What do you do for a living?
I provide content, digital, and marketing strategy to places like Venmo, Hearst, and my current role, Forbes. I also run the online lifestyle site Smart, Pretty & Awkward; host the New & Noteworthy podcast Two Inboxes; and love to speak to student and corporate audiences. My first book about the power of the Reach Out is on shelves in early 2017.
What is your academic background? Did you major in marketing or writing? What sparked your interest in the field?
My undergraduate business degree was focused on Finance and Entrepreneurship—so business-related, but not marketing-specific. I started blogging my senior year of college as a way to write more regularly and practice building a brand online; I was starting to think about moving into marketing once I graduated, and I thought a blog would be helpful on my resume to show digital/marketing/writing experience. After I graduated and spent a few years working in marketing (SP&A did end up helping to land those jobs!), I went back to school at night to earn a Master’s degree in International Marketing Management.
Do you remember an important moment early on in your journey here?
No decision has changed my professional life more than the one to start a blog. I encourage everyone with an interest in blogging to grab a domain name and start writing!
What excites you about your work?
I am passionate about all-things-digital and connecting with others. I love online marketing and blogging because it combines both of those things in really new and exciting ways—I feel like both fields change every few months and that innovation is something I appreciate and love.
Do you have any advice for young people thinking about meaningful work?
Try everything. As inexpensively as possible, but try everything that may strike your fancy. You just never know what next decision to try something out could change everything, and that’s one of the most exciting things, ever!
Photos courtesy of Molly Ford Beck, who can be found at Smart, Pretty & Awkward and Two Inboxes, and on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.
A version of this interview first appeared on the website HAPPY AND HEARTWORKING on June 30, 2014.