Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started?
I’m originally from Perth in Western Australia, and moved to Canada two and a half years ago. I came to Canada for a ski season but loved it so much I never left and have recently become a permanent resident!
I’ve always loved being creative and knew I wanted to pursue a career that combines creativity with analytical thinking. After I finished my Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Studies, I worked in Singapore as an associate producer intern for a film production company, where I worked closely with the marketing team and fell in love with marketing. After the internship I landed a job in digital marketing, became obsessed and went back to university while working full time to become a Master of Marketing.
Throughout my career I’ve been really lucky to be exposed to a lot of different types of projects and areas of marketing so I was able to discover what I was really passionate about early on. I’ve worked with nearly every industry under the sun and every pillar of marketing, but my biggest passions are marketing technologies and SEO. I actually dreamt of working with Sitecore years before I got the chance to!
I’m proud to be the Marketing Manager at Fishtank Consulting, where I head up a team of talented marketers who do groundbreaking things with Sitecore, SEO and content marketing. I love helping businesses connect with their customers using incredible technologies like Sitecore, paired with killer content, SEO and personalization strategies.
Outside of work, I recently fell in love with rock climbing and now you could say I’m addicted. In the summer I also love to hike in the Rockies, and in winter I usually spend my weekends skiing.
Share some of your accomplishments within the Sitecore community?
I became a Sitecore Strategy MVP for the first time this year, after contributing to the Sitecore community in the areas I noticed a lot of marketers were struggling with. All my contributions to the Sitecore community are aimed at empowering marketers and content authors to get the most out of Sitecore.
- I’ve published over 50 strategic blogs on topics covering personalization, campaigns, profiles, experience analytics, goal setting, A/B and multivariate testing, forms, marketing automation and many more
- Wrote comprehensive guides to setting up Sitecore personalization
- Published a series of ‘how-to’ YouTube videos for content authors with helpful tips and tricks
- Created screen-recorded GIFs and downloadable infographics that show step by step how-to’s
- Started Facebook and LinkedIn groups for Sitecore Marketers and Content Authors so members could ask questions and receive free Sitecore advice and help
- Published Sitecore strategies, tips and tricks on social media
What resources have helped you along your career?
Having inspiring and encouraging people around me like my team members, managers, mentors, and friends and family, who believe in me and want to see me succeed.
My university degrees definitely set up my foundation of knowledge, and taught me a lot about prioritizing my time and meeting deadlines, especially doing my Master’s degree while working full time.
I owe a lot to communities like the incredible Sitecore community. Joining online communities and following leaders in the industry to learn more, stay up to date, get involved, give back and be inspired.
Newsletters – I have a few favourite weekly marketing newsletters that help me stay up to date with the industry in just a few minutes of reading time. My favourite marketing newsletters right now are SEOFomo and tl;dr Marketing.
When I have more time to spare, I love to read books and listen to podcasts. They aren’t all industry specific, but I love being inspired by other people’s success stories, habits and advice. One of my favourite books is Winging It by Emma Isaacs, and for podcasts, I love The Tim Ferriss Show.
And of course Google! I’ve learned a lot from other people’s articles and content, so I like to give back when I learn something new.
What challenges do you see for women in tech today?
Unfortunately, there is still a big gender gap in the tech industry, and unconscious gender bias, discrimination and harassment are realities for a lot of women working in tech. A lot of the time it’s systemic and covert, and people are just unaware that they’re perpetuating the biases, but that’s no excuse.
Everyone has a responsibility to take a stand and call it out. If you say nothing, nothing will change, and it needs to come from everyone. We need more equity and diversity for businesses and societies to thrive, and we can’t succeed when half of us are held back.
Do you have any advice for women looking to start their careers in tech? What do you wish you had known?
Believe in yourself and just start! Make small incremental changes towards your goals everyday.
Don’t overthink things and get comfortable with making mistakes. Put your hand up for a lot of different projects early on in your career so you can figure out what you love. Don’t be afraid of failing or asking lots of questions. Surround yourself with people you can learn from and help others as much as you can. Most importantly, have a loud voice, make sure your opinions are heard, call stuff out if it doesn’t sit right and cheer loudly for other women in the industry.
When I first started working in tech, I thought everyone would be a certain way, and have it all figured out with everything planned for every conceivable outcome. To my shock it turns out that everyone is human and most people are just winging it! So be yourself, stress less about the little things, smile and laugh as much as possible and don’t let anything hold you back.