Career Corner

Doina Harris is the Chief Product Officer at Simon Data. She’s served as a strategic and transformative leader in technology and advertising with experience scaling operations and executing cross-functional transformations.

She has lived and worked in the United States and Europe for companies such as Salomon Smith Barney, McKinsey, Google, and AppNexus. She’s originally from Romania and received her bachelor’s and MBA from Harvard University.

Doina has two beautiful children and enjoys playing bridge and painting in her spare time.

In my conversation with Doina, we discuss:

·     How Simon Data has managed to stay connected during COVID-19 and how she’s personally adapted her leadership style.

·     How she uses The Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize her time.

·     The benefits of conducting a worst-case scenario exercise.

·     Her early days growing up in communist Romania and the impact her Grandfather had on her life.

·     How she learned to embrace and accept failure without letting it define her.

·     Why she transitioned from an industry she thought she’d always be in (finance) to technology

·     How she and her husband support each other’s careers while prioritizing parenting.

·     The difference between a sponsor and a mentor.

·     Giving and receiving feedback.

·     Why you should treat your career as a value investor vs. a hedge fund manager.

Doina is truly an amazing person and has had a huge impact on me personally. Enjoy this interesting and insightful conversation!

Helpful links:

• Doina's LinkedIn page
• The Eisenhower Matrix
• Tim Ferriss' fear-setting exercise: https://tim.blog/2017/05/15/fear-setting/

Thank you for listening. You can reach out to me on Twitter @jonathanmars

Ben Polidore is the Head of Risk & Execution at Atom Investors, LP. Prior to that, he was a Software Engineer at TriTek Solutions, the Head of Algorithmic Trading & Managing Director at ITG.

Ben lives in Austin, TX with his wife and two young girls.  He's a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and received his B.S. in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). In this conversation, my friend since 2nd grade and best man at my wedding discuss the following in this fun and intriguing conversation:

• Preserving through rejection
• Why procrastination isn’t as bad as you think
• How to advocate for higher compensation in a way that helps you and your manager 
• Why it’s actually easy to stand out 
• The impact of being disciplined and deliberate with your time
• Why it’s valuable to have career cycles (crop rotations)
• Empathizing with your manager and why he/she probably thinks you’re fine
• Why the future is bright because of millennials
• His love of building junior teams
• Those early days of dial-up internet in the 90s
• His take on the Federal Reserve’s actions in 2020
• How reading fuels his career (Fiction vs. Nonfiction)
• His philosophical #1 career takeaway and the circle of life!

You can reach out to Ben with questions and comments via email at [email protected] or via LinkedIn here.

In this episode, I chat with my pal Alice Jones who is the Chief Financial Officer at Yoshi in Nashville, TN. Yoshi is doing some really cool things in the gas and automotive delivery and service space.

Originally from the Bay Area, Alice has spent several years in Switzerland and earned her Bachelor's degree in Economics from Princeton University. Alice has also worked at IBM, Notch Partners, and AppNexus. 

In our fun and informative conversation, we discuss:

• The two criteria she requires for every job
• Working through mental hurdles and why you should believe you’re qualified for that job you're interested in
• The energy war for automobiles and the future of delivering power to auto consumers
• The differences between growing up in the U.S. and Switzerland
• How and why she switched from studying electrical engineering to economics at Princeton.
• The one thing no one talks about regarding engineering programs
• Why working in Operations is underrated
• Her attraction to solving problems
• The importance of asking why over and over
• Why you should lean into what comes naturally for you

You can connect with Alice on LinkedIn and learn more Yoshi here.

Thanks for listening to Career Corner! I'd love to hear from you!

Pablo Dominguez is a Go-to-Market Executive with experience in leading and transforming global teams specializing in sales and customer success. He’s also worked at Avaya, ADP, The Alexander Group, and AppNexus.

Born in Mexico and raised in the Lone Star State. Pablo received his BBA from Texas in MIS and International Economics and his MBA from the Stern School of Business at NYU. 

Pablo is an absolute legend and we discuss the following in our conversation:

·     Building a team from ground zero

·     Driving sales

·     The importance of having fun at work

·     Focusing on Disney Magic

·     His A+B+C+D leadership philosophy

·     Getting to the so what when managing up

·     Why his hobbies fuel his work

·     His thought process on choosing ADP over Microsoft

·     And much, much more

Remember, You are the CEO of Your Career. 

Links:

You can connect with Pablo on LinkedIn.

For more career insights, feel free to check out JonathanMars.com. You can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook if you have any feedback on how to make Career Corner better.

Thank you for listening.

Welcome to Career Corner where it’s my belief that You Are the CEO of Your Career. In Episode #3, I chat with Jenny Līkansis. Jenny has worked in modeling and fashion, technology, and media in a variety of capacities. In this conversation, we cover a lot of ground including:

·     Handling conflict at work

·     Leadership

·     The unintended benefits of networking & mentorship

·     Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

·     Why she “keeps receipts”

·     The importance of trying new things

·     And much, much more

You can connect with Jenny on LinkedIn and Instagram.

For more career insights, feel free to check out JonathanMars.com or I'd love your feedback on Career Corner. You can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook.

JonathanMars.com

In our second episode, I interview Megan Arend who is easily one of the most talented people I’ve worked with. Megan is currently a Senior Product Manager at Nautilus Labs where she participates in their mission to advance the efficiency of ocean commerce.

In our discussion, Megan and I cover a lot of ground and she offers great career advice around:

·     How to advocate for yourself by asking for what you want

·     The importance of taking career chances even when it’s scary

·     The significance of persistence, but also knowing when to walk away.

·     Doing more with less.

·     The burden of leadership.

·     The importance of empathy in your career

·     Her morning routine and how to get your brain firing on all cylinders before work

·     Her answer to an important question most tech companies care about

And much, much more.

You can connect with Megan on Instagram Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can read more about Nautilus Labs here.

If you have any comments, questions, or feedback on Career Corner, please reach out to me (Jonathan) on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn. If you're interested in some of my career coaching services, check out my website here.

Thank you for listening!