Events are Kimberly Whinna Cottrell’s “happy place.” She continues to use the skills picked up from marketing and developing content strategy for Cisco Live and from managing experiential and content marketing at Autodesk in her role as senior marketing programs manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS). “The most amazing career paths can’t be planned,” Cottrell said in her 2018 profile, and she didn’t anticipate becoming the global marketing leader for AWS Skills Centers, community spaces that offer free instructor-led cloud training and opportunities to explore cloud careers. Having joined AWS when the program only had its first center in Seattle, she has led the marketing team in omni-channel campaigns, events and activations as new centers have popped up in Arlington, VA, and Cape Town, South Africa.

Back in 2018, would you have thought that you’d be where you are today?

When I graduated with an art history degree from NYU and was working in the galleries, would I have imagined that I would live in Southern California, work for Amazon and do global marketing? I would not have predicted this, but it totally feels like it makes sense. If you follow your passions and do really good work, you’ll continue to have that self-fulfilling prophecy of where you’re meant to go. I’m very happy with where I’ve landed five years later.

What skills or experiences from your early career in events do you still leverage?

When Cisco Live pivoted from an in-person conference to digital, our scale went from tens of thousands of individuals to millions of viewers. I take that with me in this current role. Our centers are for the local community, but I always think about what serves them and then how do we also reach people all over. And so we’ve done live broadcasts from the skill centers on the AWS Twitch channel in the past year. I still have a passion for producing content and using events as kind of a set for virtual content.

Something I’ve been working a lot on in the last several months is influencer partnerships and integrations. They’ve become super integral for most of our events to tap into what the next generation is consuming. I’m working with TikTok influencers, inviting them to our events, having them promote our events and then create content after to promote the benefits of the center to their local community. I’m really excited about the intersection of influencers and events.

What advice would you give to the next generation of marketers who are coming into the workforce?

Work really hard, add value, have fun and take the opportunities that come to you. It might not be the perfect thing that you had envisioned, but it’s more about just finding something where you can do good work and more good stuff will come. The value that we provide the business around touching the hearts and minds of customers is really powerful. Don’t lose sight of that as you’re doing all the operational stuff that might not be that fun earlier in your career. It all makes an impact when you put it together for the customer.

What is the biggest trend in the marketing world from where you sit?

We’re only in the beginning of AI. I have a ton of fun playing with different AI tools. We are going to be supercharged in terms of what we can do as marketers, like I see AI will help us to do 10x what we could do as our individual selves. And so I would encourage everyone in marketing and events to get familiar with it; AI’s going to add value to the industry.

Book or podcast recommendation:

“Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear,” by Elizabeth Gilbert 📖

“The thing that I’m most proud of is the relationships that I’ve built,” said Cyndie Wang in her 2015 Women in Events interview, and she continues to stand by that, eight years later. Wang describes her approach to relationship building as authentic and two-way; she’s in it to partner and collaborate, which are key attributes in her position as vp-global sponsorships and brand experience at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Wang focuses on managing and activating a portfolio of customer partnerships within sports and entertainment spaces, and also runs HPE’s global brand merchandise program.

What has made you stay with HPE to continue building your career?

Back in 2015, HP was going through a transformation; it was splitting into two companies. One was HP, which would continue to be the printer and PC company, and then a new company emerged, which was Hewlett Packard Enterprise, an enterprise IT infrastructure company. So I went to HPE, and it was an opportunity to build a brand from scratch, to think about partnerships and experiences with a fresh lens, and that was really, really exciting. We were part of a start-up in some sense, but a very stable, large multinational start-up. All of those things from a brand building perspective, a customer relationship perspective, employee engagement perspective, it was all new and fresh.

Back in 2015, would you have thought that you’d be where you are today?

I think I actually hoped that I would be where I am today, which is a senior executive at a company that I’m proud to represent in a job that I absolutely love. The very core of the job has remained unchanged. My scope of responsibility, my field of influence and the team have grown, and so it’s nice to be in a chair where you essentially call the shots. There’s nobody more senior in marketing partnerships, sponsorships and activating sponsorships than I am. And I had the privilege of handpicking an exceptional team. I’m very, very proud of the fact that my team has been intact. I’ve had no attrition, only growth, and I’ve been able to help steer and guide the careers of the people who have stayed with me and given them opportunity to grow, learn and develop. That’s been just so rewarding.

What kind of lessons or advice have you imparted to your team?

I’ve really encouraged them to take risks. Don’t just wait for things to be told to you. For a while, my team was all women—we’ve since grown to have some men on the team—and what I found when it was all women was that the voices were sort of more muted, and they weren’t as bold and wouldn’t speak up unless they had the answer. So what I encourage people to do is speak up, have a voice, share your ideas and take credit where credit is due. There are opportunities to grow and flex with special projects, big events, mentoring. Read, go to events and conferences, build your network.

What would you say is the most challenging aspect of building a career in this industry?

One thing about the events industry is that there is an inherent bias that we’re party planners. Putting on an event is a big part of how we activate our partnerships. We create, design and build experiences; that’s a platform for our executives and sales folks to engage with our customers and partners. And it’s not about the party. I feel like we have to overcome this unfortunate bias that events are just a dinner or a conference. An event is a very strategic tactic in the overall marketing arsenal. So how do we sort of up-level the perception of this profession? I think that’s a persistent challenge.

Book or podcast recommendation:

“SmartLess,” with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett 🎧

Amy Marino believes that all the best brands do one major thing: They give you the feels. And her mission is to do just that by tapping into the behaviors and emotions of business decision-makers to make them feel seen and supported by HubSpot, a CRM platform that provides AI-powered software, content and community to customer-facing teams. As head of global brand marketing at HubSpot, Marino leads the teams responsible for brand strategy, development and enablement, insights, advertising, social, media, measurement and analytics.

In 2018, Marino was vp-global experiential marketing and talent management at American Express, leading the experiential marketing and partnerships team focused on global premium products and benefits to drive brand consideration, product benefit awareness, usage, acquisition and spend. On the talent management side, she managed strategy, partnerships and brand storytelling initiatives with celebrity ambassadors.

Back in 2018, would you have thought that you’d be where you are today?

Working for a b-to-b SaaS company was not on my career bingo card in 2018, but I have learned and grown so much in the two-plus years that I’ve been here. HubSpot is an incredibly special place where everyone works to uphold the company’s HEART (humble, empathetic, adaptable, remarkable, transparent) values in every interaction. I’ve never felt as close to the business and financials as I do here, and that’s largely because of the radical transparency from our top leaders. I love our company’s purpose, and the culture is so energizing to be a part of.

What skills or experiences from your early career in experiential do you still leverage?

Leading experiential at American Express was a great way to get close to the customer and infuse those learnings and insights into our work across marketing functions. It gave me an appreciation for the candid feedback and genuine connection that came from shared experiences powered by the brand. Although my role and scope has increased, I still think a lot about how to create meaningful interactions at scale and develop creative that
resonates on a deeply emotional level with our prospects and customers.

What is a career move, decision or ah-ha moment that benefited your career?

An ah-ha: Spending so much of my career working directly in or overseeing social media benefits me immensely now and will benefit me in the future. It’s the place where, as a brand, you can interact all day, every day with the people who are your customers and future customers. And anything that is of any relevance culturally “happens” on social. So to have a deep understanding of how the platforms work, how to harness their power to reach the right people with the right messages, and knowing how to do it in a way that influences consideration and drives brand love is a truly unique skill.

What is the most challenging aspect of building a career through and beyond event marketing, and what can be done to overcome it?

There can be a skepticism that experiences and events don’t drive the bottom line, but that’s an easy one to alleviate. Know what you want your event to drive, align on that with leadership, measure it and show the impact. 

Where is experiential marketing headed?

I hope it’s headed to a place where there’s a lot more real attention paid to sustainability versus the pop-up/tear-down experiences that have dominated the industry over the last decade. Our experiential team at HubSpot is headed by the amazing Kat Tooley, and they really walk the walk here by making environmental stewardship part of every event they put on to both enhance the attendee experience and help to protect the environment.

Book or podcast recommendation:

“The CMO Podcast,” with Jim Stengel 🎧

In her 2016 Women in Events interview, Sylvia Lopez-Navarro pointed to data as her can’t-live-without professional tool, and today, she’s continuing to keep track of consumer insights and sales growth rates to show the value of experiential marketing in driving brand awareness and spending habits. Over the last seven years, Lopez-Navarro has remained at Kia America, and in her role as national manager-brand experience, corporate events and shows, she directs the strategic brand development and management of events and shows, national auto show programming, dealer-facing and consumer events, and experiential marketing activities. 

What has made you stay with Kia America to continue building your career?

Being engaged in challenging and meaningful work that aligns with my skills, interests and passion are the reason for remaining with the company. I find my work fulfilling and inspiring, especially when I’m given the freedom to set the strategic direction to how the brand will be showcased. I build the outcome with a purpose and one that follows with a story. The support from leadership to take calculated risks motivates me to remain loyal to my employer and contribute to the organization’s success.

How have you grown or changed since your original Women in Events profile?

In 2016, like today, I’m a full-time working professional and dedicated mom. I have both changed and grown in more ways that I ever knew—for the best, of course. I found a way to continue to build on my career, having earned a Master of Arts in management from the University of Redlands School of Business earlier in my career. The pandemic brought clarity to my greater life-learning purpose, and I earned a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teaching Credential from the Orange County Department of Education in 2022. Late study nights and weekends were infused with a genuine desire to share my expertise and experiences with a new generation seeking a career in marketing, sales, service, entrepreneurship or business.

The automotive industry was changing in front of my eyes. I started to see industry leaders shift gears and seek new industries and opportunities. The fundamental changes were the growth of EVs and technology. It was rapid, and I knew then that I needed to pivot and apply my expertise and skills to the change. I grew as a leader and redirected my creative energy to key moments and projects that would impact the health of the brand almost immediately.

What skills or experiences from your early career in events do you still leverage?

These master skills are my before, now and always: organizational skills, networking, resilience, adaptability and intentional creativity and attention to delivering a program with a 360-degree approach, consisting of a dedicated communication flowchart, ensuring maximum exposure.

Where is experiential marketing headed?

Experiential marketing is growing, and consumer shopping habits are changing. Customer expectations evolve, generation by generation, and given research shared during the pandemic, the best sales growth rates were achieved by retailers that employed a combination of digital and physical tactics, working in tandem. Consumers crave experiences that are relevant, tangible, memorable and hyper-drivers of emotive responses, and these experiences are typically found outside of the four walls of a digital screen. 

Consumer insights and technology integration are at the hub of experiences. Technology will continue to play a pivotal role in experiential marketing. It will only continue to grow and help consumers grow their affinity for select brands and their products. As we continue to study the relational shifts in consumer buying habits, we will need to consider influence beyond traditional marketing and direct our attention to experiential marketing, offering a layer of personalization to celebrate the uniqueness and the brand of “me.”

Book or podcast recommendation: 

“When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them,” by Julia Boorstin 📖

In 2018, Katrina Kent, who was the director-event group at TD Ameritrade, told us about having to call production herself “on the fly” during a show in Las Vegas, calling it her most memorable recent professional win. And it’s that kind of excitement and quick thinking that has kept her in events. Today, Kent refers to these kinds of moments as “finding the opportunities in the unexpected,” while she stays nimble and anticipates challenges that may pop up in her role as vp-meetings management and event strategy at Liberty Mutual Insurance. Her team is responsible for a wide range of events and experiences for external and internal audiences, including agents, brokers and employees across all of the brand’s business areas. 

Looking back at your profile, how have you grown or changed?

Time feels stretchy and circular due to the pandemic years, but looking back at my profile from five years ago, the main areas of change and growth for me have been in executive management. Focusing on leading a high-performing and diverse team has become my top focus, and I’ve been investing in growing even more as a people leader. 

Back in 2018, would you have thought that you’d be where you are today?

Not necessarily, but following the signs that direct a career trajectory are not always clear when you’re on the road at the time. Knowing when it is time to make changes is a skill in and of itself. It’s one that so many of us grapple with, no matter our backgrounds or talents. 

What skills or experiences from your early career in events do you still leverage?

One of the keys to early success in an events career is staying flexible and anticipating the contingencies. This is something that I use all the time, not in a “when will the other shoe drop” sort of way, but more in a “if this happens, we can do something else” sort of way—finding the opportunities in the unexpected. 

What is most challenging about building a career in events?

We need to continue to dispel the myth that events are somehow not as legitimate as other aspects of marketing. We suffer from a collective imposter syndrome that holds us back, especially as women. The more we can showcase the impacts beyond the qualitative, the more we empower ourselves with the right tools to grow opportunities. 

Do you think opportunities for women in marketing have changed or evolved over the last decade?

I would like to think so! There are more women in senior leadership spots, and we need to continue to lift each other up along the way, creating circles of opportunity. 

What is the biggest trend in the event world from where you sit?

When we come together, it needs to mean more than it used to. There are so many things competing for our attention, and it’s not enough to just have an experience for the sake of it. And content is not king anymore because content is consumable from a screen. Purposeful, intentional experiences are a trend that is here to stay. And generative AI takes the cake, of course, but that impact is not yet in full focus. 

Book or podcast recommendation:

“Pivot,” with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway. This pod’s focus is business, current events, tech and geopolitics. It’s current, smart, and you’ll always walk away knowing more.🎧

When Kati Quigley left Microsoft’s corporate event team in 2012, it was an unexpected move. She thought she’d spend her entire career in events, but a great opportunity came up to lead global partner marketing and channel community growth for the tech brand. “It was a hard decision to make because I loved events but knew that I could take everything I learned and apply it more broadly across other marketing disciplines,” Quigley says. 

From there, she went into cross product marketing and then global industry marketing before wrapping up her 20-year career at Microsoft to take on a new role at Smartsheet, an enterprise work management platform. As vp-portfolio and customer marketing, Quigley focuses on core product marketing, customer insights, lifecycle marketing, and solution and industry marketing. Her team tells the brand’s innovation story and engages with customers to help them get the most from their use of Smartsheet.

How have you grown or changed since your original Women in Events profile?

Since 2008, I have had so much growth, including my leadership skills, executive maturity, broader marketing understanding, greater understanding of the business drivers for a company—all of this built on top of my skills leading up to that point. My confidence has grown as I have taken more bold moves in my career.

What skills or experiences from your early career in events do you still leverage? 

Leading events gave me so many useful skills. Things that come to mind for me are agility, executive presence, turning strategy into execution, getting disparate groups of people involved in the event all moving toward the same objective. Most importantly, it taught me how important relationships are in business and how to build productive, and fun, ones. 

What is a career move, decision or ah-ha moment that benefited your career? 

I have made some bold moves in my career, going from association planning to Microsoft, events to broad marketing, leaving Microsoft after 20 years to go to Smartsheet. All of those experiences made me realize that change is healthy. You grow and learn and do things you didn’t think you could. I think that hit me after I had made a few moves. Change does not have to be feared but instead embraced. 

What is the most challenging aspect of building a career through and beyond event marketing? 

I think because of the number of years I spent in events, it was to change my brand from being an “events person” to being an event marketer, as well as being able to take on broader roles. As I continued to expand my experiences, I was so fortunate to have leaders believe that I could take on new areas of marketing. Event marketers do not get enough credit for the number of transferable skills that can lead to any leadership role or broader discipline. 

How has your leadership style changed over the years, and what have you learned from leading your teams? 

I don’t think it’s changed. I think that I became more aware of who I am as a leader and become more effective. I have always been a servant leader, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be decisive and direct. Brené Brown has a saying that I love, “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” I have learned what will help others most is that I am direct with feedback, clear on vision and decisive on our direction. And I can do all of this and still be empathetic and nurturing.

Book or podcast recommendation:

Greg McKeown wrote two books that are amazing—easy to read and apply. They are “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” and “Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most.” 📖

Following a 20-year career in tech, Alyson Griffin, who was born and raised in Silicon Valley, ventured into a new industry in 2021: insurance. When State Farm came calling, she was surprised by the opportunity to lead its marketing department but saw a path that bridged her b-to-b and b-to-c experience at HP and Intel with driving State Farm’s brand awareness in a competitive insurance market. In her head of marketing role, Griffin and her robust team are responsible for brand acquisition and retention, creating marketing for 20,000 agents across the country, p.r., events, experiential and advertising.

Back in 2016, would you have thought that you’d be where you are today?

I remember when I was in my 20s and started on the p.r. agency side, I thought I was going to be a partner at a p.r. firm one day, like I just wanted to run the business and help multiple brand clients. The higher up I got in agency life, I realized that my passion was truly on the brand side of the house, not the agency side. So I never thought I’d leave Silicon Valley—my mom was at Hewlett Packard for 43 years before she retired. And I never thought of insurance, so I definitely did not think I would end up in this particular position, but I feel so blessed and fortunate because the category of insurance is so competitive. It’s just like pinch me; I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had.

What skills or experiences from your early career in events do you still leverage?

I think all of that training that I had from my p.r. days in tech has helped me translate and explain a very, very complex, misunderstood product and make it clear, interesting and even exciting. Insurance is hard to understand, so I think that’s one advantage. The other is the mindset that I was raised in a test, learn, launch, fail, get up, try something new [environment]. The entire technology industry in Silicon Valley is built on that, while the insurance industry is not. There’s no pace compared to the tech industry because they’re not launching products that change every six months and that 300 competitors are working on getting faster, cheaper, smaller, more powerful. And so I think bringing a sense of urgency and pace is something, but actually the most important thing is experiential. Your brand sparking dopamine and excitement in doing an activity, it just attaches ever so consciously and subconsciously to a user’s view of who you are. 

In your original profile, we asked for one thing every female event marketer should never do. you said “never lose sight of the big picture and that customer experience.” Does that still ring true?

It definitely is true. You have to know who you’re trying to reach and what matters to them. Attention is at a premium way more so than back in 2016. People are bombarded by messages. Six seconds is long. I mean, I remember when we started doing six-second ads, and we thought that was so short; now, I think we’re down to three.

Do you think opportunities for women in marketing have changed or evolved over the last decade?

Opportunities for women, in general, have changed. I think it’s because of empathy and really meaningfully connecting with the customer. I don’t mean any and all, but generically speaking, women are uniquely tapped in to those kinds of skills. The sky’s the limit for women. And I love the younger generation today, the Gen Zs who have ushered in acceptance and no judgment and openness. I really praise younger folks for opening our minds in that way, and I think that just leads the way for women more and more.

Book or podcast recommendation: 

“Purposeful Brands: How Purpose and Sustainability Drive Brand Value and Positive Change,” by Sandy Skees 📖

Reflecting on her career, Lauren Probyn Aouad would go back and tell herself to “just enjoy the ride,” because she’s been a part of some downright cool projects. At Tinder, she worked on the “Swipe Off” nationwide competition that partnered with Cardi B to crown the most right-swiped college. In a start-up environment at Fan Controlled Sports + Entertainment, Aouad, serving as vp-growth marketing, drove the expansion of the Fan Controlled Football league through strategic marketing initiatives and was on-site at football games. Now on the agency side, she helps brands with entertainment and culture marketing strategy, overseeing workstreams with clients Amazon Prime Video, Chobani, Delta and Diet Coke. 

How have you grown or changed since your original Women in Events profile?

Early on in my career, especially when I was at Live Nation and TAO Group, I had the opportunity to oversee and participate in a variety of small- to large-scale marketing events. It helped me develop a strong foundation in brand awareness and consumer engagement, which are so important because now I’ve transitioned to a more overarching, larger role within marketing. There is a lot within my background that I found to be really helpful, like understanding people and behavior. Through events, you see more than anybody else. You’re physically there watching people’s reaction to different things, whether they’re interacting with a product or seeing something for the first time.

At Tinder, I started as the director of marketing and events, so that kind of propelled me into a different level of my career because the events were global. There was an extra layer of learning because I would have to localize events or the Tinder product. Over time, my role evolved into that of a senior marketing director as Tinder grew. I then went to a start-up as vp-growth marketing at Fan Controlled Football, and it was so great to be able to touch every facet of the business in this bigger role. My leadership skills and being able to multitask from having worked in events played a pivotal role.

Back in 2016, would you have thought that you’d be where you are today?

No, I’ve worked with a few really great cmos in my career, and a majority of them had expressed that I should have start-up experience and also try an agency role because it’s so different being on the agency side versus the brand side. Transitioning to the agency side has significantly advanced my career, and I'm grateful for this experience at UTA, where I've learned a great deal in just a few months.

Coming from the perspective of the brand side, I think that is very relatable to clients because I get it, I know where they’re coming from. I know that somebody probably did a 180, changed your budget or changed the direction that you’re telling the agency to go in. And so I would say it comes with an extra layer of patience and understanding being the person who has the experience of the brand voice.

What is the most challenging aspect of building a career through and beyond event marketing?

When you run an event, it’s actually like running a company. You are managing all different facets of the business—budgets, executives, design, legal. Attendees have no idea what went on behind the scenes to make an event happen. I look at an event as its own little ecosystem within marketing. So I give all event professionals the biggest kudos in the world because I understand that it’s one of the hardest jobs.

Book or podcast recommendation:

“How I Built This,” with Guy Raz 🎧

Since her 2016 Women in Events feature, Jenny Cobler has continued to build her career at Visa. At the time, she was the director-global hospitality event management, citing Instagram as her “new go-to place for creative ideas” and encouraging female event marketers to “never be afraid to challenge a decision or speak up when your instincts and your experience are telling you there’s a better way.” Now, Cobler is the vp-global experiential marketing and oversees a team that focuses on Visa’s global consumer experience strategy, responsible for the ideation, development and execution of the brand’s consumer activations at events such as the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris and a fintech hackathon in Japan. 

In 2016, you reflected on how hard it is to break into events and that it’s really hard to stay in this industry. What’s helped create career longevity for you in events but also at Visa?

My career longevity and trajectory can be attributed to a combination of determination, storytelling skills and pure hustle. I thrive on challenging the status quo and pushing the organization to think and view how we connect with clients and consumers differently. Even when it means breaking through the corporate red tape or jumping through legal hurdles, which is table stakes for global brands. Never be complacent. 

I have honed my ability to sell big and bold ideas even when the odds are not in my favor. Part of this is understanding the importance of measuring success to have the data to back up why experiential marketing is vital for Visa.

What skills or experiences from your early career in events do you still leverage?

I learned very early on you need to make people feel something. Experiential marketing at its core is sales. You’re selling a strategy, an idea and, most importantly, you’re selling your brand to consumers and your own company’s leadership team. The ability to read a room and, in turn, adjust my storytelling strategy has been critical to my success. If you get a “no,” don’t get defeated; understand how you can shift and evolve your idea to meet your business leaders’ needs, yet still ensure you successfully reach and influence your end users.  

Call me old school, but I still thrive with processes from years ago. Yes, new technology advances can help increase productivity, but I still use a run of show and event profile template from 20 years ago. Why? Because they have withstood the test of time and never let me down. I bring these two tools to every team I lead and am convinced they have played a role in my success. If you find something that works for you and betters your team, stay tried and true to experience. Don’t always feel compelled to use the latest technology just because it’s trendy or poised to be a game changer for some. 

What is the Biggest experiential trend in the brand marketing world from where you sit?

Conventional venues have become passé as the value equation for experiences has shifted. Rather than prioritizing capacity or footfall, the venue itself is part of the story, so the more unexpected and unconventional, the better.

The power of experiences is their ability to deliver integrated value across both depth and reach. They need to deliver deep, meaningful and unique experiences for attendees, while also designed to extend reach to audiences virtually. 

This online reach is rooted in how newsworthy an event is, with the venue selection playing a key part. Where an experience takes place gives the opportunity to reframe a brand in the eyes of consumers, even those who are unable to attend in person.

Book or podcast recommendation:

The Bible 📖

Seven years ago, Jamie Sanyal said her greatest professional achievement was switching career paths, going from 10 years in p.r. to events. “I really felt like I found my niche. That was a scary thing to do, but it really paid off,” she said in her 2016 profile interview, back when she was head of global experiential marketing at PayPal. Sanyal has since taken two more career-changing leaps: leaving her 11-year career at PayPal to be a stay-at-home mom and then five years later, co-founding West Peak Sparkling Spirits, a line of spirit-based seltzers. 

Working alongside her husband and “a small but mighty team,” Sanyal is responsible for all external and internal communications, partnerships and events to drive brand awareness, trial and sales for the company. But as is typical within a start-up environment, Sanyal says she does a little bit of everything, aided by the marketing expertise gained during her time at PayPal. 

Back in 2016, would you have thought that you’d be where you are today?

If you would have told me I’d be running a company with my husband today, I would have said you were crazy! I left PayPal around 2017 to be a full-time mom to my young kids. Being out of the workforce for the first time since college gave me a chance to reset from the pace of the corporate world. I was very fortunate to be able to do that, but it was a period of adjustment as far as how I viewed myself. Being home with my kids gave me a new perspective on my life; for a long time, so much of my identity was wrapped up in my job. That said, I found myself continuously using my event marketing skills in my everyday life, whether it was running elementary school auctions or leading events for some of the nonprofits we support. It’s just something I love to do.

What is a career move, decision or ah-ha moment that benefited your career?

When [my husband] first started West Peak, we didn’t intend for me to join full time at first, but he pulled me in right as we went to market. I was very nervous and hesitant to get back into the workforce after five years but decided to take the leap after discussing with family and friends. I’m so glad I did because it has been the most rewarding and exciting experience after an already cool career.

What skills or experiences from your early career in experiential do you still leverage?

In my role at PayPal, I got to witness the power of consumer activations and how important it is to meet a potential customer where they are and enhance their experience. We try to do that now with West Peak—albeit on a much smaller scale—whether it’s at a country music festival, a surf contest or a food festival. And it’s working! We also do a ton of field marketing and retail demos, getting those cans in hands. Experiential marketing is such a powerful tool for brands to reach consumers. I love watching people try our drinks for the first time and then seeing that trial translate into sales post-event.

What advice would you give to the next generation of event marketers?

I would say that while it’s certainly important to stay on top of the latest trends, simple activations can be very effective. Moving from a large company with a decent budget to a brand-new start-up, I have had to try to do a lot with a little and really stretch those dollars. We rarely turn down an opportunity to sample and have had some great successes at free events.

Book or podcast recommendation:

“Witnessed: Fade to Black,” which is about the CIA and its influence on Hollywood. 🎧