Career Advice from 10 Inspiring Women in Event Marketing

We spoke with event leaders from LinkedIn, Twitter, Salesforce Ventures, and other top brands about their professional journeys. Here’s what they said. 

Last year we launched the IN-PERSON Podcast to tell the stories behind the world’s greatest events and the people who make them happen. In each episode of IN-PERSON, we speak with event leader from brands like LinkedIn, Forbes, Twitter, Adobe, and SXSW about their best practices, what made them why they love events, and the story of their careers.

One of the questions we ask our guests is this: If you could give an earlier version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be and why?

Here’s what several inspiring women on the IN-PERSON Podcast had to share. Chances are you’ll find these quotes to be relevant to you regardless of your gender or industry.

Karen Merritt, Head of Owned and OperatedEvents at LinkedIn

“I would say, ‘Don’t be afraid.’ I think earlier in my career I was afraid to speak up and I was afraid to participate in meetings. I would lend that to my younger self, for sure. Why not share your ideas and your thoughts?”

Trista Myers, Head of Events at Salesforce Ventures

“I would probably remind myself that the years of experience you have do not equal the experience in your years.”

Andréa Long, Global Diversity Events Manager atTwilio

“I think it’s really important to make sure that you’re building relationships with people that are actually authentic—not just to use them for a job later. Really learning about those people, and the challenges that they face, and identifying shared experiences.”

Erin Flannery, Head of Events at Lattice

“Take more risks and be more agile. When you’re in college or when you are in your first job, you sort of think that you should stick to it no matter what because you made a choice and choices are so hard to make early on.”

Monique Ruff-Bell, Events Director at  Money20/20

“My advice is that we need to celebrate our wins more. When you’re in the event business, you’re always onto the next thing. You are always just trying to figure out how to improve and be better and you put a lot of work into doing this because nothing goes perfectly in events. Nothing.”

Alyson Griffin, VP of Global Marketing at Intel

“Take advantage of your own career and try the new thing that’s presented to you. I think all of those experiences and all of those steps that I took that I never thought I would take are the things that helped me get to where I am.”

Colleen Bisconti, Vice President of GlobalConferences and Events at IBM

“I was so focused on how to get ahead, that I don’t think I took enough time to enjoy or to really find those things that I was passionate about and enjoy them.”

Andrea Rosen, Head of 99U at Adobe

“I think having creative side projects gives you space where you can screw up. It gives you space where you can learn and it gives you a really wide reach too. Being able to do as much as I did on those events gave me the opportunity to learn different sides of the business in a way that I might not have in a full-time role with a specific description.”

Chardia Christophe-Garcia, Marketing Director at Forbes

“There’s always going to be more to do…because of that, it’s not about staying late and coming in early. The work is going to still be there and there’s always going to be more work because there are always areas to improve.”

Helen Stoddard, Head of Global Events at Twitter

“I would say, ‘Relax.’ I ran, in the early part of my career, with such a sense of urgency that I think I left a lot of knowledge on the table because I was so busy trying to get there. I didn’t really know where there was but I was so intent to get there that I wasn’t really paying as much attention to the journey that I was on.”

Looking for more career advice check out more perspectives from industry leaders with the IN-PERSON Collection Ebook.