Women in Leadership: One Marketer’s Career Path to Management

Looking back on her career journey, Stephanie says getting your foot in the door is the first step toward success. “Early on, there’s a lot of talking yourself out of things,” she says. “I thought if I didn’t have a tech background, no one in tech would hire me. But I know now that no employer expects you to meet all job criteria.” Stephanie credits her sister as a great mentor who always challenged her to put her name in the hat. “Once you take the leap, it’s much easier to jump around and you’ll quickly see how your transferable skills can be leveraged,” she says.

Starting out

Stephanie started her career in the real estate world — taking on roles in everything from financing, consulting, and development to sales and marketing. She learned that she really liked the marketing side of the business, but then the recession came, and real estate took a hit. So, Stephanie enrolled in business school for more formal training in marketing, management, and leadership. “I knew I eventually wanted to break into the Bay Area tech scene, so I accepted a summer internship with Groupon, where I was first introduced to paid marketing and media,” she says.

Transitioning into tech

Coming out of business school, Stephanie looked for tech jobs and landed a Growth Marketing role at Zillow in Seattle. “This felt like a natural next step because it was close to the real estate world that I knew so well,” she says. Eight years later, she ran all of Zillow’s paid marketing. However, Stephanie felt ready for a change and was excited to bring her expertise to a new job. She has been at Thumbtack for two-and-a-half years now, leading the company’s Growth Marketing efforts, where she and her team are responsible for driving demand growth and acquiring new customers across different channels, including paid marketing (media, TV, streaming, paid social), partnerships, and lifecycle management.

From paid marketing guru to people manager

By the time Stephanie left Zillow, she was managing a team of 40 people, and at Thumbtack, she oversees a team of about 20. “In the beginning, you become an expert in your area, and eventually you need to hire more people,” she says. Becoming a first-time manager was hard work, but she found support in talking to other new managers, meeting with established leaders in the company, and attending leadership workshops. “I’m always adding onto my management skills,” she says. “It’s a lifelong evolution.”

Advancing your career

If there’s one piece of advice Stephanie has for anyone looking to advance their career and move into a leadership role, it’s to use your network. “You have more resources than you think — leverage that more than any other forum,” she says. “You can read and research as much as you want, but talking to people about what you want can lead to so many different opportunities.” She credits her sister for teaching her how valuable networking and relationship-building is. “Earlier in my career, I shied away from this, but now I understand how much people matter and that you never know where a connection will lead,” she says.

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