Our Young Gun profile takes a look at some of the young talent across the advertising, adtech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles, people and companies across the buzzing industry.
Today we speak to Integral Ad Science customer success manager, ANZ, Katherine McVeity.
Time in current role/time at the company:
Nine months.
How long have you been in the industry?
Seven and a bit years.
How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
I started out at the university wanting to be a physiotherapist, so I guess you could say it wasn’t always my plan to get into advertising or the adtech space specifically. Once I was in, I was so excited by how quickly everything changes and here I am, nearly eight years later.
Who is your right-hand person?
I am inspired daily by how hard my colleagues work; they play such a crucial role in why I enjoy what I do. For the guidance I receive on a regular basis, it’s big kudos to my manager, Chanel Barta, who has really inspired me to be the best version of myself both personally and professionally.
What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
Change, change and more change! Digital advertising is constantly disrupting and transforming, which makes for exciting times for the industry practitioners. Working in the ad tech space exposes one to in-depth nuances of the digital advertising ecosystem, which gives practitioners more informed and holistic approach when advising clients on how to put their best foot forward when navigating digital landscape.
And the biggest challenge?
Change! While change is exciting and presents a great learning opportunity, it also makes it difficult to always stay “in the know” with the latest news, views, trends and of course the evolving industry parlance.
Whose job have you set your sights on in the future?
Even though I have only been in my current role for nine months, I definitely have a desire to keep pushing myself to be better and grow to a more senior role within the business. I would love to lead a team, empower them and support them to achieve their goals- this for me, will be the most fulfilling aspect of becoming a people manager.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
Typically if I am looking for inspiration, it means I am either burnt out or looking for an extra challenge. I love to completely switch off (which I will admit is harder in this day and age of WFH), that means turning off my computer and physically putting it away for the day. Once I have switched off, getting out into nature or exercising helps me to, 1) Identify what kind of inspiration I need, and 2) Enables me to think more clearly about the steps I need to take in order to get my inspiration back.
My favourite advert is:
It’s a Big Ad…. None other than the ‘The Big Ad by Carlton Draught’, I think it came out back in 2005. The fact that me and my mates are still singing it and quoting it nearly 16 years later is a real testament to the people who helped script, design & film the big ad!
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I love watching cricket. I’m obsessed with the game and a true fan of the game! I enjoy all formats of cricket, and yes, I’ve watched five days of the test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In five years' time I'll be:
If I was asked this question 18 months ago, it would have been a simple answer – managing a team of media young-guns and high achievers! Things aren’t so simple anymore, one of the benefits of COVID is that it has normalized flexible working. Now that we have opportunities to work from literally anywhere, traditional team management will change and develop (much like this industry we all work in!). I am excited to see how businesses progress and normalize remote working.
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