In this monthly column with NGEN, the MFA’s training program for media professionals with less than five years of experience, VMO’s Jayde Mavrik outlines her journey into the industry and the power of getting involved.
I’m passionate about my job and the industry I work in, but that wasn’t always the case. Before I landed in media, I was working in an industry I didn’t love.
After graduating from uni and backpacking overseas for a few months, I hatched a plan to return to Croatia to help run a new hostel – looking back now, I could never do that! – so I took a job as a receptionist at my mum’s real estate office to earn money for the trip back.
While I never imagined myself working in real estate, when a property manager role opened up, I couldn’t say no to more money! Two years later I still didn’t love real estate, but a new opportunity arose, and I moved into commercial property. It was a big risk moving from my comfortable job into an almost completely commission-only role, and then… we had a worldwide pandemic. I struggled for a while but quickly found my feet – and I started to convince myself that I really enjoyed what I was doing. (Spoiler: I didn’t.)
But one thing leads to another, and working in commercial property got me where I am today. It was my experience and skills in sales that opened the door to a job I never even knew existed – selling advertising space for cinemas at Val Morgan!
As someone who is extremely passionate about all things creative – from music to movies and fashion – this was a dream. I honestly didn’t think there were jobs out there that would fit everything I was after, using the skills I had developed over the previous five years, selling something that was actually cool and I could genuinely be passionate about, and working with a team I love spending time with every day.
The thing I struggled with though was a case of Imposter Syndrome. While the job was hitting the mark in almost all areas, my lack of experience in media made me feel a little out of my depth. Not so much from the sales side of things, but from the small-industry-where–everyone-knows-everyone-and-has-worked-everywhere side of things. Having not worked at a media agency as most of my teammates had before moving media owner-side, I felt like I really lacked that connection to my clients.
My way of overcoming this? I put my hand up for as many things as I could to network and get to know people on both a professional and social level.
In less than a year I was on the NGEN committee and the Brisbane Advertising Association committee and I was volunteering to help at events both externally and internally. Within no time, I was both closer and friendlier with a lot of the clients I worked with and I felt like I’d been in the industry for years!
In just over a year, I was promoted to an account manager on the VMO team and chair of the NGEN committee and I had participated in almost every event the industry had to offer, including UnLtd, OMA, Sony Foundation, various internal agency events and so much more.
Not to mention, absolutely pestering my mentors at work daily with questions and requests for explanations on how things work on the agency side or publisher side, to gain as much knowledge as possible. All this has given me so much more confidence and drive in my job.
I guess the point I’m making is this: working in an industry and for a company that you have a genuine passion for will drive you to places you would have never gotten in a job where your care factor isn’t as high. The best risk I’ve ever taken!
So here’s what I learned:
- Put your hand up for everything you can; you will meet so many people in so many different parts of the industry that will have a positive impact on your learning and your career.
- Ask questions. I couldn’t even tell you how many questions my manager Sam gets from me on a daily basis. (I’m sure he regrets putting our desks next to each other.)
- If you want to know something about a certain part of the industry, figure out the best person to give you this information and reach out to them. Most people are happy to have a chat with you!
- Be more assertive in what you like and don’t like about your job and work out if there is a way you can improve those areas you don’t like as much.
- And finally, if you have investigated every corner and tried everything you can to find passion in your job but you just can’t take a risk and find something that you are truly passionate about.
Shout out to Sam Staples, Gill Black and Caro Wearne for all their guidance over the past two and a bit years to get me to where I am now!
Check out the previous Inside NGEN here.
