Marketing Panel Discussion Recap by Catherine Cho

On Tuesday, April 29th Career Services hosted a Marketing Panel Discussion, in collaboration with the School of Management. Topics of discussion included current social media trends within and how correlation to marketing, people’s’ interactions with advertisements seen, and how to find your niche within a corporation. The panelists were a diverse group of women who embodied what it means to be tenacious and fearless in the marketing/advertising industry.

Throughout the night there were many notable moments. Some were anecdotal while other moments offered valuable insight and clearly to the student who will soon be entering the industry. When explaining her role as Client Partner at Twitter , Tamika Joseph said “You may not be your client’s top priority … so it’s best to always assume noble intent and approach with empathy.” In a society where people need instant gratification or affirmation due to social media, it is hard to always remember that other people have different priorities and may not have the time/energy/resources to spare at the moment. This is relevant to not only the industry of business/marketing, but to any industry or sector where external communication is necessary.

One common theme throughout the event was the idea of ‘finding a project you can be passionate about.” Mushirah Kelly suggested the students “walk the floors” of the office or department to see if other people are working on a project that will interest them. Another concept that was emphasised was having a voice when in meetings or in a professional group environment. “Your opinion matters, that’s why you were invited to the meeting.” heavily stressed by Mushirah.

Tamika Joseph, Client Partner at Twitter spoke about how changing her major from computer science to marketing in her sophomore year of undergraduate studies was a big step toward her bright future. Flora Rhim, Head of Product Marketing at GIPHY started in the legal department at Disney on Broadway. Realizing law wasn’t for her, she began working for various consumer publishing companies, went to graduate school for marketing, and eventually started working for GIPHY. Crystal Grandison, Senior Director of Marketing at ExecOnline, Inc. began working at WCBS Radio after receiving her degree in journalism. She later moved career paths and started working an online schooling startup, then transitioned to working at a marketing/advertising agency, “Agency life is the boot camp of marketing”. Mushirah Kelly, Sr Project Manager at McCann New York went for her undergraduate degree in fine art but later changed to communications with a concentration in marketing, advertising, and web design. After college, she was web designing for Run DMC’s daughters’ clothing line for children. This experience, as well as others, helped her become Account Director at a startup company where she found her passion for bringing together a collaborative team consisting of marketers, information architects, and designers.

Catherine Cho is a junior majoring in Marketing at New York Institute of Technology. She grew up in New York but currently lives in New Jersey. Her passions include photography, learning about new cultures, and exploring the city for new foods to try.