Emily Wilson joins WIBcast this week to talk about her career as a Product Growth Manager at Meta. We discuss the growth of platforms such as Meta and Google as advertising tools and the culture at big tech firms. This is a great episode to learn about what goes on behind doors at the tech companies that have changed the world. 

Emily studied English at Boston College, giving her a broad but vague sense of potential career paths. After her junior year of college, she accepted a role at a startup called SocialCode, which would become a pioneer in social media advertising. At SocialCode, Emily worked closely with all of Meta's products to help clients advertise and with employees at Meta directly.

In 2016, she joined the Meta, then Facebook, team directly. Now, as a product growth manager, Emily thinks about how to build tools for advertisers on Meta. We focus a lot on tech firms' capabilities from the perspective of both an advertiser and end user and compare how tech platforms compete with each other for business.

Emily also shares a look into the culture of the tech industry. She describes Meta's massive campus in California and its office in New York. With perks such as complimentary meals and coffee, a laundry service, and flexible working conditions, the environment is part of the reason Emily has stayed at Facebook for so long. On that note, we talk about why it is hard for companies to keep young talent in one place. Emily mentions that hopping from one company to the next is a methodological way to get a raise, but by staying at Facebook, she has genuinely integrated into the culture and become an expert in her practice. 

Emily emphasizes the importance of a liberal arts education, even in the tech field, and shares insight on how to stay curious and ever-evolving at work!