Name:Meghan Cast
Job Title and Description:Vice President of Marketing at Threadflip
Website: www.threadflip.com
Twitter Handle: @Threadflip
What does your current job entail? Is there such a thing as a typical day?
Meghan Cast: The only thing typical about my days is that they all have a lot of variety! Marketing has to do with so many different fields, from acquisition and retention to marketing and branding. It really means you have to spend time doing all sorts of things. You can be planning, evaluating creative, looking into performance of platforms and creating and testing new things. There’s also a series of meetings that have to go on (one-on-ones, creative, the works). Every day is a composition of everything, so it’s really fun and incredibly dynamic.
What is the best part of your job?
MC: I don’t do superlatives well, so I’d have to give you three things! For me, it’s almost always about the people. You think about how much time you spend with your co-workers (particularly at a startup), and it’s important that you’re like-minded and share a vision and a passion. My team is full of creative and passionate people, so we have a really unique culture that I really appreciate.
The second thing [that I love] is the pace. At a startup, you have to be decisive but not rash, and you have to be okay with modifying your plan if and when you get new information. It makes for a really dynamic environment that’s never dull.
The last thing is the mission. We’re all really passionate about the mission and feel strongly about the way women think about ownership of their clothes. It feels really good to push that mission.
You’ve had a lot of experience with networking to get where you are! What tips do you have for HC readers looking to get better at networking?
MC: I do think one piece of advice I would give is that tools like LinkedIn (and even things like Facebook) are amazing, but I do think there’s something pretty overwhelming and impersonal about them. Think about the offline world a little bit. Build real connections with people that could turn out to be great mentors.
Getting that one coffee with a friend of a friend is meaningful, but I would start by identifying a couple of people (in my case, those were my older siblings) and reach out to create relationships with them. Plan to cultivate a mentor-mentee partnership with them so that you can rely on them not just for your initial exploration but your ongoing one, too.
Another way to say that is create your own personal “business board” of people who can get to know you well and connect you with others. Don’t just rely on surface-level networking, because it’s not the only option!
What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
MC: I think increasingly, many companies are looking for the “all-around athlete” and not a specialist, because you can’t be. They don’t exist. What you learn in school teaches you to analyze and be a critical thinker, but no job is going to be a direct list of things you learned in college.
Understand the industry you’re interested in, as well as its characteristics. For example, in fashion, you should know about trends and social media; you should be an early adopter who reads all of the magazines and blogs. Make sure you spend your time [in college] doing things that tell a story of who you are that would match the industry you want to go into. That’s what you can do.
On top of that, don’t be afraid to work for free. I worked an unpaid internship the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college at a local ad agency, and it was great. I got to be inside an agency [environment], and I got a feel for the pace and the work [the team] was doing.
Working for free shows that you’re hungry, and it gives you an education to put in your back pocket.
What is one thing you wish you knew about your industry when you first started out that you know now?
MC: When I think about marketing, what I wish I had spotted earlier (because the signs were there) was how deeply analytical it was becoming. I don’t mean “analytical” in terms of critical thinking, but I mean the importance of quantitative data. It wouldn’t have necessarily swayed me away from marketing had I known, but it would’ve caused me to do longer stints in the “doer” jobs (like acquisition, investing media dollars, things like that). Conceptually, these responsibilities are easy to visualize, but actually doing the work is harder and more important. The point to take away is watch where your industry is going, and make sure you stay relevant.
Second, in regards to the field of technology, I wish I’d understood earlier the importance of understanding the product. I see now that people take coding classes who don’t have any desire to become programmers, and I think that’s absolutely wonderful. There’s no replacement for understanding the foundation that your whole product is built on.
What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
MC: First, know the supply chain. It’s sort of a dorky business term, but what it means is that there’s no replacement for understanding the business you’re in. It’s amazing how many people you talk to who are in a functional role who don’t really understand how the systems around them work. If you want to stand out at a young age, really do that research. What is the overall business, and how does that work? Know the supply chain.
The second thing I’d say is become an expert. It’s great advice I got early on. I took a lot of lateral moves in my early twenties, but then I committed to a space and focus, and it made me much more desirable to employers. Have some expertise in a specific, focused area and don’t focus on just being a Jack-of-all-trades for your entire career.
Lastly, have fun. It’s only work if you treat it that way. If you look at it as being fun, that’ll influence what industries you look into and how you make decisions. Don’t underestimate how important this is.
Building on this last point, make sure you know yourself. It’s a tall order when you’re in your early twenties, but the more you know about yourself and how you make decisions, the better off you’ll be.