To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re highlighting the inspirational women of IZEA who motivate, empower and encourage us. Today we’re wearing purple, which symbolizes women and leadership, while hosting a panel of female IZEA role models to talk about their leadership journeys, experiences and advice for others.
We have some truly talented women on #TeamIZEA. Our President’s Club honorees were mostly women, seven of which had sales contributions of $25 million for the company in 2021! We also have female leaders who mentor and advocate for the other women on the team.
4 inspirational women of IZEA
Meet Katie Mellor, Senior Vice President, Client Services. She began at IZEA in 2021 as our head of client services after having spent nearly two decades in the marketing and advertising industry.
Katie’s advice for other women wanting to pursue a leadership role is to “Go after it. Take the chance. Ask for the job. I think at times women can hesitate to go after the next job, the big account or leading a team out of fear of failure, but challenge yourself and trust that your skills will translate into the new opportunity.”
Samantha Chase, General Manager, Enterprise Software. Sam has spearheaded many of IZEA’s important initiatives, such as recently adding content from 1 million YouTube channels to our Discovery search tool, and has been instrumental in the growth of our product team.
Samantha’s career has taught her that “success isn’t achieved overnight and your success might look completely different from someone else’s. That’s OK; we’re all on our own path.”
She also offers advice for women who want to pursue leadership roles.
“A good leader achieves success through others. Empower your team to grow and support them along the way.” Samantha adds that you should “be yourself, be genuine and be strong. Be a sponge and absorb everything you can.”
It’s also important to take care of yourself. “Burnout is real. Listen to your mind and body and don’t let your role negatively impact your health. Know when to walk away,” she said.
Addi McCauley, Executive Director, Client Development and Strategy. Addi manages a team of 13 people and recently shared her expertise in a panel discussion with Tinuiti featuring other thought leaders in the industry. Addi believes women need to advocate for themselves and others in the workplace.
“You will always be your own best advocate. You have to be vocal, express your goals, and ask questions about what is required for you to achieve them.”
One example of Addi advocating for not just herself but others was when she talked with senior leadership about offering parental leave for those who experience miscarriages.
“One of the things I am most proud of here at IZEA is that senior staff listened to my input on the importance of providing leave for parents if they experience pregnancy loss. I hope that no IZEAn ever needs to utilize that option, but I am also so thankful that using my voice about my personal experience created that space for them should they need it.”
To express yourself effectively, Addi said, you need to adjust your vocabulary.
“Remove the word ‘just’ from your vocabulary— or any other similar word that undermines your authority. Speaking in a clear and confident manner is essential to how you are perceived and your ability to gain buy-in from others. I don’t advocate for taking all feeling and intuition out of how you process information; however, understand that there are times that more direct expression of the output is needed.”
Ashley Carugati, Corporate Controller, is a President’s Club honoree because she is a tremendous asset to our team, working tirelessly behind the scenes on the important tasks that keep IZEA running smoothly. She offers advice for other women based on her wealth of experience.
“Do everything you can to elevate those around you, especially as a woman,” Ashley said. “We should be there to support each other rather than attempt to hold others back.”
“Being a working woman comes with its own set of unique challenges,” she added, including “being taken seriously in a male-dominated world, being viewed negatively for being assertive and the fear of damaging your career when taking maternity leave.”
To join our team, visit izea.com/company/careers.
