This week, Larissa speaks with Simone Jackson, Global Brand Manager of Spotify and Forbes 30 Under 30 2024, Marketing & Advertising Recipient.
Simone Jackson leads global marketing initiatives and brand campaigns for Spotify, including this year's Spotify Wrapped. She was recently awarded Forbes 30 Under 30, 2024 Marketing & Advertising. As a former D1 athlete, Simone has gone on to acquire a roster of Advertising awards from industry heads like ADCOLOR to the American Advertising Federation. Simone spends her free time as a mentor at 4A and Spotify's PULSE Fellowship Program, a 1-year creative development program for Black professionals.
Larissa & Simone chat:
- Simone talks about how she had a “resume at 9” and was born ambitious
- Simone’s parents encouraged her to try new things
- How being a motivated “can do” kid can cause perfectionism
- Being a D1 track athlete and how those were “the best years” of Simone’s life
- Not being afraid to own ambition and confidence
- How the question “What do you do for fun?” can be embarrassing if you are solely goal focused and don’t have outside interests
- Simone shares how she even thought about monetizing her hobby. Then took a step back, and reframed that mindset to leave the business hat off and just do it because she loved it
- How asking the question: “What did you love you when you were a kid?” is a way to unlock your authenticity
- Being off IG allows Simone to not justify what she wants and desires through the lens of others
- The surprise of realizing who is not staying in touch when you're off IG
- How easy it is to put off building community when you won’t be in a place for long, but how rewarding it can be to find community no matter how short or long your stay there
- What it is like to receive more public attention for 30 Under 30, and how people suddenly come out of the woodwork to reconnect
- Simone talks about the duality of being a private person with a public persona
- Good leadership is knowing you are not alone in decision-making, you need to let people in, and consult people
- Leadership is encouraging people to show up as themselves
- The connection between being authentic and having boundaries
- How assumptions are part of people-pleasing
- How Simone encourages getting feedback from the people she cares about and wants to have an open dialogue about how people perceive her
- Letting go of the pressure to do “everything that I thought I was going to do”
- How Simone is enjoying binging reality TV
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