career path has been anything but linear.  After completing my Masters degree, I thought I wanted to be in a clinical setting and work with families. Instead, I took a much different path; I found myself back in a recruiting position, this time, at a corporate office for a large retailer (RadioShack).  The early years of my career were spent learning how to navigate a large organization, how to take risks and how to take on any and all new projects.  A critical moment in my early career involved me taking part in a large company layoff where I was responsible for decisions that would impact the lives of others. Two important lessons that I learned and still carry with me today are: (1) always take the time to recognize and acknowledge the contributions of others and (2) make sure your skills are transferable. It’s important to be able to relate back to the broader business.

From this experience, I decided that I wanted to be part of the solution of helping others find their right fit for their careers and support their professional development.  I was blessed to have the opportunity to be part of a small consulting organization; over the course of 15 years and 8 mergers and acquisitions, we became a leading global SaaS organization implementing talent software solutions.  With each M&A activity, we essentially became a new startup and with that new challenges and opportunities to try new roles/ responsibilities.  My time at Outmatch (now Harver), allowed me to grow not only as a professional, but ultimately a leader - in my last role I was responsible for all Client Operations which included leading our Strategic Consultants, Implementations Specialist, Project Managers and Global Support Teams.  Like many of us, coming out of the pandemic I chose to take a different path with my career and branch out from my comfort zone - after 15 years at Outmatch it was time for a change.  I took some much needed time for myself and decided to do some consulting work and then took on a role leading a Customer Experience team for a Human Performance organization.  However, life has a funny way of opening up opportunities when you least expect it.  At the beginning of 2022, one of my previous mentors reached out to me about a great opportunity at Bullhorn - again helping to build an operation and processes to support the business and customer experience, two things that I love to do.  So here I am…10 months later and loving it.   

What is your current role and responsibilities?

Today I am the Senior Director, Global Ops and SI Partnerships at Bullhorn. Bullhorn is the global leader in software for the staffing industry. More than 10,000 companies rely on Bullhorn’s cloud-based platform to power their staffing processes from start to finish. My responsibilities include overseeing our Professional Service Global Operations and leading our SI Partner ecosystem. I lead five teams including, Global Service Operations, SI Partnerships, Global Documentation, Product Consulting and Hypercare.  While each of these teams have their own individual goals and responsibilities, we are ultimately responsible for ensuring our internal teams and SI Partners are enabled and ready to provide our customers with a great implementation experience.

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

No way!  The 20 year old me thought she would be a licensed psychologist, but in a funny way I am still leveraging my love for human behavior and continuing to apply it to a corporate setting.  Having a background in Psychology absolutely helps in relationship and team building.

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?

• Take risks and don’t be afraid to try something new. 

• Build your network across the business, don’t just stay in your bubble.

• If you get the chance, try working at a startup or small business - while it can definitely be challenging, it will teach you how to be flexible and scrappy. 

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

• Relationship Building/ Networking: This is by far one of the most important skill sets needed for any role.  Much of our success relies upon our ability to support one another and work cross functionally.

• Ownership/Accountability: Each day presents a new set of  “challenges” and you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and come to the table with solutions, even when they may not be the most favorable. 

• Be Humble:   Don’t take yourself too seriously. Remember there will always be people smarter than you - take this as your opportunity to learn from them and grow.

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

Being able to lead and support my teams is really the most rewarding thing for me.  I love to see people take on new challenges and see the wins - being part of that journey is really exciting.  

There are new challenges everyday, but honestly it's what keeps things interesting.  Just a new puzzle to solve!

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

Supporting up and coming female leaders is a passion of mine and I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to start a Rising Leader program at my previous organization.  Creating a program and safe space where we could share and learn from each other was really amazing.

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Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

These days I don’t have much free time - I am a club volleyball and softball mom that spends most of my time shuttling my daughter between practices and weekend tournaments.  However, when we can get away my husband and I love hitting up wine country!

How do you manage stress?

Spending time with my family and friends - helps keep things into perspective. 

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

No coffee for me…but bring on the iced tea!

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Never underestimate the importance of having a mentor(s) in your life. There will be many times in your career where you will need someone on your side to confide in, provide guidance, and challenge your thinking. Make sure that you are actively looking for and nurturing these relationships. I cannot tell you how much I have learned from the mentors in my life and how each of them have helped shape who I am today.

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Cara Munnis, VP of Product Management at Amwell.

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

I grew up in the Merrimack Valley area of Massachusetts with a younger brother. Curious, energetic, and reluctant to go to bed. Even as a child, I was a night owl. My parents taught me how to operate a VCR and fall asleep to movies at the age of 2!

I grew up in a Boston-based family business owned by my father and uncle. I remember the days when money wasn’t plentiful but I watched my father and uncle work hard and take risks that ultimately allowed them to provide for their families. It is fun now to see that they built working relationships and friendships that have persisted to today, 40+ years after starting their company. Boston was always a short trip away and a familiar place I’d go with my father.

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

I focused on biology, psychology and pre-medicine at the College of the Holy Cross. My First job out of college was working as a research assistant at the National Institute of Health’s Framingham Heart Study.

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

During my college internships, I struggled to find an area of medicine that most interested and motivated me, and after some debate, my father convinced me I was really best cut out for business. I ended up going to Bentley University’s graduate business school and had an enlightening experience where I honed in on a nerdy passion for business processes, systems operations and technology. In my first professional experiences after earning my MBA, I chose to work in healthcare but in a role as a business systems analyst where I worked cross-functionally on various internal technology implementations. Eventually I fell into a product management role, a career track that I have stayed on to this day.

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I lead the Product Management team at Amwell, an industry-leading technology company offering telehealth SaaS products and services focused on digital healthcare delivery. In my group, I oversee product managers and product operations leaders, all of whom are focused on advancing our roadmap and delivering on client commitments. Aside from guiding my team, I personally contribute heavily to annual and quarterly product roadmapping, client conversations, internal presentations and thought leadership forums and handling of escalated issues related to the execution and delivery on our commitments. 

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

Not at all! Once I finally gave up my childhood dream of being a medical doctor, I didn’t have a plan. The only conscientious thing I did do as I navigated the twists and turns of my career was to ensure I was exposing myself to different types of digital healthcare roles and products in each new position. This was to stave off boredom more than anything else. Looking back, I’ve learned that once you are in a company for 12+ months, opportunities tend to naturally present themselves that are most suited to your abilities. I would say my path found me more than I found it, and the most important thing I did was continue to check in with my own satisfaction while evaluating and pursuing any appealing available options.

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?

• Stay close to the technology, especially in your years as an individual contributor. This knowledge will establish the basis from which you will guide your teams and influence others as you grow into the management level. 
• Be a good listener and ask for clarification if something doesn’t resonate - no matter your level, there is almost always more to learn either about the subject itself or about the perceptions of those with whom you are working.

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

• Assessing employee and stakeholder satisfaction
• Composing thoughtful content tailored to my audience
• Effectively influencing others in my organization by utilizing appropriate communication styles and/or aligning to their natural motivators
• Product Management and Healthcare industry fundamentals

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

I love setting things up and watching them run. Initially in my career, this applied to building software products with a team of engineers, launching them into the market and measuring utilization and user satisfaction. Today, this applies more to enabling and empowering my team members. I love nothing more than motivating a product leader to hone their natural skills, give them the agency to deliver successful products to market, and watch them measure their success.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

There have been a few times in my career when I found myself on a “transformation team”. These are times when software development teams are adjusting to new processes while they are also under the pressures of delivery deadlines. These times seem to indicate the most challenging phases of growth or change that I’ve been involved with, but they also positioned me for growth and a tremendous sense of accomplishment once on the other side.

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Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’m almost certainly with my kids. I have two young children, and it’s incredibly fun to introduce them to new things and watch them as they try and make sense of this world.

How do you manage stress?

A Vinyasa Yoga class is always my go-to.

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

One! Any more and I won’t sleep at night.

Any book or podcast recommendations? 

No new reads that I would highly recommend, so will recommend an old business book that despite the now-obsolete corporations it studies, teaches a framework for business success that still resonates with me today- Good to Great by Jim Collins

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

If when you begin to transition out of studies mode and into getting that first professional job, and (like me) aren’t quite sure what you want to do, start looking inward for answers. Get a few internships in different disciplines and in different roles. After each one, ask yourself “what did I especially like about that?”, and ”What didn’t I like?”. When you get those answers, go even deeper. Ask yourself why you liked or didn't like each one of the experiences. You should begin to see a pattern about the types of tasks/responsibilities that you do or do not enjoy. Knowing this and using it as your career compass is essential to finding what will make you successful in your future. If you wake up excited to do what you do most days, this not only suggests you may enjoy your workdays, it is what will set you apart from others in the same role.  You are smart. We all are smart. You could probably attain moderate success in just about any industry, but being in a line of work that suits your natural skills and interests will make all the difference in the energy you devote to your job and your willingness to achieve real excellence.

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Annalisa Cooper, SVP, Customer Success at Wellframe.

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

I grew up just outside of Washington DC in Hyattsville, MD.  My Mom and Dad emigrated in their late 30’s from Sweden and Scotland, respectively.  They met in the United States where they married and had three children after the age of 39 (and it was the first marriage for both of them!).  My Mom was a nurse and Dad a machinist.  Although we grew up as lower middle class, my siblings and I had a healthy upbringing, both emotionally and physically.  My Dad was extremely committed to fitness being a semi professional soccer player in Scotland, tennis player and runner.  He ran the Boston Marathon at the age of 50, which back in the early 70's was very unusual.   My Mom, who spoke very little English and had no family in the U.S., had an extremely strong work ethic and a kind heart.   I grew up appreciating the value of hard work and education and the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

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

My Dad, who received his college degree at the age of 50 by taking one course a semester, was adamant that his children would get a college degree.  Unfortunately, they could not afford to pay for our tuition so all three of us had to cover the cost of our college.  I chose Sociology as my major, partly because I thought I may want to be a  social worker and partly because I wanted to continue to get A’s in my classes (I was a bit of a perfectionist!)  and it seemed an easier route at the time.   After graduation, I wasn't able to afford a Masters degree to pursue social work,  but was able to find a position as a discharge planner at a local hospital.  To this day, it was one of my favorite jobs.  I supported families by finding services to help their loved ones once they left the hospital, whether that was home health or placement in a facility.  I saved all the letters of appreciation that I received that still bring tears and smiles.

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

Having worked as a discharge planner for three years, I took a chance with a sales opportunity for Partner’s Health Plan, when HMO’s were fairly new in the healthcare landscape.  It was a risk given that I was fairly introverted and not at all comfortable with sales.  However, I quickly learned that being authentic and believing in the product was a good combination for success. At the same time, I pursued a Masters in Business from Johns Hopkins.  From there, I was promoted to lead account management and took that experience to several other health care companies.  Along the way, I had a valuable mentor that gave me other leadership opportunities in operations–claims, customer service, care management, and training.   This combination of sales, delivery and execution helped me grow into an executive leader because it gave me a holistic view of the organization where I could balance customer needs with the company needs.  At the same time, I broadened my professional journey by seeking positions in different areas of health care including  medical, behavioral health, pharmacy and finally the digital space.  

Some of the  critical moments in my career path that led me to where I am today was  taking measured risks and never getting too comfortable.  But the number one reason for my success was truly my mentor, who I followed to several organizations.   She was very results driven and had high expectations, but was also extremely kind, supportive, and  genuinely cared about your life outside of work.   I learned that you can be kind and still be effective, but sometimes this combination is hard to find.  

What is your current role and responsibilities? 

Today I’m the  Senior Vice President of Customer Success at  Wellframe, a company that partners with healthcare organizations to modernize and build  their relationship with members through technology.  We support real time insights, staff workflows, and member interactions beyond the four walls of care delivery.  We are at the intersection of mobile engagement for the members and the workflow for healthplan staff, and our goal is to have members feel daily support through technology so that the health plan becomes a trusted ally.

As the leader of Customer Success,  I oversee the implementation of new customers, ongoing customer support for members and staff,  and our relationships with health plan payers. My team cultivates partnerships with our health plan customers to maximize the impact of our digital health management solutions to improve member engagement and clinical outcomes

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

I have always been interested in healthcare, particularly with my Mom being a nurse.  However, I envisioned myself as a provider of care – a doctor, nurse, or social worker.  Looking back, I could have been braver in following that path, although now in my larger role, I have the ability to make an even broader impact on overall health care delivery.  

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

Sounds elementary, but communication skills are critical in my role.  I interact with all levels of staff, those new to the workforce as well as seasoned professionals.   In addition, I work with clients to help them to pivot and transform to address changing expectations of consumers in health care.   Active listening, awareness and authenticity are essential to becoming an effective communicator and leader. 

In addition, Customer Success leans on every part of the organization.  So collaborating cross-functionally, and always assuming positive intent, is a must in order to continue to deliver value for our customers and also support our internal teams.  When you can achieve that balance, you can achieve success.

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

Being a seasoned leader who has worked in this field for 35 years, the absolute best part of my job is helping staff develop, grow and achieve their maximum potential. There are so many individuals I’ve mentored along the way that are now in leadership positions.  Also, I love our mission and vision at Wellframe where we are truly helping transform healthcare to focus on the consumers.  Candidly, this can also be the most challenging.  The ability to affect change and transformation in large organizations is a tall task. 

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Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’m extremely active and love hiking, running and biking (Thank you, Dad!)  My new passion is pickleball (yes, me and the rest of the world).  It is a sport where you can get to “average” very  quickly and have a whole lot of fun with family and friends of all ages and abilities.

How do you manage stress?

I manage stress by staying active and ensuring I have a good work life balance.  This has not always been easy given the work demands from my leadership roles. With two children, keeping that balance was critical.  I tried never to miss an important event in their lives, and I’m thankful that I had the support of my bosses and spouse to accommodate this.   

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

2 on a good day; 3 on a bad day

Any book or podcast recommendations?   

I love any Jodi Picoult book, but I also try to read one self help book a month.  (professional or fun)

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?  

Find your passion and stick with it.  Be brave and bold, but also kind.  Don’t underestimate the power of collaboration and humility. 

Our Lead(H)er series shares the stories of women leaders at some of the fastest-growing companies in the tech industry.

Here is a recap featuring the 26 inspirational stories from 2022 with a short segment from each profile. You'll learn everything from the challenges, successes, and surprises of their careers, lots of useful advice, and more!

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Jess Dashner, Director of Media Strategy & Operations at Gupta Media

"Seize every opportunity you can. Say yes to everything (within reason). If it pushes you out of your comfort zone, even better. Some of the best opportunities are ones you need to ask for, so don’t wait for them to be offered to you. And when you do ask, make it easy to get that “yes.” You might not be ready to take the lead on a juicy new account, but you’re ready to listen in on the pitch or help the team with research. These will all be valuable learning experiences early in your career, so be a sponge."

Check out the full Article   View Gupta Media's company page

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Carolyn Pampino, Vice President User Experience at SmartBear

"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!  "

Check out the full Article   View smartbear's COMPANY PAGE

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Erica Jenkins, Chief Product Officer at Crayon

"Be curious.  Coursework can only teach you frameworks in technology.  The more you dig into a business problem, the more you understand and generate empathy about how to solve it."

Check out the full Article   View crayon's COMPANY PAGE

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Terry Trail, Senior Manager of PMO at Paperless Parts

"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."

Check out the full Article   View paperless parts' COMPANY PAGE

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Meg Lister, VP, Product & Operations at Flipside Crypto

"In general, I think the best advice is to follow your passions – even if they don’t lead to a clear change or growth in your career now, you will learn and work best when you’re passionate about the subject, and that opens doors!"

Check out the full Article   View flipside crypto's COMPANY PAGE

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Angela Cantu, Sr. Engagement Manager at Fairmarkit

"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."

Check out the full Article   View fairmarkit's COMPANY PAGE

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Aoife Sullivan, Senior Director, Client Delivery at Vestmark

"Don’t be afraid to make the career choices that work for you and your family. When you’re ready, look for the opportunities that match your aspirations and speak up for yourself. Build strong relationships with your peers through your work and show that you can be counted on to do what you say you will do. If you are starting out as a manager, ask for a coach to help you as you navigate the new path. Look for mentors among the people you admire, ask for their guidance, and let them be your sounding board."

Check out the full Article   View vestmark's COMPANY PAGE

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Elizabeth Storti, Chief People Officer at PathAI

"Take chances and be curious! Focus on expanding your scope and impact while doing work that fuels you."

Check out the full Article   View pathai's COMPANY PAGE

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Ashima Dua, Director of B2B Product at Outcomes4Me

"You can switch roles anytime or multiple times in your career. Try something, and if you don’t like it, try sometime else. Be curious about the work at your company and learn if that may be a fit for you!"

Check out the full Article   View outcomes4me's COMPANY PAGE

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Alison Durant, Chief Marketing Officer at EngageSmart

"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."

Check out the full Article   View engagesmart's COMPANY PAGE

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Anna Fisher, Chief Marketing Officer at Spiff

"Don’t get hung up on what title you think you should have, or the salary you believe you deserve. Just get in there, do the work, and get your hands dirty. If you work hard, you’ll move up quickly. If you can find something you love, things won’t feel as tedious along the way. Also, learn from others. Being new is actually a great opportunity, because there are so many smart people willing to help if you ask."

Check out the full Article   View spiff's COMPANY PAGE

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Christine Ho, Senior Director, Technical Programs Lead at Motional

"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."

Check out the full Article   View motional's COMPANY PAGE

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Lauren Hughes, Senior Director of Customer Success Strategy and Operations at Forrester

"I believe strongly in Daniel Pink’s work which states that the key drivers of motivation are mastery, autonomy, and purpose, with purpose as the main driver. Keep looking for the organization where you connect with the why; why the company exists. In that organization, you will find the most opportunity to grow and develop."

Check out the full Article   View forrrester's COMPANY PAGE

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Caitlin Reiche, Chief Commercial Officer at Zus Health

"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."

Check out the full Article   View zus health's COMPANY PAGE

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Sofia Kaufman, Chief People Officer at Aura

"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."

Check out the full Article   View aura's COMPANY PAGE

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Anita Peterson, VP of Client Services at InvoiceCloud

"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."

Check out the full Article   View invoicecloud's COMPANY PAGE

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Thuy Hill, Vice President, FP&A at PrismHR

"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."

Check out the full Article   View prismhr's COMPANY PAGE

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Nicole Hildenbiddle, VP, User Experience at Rue Gilt Groupe

"There's a Martin Luther King Jr. quote that I revisit, which is: "You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." I felt so much pressure to have it all figured out when I graduated college, but there was no way I could have foreseen how my journey would unfold. Each step introduces you to new people and opportunities, so forget about the five-year plan, focus on the now, and take your first step."

Check out the full Article   View rue gilt groupe's COMPANY PAGE

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Rachel Bates, Chief Revenue Officer at WorkStep

"The biggest piece of advice I can give is to build a 20-year network. Interactions with every single person you encounter are important. Every relationship at every level matters. Staying in touch with people and keeping the connection even after all the time has passed speaks volumes. You should always be thinking about long-term brand and that comes from the relationships you build."

Check out the full Article   View workstep's COMPANY PAGE

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Mariah Bridges, Sr. Director, Content & Community at InsideTracker

"I never thought my career would take me to where I am now, but I’m not surprised by it either. My only career goal has been to help people, grow outstanding communities, and learn along the way. So with that as a goal, I would say I’m right on track."

Check out the full Article   View insidetracker's COMPANY PAGE

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Holly Knights, VP, Digital Marketing & Analytics at SmartBear

"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."

Check out the full Article   View smartbear's COMPANY PAGE

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Christina Nelson, VP of Sales at NuvoAir

"Don’t be afraid to fail or just start over. You’re not stuck in one path just because of your major. Find your passion and go for it."

Check out the full Article   View nuvoair's COMPANY PAGE

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Maayan Arbili, Senior Director of Customer Success at Aqua Security

"Don’t settle. Take the right role where you are happy, challenged and find the right cultural fit.   "

Check out the full Article   View aqua security's COMPANY PAGE

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Anupama Sharma, Senior Vice President Of Technology & Delivery at Actabl

"Take risks, don’t be afraid of failure – raise your hand to take on new opportunities even if you are new to the functional area. These are great learning experiences."

Check out the full Article   View actabl's COMPANY PAGE

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Nandini Karkare, VP of Sales Operations at EDB

"Be curious, ask questions. Sleep on it before you act or answer. And keep rolling the dice!"

Check out the full Article   View edb's COMPANY PAGE

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Mary Kaufman, SVP Product at Takeoff

"Find a job that sounds interesting to you and see where it takes you.  Remember the job you will love 20 years from now might not exist today so just build your skillset out and learn as much as you can.  So many career opportunities come from people you know or have worked with in the past, so keep in touch with those people you’ve enjoyed working with."

Check out the full Article   View takeoff's COMPANY PAGE

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Meg Lister, VP, Product & Operations at Flipside Crypto.

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

I grew up in the suburbs of Philly. I would personally describe myself as a very cool, creative child with a strong inner voice and innate sense of style. (Others may have described me as a slightly awkward bookworm.) I am the first born of 4 and have strong “oldest daughter” energy. I’m very grateful to my mom for always reminding me that when people said I was bossy, they really meant I was a great leader!

Our Lead(H)er series features impressive women leaders in the tech industry. In this Q&A, we are featuring Aoife Sullivan, Senior Director, Client Delivery at Vestmark.

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

I grew up in a town called Ballaghaderreen in County Roscommon in the West of Ireland. I am the eldest of four siblings, with three brothers, so growing up I was quite a tomboy, climbing trees, riding bikes, and generally getting into mischief and mayhem. When I wasn’t running around, my nose was buried in a book. I especially loved books that taught me how things worked. My favorite tv show was a BBC program called “Tomorrow’s World.” It felt quite futuristic at the time, although, of course, today we would laugh at it. I was curious, active, and restless as a child, and have been ever since. 

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

I studied Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Limerick and truly loved every minute of my four years there. I met my husband Aidan and some of my dearest friends at UL. My first job was an internship with Microsoft. I worked as a QA analyst on the localization team that translated Visual Basic into French, Italian, and Spanish. 

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

I spent the first eight years of my career working in the telecommunications field, with a company called LogicaCMG, implementing text messaging software.  I worked on projects throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America. As a twenty-something year old, I loved to travel, to meet new people, to experience different cultures, and to grow skills and confidence. I learned from many wonderful mentors along the way. One of the fascinating projects I worked on was the Iridium Project, a Motorola initiative where a constellation of satellites would allow subscribers to make phone calls or access data services from any global location. I worked on validating text messaging via satellite phone, timing the tests to when the satellite would pass overhead. 

In 2000 I moved to the US to work on a project with AT&T implementing the solution that would, for the next 15 years, count American Idol text messaging votes to choose the competition winners.  I found I loved living in New England, so with LogicaCMG’s help, I applied for my Green Card. After years of travel, I relished the idea of a home base. As luck would have it, I was offered a development role in a new team forming in the Lexington, Massachusetts office. Our team created enhancements for our billing solution. I really enjoyed the problem-solving and design aspects of software development, but I missed the human interaction of the implementation and client-facing sides of software delivery.

By 2006 I was ready for a change. I moved into the FinTech industry working with Linedata Services, a company that provides front office data management solutions for asset and fund managers. I started on the support team, learning the product, and, in particular, learning about our clients and their needs. Along the way I found crucial mentors who shaped my growth. One key mentor, Daniel Burstein, encouraged me to move into my first management role at Linedata. Before long I’d been given responsibility over both the production support teams for the front office product suite in Boston and the hedge fund products in New York. Managing two production support teams was definitely stressful at times. I think I’ve always been a capable communicator, but I had some lessons to learn about how best to communicate with those I managed. With the guidance of a management coach, I gained useful insights about my own personality, and how I mesh best with others. I tended to be a very direct person, almost blunt at times, who didn’t always see, or was perhaps unwilling to see, at times, the legitimate constraints others may face. My coach and mentors taught me to use my strengths to their best advantage, and to better read and respond to my team’s needs. With their help I gained the tools to meaningfully mentor my own team and foster their professional growth. I remain friends with many of the people I worked with at Linedata, some of whom followed me to my current company. This means a lot to me. 

I was ambitious, I was eager, and I’d found ways to grow. But certain notions of what success would demand of me held me back. Around this time, I attended a leadership seminar for professional women. A presentation on what it would take to rise through the ranks of leadership in corporate America left me stymied and perplexed. I’d just had my second child. The price it seemed I would be required to pay to stay on a management trajectory seemed overwhelming and exhausting. I wanted to simplify my relationship to work, not kick it into fifth gear. So rather than leveling up as a leader, I opted to revert back to an individual contributor role. I told myself it was simply to reduce my travel requirements, now that I was a mother of two small children. But that wasn’t the whole truth. It seemed to me that limiting my scope would help me control my destiny. Today, I regret such narrow thinking, but in this case, it did lead me in a direction that ultimately fostered my growth, my worries notwithstanding. 

I took opportunity to join the project management group at Linedata. Almost immediately, I found that I enjoyed the soup-to-nuts cycle of ensuring a successful project completion. My technical background enabled me to ask pertinent troubleshooting questions and successfully drive projects to completion. Soon, though, my restlessness kicked in again. It wasn’t enough to me to follow an adequate process successfully. I wanted to innovate by finding the ways a process could be improved and test the outcomes as we implemented our enhancements. I drove the restructuring of the project management function and the building out of a project management office.

In 2015 I received a phone call from Human Resources at Vestmark, a wealth management software company serving the managed account industry, asking if I’d like to interview for a project management role in their customer engineering team. I landed the job and was assigned to a major project for a key client while also building out the project management function. Three years ago, I returned to management with a new role at Vestmark within the project management team. I’ve subsequently taken over responsibility for additional teams including our products’ owners and our scrum masters. I now manage the three teams that help onboard new clients and manage upgrades of our software and delivery of enhancements.

What is your current role and responsibilities?

I am the Senior Director of Client Delivery at Vestmark.  My responsibilities include overseeing all of our client projects (new implementations, upgrades, delivery of enhancements, etc.). I manage three teams: our project management team, which works closely with our scrum teams and clients to manage the timely delivery of work; our product ownership team, which documents client requirements and then plans sprints with our scrum teams; and our scrum master team, which ensures the scrum teams can do their work by removing impediments and implementing process improvements to support productivity. 

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

Truthfully, I didn’t have a plan. I started university at 17 and I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. I chose to study math because it was my favorite subject. Microsoft was my first step into software, and it broadened my horizons about what was possible. Over the course of my career I’ve had the chance to work within almost every phase of the software development lifecycle: planning, design, development, QA, implementation, and maintenance. I got to try on all the hats. I’ve always known that I enjoy working with people. My experiences showed me that I enjoy working with clients and using software to help solve problems to make people’s lives easier.  

My career path hasn’t been a straight line, but there is a constant set of overlapping themes: wanting to learn more, to do more, and to improve processes along the way. Vestmark has provided me with a home where my restlessness and curiosity have been assets. These qualities have helped me build out teams and processes and guide them to continually strive to do better. 

In April of 2022 Vestmark nominated me to participate in a 15-month Money Management Institute Executive IQ Leadership Program, a joint effort of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Microsoft, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The program provides senior leaders the hands-on education and the real-time skills and tools to make an immediate impact on their organizations. I’m in my second semester now. Though it’s challenging to be back at school while working full time as a mom of two, I see results, and that’s enormously fulfilling. 

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?

Don’t be afraid to make the career choices that work for you and your family. When you’re ready, look for the opportunities that match your aspirations and speak up for yourself. Build strong relationships with your peers through your work and show that you can be counted on to do what you say you will do. If you are starting out as a manager, ask for a coach to help you as you navigate the new path. Look for mentors among the people you admire, ask for their guidance, and let them be your sounding board. 

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

My job requires an ability to bring people together, to get buy-in to deliver on a shared purpose. When I can help a team overcome obstacles or manage through them and work to deliver on a common goal, I love the genuine camaraderie and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. It gives me the energy and excitement to take on the next challenge.

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

Over the years I’ve had the chance to serve as a mentor and as a coach to my team members. The most rewarding aspect of my work is when I help a new team form, see them start working well together, and then watch them start delivering results and have fun doing it. Delivering software implementations, upgrades, and enhancements always presents challenges but if you are lucky enough to be part of a strong team, you can do an excellent job and enjoy the process.

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Q&A

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I love to spend my free time with my family, going out for dinner with Aidan, and cheering on the sidelines of my daughter’s soccer games or at the ice rink watching my son’s hockey games.

How do you manage stress?

I walk, I go to the gym, and more recently, I’ve taken up tennis.

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

All the coffee!

Any book or podcast recommendations?

Professional – Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box - The Arbinger Institute. This book was recommended to by my current manager the main theme is that leadership isn’t about what we do, it’s about who we are. It powerfully teaches how to think out of the box, empathize with others, and understand their point of view. This book is a gut-check.  It reminds you that there are multiple sides to everything and to think before you speak.

Fun – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman. My book club read this book when it was first published. Eleanor’s story, the humor, the suspenseful subplot all make for a great book. It’s one of my favorites. 

What advice do you have for recent college graduates?

Don’t worry too much about having a plan all laid out. Try to figure out what you like doing, and look for a job you will enjoy most of the time, because if you like what you are doing and you can have fun with the people you are working with, you will apply yourself. When you do that, anything is possible.