Both marketing and technology are careers that have historically been male dominated, and to a certain degree, still are. I see this as more of an opportunity than a challenge though. Women shouldn’t be intimidated just because they are pitching a concept to a room full of men, if anything it’s a opportunity to offer a slightly different point of view. Being confident in your own opinions is critical and you can’t be afraid to self promote. I learned very quickly that you can’t depend on others to give you the credit you deserve, you have to be your own advocate. I advise other women to be confident and self-assured, no matter how hard it can be at times.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Fox, product director at Blis, who oversees high-level product strategy and development alongside the release of new revenue streams and products to the market. One of the first Blis employees, Amy has grown her career over the last few years from an entry-level role in partner relationships to leading both Operations and Product.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story of how you decided to pursue this career path? What lessons can others learn from your story?
To be honest I landed, somewhat by chance, on this career path. I studied languages at university and when I left I was keen to join a business where clear and concise communication were key. Once I started working at Blis I realized that one of my personal strengths was helping to understand and translate more complicated technical concepts into more digestible information for our commercial teams and that’s what lead me to a career in product.
Can you tell me about the most interesting projects you are working on now?
Earlier this year, we announced a blockchain initiative to bring more transparency to the use of data in advertising. Since digital advertising commonly relies on disparate data sets to help identify audiences likely to buy products and services, marketers are increasingly facing pressures to comply with data privacy regulations — especially since the adoption of GDPR in the EU. We are using blockchain to provided advertisers and data providers with greater confidence in where data is sourced and where it is eventually used, by giving them access to a transparent blockchain that is immutable and verified. Specifically, the source of the movement data is written to the blockchain.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
People may find it crazy that I’ve spent my entire career at one company, but I actually think it’s lucky. I’ve been able to experience nearly every side of the business. I started as an intern, moved into a hands-on role in the Procurement and Business Development teams, ran and grew the AdOperations department, launched a product planning process for the company, have have now spent the last 3 years overseeing the Product department. Throughout all this, Blis has been through phenomenal growth, from 10 people in a box office in London when I joined to the ~250 global SME we are today. So rather than working one job for one company — I feel like I’ve worked several jobs for several companies…
I’ve had many bosses along the way, and I feel like I’ve had my fair share of good and bad, however I would say as much as I owe the people who have backed and support me along the way, I have probably learnt more from the ones who have challenged me and pushed me to change my way of thinking (even if I’ve torn my hair out over them along the way!).
What are the things that most excite you about blockchain and crypto? Why?
Data Privacy: Over the next few years the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will have a huge impact on marketing technology, as well as ownership and transparency around data source and quality. Blockchain offers an opportunity to ensure complete trust and visibility of all data to all users, and I am particularly excited about the implications for blockchain in advertising. Within five years, the ad industry will likely transition to using blockchain as a standard transaction leger across a large swath of the ecosystem.
The future is unknown: Anything can happen and I’m watching to see how the technology moves beyond cryptocurrency; that’s where it’s real value will emerge. We know what we think blockchain will do, but really we have no idea what other brilliant things it will be used for in the future.
Transparency: Blockchain’s distributed ledger ensures privacy and control of all data to all users. The use of a single publicly available digital ledger makes it easy to spot hacking attempts, while also reducing the messiness associated with systems containing multiple ledgers. In advertising, this could lead to true transparency — a long awaited potential.
What are the 5 things worry you about blockchain and crypto? Why?
Overconfidence: Cryptocurrency has been touted as being the next big thing, but it can be quite a volatile market and I don’t think every person should dump their savings into it. People need to understand what they are getting into, as any good investor should. Blockchain adds security, but does not mitigate financial risk.
Confusion: Blockchain and bitcoin are not the same yet many people still confuse the two. Further, Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency. Blockchain is a digitised, distributed, ledger that guarantees secure (and untamperable) transactions and solves the trust problem when two parties exchange value. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum rely on blockchain to conduct transactions.
Lack of education: Most people know what crypto is and they know there is something called blockchain, but they don’t really understand what blockchain itself is and how it works. This leads to a lack of understanding the implications of the technology or what other things it could be used for — not necessarily a bad thing, but when it comes to a technology that will affect their lives, people should take the time to learn. It is up to the companies using this technology to help inform their consumers.
Blockchain beyond Crypto: It is a misconception that blockchain is only used in relation to cryptocurrencies. While it can be similarly used in the banking and financial markets, it can also be used across a number of different industries including retail, healthcare, the public sector, travel, and, advertising. In advertising for example, blockchain is becoming a fundamental part of the infrastructure to do things like secure digital advertising, protect publisher identity, and and secure brand spend using machine learning.
Scalability: Blockchain has a scalability problem. Mass adoption can’t occur if the ledger can’t scale because people will not accept slower applications than they’re used to just for the sake of a the ledger, they will seek alternative solutions. Since the decentralised ledger that forms the foundation of a blockchain keeps getting bigger with every block added to the chain, scalability is an inherent problem. And as Blockchain picks up popularity in other industries, this problem is likely to grow exponentially.
As you know there are not that many women in your industry.
Can you share 3 things that you would you advise to other women in the blockchain space to thrive?
Both marketing and technology are careers that have historically been male dominated, and to a certain degree, still are. I see this as more of an opportunity than a challenge though. Women shouldn’t be intimidated just because they are pitching a concept to a room full of men, if anything it’s a opportunity to offer a slightly different point of view. Being confident in your own opinions is critical and you can’t be afraid to self promote. I learned very quickly that you can’t depend on others to give you the credit you deserve, you have to be your own advocate. I advise other women to be confident and self-assured, no matter how hard it can be at times.
Can you advise what is needed to engage more women into the blockchain industry?
I think it’s essential for women to create support networks. Years ago, I was lucky enough to be in a mentoring group with Karen Blackett, Mediacom Chairwoman. She was really inspiring and very empathetic, which helped me feel confident within the industry. This space can be very stressful, so it’s reassuring something just to speak to other women and to understand they are going through the same things.
What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that had relevance to your own life?
“A good leader takes a little more than her share of the blame, a little less than her share of the credit.” Arnold H. Glasow. I am definitely where I am today because of the people that have worked in my teams over the years, they have, at times, challenged me more than anyone else to be better than I am today.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Other than LinkedIn I’m afraid I don’t really use social media!
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Thank you for having me!
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