Michael, Sr. Manager, Marketing Operations at SmithRx: Advize Career Interview

A dynamic career path, starting with college club leadership and pivoting from sales into marketing operations after a Prezi support role, led to a senior management position at SmithRx.

This journey highlights the importance of curiosity and experimentation, even embracing failures like a mass email with a broken image, to master data integration and optimize marketing efficiency.

The daily work involves managing urgent communications, prioritizing tasks in project management tools, and ensuring data accuracy across multiple systems, while a company culture valuing both focused work and collaboration provides balance.

Success in healthcare marketing, a field described as the intersection of healthcare, insurance, and technology, requires not just strong organizational skills and a relentless work ethic, but also empathy and understanding of customer needs.

Entry-level positions like marketing generalist roles offer a springboard, showcasing the potential for a rewarding and impactful career in a growing industry, demanding both technical proficiency and a passion for improving the lives of others.

Balancing work and life and building a strong professional network are key lessons learned, proving that a strategic college experience and subsequent embracing of challenges are vital to long-term success.

Advizer Information

Name

Job Title

Company

Undergrad

Grad Programs

Majors

Industries

Job Functions

Traits

Michael Schnell

Sr. Manager, Marketing Operations

SmithRx

UCSB

n/a

Communications

Healthcare

Communication and Marketing

Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Student Athlete

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Career Path Of A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Michael's career path began with a college club presidency and student advertising agency experience, launching them into a support role at Prezi, where a knack for automating email campaigns led to an unexpected shift into marketing operations after being "fired from a sales role". This pivot sparked a decade-long career in marketing operations, culminating in the current Senior Manager position at SmithRx, where they are applying their expertise to improve the US healthcare industry.

Career Path Of A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Main Responsibilities Of A Senior Manager, Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Michael's main responsibilities as a Senior Manager, Marketing Operations at SmithRx center on data integration and optimizing marketing experiences; the role involves "connect[ing] a piece of technology" to improve team efficiency and campaign structure, focusing on creating "the most efficient marketing team as possible" through data analysis and streamlined processes.

Main Responsibilities Of A Senior Manager, Marketing Operations At SmithRx

A Day In The Life Of A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

A senior marketing operations manager's day starts with addressing urgent communications—"a lot of emails, uh, a lot of Slack messages"—then prioritizing tasks within project management tools to meet deadlines, such as ensuring "this specific piece of data needs to be in our Salesforce instance by the end of the week". SmithRx's "No Meeting Wednesday" policy allows for focused work time, illustrating a company culture that values both collaboration and individual productivity.

A Day In The Life Of A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Most Important Skills For A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Michael, a Senior Manager of Marketing Operations, emphasizes that "curiosity is definitely the number one" skill needed for success in this field, highlighting a "trial and error methodology" as crucial for learning and improvement. This approach, including past experiences such as accidentally sending a "broken image" email to many recipients, illustrates the importance of experimentation and iterative learning in refining operational efficiency.

Most Important Skills For A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Favorite Parts of Being a Senior Manager Marketing Operations at SmithRx

Michael's greatest enjoyment stems from "making everyone around [their] team's life easier," boosting team members' efficiency and enabling them to excel in creating customer campaigns. This is further fueled by SmithRx's mission to disrupt a "broken industry," a challenge that excites Michael and aligns with their values.

Favorite Parts of Being a Senior Manager Marketing Operations at SmithRx

Biggest Challenges Faced By A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Michael's biggest challenge as a Sr. Manager, Marketing Operations at SmithRx is data discrepancies across multiple systems; the core of their job, and a persistent issue, is "being able to understand where that data lives and where the source of truth is," requiring constant navigation of a "convoluted system" to ensure data accuracy for marketing campaigns.

Biggest Challenges Faced By A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Favorite Parts of Working in the Healthcare Tech Industry as a Senior Manager Marketing Operations

Michael, a Sr. Manager of Marketing Operations at SmithRx, finds the intersection of healthcare, insurance, and tech industries "interesting," allowing application of marketing operations skills to address "the broken healthcare system in the United States." The ability to see results from campaigns aimed at improving awareness of these systemic issues, coupled with continuous learning in a new field, makes this a rewarding career change from a B2B SaaS background.

Favorite Parts of Working in the Healthcare Tech Industry as a Senior Manager Marketing Operations

What Type Of Person Thrives In The Marketing Industry, According To A SmithRx Marketing Operations Senior Manager

Michael, a Senior Manager of Marketing Operations, emphasizes that success in healthcare marketing requires "curiosity," a strong work ethic focused on incremental improvement, and exceptional organizational skills to prioritize tasks effectively. Furthermore, thoughtfulness, understanding "what your customers are going through," and creating positive experiences are crucial given the sensitive nature of the industry and its impact on patients.

What Type Of Person Thrives In The Marketing Industry, According To A SmithRx Marketing Operations Senior Manager

What a Senior Manager Marketing Operations at SmithRx Wishes They Had Known Before Entering the Marketing Operations Industry

Michael, a Sr. Manager of Marketing Operations, emphasizes the importance of embracing experimentation and failure in the field, stating that "being able to break things...and mess with them is one of the best ways to learn." This approach, involving trial and error with "about 150 tools," has been key to their career growth and understanding of marketing operations technology.

What a Senior Manager Marketing Operations at SmithRx Wishes They Had Known Before Entering the Marketing Operations Industry

Entry-level Positions for Aspiring Marketing Professionals

Entry-level marketing roles, such as "marketing generalist" positions, provide a strong foundation; these roles allow individuals to explore different marketing areas like "the data side," "digital marketing," or marketing operations, as Michael's experience—starting as a sales rep who automated emails—demonstrates. Finding a company and role that sparks curiosity and joy is key to a fulfilling marketing career.

Entry-level Positions for Aspiring Marketing Professionals

Significant Career Lesson From A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

Michael's most significant career lesson centers on achieving balance: "balancing work life and home life," project variety, and enjoyable versus necessary tasks to avoid burnout. This understanding, gained after experiencing imbalance and its negative consequences, became crucial for maintaining a sustainable and fulfilling career trajectory.

Significant Career Lesson From A Senior Manager Marketing Operations At SmithRx

College Experiences That Helped a Senior Manager Marketing Operations at SmithRx Succeed

Michael's undergraduate experience significantly shaped their career trajectory, starting with a strategic major switch to communication, focusing on technology and sports management, which provided a broad skillset. The development of strong professional relationships, built through collaborative projects like creating a business plan for a fitness app that predated Whoop, and "understanding the network effect" proved equally crucial to their success and current role as a Sr. Manager, Marketing Operations.

College Experiences That Helped a Senior Manager Marketing Operations at SmithRx Succeed

Advizer Personal Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mschnell/