Matt Bartels: Welcome to Media Sales Confidential, where we get the inside information from some of the world’s most innovative and thoughtful leaders. I’m Matt Bartels, and today I have the pleasure of speaking with Julie Saxton. Welcome.
Julie Saxon: Thank you so much, Matt.
Matt Bartels: So, Julie, you had an illustrious career in media and technology, starting out with Yahoo! You’ve been to AOL at Verizon and The Weather Company. What made you interested in this space?
Julie Saxon: Illustrious is a strong word. You know, it’s interesting. Last week I was at the University of Georgia, where I sit on the board of the Grady School of Journalism, where advertising sits under. And it’s interesting because I didn’t really have a well-thought-out plan. And you’re sitting there talking to all of these bright-eyed kids. I spoke to almost 400 kids at an intro to advertising, and I told them I was actually a political science major that actually went to D.C., worked for a congressman, and realized I didn’t want to go to law school. And that was okay. I think it almost concerns me right now that children are teenagers, feel like they have to know what they want to do since they’re like 12 years old. And it’s okay. I actually got into advertising because I went to Rognstad. I’m not sure if people use temp agencies anymore, but I was placed as a secretary at an advertising agency, which is honestly how I ended up getting into the industry. And I’ve made a career of it for almost 25 years.
Matt Bartels: Oh, wow. You must have seen a lot of people then.
Julie Saxon: Yes, I have. So I went from an advertising agency to 1999. I started at Yahoo when the internet was just exploding. And I’ll never forget it was Sunday, Easter dinner. And I was having a huge, big family dinner. And my grandfather pop said, you’re going to go work for that Cinderella internet thing. When I was going to work at Yahoo! And I said, I think it’s the next big thing, pop. And I’ve made a career of it.
Matt Bartels: Wow. Well, congratulations. We’re very excited to have you here. Thank you. We have a special edition today also because we are here at the Executive Forum and the theme is Enduring Leadership. It’s all about how organizations have mission, culture and people and how the ones that do it right over the course of time have yielded extraordinary results. What are some of the key milestones in your life that have led you to some of your own leadership mantras?
Julie Saxon: I would say honestly, and one of the sessions today, they were talking about kind of embracing change, not being fearful. And if I look at like the career and where I’ve gone, it’s all about following the industry trends and where things are going. So for example, I went from Yahoo to Myspace. Well, Myspace was huge and quite honestly, Myspace could have been Facebook, but they went through a series of challenges. But the whole point is you always want to be learning. When you think about changes in your career. Myspace was huge and it was blowing up. And then I went to audience science to learn the technology side of the business when behavioral targeting, which is table stakes. Now that was the next big thing. So when I think about enduring leadership, a lot of being a leader is embracing change and not being fearful. To really excel in life, you have to not be fearful. And to really give a plug to this conference specifically, probably similar to you because you work on media specifically at the Alexander Group, correct? Yep. We all go to the same events. We’re at Cannes, we’re at Adweek, we’re at CES. All the normal things that media people go to. And I was actually, um, speaking to several different people at lunch today. How much I appreciated true leadership is regardless of industry. And every event I typically go to, I love it and it’s the most awesome people, I think in media. It’s a really fun crew, but I also really appreciate different perspectives and hearing from health care to somebody who was talking from like the plumbing industry today and, I loved the guy. What was his name that was talking about Fujitsu, for example and how they’re bringing the machinery to the patients instead of the eight steps that he was talking about. That really is prolonging the process when you need good care and the health care system. And that’s one of the things that I love most about this one is just hearing from different types of leaders.
Matt Bartels: Yeah, it’s great because there’s fundamentals within leadership that are tried and true that aren’t going away. And then there’s a lot of stuff that’s new that we’re talking about here around talent, around AI, around all the things that you can then apply the foundations of that leadership to be able to adapt quicker and win more in this, in this crazy, uncertain marketplace right now.
Julie Saxon: And I’ve really enjoyed hearing the perspectives about ChatGPT and AI, I was able to get in 30 minutes at the pool, but I was sitting next to different friends from the conference, and we were admittedly saying, wow, there are some people that are way ahead of where we are with AI and ChatGPT, but even for us in leadership positions, to really understand what’s going on in the marketplace and where some of our gaps might be and where we need to pick up the pace in our own industries.
Matt Bartels: Yeah, that’s great. I do feel that we’ve carved out a pretty unique niche here with the leadership element and the cross-industry perspectives from everybody. It really works well.
Julie Saxon: Yes, it really does. And that’s honestly the thing I went for the first time last year when it was at Monarch Beach. My dad was wearing his Monarch beach shirt the other day, like a golf shirt. Yeah, that’s cool for him. Very cool golf wear. So I got to buy him one from here. But anyway, I love these types of events where it’s not focused on a particular industry because, like, as you said, leadership is across the board.
Matt Bartels: Yeah. So. You are very active in a number of boards. Most recently took on a position with the University of Georgia. Yep. Tell us about that. Why did you do it? What’s the what’s the mission here? What’s the passion?
Julie Saxon: Well, I went to UGA, so I’m like, go dawgs. It is really important to give back, right? And, one of the mentors in my life, Susie Dearing, who’s been on the board of or who’s been the CMO of companies like eBay, Ford, etc… she’s very involved in Georgia, and I have been as well. But what’s really interesting is I’ve done a lot of my work within Terry, which is the business school of Georgia, and this is something that I think in the business world we need to be aware of, because marketing actually sits in the business school. Advertising sits in the journalism school. So I’ve spent the past 4 to 5 years working within the business school, and now I wanted to turn my focus because advertising sits within the journalism school. So I was just, put on the board of the Grady School of Journalism, and we had our first big board meeting last week. And it’s really exciting for an industry that I know and love and live and breathe to be able to give some, you know, education and give back there. So spoke to a class there, did an all-day board meeting. I actually have a meeting next week to help shape some of the agendas of some of the types of classes, because I just did an open forum last week and it was really interesting. I actually prefer and in talking with the students, I don’t give a canned presentation. I give kind of like my background, and you’ll ask me anything that you want. And that’s actually really hearing what the students are asking about helps shape and mold some of the agendas of the classes moving forward.
Matt Bartels: Oh, wow. So, so mentorship is a big part of your leadership mantra? Yes. What advice would you give to folks around why it’s important? And then how would they go about looking for a mentor?
Julie Saxon: Well, it’s interesting, I was, about three weeks ago, I was just at the wedding of one of the first girls I truly mentored. So my girls, I have two kids, 14, 16, Kate and Caroline. And really, until they were about five and seven, it was all I could do to keep my head above water and work and be a parent. Right? So now once they got a little bit older, I decided to really invest time in about once a year I take on a new person, right? So Nina, when I helped work with the mentoring program within the Terry Business School, I met Nina. Nina is, I don’t know, 28 or 29, actually has a great career in Facebook, just went to her wedding. But it’s important. We are all responsible for the next generation of leadership. I’d love to say that I came up with that tagline, but another mentor in my life is a woman named Tammy Irwin, who spent many years at Verizon. She was my client, and now she’s my ultimate mentor. I just spent some time with her out in Aspen this summer, and real mentorship can happen formally, and it can also happen informally. I met Nina, who’s one of the first girl I mentored through an official program, Tammy, who’s my mentor. She was my client. We had a lot of similar interests, and she became my mentor, but there was never anything really official.
Matt Bartels: Got it. So it just happened organically.
Julie Saxon: Yeah, I think sometimes some of the programs I’ve seen that almost seem forced and unnatural. Some of the best mentorships really happen organically. Like one of the other girls I mentor. I was speaking in Cannes at an event, and it was completely bizarre. I was getting my nails done the day before I left for Cannes and this woman overheard me and she said, my daughter’s a student at UGA, and it’s going to be in Cannes. Oh, wow. And I ended up, speaking at an event and this girl comes up to me and she’s like, my mom told me about you. And now not only is she someone that I have mentored, but she now mentors my children, right? She went to the same middle school and high school where my children went, and I’d love to think that my teenage girls want to listen to me, but they don’t. You have a daughter, right? I do, yes, she probably does totally listen to you.
Matt Bartels: Occasionally. It depends, but not yes.
Julie Saxon: So I think that’s really part of the circle of life with mentorship. Here’s this girl that I’m mentoring, but she went to the same schools as my children, and she is now giving them advice on what teachers to pick. And I think everyone, if you take that mantra of we’re all responsible for the next generation of leadership. A 23 year old may think, how am I going to mentor anyone? But she’s pretty good at mentoring a 14 and 16 year old. Yeah, and I think everyone needs to do that. Just, you know, a couple of weeks ago, I brought together three girls that I’ve mentored to introduce another girl in college that’s trying to. Get into the industry and it’s truly, imperative that we all help that next generation of leadership really regardless, you know, female or male.
Matt Bartels: Yeah, sure. Well, hey, wait a minute. So you have won the working mom of the year award, correct?
Julie Saxon: I did, I did.
Matt Bartels: What advice would you give to mothers that are trying to pull off the same feat?
Julie Saxon: So I think with that, how do you incorporate your children into your work lives so they can see what is happening? And there’s not a mystery, right? So my daughter, for example, had, she rides horses, and she had a day off school, and my office happened to be close to my aunt’s house, who was picking her up to go ride horses. And so I brought her into the boardroom with me for, like, revenue meeting at 830 in the morning. And she was like, she’s like, that was kind of scary, mom. I was like, yeah, I’m sometimes scared too.
Matt Bartels: It’s real. Scary when you’re not hitting the numbers.
Julie Saxon: I really try and let my children see what’s going on with work. I quite often have work events at my house. I do a lot of mentoring. I bring the people around because they need to understand it. That with the working mother of the year, I’ll never forget when my kids were younger, there was the Bring Your Child to Work day, and there was this form about what does your mom or dad do? And my daughter wrote, she makes people buy things. I was like, accurate.
Matt Bartels: That’s funny.
Julie Saxon: Accurate. But I think the more that you can involve your children and let them see what you’re doing and also know that, you know, the industry is full of lots of really good people, that that job I started at Yahoo in 1999, it was me and five guys and we were like 24 years old. Those five guys are still my best friends, and that’s what’s really important within this next generation of there is a wonderful flexibility with working remote, in my opinion. I think it’s very hard to nourish those types of relationships when you’re never in person. Those five people, which we all now have, families, we get together, every like fall for a big football party. And there’s, I think, 34 of us from those five people. But we’re all still really close. And most jobs I’ve gotten through that network, many people have hired her through that network, and it’s so important to be able to be a part of that.
Matt Bartels: Sure. I guess the thought about having all the mentors and connections and all that is got to take you a long way. It’s got to be one thing that you’re teaching the mentees.
Julie Saxon: And I think that’s an important lesson to teach, is like, you get things done when you know people who can help you.
Matt Bartels: Yeah, and there you have it. Julie Saxon.
Julie Saxon: Thank you so much.
