Meet Dusti Ondryas, Brand Marketing Manager at Thumbtack

Dusti Ondryas, Brand Marketing Manager, has been with Thumbtack for just over 5 years. She has a unique perspective on Thumbtack, having started as a pro on the platform before joining our Integrated Marketing team where she now leads our pro community and manages Thumbtack Pro Rewards, our loyalty and rewards program.

In this Q&A, Dusti shares her journey from running a wedding cake and confection company to a career in marketing and how her unique perspective as a former pro has influenced how she supports others as they look to grow their businesses on Thumbtack.

We know that before you worked at Thumbtack, you were a pro on the Thumbtack platform! Can you talk about the business you started and how you used Thumbtack as a pro?

Dusti: I grew up in the kitchen with my mom and always had a love for cooking and baking so it was natural that I would start a food business! I had a wedding cake and confection company for many years. When I was working to expand my business, I found Thumbtack and at first, was a little skeptical, but decided to give it a try. Before Thumbtack, I was doing lots of wedding shows, which are really expensive and a lot of work to yield very few jobs, but once I started using Thumbtack the jobs just kept coming in. I never used another source for leads after that! I was a Top Pro every year that I had my Thumbtack business and it was an accomplishment that I was really proud of. It brings me a lot of joy knowing that I get to help celebrate and recognize our pros now!

Eventually, you transitioned over to working at Thumbtack. Tell us about that shift and how it happened.

Dusti: If you’ve ever worked in the events industry, you know that the hours are crazy. Early mornings, late nights, and every single weekend. I did that for over a decade and really enjoyed it. However, my children were getting bigger — my oldest was entering high school — and I felt like I was missing their lives. I wanted to be able to be with them on the weekends and really started to feel the pull to make a career + work/life balance change.

I started exploring other opportunities. I had worked with folks at the Thumbtack office several times over the years — whether it was making cakes for their families, or speaking to employees about my experience on the platform. Whenever I interacted with Thumbtack team members there was always a really great vibe and they were tremendously talented people. I also really loved the product and appreciated that it helped me grow my business. I realized I wanted to be part of the team and help to build this product that makes a real impact on people’s lives. So, I went for it!

What do you do in your current role at Thumbtack? What excites you about the future of Thumbtack?

Dusti: I am currently a Marketing Manager on the Integrated Marketing team at Thumbtack. My role is pretty unique — I have the incredible opportunity to work with and support our community of pros in many different ways. I manage our online Community (a space designed to bring our pros together to support one another and grow their businesses together). I also manage our loyalty and rewards program, Thumbtack Pro Rewards, where I have the honor of celebrating and recognizing our pros for their achievements. Along with those programs, I help find and share compelling and inspiring pro stories both internally and externally. I find ways to amplify the voices of our pros and showcase how they are powering Thumbtack.

Hands down the best part of my job and the thing I love most about what I do, are the people. I’ve been able to meet amazing individuals from all across the country who have worked to make their dreams come true despite tremendous obstacles — and to hear how Thumbtack has helped make that happen is incredibly fulfilling.

What is one pro story that has really impacted or resonated with you?

Dusti: It’s really hard to pick just one story! But, there is one story that is pretty close to my heart, since I too pivoted careers later in life. I met Deb a few years back. She had been working in corporate America for nearly three decades when her mother got sick. At 53, she quit her job as an executive to become her mother’s caregiver. At 58, Deb went back to college, and at the age of 63, she started a life coaching business of her own called Deb Goldstein Coaching and Consulting. Deb shared, “At 63, you shouldn’t do anything just for a paycheck! I do this because I love it. I find that when people hit their mid-life, they really need more mission and purpose, care, and motivation in their lives. I do this because it is just so enormously rewarding.” And I feel the same way about the work I do here at Thumbtack.

I’ve also met many single parents who have been able to provide for their families by doing the things they love. People who have overcome illness and used Thumbtack to get back to work at their own pace. People who were laid off during the pandemic and reinvented themselves by building new businesses on Thumbtack. I even met someone who moved here from another country only four years ago and now has business locations in 25 states. There are so many amazing stories, but they all have a common theme — human beings who aren’t afraid of hard work, who are passionate, resilient, and who deserve to be celebrated. They are the “why” behind everything I do here.

How would you describe the company culture at Thumbtack? What is your favorite thing about working here?

Dusti: Being a queer woman in tech, and someone who pivoted her career later in life, could feel pretty intimidating. But I have always felt free to bring my whole self to the table at Thumbtack, and have felt respected and celebrated for that. This is an extremely collaborative environment where idea-sharing is really encouraged. We’re building something pretty incredible here, and that can’t be done without a lot of different ideas and perspectives.

What advice would you give someone trying to get into a career in brand marketing?

Dusti: It can sound cliche, but be YOU. Lean into your strengths. Bring your authentic self to the table, because your unique attributes may be exactly what a company or project needs. Don’t be afraid to be stretched outside your comfort zone, because that is where you really learn, grow and realize your potential.

In addition, what advice would you give small business owners (or entrepreneurs) looking to expand their business presence on Thumbtack?

Dusti: Like I just mentioned, bring your authentic self to your business. In the end, people are hiring YOU and the experience they have with YOU is what matters. But, if we want to get down to the nitty-gritty of expanding on Thumbtack:

• Be sure you have a strong profile since this is the customer’s first interaction with you.
• Visit and revisit your targeting preferences often to make sure you are always getting the jobs you want to do.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate — and work those leads!
• Join our Pro Community where you’ll have a network of pros to lean on for support and ideas.

Interested in a career at Thumbtack? Learn more at thumbtack.com/careers.