Can you tell us about your role at Catchy?
I sit on our leadership team and support our wider strategy initiatives. I oversee everything from research and insight generation to creative, go-to-market, and channel strategy.
Can you tell us about your background and how you got into strategy?
I didn’t set out to be a “strategist” but I’ve worn almost every hat in the agency world and was always drawn to helping people find solutions to their challenges. I enjoy creative strategy the most, but learned that in order to show an idea could work, you needed to tell a data-driven story. That was my entry into full-stack strategy—it was kind of like adding tools to my toolbelt. I would learn a new skill here, gain a new insight or perspective there, and before I knew it I had picked up the tools I needed to work across industries, audiences, and verticals.
What initially drew you to the developer marketing space?
My dad is a software engineer so my entire life was kind of flavored by software development and software engineering—it feels like a very natural space for me. Developer marketing is highly nuanced, balancing creativity with direct messages, while still offering room to try new techniques, channels, and styles. Developers aren’t afraid to tell you what they think, so you get immediate feedback on what works and what doesn’t, which helps you quickly iterate on and improve your work.
How do you balance creativity and analytical thinking as a strategist?
I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. While analytics give you the data around what’s happening, whether with the audience, the campaigns, or the industry—you can’t do anything with that data unless you bring a creative approach to the table.
In a sense, analytics are the ingredients and creativity is the recipe. The fun part about being a strategist is being able to explore new ingredients and different recipes to bake ever-more-interesting cakes and baked goods. It’s not really balance as much as it’s an appreciation for learning about each side of the equation and understanding how they work together to produce an output.