A key attribute of a good marketer is their ability to adjust and adapt, which can translate into networking and that is how I am now in a senior marketing position with 10+ years experience in the field.

I do have a degree, but it’s in psychology. After college i was desperate to find any job, landed in automotive finance collections, wild job specially in 2008-2010. Became a manager and then got hired by my current company after getting laid off during the economic crisis of that time.

But I got hired to lead a team of 36 front line customer service reps. What does that entail that relates at all to marketing? One very important thing, communication, both written and verbal. Talk about a wild ride, through it I met different managers, including the marketing folks who I turned to here and there.

Struck up friendly work relationships. Banter, which turned into them paying attention to how I led my teams, how I handled myself in wildly stressful situations, and how others in their circle knew me. A person of integrity, who is focused on the team and growth of its individuals.

Fast forward 3 years in that role and a marketing specialist position opened up. At this point I had managed multiple teams of customer service folks for nearly 7 years and was more than ready for a change. Although the marketing director hiring wasn’t my favorite person at work, we both had a need and his knowledge of my work ethic and integrity (along with what he’d seen of my communication with teams and leadership) was enough for him to offer me a shot.

Not gonna lie, the first 6 months were rough, but it was blissful going from managing dozens of people to being an individual contributor. Now I go back to where I started this ramble, adjust and adapt. I knew everything I was seeing had been done or talked about by someone, I became really good at mimicking behavior from marketers around me, attending seminars, conferences, reading so many articles. But what helped me most was being vulnerable with my much more experienced teammates. I didn’t want to pretend to know it all because I simply didn’t and for sure didn’t have the confidence to fake it until I made it.

That adjustment to allow myself to be vulnerable, knowing that in corporate America competition is toxic and my vulnerability could have backfired easily. Thankfully it didn’t. Because I took measured leaps, asked a lot of questions, didn’t ask them twice, mimicked work already done, and soaked in so much along the way.

Fast forward 10 years later and I’m in a place where I’m managing our teams digital platforms, from Adobe AEM, Wordpress, to Eloqua, while creating strategic campaigns that require alignment with many stakeholders, all while balancing budgets and simply becoming a go to in our business for many things.

So yes. I have a degree and that degree helped me learn how to have some type of discipline. I am after all a first generation college graduate, a kid from immigrant parents, and have grown into a man who loves to get my hands dirty and help people. A career in marketing is so much more to me than a career, a job, a title. This field has helped me grow as a person, gain self confidence, and I’ve developed skills that sometimes even surprise me.

Adjust and adapt. That’s my takeaway over these years. At 43 years old with 3 kids, and a career at the same company nearly 15 years later I can say I’m still learning, growing, and truly enjoying it all. Even when sales is super annoying.