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 Quantcast technical account manager APAC Larissa Parry.
Time at the company:
I have been with Quantcast eight months now.
How long have you been in the industry?
Six years.
How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
I didn’t necessarily have a plan when I started out. I did a few unpaid internships during uni, then was really lucky to get a job as a digital exec at an indie agency close to Wollongong where I was the first employee!
Being the only employee at an indie agency meant I was able to get an understanding of almost everything in the digital advertising environment and I quickly found my calling in ad ops and programmatic advertising. I was incredibly lucky to learn from the two dedicated company owners who spent a lot of time on my development.
My move to Quantcast came after five years at the agency, and while I had no plans to end up at Quantcast at this stage in my career I couldn’t be happier. My role at Quantcast as technical account manager allows me to do all the things I love; some client contact, lots of troubleshooting and problem solving, ad operations and driving process in my team.
Who guides you day to day?
Lead technical account manager Sophie Whincop guides me every day, she guided my initial training with Quantcast and is a huge support with my day to day even if it is sometimes just quietly having lunch together on our work rooftop verandah. She is only a few years ahead of me in her career and inspires me daily in my work, social and home life.
What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
Although at times it can wear us out, I do love how fast paced it is, and how every problem is different. Problem solving is so rewarding and I love being in an industry with big problems, be it client, internal or global.
And the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge individuals face (rather than industry challenges which speaks for itself), is that we are required to be accessible at all times. When I was on the agency side, and now the adtech side, the demand on time from client stakeholders never decreases. It has been a huge challenge for me personally to set boundaries on when, where and how people can access me.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years, I still see myself at Quantcast, hopefully moving into more of a leadership/managerial role within the APAC team. I love training and managing people so I would love to move in that direction. I am a leaf in the wind however, and often find myself making lemonade out of any fruit that I am given.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
I look for inspiration in simplicity. What is the simplest and most effective way to do something?
My favourite advert is:
The Glass and a Half Full Cadbury ads from a few years ago, with the kids wiggling eyebrows, the gorilla playing the drums to Phil Collins, and the slow mo dogs sticking their heads out of a car window ads. They always made me smile.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
That’s a tough one as I am an extremely open book. People might not know that my biggest fears are faceless human figures and zombies. I don’t like the idea of a human not being a human, and I know it is entirely irrational!
In five years' time I'll be:
Hopefully living a bit closer to work as I have a one and a half hour commute from Wollongong at the moment which can be a bit tiring! As mentioned, I will hopefully be helping drive process and leadership in the APAC team, no matter what role I am in.
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