How long have you been with Acceleration Partners and what is your current role?
I have been with AP for just over three years now and am currently an Associate Account Manager on Global Accounts.
I am based in Sydney, Australia on our APAC team, but I am originally from New Jersey. My first two years at AP were spent on the US core accounts team.
How would you describe your job to those who aren’t familiar with affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is so complex and exciting, I often find it difficult to explain in a short manner what I do. When asked for the quick answer, the best way to describe my role is that I help to develop brand partnerships to reach a client’s specific goals.
We work with industry leading brands such as adidas and Redbubble to help grow and refine their partnership strategies to reach their specific goals. Whether that goal is sale or lead focused for a product or a service, partner marketing can work for many KPIs.
What has surprised you the most about working in the affiliate marketing industry?
The creativity behind it and the empowerment of building strong relationships. It is so exciting to discuss new campaign ideas with clients and partners and see them come to life to achieve their program goals.
Partner marketing has really grown on a global scale over the past few years and testing new levels to partnerships across different marketing channels is always exciting. I love to brainstorm out of the box ways brands can partner and see those ideas play out.
What would you say is a common misconception about working remotely?
A lot of people think you’d have to be an introvert to want to work remotely, avoiding the social office scene. This could not be more opposite of my personality; I am a total extrovert!
AP does a great job of making sure we never feel isolated with video calls, fun slack channels conversations and organizing social outings for each hub area.
I love working remotely because I feel I am more accomplished and am more disciplined. (Since I have such an outgoing personality I think if I was working in an office, I’d be too tempted to talk to the co-worker next to me all day ha!) Plus, it allows you to switch up your environment so you can work from home, a café or while traveling!
You were one of the first team members to put boots on the ground for our Sydney, Australia hub. How has life down under been treating you?
I still wonder how I got so lucky to work for a company who gave me this once in a lifetime opportunity! This experience to live and work abroad has helped me grow so much both professionally and personally.
Professionally, I feel I have grown so much through this experience. I went from only working on US accounts and understanding US business culture to now being well versed in the APAC business world. It has been so eye opening to see how businesses are run and what is expected when it comes to different cultures. The US, ANZ and Asia regions all have their nuances and it is exciting getting to understand the different markets and how culture effects business around the world.
Personally, Australia has been such a fun place to explore and live! Everyone is so friendly here; I have made amazing friendships with people from all over the world. I have definitely been bitten by the travel bug since moving here and love going on new adventures, whether in Australia or another country on this side of the world. There is so much to see and do it’s such an amazing country to have the opportunity to explore!
What are some tips you have for remote workers as they travel?
Work with the time zone changes. Sometimes this can actually really benefit you while working remotely!
For example, when I go home to the US to visit family and friends, I often work 4 hrs. on US time and 4 hrs. on Australia time. This allows me to ensure I am online at overlapping hours with APAC team members and available to connect when they are online across the world but can plan to get my more tactical tasks done on US hours.
This allows me to really own my calendar while home and fit in a lot of time visiting family and friends! (Plus, staying up late for APAC hours is often really easy for me due to jet lag haha.)
I also like to use the working hours to explore some new places where I am visiting. It gives you a great excuse to get out and check out some local restaurants or cafes for a few hours as long as they have wifi!
Finally, get work done in the airport! When you are bored passing time during a layover, this is the perfect time to set up that laptop with a cup of coffee and power through some daily tasks and emails.
What is one of your biggest goals for 2020 (either personally or professionally)?
Professionally, I am really looking forward to helping AP continue to make our mark in Australia throughout 2020. I love to network and meet new people and it is my goal to make sure everyone in the affiliate world in Sydney knows who AP is and what we have to offer. Whether it is potential clients or partners in the region, building those relationships in this industry is so key (and I think our Australia team has done a great job of this already!)
Personally, travel and more travel! There are so many places I still want to see and adventures I want to take. Since moving to Sydney, I have been lucky enough to travel to Melbourne, The Whitsunday Islands, Auckland, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand. I think my next top two destinations that I want to fit in my 2020 travels are Bali and South Island, New Zealand.
