Honoring the Women at Integrate: #IntegrateHer Week 3

All month long, we are celebrating the women at Integrate for National Women’s History Month with stories of their career paths, their challenges over the past year, their personal lives, and the advice they’ve learned along the way. Read below for our third installment of #IntegrateHer stories and check out stories from previous weeks. Follow us on social (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) or check back on our blog for more.

Nora Al Amery, Manager, People Solutions

1. Tell us about your career path and what led you to Integrate.

I started out my professional career in higher education. I loved it but wanted to spread my wings and explore a different field with a similar “feel good” impact on people’s lives. My former professor connected me to an open position on the People Team at Integrate.

2. What has been your biggest challenge over the past year (personally, professionally, or both)?

This is tough to answer as “challenge” was the theme word for 2020. Canceled wedding, being away from family, and experiencing fear on a consistent basis come to mind. Last February, my partner and I moved to Downtown Phoenix to be closer to work. I loved being in the office and seeing my colleagues every day. Of course, the joy of this decision lasted for about a month, then we were stuck in a tiny apartment, paying too much for rent and trying not to kill each other. 🙂 3. Do you have any unique talents? I can snap my fingers in a really weird way using my pointer fingers. I am also the go-to lifestyle influencer for my team.

4. What do you do for fun outside of work?

I love going to my local Farmer’s Market and deem spontaneous Target runs as an absolute necessity.

5. What is one thing you’d tell your younger self?

Don’t worry, you’ll learn how to ride a bike one day.

6. Which one of our cultural pillars do you most align with?

Performance. I have had 3 different roles in 3 years at Integrate. I love expanding my horizons through new challenges and broadening my scope through new responsibilities. It makes being an HR professional even spicier! 😉

Merideth Kelly, VP of Professional Services

1. Tell us about your career path and what led you to Integrate.

My career in “media” started as a 12-year-old delivering newspapers for my small-town paper. In all seriousness, my path to Integrate and my career in services has not been a traditional path. I like to tell this story because I think it illustrates that there can be many twists and turns in a career path – and by my account that’s totally cool. For the first 10 years of my career I was a TV producer. First, in New York, then in Seattle. I made a pretty major pivot from television to tech after hitting a birthday milestone and thinking, “what am I doing with my life?” I have spent the following decade+ working in the technology/software space. First in implementation, then in engineering, project management, product management, then finally in services. The evolution has not been straight forward – but each lesson along the way has prepared me for the next thing.

2. What has been your biggest challenge over the past year (personally, professionally, or both)?

During the first 6 months of the pandemic there were so many things vying for my attention. There were so many weeks where the days/nights bled together and I felt like I was failing at everything: work, parenting, “teaching,” being a supportive partner and friend. I’ve always been pretty good at compartmentalizing things, but DAMN this past year challenged that like 1000 times. If I’m being totally honest the hardest thing was getting told constantly by my kiddo that I work too much while she begged to spend more time with me. It’s been a heartbreaking year.

3. Do you have any unique talents?

I’m an optimist. I try to see the positive in most situations. I’ve been told that I’m the person you want with you in an emergency because I stay calm in the very stressful situations. (I attribute this to 10 years in live television production and growing up in a very dynamic family).

4. What do you do for fun outside of work?

I used to say travel… ha! I love being outside (hiking, camping, biking, skiing, snow shoeing). I rented my first camper van last summer and am hooked! I keep trying to convince my family to sell everything and live a nomad life. For some reason, they are not as into the idea. 🙂

5. What is one thing you’d tell your younger self?

That’s a tough one, because there are like 1 million things I would tell my younger self, but if I had to pick one think I would tell myself, “give yourself more credit for your successes along the way.” I used to say I was “lucky” or “in the right place at the right time.” Once, while telling a story about how a team and I hit a series of goals, deadlines, etc. I said something about being lucky. The woman I was telling this story to asked, “Did you and your team work hard for that goal?” My response was, “Of course we did!” To which she said, “Stop saying you’re lucky. That’s not luck. You just worked your ass off to make that thing happen.” I haven’t stopped thinking about that – and sharing that sentiment since.

6. Which one of our cultural pillars do you most align with?

Trust and Innovation are my love languages. Finding a more efficient process for “the thing we’ve done the same way for a customer for 3 years” makes my day. When people start talking about “automating” that thing…I get downright giddy. I think of innovation in a few different ways, but ultimately what I wish everyone would think of when trying to improve processes, is to AAW (always ask why). I say this to my team a lot. When we get stuck on a process or a workflow, I always ask why do we do it that way? Almost always, it results in a new way to approach the process and think about ways to innovate. Most often when I talk with customers about why they use a report or what data they are looking for and why, the conversation results in their openness to trying a new way that will streamline the process, resulting in saving everyone time and money. I have a great story about a ham that illustrates the AAW – and I would love to share it for those who are curious.

Nikki Raber, Sr. Demand Generation Manager

1. Tell us about your career path and what led you to Integrate.

I started out like many marketers in the land of ad agencies serving a variety of B2B and B2C businesses. My senior year of college at ASU, my professor asked me to work at his ad agency where I was thrown knee-deep into paid search and analytics. From there, I realized I wanted to wear all of the hats of marketing and figure out which fit best. When Alex King, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Integrate reached out in 2018 looking to add a digital strategist to the marketing team, it felt like the right opportunity and 2.5 years later I’m so glad I joined this awesome company.

2. What has been your biggest challenge over the past year (personally, professionally, or both)?

My routine has been rocked by the pandemic. It’s been a challenge to create new (safe) routines and rhythms that inspire me and keep me growing personally and professionally while most of my favorite activities have been taken off the table.

3. Do you have any unique talents?

I can imitate the sound of an alarm/siren.

4. What do you do for fun outside of work?

I’m a big fan of being outside and music – preferably a combination of the two. You can find me many weekends hiking, biking, or on a blanket in the park with a book, headphones and my dog Franny.

5. What is one thing you’d tell your younger self?

I’d warn her that 2020 was going to get weird, so seize each day and spend all the time you can with the ones you love!

6. Which one of our cultural pillars do you most align with?

Happiness is my favorite. I think doing all the other pillars right leads to happiness. Treat your team, customers, prospects and humanity the way you want to be treated and leave them better than you found them and you’re doing something right!

Angela Daniels, Account Executive

1. Tell us about your career path and what led you to Integrate.

I worked for a number of different companies in sales, but I started my media career at IDG. At one point during my time there, I worked under Sean Weglage [currently VP, Sales at Integrate]. He is the best mentor and leader, so when he told his team he was leaving, it was a dark day. When Sean left IDG, I left shortly thereafter for another position that I ended up hating and realized I had made a mistake. I then saw a posting for a position at Integrate and reached out immediately.

2. What has been your biggest challenge over the past year (personally, professionally, or both)?

I think all working parents have had the same challenge last year, which is trying to balance work and kids being home together. Also, there were a lot of tough conversations that I was not prepared to have with my kids on the pandemic and what was going on in the world, but it ended up being a good learning experience for all of us. Professionally, it was tough not being able to see my colleagues except on a screen or travel to visit clients. Zoom fatigue is real!

3. What do you do for fun outside of work?

A lot of my time outside of work revolves around my children. Both of my girls are active in sports, so a lot of weekends are spent watching/coaching them and volunteering at their school as part of the PTO. We are a big golf family, so we also like to spend time golfing together.

4. What is one thing you’d tell your younger self?

When I was younger, I stressed so much and put so much pressure on myself to have everything figured out and when it did not go as planned, I thought I failed. I would tell my younger self, it’s okay that your path didn’t always go straight. The bumps, detours and sometimes avalanches will teach you and make you stronger, so suck it up!

5. Which one of our cultural pillars do you most align with?

Performance & Trust. Obviously being in sales, performance is key. It is what we are measured on and paid on, so you have to be able to perform. And Trust! This is a big thing for me personally and professionally. Without trust it is only a matter of time before relationships both personally and professionally fail.

Kimberley Forbes, Sr. Customer Success Manager

1. Tell us about your career path and what led you to Integrate.

My path to Integrate is a bit unconventional. I started my career in marketing when I created a lifestyle blog to occupy my time between college classes. With a little bit of good timing (and lot of luck!) I grew my audience to nearly 100,000 followers. My blog became a business seemingly overnight. From filming a commercial with Nine West, to partnering with massive beauty brands to promote products, and more free makeup than I knew what to do with, I was fortunate to have plenty of “pinch me is this real life?!” moments. All these opportunities led me to joining the founding team at Grapevine Logic (a platform that connects brands with influencers) back in 2013, which we grew to an acquisition in 2018. After close to 10 years within influencer marketing, I was ready for a new chapter in customer success with an enterprise level company. I was taking my usual 7am train into Boston and Integrate caught my attention while scrolling on LinkedIn. I got in touch with Alex King, Integrate’s Director of Global Talent Acquisition, and never looked back!

2. What has been your biggest challenge over the past year (personally, professionally, or both)?

My biggest challenge this past year was learning to slow down! I’m a travel-bug that has a hard time sitting still for very long, and I love to fill my day with work, friends, and family. Adjusting my mindset and appreciating the beauty in our day-to-day was a welcomed challenge over the course of 2020.

3. Do you have any unique talents?

Last year during the peak of quarantine, I taught myself how to play the ukulele. I’ve played the guitar for a few years and thought a ukulele would be a fun instrument to add into the mix!

4. What do you do for fun outside of work?

I love photography and going on road-trip adventures all over New England. My dog and husband are the best co-pilots I could ask for! During any weekend in the warmer months, you can likely find me headed to the beach, mountains, or anywhere in between with a camera in one hand and my dog, Miso, in the other.

5. What is one thing you’d tell your younger self?

Worry less of the opinion of others and do what brings you joy and fulfillment – easier said than done but, there’s always going to be critics out there, you just gotta focus on being the best version of yourself.

6. Which one of our cultural pillars do you most align with?

Performance! I can be fairly competitive and I’m always looking for ways to improve myself and work towards the next goal. That said, happiness is a close second!