Welcome to our Meet the 50 Team series, where we give you the lowdown on how the people at 50onRed get stuff done. This time we’re sitting down with our Senior Account Manager, Samantha Grillo!
Describe your role here at 50onRed.
I’m the Senior Account Executive on the Account Management team. Basically, it’s my job to work with our advertisers and help grow spend. Recently, I’ve taken on more of a leadership role on the team, between leading our daily team meetings and helping the trainees get up to speed.
Can you tell us a bit about your typical workday?
So, I typically start my day working in Desk, which is a client support program that helps us identify the new Traffic Platform users who have questions but don’t yet have an Account Manager. It’s a great way to keep track of what questions frequently come up and monitoring any trends in error reports.
I usually have client calls with my advertisers, so you’ll often see me here earlier in the morning because many of them live in Israel and I like to try and catch them before they leave for the day. I also run tracking reports to make sure our advertisers are pacing to hit and exceed what they spent last month while ensuring that they’re profiting and have everything they need.
What’s nice about my role is that I get to work directly with our advertisers, but I also work pretty closely with our developers. Our teams check in to make sure Traffic Platform is as user-friendly as possible and up-to-date with the latest features.
How would you describe Traffic Platform to someone who isn’t in the industry?
[Laughs] My husband is a doctor, and he and his coworkers are always asking me about what I do, so I end up having to explain it a lot. I’d say Traffic Platform is a self-service advertising platform for anyone who has something online they want to promote. Advertisers can use Traffic Platform to create different types of ad campaigns, which drive traffic from our audience network to whatever they’re promoting.
So, how did you find yourself at 50onRed?
I started working at 50 in February, so I’m still fairly new. After working at various ad agencies all over Manhattan, my husband and I relocated here last summer for his job. All in all, I’ve been doing digital advertising for five years. Before that, though, I worked in finance, which I hated, because I didn’t talk to anyone; I just sat in my cubicle with my contracts. So, I went back to school at night and got my MBA, then I got my first advertising job.
Do you have any mentors here? If so, what have they taught you?
Alex was really great training me in the beginning, but Ajmail and Jaasu really took me under their wing and taught me a lot about how Traffic Platform works. Even from listening to them on their calls with advertisers, I learned so much. Overall, my peers have really helped me a lot.
Favorite perks at 50?
I think one of my favorite 50onRed perks would be the flexible hours. Because I come in early for calls with my advertisers, it’s nice that I can leave the office a bit earlier and still have the rest of the night. My commute home to Wilmington, DE is about 45 minutes, so it’s good to be able to get home and eat dinner at a decent hour. Also, I feel like I should mention my team LOVES Seamless Thursday. We get so excited every week.
Do you have any advice for someone just starting a career in digital advertising?
I think the best career advice would be not to just look at the position; remember to keep the bigger picture in mind. Also, don’t let yourself think some job responsibilities are below you. Be open to doing anything and everything because you learn so much more that way. And ask a lot of questions.
When you aren’t here helping out our advertisers, what do you like to do for fun?
I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures I put up of my dogs. I’m kind of obsessed with them. I have two, Sandy and Happy, and I like doing anything I can take them to. There’s a vineyard in Pennsylvania that lets you bring your dogs—there’s outdoor seating and live music, so it’s really fun.
Want to learn more about 50onRed and see what opportunities we have available? Head over to our Careers page!