Career Path Of A Loyalty Marketing Analyst At Williams Sonoma
Steve's career journey began with a wealth management internship, which, despite initial interest in "quantitative analysis," ultimately revealed a lack of passion. This led to a pivot through sales operations at Fitbit and then a role in loyalty marketing at Williams Sonoma, where Steve honed marketing skills before pursuing and securing a product marketing internship at Microsoft's Xbox team, fulfilling a long-held career goal.
Career Exploration, Marketing, Data Analysis, Career Development, Problem-Solving
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Steve Masline
Analyst, Loyalty Marketing
Williams Sonoma
University of Michigan, 2017
M.B.A. at UCLA Anderson School of Management, 2023
Philosophy
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
Communication and Marketing
Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. Steve's career path highlights a willingness to pivot and explore different roles to find the right fit. He started in wealth management, realizing it wasn't his passion, and then transitioned into sales operations at Fitbit before discovering his interest in marketing. This showcases the importance of self-reflection and openness to change in career development.
2. His journey from sales operations to loyalty marketing at Williams Sonoma demonstrates a strategic career progression. He actively sought roles that built relevant skills and knowledge, ultimately leading him to his desired product marketing position. This highlights the value of intentional career planning and leveraging opportunities for skill development.
3. Steve's experience at Williams Sonoma provided him with valuable marketing skills, specifically in promotions and the marketing framework (four Ps). This underlines the importance of gaining practical experience in a field before aiming for more specialized or advanced roles. It shows that even seemingly 'detours' can contribute significantly to a fulfilling career trajectory
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Did you have any internships or jobs before your current role?
I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area and attended the University of Michigan for college. I absolutely loved it there.
For internships, I started in wealth management during my freshman year. I thought I wanted to do that, as I enjoyed quantitative analysis and advising people about their money.
After that, I studied abroad sophomore year and then did another wealth management internship at First Republic Bank. I received a return offer and worked there immediately after graduation, advising people on their finances.
However, I quickly realized that wealth management didn't interest me. While I liked analysis and working with people, I didn't have the same passion for studying the stock market and communicating it to clients as my colleagues did. I knew I needed to find something else.
I wanted to apply my skills in analysis and working with people to something more exciting to me than helping wealthy people get wealthier. This led me to an opportunity at Fitbit. I was passionate about their mission to help people become healthier.
At Fitbit, I was in sales operations. While it was fine, the work was very tactical and I didn't fall in love with it. However, I felt like I was moving in the right direction.
While at Fitbit, I met many people in product marketing. A light bulb went off when I realized there was a function where you could talk to customers, understand their needs, communicate those insights internally, and then bring a product to market. This became my North Star.
It took me a while to get there. I decided to pivot into a general marketing career as a first step, because product marketing is difficult to enter. While staying in the San Francisco Bay Area, I worked at Williams-Sonoma on their loyalty marketing team.
There, I learned about promotions and the four P's of the marketing framework, which I really enjoyed. However, I always knew that my end goal was to move into product marketing.
I then came to business school at UCLA Anderson, and I'm about to graduate. Between my first and second years, I interned at Microsoft on the Xbox team as a product marketer. This was finally the role I had been aiming for, and I will be returning there after graduation.
Much of what I'll discuss will be about my time at Williams-Sonoma, but it may also touch on my experience at Microsoft and Xbox.