To celebrate International Women’s Day, we decided to spotlight a few of the inspiring women we have working at Contentsquare. We have such amazing women contributing to every area of the company, from product development to design, via customer success and marketing — women are represented in all departments. On this important day, we wanted to reflect on their careers and who or what they turned to for inspiration along the way.
How did you end up working in tech?
Having graduated with a business degree I never saw myself being able to break into the world of marketing technology without knowing how to code a page or make a website. I think this is the biggest roadblock- working in tech is more than coding, and everyone should know this!
Katie Wallshein – Customer Enablement Manager (New York)
I was always interested in technology, and because I’m very competitive I ended up spending 5 years in the army and getting a degree in Telecom Engineering. The path was not an easy one — from 130 in the first year (only 25 women) we finished 35, and we were only 2 women to graduate.
Switching from a very tech role as a Telecommunications Engineer to Digital Marketing made a lot of sense since I had always wanted to merge both passions: tech and marketing.
Cynthia Dubourd – Head of Digital Marketing (Paris)
Tell us about one mentor.
My grandmother was a great early example of the impact a working mother can have on those around her. She was active in shaping our family at home and in improving the world through work outside her home.
Aimee Stone Munsell – CMO (Global)
Out of college, I was lucky to begin my career working for an inspirational, empowering and empathetic female manager. I was even luckier to connect with her after many years that lead me to my current role at Contentsquare, working for her again.
Melissa Aronson – Customer Success Manager (New York)
When I was a design intern, the senior designer in my team would set up 1:1 sessions with me every morning before the start of the day. She would give me these simple but fun exercises to push my mind and creativity. I still find these exercises incredibly useful today and hope to pass them on to future mentees!
Laura Bourne – Design Lead (London)
One of the 4 founders of a company I previously worked at was an inspiring businessman (probably the best I’ve ever known!) who taught me big principles, which I like to live by every day, like “people buy from people” or “perception is reality.” He was key to my carrier path, believing in me even more than I did myself, and pushing me to raise my own expectations. He was never on time, maybe because he always had one foot in the future.
Sonia Ouaksel – Customer Experience Director (Paris)
What is one piece of advice that has stuck with you?
You can have it all, you just can’t have it all at the same time. It is OK to prioritize different things at different times. It is even likely you’ll discover ways developing one area of positively impacts another. When you play the long game, it isn’t a zero-sum game.
Aimee Stone Munsell – CMO (Global)
You deserve to be where you are. I know so many people including myself who struggle with “imposter syndrome”. You always need to remember that there is no way you could have possibly got to this point without a ton of hard work.
Laura Bourne – Design Lead (London)
My dad used to tell me “Learn something new every day.” That simple advice has kept me eager to learn and broaden my horizons, eventually leading me into a SaaS world I knew nothing about. Now that I’m here, I know I’ll always be learning new things.
Meredith Golden – Sales Director (New York)
Never care what other people say or how other people view you. But be kind to everyone. You can love and appreciate other people and yet not let their opinions of you affect how you see yourself.
Lexie Su – Data Analyst (New York)
*Don’t put your hands on the door: you might get your fingers pinched very hard.
Every kid raised in Paris has read this advice thousands of times! It might sound strange, but when I’m asked about the best advice I received, I can only think of things I was told not do. I guess the reason behind this is that I come from a very strict, patriarchal family, and I was taught through constraints rather than advice. The positive outcome of this is that I had to be creative to bend the rules and obtain what was not “for me.” And of course, like almost every person, I love to cross the line. So yes, definitely, one of my biggest motivators is to be told, “this is not for you”, “you cannot have/do that.”
Sonia Ouaksel – Customer Experience Director (Paris)
What have you learned from your past and current experiences?
My 5 years experience in the army actually gave me a lot of the work methodology that I use each day — rigor, attention to detail, and most of all, long-term planning. Also some of the core values I try to honor every day: team spirit and a real sense of responsibility for my actions.
Cynthia Dubourd – Head of Digital Marketing (Paris)
I’m very fortunate to work with a team that empowers women in tech — whether in marketing, customer success, r&d or sales, everyone has the same opportunity to be successful which is very encouraging.
Katie Wallshein – Customer Enablement Manager (New York)
What is one social organization to benefit women we should know about?
Good Shepherd Services because they enable economic empowerment for women and families around the world.
Aimee Stone Munsell – CMO (Global)
I’ve always been a fan of the Girl Scouts. Growing up with such a great community that instills leadership and resourcefulness in young girls has really shaped me to be the confident woman I am today. They’re always supporting women in new roles, and today they promote Girls in STEM as one of their main initiatives. It makes me proud to have been a scout.
Meredith Golden – Sales Director (New York)
World Pulse, Equality Now and Girls Not Brides are three incredible advocacy networks fighting for the rights of girls and women around the world.
Sarah Francoise – Content Writer (New York)