Women and the Ad-Tech Culture: Top Ten Quotes from Advertising Week
On September 29, 2015, Joanna O’Connell, former lead analyst at AdExchanger, spoke to a crowded room for the Advertising Week discussion “The Ad-Tech Culture: How Women are Driving Data-Driven Marketing.” Moderated by Anne Doherty, group vice president at Acxion, the discussion offered wisdom on switching careers, work-life balance, and asking for what you want. Here are the ten best quotes from O’Connell on lessons learned during her career.
- "I was an assistant. You have to work your way up."
- "There is real value in making yourself available and talking to people. They're never going to know who you are or that you're valuable unless you talk to them."
- "Because I had cultivated very good relationships at Avenue A, my old boss said 'if you ever want to come back, our door is always open to you,' and it was a reminder of what I really cared about in a job and in a career."
- "There is real value in managing up. I managed up to an executive sponsor. I made the job something I wanted it to be, and he was a champion who helped me get that done."
- "Be able to work smarter, not necessarily showing up for the sake of showing up. Believe that if you ask for things, you can get them. Work-life balance is important, and it doesn't hurt to ask."
- "The lesson in being an analyst was to trust that I knew what I was talking about, and I think women are terrible at that. We don't trust ourselves enough. [CEOs] wanted my perspective, and I had to just believe that I deserved to be there and that my advice was valuable. That was hard for me to come to terms with. Trust that you belong in those rooms. I am very frequently the only woman at the table, on the stage, or in the boardroom. I'm not there because I'm a woman; I'm there because I belong there."
- "I've learned to always wear at least three-inch heels because ad tech is a world of men, and there's something very powerful about being able to look someone in the eye when you're talking to them."
- "I could say a lot of it has been luck, but I don't think that's true. I put myself in situations where the luck has presented itself."
- "I make time every day to have a conversation with every one of my team members, ideally in person."
- "AdExchanger approached me to start a research business. I said I'd come if they hired someone to run the business because I didn't want to. You have to ask for what you want. Become comfortable with the idea that it's okay to tell people what you want."
Source
"Women and the Ad-Tech Culture: Top Ten Quotes from Advertising Week." Joanna O'Connell, Lead Analyst at AdExchanger; Anne Doherty, Group Vice President at Acxion. Advertising Week XII, 9/29/15.