It’s Amazing What Can Happen When You Just Say ‘Yes’

Read about one woman’s inspiring story, from youth training scheme to overseeing the UK arm of a global tech company.  Interview with Emma Newman, UK Country Manager at PubMatic.

How Did Your Career Start?

I was planning on being a vet but life unfortunately took a curve and I ended up having to leave school at 16 and get a job.  Despite passing all of my O levels, I was qualified to do nothing, had no practical skills and decided to apply for a 6-week administration course (Youth Training Scheme) at the local college.  I ended up working for a local insurance broker and by 18, I was running their personal lines insurance brokerage.

Back in those days though, I was the wrong sex and hadn’t gone to the right school to progress, so started to get a little bored.  I moved companies, got involved in sales and marketing and realised I liked engaging more with people than paper.

How Did You Get Into Working At Start-Ups and Specifically MSN? 

After several role changes ranging from horticulture to telecoms, I got a call from a contact who was a recruiter, asking if I wanted to work for a start-up.  I loved working for start-ups as you could get your hands dirty, muck in and do everything.  Anyway, I had 4 to 5 interviews for this new role and after the 5^th, I said to the interviewer, ‘listen don’t take this the wrong way, but this is an admin job and if you don’t know that you want to hire me by now, you probably never will.’  I was offered the job before I left the building.

I didn’t know what MSN was at the time.  The recruiter sent the contract over on Microsoft letter head.  I said to her, ‘you’ve sent the wrong contract over,’ and she replied, ‘what do you think the ‘M’ in ‘MSN’ stands for?’

What Was It Like Working For Microsoft?

MSN was brilliant; great fun, great culture.  They recognised some kind of potential in me and funded my CIM diploma, allowing me to move from an admin role to a marketing role.  I ran events, launched products, managed corporate communications, and worked with the Sales teams.  I ended up working directly for the General Manager of Sales in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) as his Business Manager (Chief of Staff).

Every time an opportunity came up, I just said yes.  However, after 10 years, the culture had changed a lot and in order to learn and progress at MSN, I would have had to move to the US, which I didn’t want to do as my son was just starting school, so I took the hard decision to leave MSN.

What Was The Next Step In Your Career? 

I got a phone call from an ex-MSN colleague who had moved to AOL, asking me to become their Director of Operations.  I asked myself, ‘did I want to walk away from the safety of an organisation that I knew really well?’  A few people thought I was mad but I decided to take the risk and move on.

It was fantastic and I learnt a lot.  After about a year running the operations, my marketing background came to the fore and I was asked to combine and manage the whole marketing function.  Then AOL bought The Huffington Post and things started to get interesting as Arianna Huffington announced that in the May of that year that we were launching a UK version of the Huffington Post, that summer!  I was way out of my comfort zone but thought, ‘how difficult can it be?’

We expected it to be a soft launch as it’s usually quiet over the summer.  However, the newspaper hacking scandal broke and everyone started reading the HuffPost as it was our lead story for most of the summer.  Thankfully the launch went well.

Then I got a call from a head hunter and I moved to Clear Channel, an out of home media owner who were transforming from traditional paper and paste to digital and thought my digital background could help this transition.  In addition to being my first non-purely digital role, it was my first time on a board.  Again, I was learning as I went along and out of my comfort zone.

Where Are You Now?

I wanted to get back into digital and understood that the future of buying and selling digital advertising was programmatic.  I met with some of the team at PubMatic, a few of whom were ex-MSN’ers so it felt like I was going home.

After six weeks in the role, I had a moment!  I spoke to the VP and said, ‘everything I thought I knew about programmatic is wrong, I have no idea what I’m doing!’  His advice was to not panic (everybody went through this stage), give it six more weeks and everything would be fine; and he was right.

After a year I was promoted to VP of International Marketing (everything outside of North America) and a year later was asked to run the UK business.  Que, major panic (again), so I called a trusted friend who told me to, ‘take the job, you know more than you realise.’  I also got a lovely message from the CEO who pointed out that I was in the best position possible to make the move from marketing to commercial – a company I knew, a product I knew, a team I knew and a boss who knew me, this finally convinced me to take the job.

Let’s Talk Confidence

I still have a massive crisis of confidence.  I have this thing sitting on my shoulder saying, ‘what do you think you are doing, you shouldn’t be doing that.’ Sometimes it gets the better of me and I’ve been known to have a cry in the loo!  Something that no management book (probably designed for me) would approve off but you know what, sometimes it’s ok to say I care about this so much and I’m frustrated or upset.

Confidence wise, I think you have to say yes though and ask yourself, ‘what is the worst that can happen?’

What Would You Have Told Your Younger Self?

To worry less.  I still have a tendency to over analyse stuff but I am working hard in trying to recognise when I’m doing this and I tell myself that whatever comes next, nothing that terrible is going to happen.

I did always say yes to things but then was I was often filled with anxiety.  Again, there’s no point in this.

What Do You Wish You Had Known When You Started Out?

How important a network is.  It’s important to build a support network around yourself; people who are going to be your voice, who will champion you and challenge you too.

Women, I think, believe building a network is a waste of time or self-indulgent.  Men do it well.  We shouldn’t underestimate the value of doing this.  I meet my support network every 6-8 weeks.  We talk, drink wine and share what we are hearing, ‘there’s this great job I’ve seen that you would be great at etc.’  It’s massively important.

What Has Helped You Get To This Point?

Firstly, having personal support (from family and friends), having a baby at an organisation that was very supportive (and forward thinking – 6 months fully paid maternity leave was unheard of 14 years ago) and a life outside of work.

I have a natural curiosity about people.  I’m constantly talking to people.

Don’t underestimate the value of the people you work with and who work for you.  Treat them in a way that enables them to do their best work.

And What About Me-Time

Now that my son needs me less during the week (I don’t need to rush home for bathtime anymore) if I’m not careful I can find myself in the office until late.  So I try and ensure that I have engagements scheduled that force me to leave at a reasonable time.  If I’m not working out with my personal trainer, there’s a good chance I’m at the theatre (working in Soho helps) or enjoying some great food.

Weekends are for family and friends (a lot of food and wine gets consumed – there’s a theme here) but I’ve also been known on a Sunday to take myself off for a long hike – as I tend to be surrounded by people most of the time, the ability to have some quiet time to clear my head and plan for the upcoming week is vital for my sanity.

Having a family that have their own lives and interests means that I can be a little bit selfish with my ‘me’ time but I still feel massively guilty, which used to cause me great angst but which I’ve learnt to accept is just part and parcel of life.

Thanks for your time, Emma.