Work Diaries: VP of Brand Marketing has a special connection with upcoming Pride special
Jun 24, 2021 – minute read
Mornings in Ojai
Monday:
6:00 a.m: I wake early to start my morning with my daily meditation - an opportunity to reset and take the week, head on. This allows me to reflect on the weekend’s events, whether it was a trip to my farm in Ojai or hanging with my daughter, Phoebe, while transitioning my mental space into the work ahead of me. Then it’s coffee, a dog walk and my morning routine of reading “Simple Abundance” as part of my gratitude practice.
8:00 a.m: I lead marketing across Brand, Media, Culture & Trends, YouTube Originals, Creative Studio & Sports verticals, so on any given day, I’m spread across multiple projects with varying creative and strategic needs. My goal is to see our work from 30,000 feet to create throughlines and larger opportunities across various projects, campaigns, partnerships and more. And with so many meetings, efficiency is key. Every Monday, I start with a YouTube Marketing Leads meeting to get the download on all the important information that enables me and my team to effectively tackle the week ahead.
10:00 a.m: Now that COVID restrictions are lightening up and I was fortunate to receive both vaccination shots, I am finally able to reschedule my annual physical from 2020! So the next hour and a half, I spent being poked and prodded and drawing over 20 vials of blood to ensure my health remains top of mind. A plan for wellness is adopted by my doctor and myself.
12:00 p.m: My next meeting of the day (and most of my meetings for the rest of the day) is to discuss our second half of the year strategy for Shorts, YouTube’s new product that enables our creators to produce short form content in addition to videos on demand and live. One of the things I admire most about our company is our ability to continuously innovate to provide our creators, artists and more a complete suite of opportunities to create content and build businesses.
6:00 p.m: Then it’s time to meet my trainer. My workouts are woven into my mental health, so though this time is important for me, physically, I see it as part two of my meditation. Just a bit more sweaty.
Today’s Highlight: Monday nights, Phoebe and I have a standing tradition of ordering from our local Japanese restaurant. I’ll walk and pick it up, then we’ll watch anything from “Friends” to “Lava on the Floor. Before we call it a night, we walk our cavapoo puppy, Sawyer, and then climb into bed with a book (Me: “The Great Influenza” and Phoebe: “Amulet Series”)
WFH with my favorite GVC partner
Tuesday:
9:00 a.m: Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are my days to make Phoebe’s school lunch and handle her drop off, all while juggling my first meeting of the day. With COVID rules, school drop-off times are staggered, so I often take this meeting from the car. A good, old-fashioned phone call is not overrated.
12:00 p.m: I attend our YT Marketing Staff meeting where we continue our conversation around support of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. We have a powerful opportunity for our work to not only drive impact, but create change. In today’s meeting, our AAPI team members shared their stories. I listened to their fear, their pain. As a team, we connected in a visceral way as we relearned how to not only show up for each other, but the entire world at a time when we needed that human connection most.
I like to think of YouTube as a global campfire that unites people to share their stories and find their tribe. This year, the world’s experience was both heartbreaking and profoundly humanizing. To better understand the human -- to better understand myself and my team -- I became a student of the world and of culture, and therefore a better marketer and leader.
3:00 p.m: I’m being honored with the MultiChannel News Wonder Woman Award, an industry recognition that I’m both humbled and excited to receive. I work on my speech as I try to eat a late lunch.
Today’s Highlight: Every Tuesday night, I have continued my COVID Family Night with Phoebe and her friends from school and their families. We take turns cooking and enjoying listening as our girls talk about the events from school that day. Any non-urgent emails or calls will have to wait until after dinner. I cherish this uninterrupted time with my daughter and our bubble that has helped me survive the isolation of the pandemic.
Wednesday:
10:00 a.m: Today’s calendar includes three major review meetings. The first is with our Creator Council - or team of cross-functional leads - where we review and make major decisions to better shape our creator community.
1:00 p.m.: Next is our YouTube Originals (YTO) pipeline meeting where we review all our YTO projects coming up with our Chief Business Officer, Robert Kyncl. Our YTO team is as creative as they are impactful, and one project we have coming up is our Pride special, hosted by Elton John and David Furnish, Demi Lovato, Olly Alexander with Mawaan Rizwan, Trixie Mattel, and Daniel Howell to support the LGBTQ+ community by raising funds for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, The Trevor Project and akt. As a queer person, this event is a bit more personal. I remember being a young, closeted girl growing up in the middle of Texas, struggling to identify a community that looked and felt - and loved - like me. I hope this live stream reaches all of the young people who need it the most.
We believe that YouTube has given rise to a global and diverse set of voices, perspectives, genders and I am proud to work at a company that believes in its mission - to give everyone a voice and show them the world. We continue to do this in the darkest corners and brightest lights, bringing each pocket of the world a little bit closer, working with leaders around the world on vaccination efforts, support for our AAPI and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as mental health initiatives and so much more.
Today’s Highlight: I see my trainer three times a week to release the day’s stress. I find that a solid, sweaty workout will help me unlock any mental blocks. Working out is part of my mental health routine.
Thursday:
8:00 a.m: I have a very close friend who was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer 2.5 years ago. She is also part of our YouTube family. Forever a fighter, I have had the privilege of accompanying her to chemo treatments throughout this journey. And while COVID forced her to have to do chemo sans visitors, I am still the designated driver and always make sure there is an inspiring playlist ready to lift her mood for the hours ahead. I’m constantly inspired by her willpower and sense of humor. After I drop her off, I reset my mind for the day ahead, but it is never lost on me what she and so many others endure day-in and day-out.
Friends for life
Friday:
7:00 a.m: This particular Friday, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai has given the company a global holiday in support of all for the various ways we’ve pushed our limits during an unprecedented year. I’m thankful, because mornings are hard to get out of bed when your sleep mates are this cute.Later in the day: I met with my executive coach. I love learning - about the world, about myself. He helps me put work and life into perspective. What leadership means in a constantly evolving landscape, from COVID to racial justice, to remote working and building community virtually. My goal is to continue to evolve myself personally and professionally, to be the best version of myself, mother and leader possible.
Today's Highlight: It’s Friday. I head off to my farm in Ojai to reconnect with nature, make a pitcher of my favorite weekend drink, barbecue and meet friends for thoughtful conversation, shared energy and as always, a lot of laughs. If COVID has taught me anything, it’s to enjoy the silver linings of life…. which for me has been more time with friends, my daughter and learning to appreciate nature as a key to mental well-being. Sometimes I feel like I am a rock, and other times, I’m just rolling with it.
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