The Year 1ne's

In her Year 1ne, Lauren launched Lauren Galeana Social Media (LG:SM) a social media marketing consulting business for professional speakers. She went out on her own after working over six years at The Spotlight Agency, Canada’s largest speaker bureau. 

Some of the things that Lauren and I discuss include the origin story for her consulting business, why she focused on this niche of professional speakers, battling Imposter Syndrome, and things she’s learned along the way.

• Connect with Lauren Galeana on LinkedIn | Instagram | Website
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes

In his Year 1ne, Aadhar’s been working as an Account Coordinator, Brand & Social at FleishmanHillard HighRoad (FHR), a global communications agency that’s part of the Omnicom Group.  His dream brands to work for are personality-driven, embrace the unconventional and have an eccentric vibe. 

Some of the things that Aadhar and Blair discuss include if personality is more important than knowledge, how he loves his all-encompassing social marketing role at FHR; and, why he doesn’t care about a job description. 

• Connect with Aadhar Mehta on LinkedIn | Instagram | Website 
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn 
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes 

In his Year 1ne, Meet's working as a Marketing Automation and Operations Specialist at Questrade Financial Group where he uses client segmentation personas, customer journeys, and data strategies to plan and execute a multi-segment email marketing strategy designed to acquire, qualify and convert prospects.

Some of the things that Meet and Blair discuss include the strategic marketing mindset needed to work in marketing automation, how he used a B2B marketing funnel strategy to get hired; and, why he chose marketing over engineering as a career.

• Connect with Meet Desai on LinkedIn
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes

In her Year 1ne, Sophia’s been working at dentsu X, a global full-service branding and marketing agency. She started on a co-op placement as a Media Coordinator which became a full-time job when she graduated from a postgraduate digital marketing program, and she’s since earned a promotion to Paid Social Analyst. 

Some of the things that Sophia and Blair discuss include the work she’s doing in paid social advertising; how not networking can still get you a job; and, deciding to move to Canada as an international student. 

• Connect with Sophia Ershova on LinkedIn 
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn 
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes 

In his Year 1ne, Junior’s working as Manager, Partnerships & Programming at Wealthsimple Foundation, a charity focused on financial literacy that’s connected to Wealthsimple, a financial technology (“Fintech”) company.

Some of the things that Junior and Blair discuss include what makes partnerships a marketing function; the importance of human skills in this role; and, how finding a job is hard work. 

• Connect with Junior Brempong on LinkedIn 
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn 
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes 

In her Year 1ne, Tionna’s worked as a Community Manager at two different social media marketing agencies, Pinch Social and Viral Nation where she is currently doing her thing.

Some of the things that Tionna and Blair discuss include a day in the life of a community manager; what makes LinkedIn a favourite social network of ours; and, why feeling uncomfortable in your job can be great for your development. 

• Connect with Tionna Salmon on LinkedIn 
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn 
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes

In her Year 1ne, Stephanie’s had a few roles. She’s currently working as an Assistant Media Planner at Wavemaker Canada, that’s part of GroupM and WPP, a Top 5 global media network. Prior to this Stephanie consulted to Waterloo Public Library and Communal Lunch Project doing content marketing and social media management.

Some of the things that Stephanie and Blair discuss include getting three different jobs in three very different ways in her year one, how being genuine is the best form of networking; and, what it’s like working in BIG media where your company is involved in 1 of every 3 ads being delivered at any time around the world.

• Connect with Stephanie Lee on LinkedIn
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes

In his Year 1ne, Lekh’s been working as a Programmatic Account Specialist at Publicis Media, a full-service media agency where he manages programmatic display advertising campaigns for global brands. 

Some of the things that Lekh and Blair discuss include a 101 lesson on programmatic advertising, how to get started working in programmatic advertising (hint: free certifications help); and, why the job search can be approached like a B2B marketing funnel. 

• Connect with Lekh Puthran on LinkedIn 
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn 
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes

In his Year 1ne, Ocean Wong has been working as an Account Coordinator at The Aber Group, a digital advertising agency where he manages paid advertising campaigns for charity, not-for-profit and small/medium business clients.

Some of the things that Ocean and Blair discuss include overcoming perfectionist tendencies, working in a small vs. large advertising agency; and, why three heads are better than one. 

• Connect with Ocean Wong on LinkedIn
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes

In their Year 1ne as a Digital Content Director in the arts and culture industry, Elle Marie has worked with clients from Diplo to The Tragically Hip on marketing communication strategies and content creation to bring them closer to their fans online and on social networks. 

Some of the things that Elle and Blair discuss include fighting all the battles and overcoming rejection to pursue the career of their dreams, knowing when to make a hard decision to let things die; and, the critical importance of living to attain to a value(s) vs. a goal(s)

• Connect with Elle Marie on LinkedIn | Website
• Connect with Blair Smith on LinkedIn
• Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for guest information, past episodes and show notes