Describe your job to us, what’s your title & what do you do?
I am Head of Business Development & Strategy at Refinery29. My role is to work with the team to drive Refinery29’s strategy as it pertains to new business opportunities, and then secure and close the right deals to help Refinery29 realize those opportunities, furthering the company’s mission to help women to see, feel, and claim their power.
Tell us about working in strategy, what are the challenges?
From a strategy perspective, it’s crucial for digital media companies to be nimble and adapt to the ever-changing terrain, quickly and effectively. The best companies will test and learn quickly, and then lean into areas of success. 29Rooms is a great example of this – we were first-to-market with this type of immersive experience almost 4 years ago. It’s important for us to continue to push boundaries both on- and offline, and to stay ahead of the curve.
If you had to choose, what do you enjoy most about strategy?
Being able to think about the medium- to long-term strategy goals for the company -- and having the room to do so -- is incredibly valuable.
It’s very easy to get lost in the day-to-day, but you always need to have that vision of where the company is headed and how our strategy will set us up for future success. Being able to think through these challenges with an incredible executive team is extremely exciting.
What did you do before your current role and what led you to where you are now?
I have held a variety of strategy and business development roles in my career, first starting out at McKinsey, then at EMI Music, at Sony Music leading corporate development, and then at Live Nation helping build the company’s content businesses and creative agency, Greenlight. Throughout all of this, I’ve come to learn the immense power of brands, a clear mission, and incredible people working to achieve great things.
Refinery29’s brand-affinity is second-to-none in the digital media space, with a clear mission to help women see, feel, and claim their power, and an enormously passionate and talented group of people striving to achieve this. That’s an incredible recipe, and one I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join and help grow.
If I’m entering the industry and I want to move into the strategy/planning space, what steps should I take?
At its core, success in strategy comes from being able to quickly analyze a problem, gather information, synthesize and distill many disparate points of view, present a clear and concise picture, and align a team behind a tangible vision and strategy.
Do you have a dream account or brand you’d like to work on? Which one?
Coming from the music space, I have come to think of artists as some of the most powerful, creative, and innovative brands. In that space, I would love to work with Chance The Rapper, who is challenging the traditional hip hop mold and bringing a fresh perspective to his melodies and lyrics. Chance attended 29Rooms in Chicago with his fiancée Kirsten Corley, and I think could be a great advocate for championing women in a historically underrepresented space.
Is there a piece of work you’re most proud of? What about it is special to you?
When I was at Sony Music, I pulled together a project with Jack Antonoff called ‘Thank You And Sorry’, starring Olivia Wilde, Colin Quinn and others. Jack drove the creative with Above Average, and I helped to secure the deals to bring it to life, with Sony and Google. While not popularly known, the series was both a commercial and creative success for all involved, and received rave reviews from viewers. I think it’s a great example of the power of creativity, and how new deal structures can bring great art to life.
What is your favorite ad of all time?
In recent memory, I think the most powerful ad I’ve seen is ‘Like A Girl’ from Always, which highlighted an important and thought-provoking topic in an incredibly clever way (and sparked conversation in households around the world). If I think back to my youth, coming from the UK, the ad that always sticks in my mind is the Cadbury’s Gorilla ad (for the sheer joy it conjures up!).