0. Andra Heden
Andra Hedden is the CMO of Marketopia, an organization she created alongside her husband after identifying a gap in the technology industry.
To begin the interview, I asked Andra about her past experiences, specifically her first internship or job. While studying at FSU, Andra, unlike most college students, created her internships at companies that captured her interest, including Anheuser-Busch and a smaller events company. Her initiative and go-getter attitude are what got her to go and meet with representatives to tell them how she could provide value for them. In turn, she was able to create a position for herself, which allowed her to do what she loves; identify gaps, and solve them. It was through both of these experiences that she learned two critical concepts. First, a brand doesn't become a behemoth by mistake, so if you are fortunate enough to work for one, be a sponge. ABSORB EVERYTHING! No one is ever above learning. Second, working for smaller companies is not the same experience and, in all honesty, if you have the opportunity, you should work for both. Working for a small company teaches you how to do more with less, which is critical, no matter what industry you go into. While these concepts focus more on the size of the business, Andra explained that the most interesting part of her first job and internships were the people and politics, as she learned how corporate America really works and how to navigate it. Once you learn how to navigate the business world you can in turn sort out what you want and how to craft that future for yourself. In fact, the best way to do that is by seeing how you can add value, create a plan and execute it, which is where people and politics kicks in. Andra mentioned a great book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People'' and how it puts in perspective what you need to do to get what you want done. Because at the end of the day, it takes mentors, teams and those around you to help build your future and, therefore, achieve your dreams.
We then transitioned our conversation to questions revolving around what she did before versus what she is doing now. Andra explained how the projects she enjoyed the most previously were the ones where she found a gap, figured out a way to patch it and implemented the solution. Which comes full circle to her "project" Marketopia, a company she founded after identifying a gap in the tech industry. Andra has had a lot on her plate recently, as do most people. I asked her how she stayed motivated pre-COVID vs. now. She explained that it has remained consistent and that her motivation has been elevated due to the situation. Andra's motivation is her family, both the one she has at home and the community of Marketopia. She explained that being responsible for her employees and, in turn, their families during COVID-19 has made the everyday pressures of running a business intensify. She wants to make sure that her employees feel secure and, most importantly, informed about what's going on in the world and the company.
At this point, we had already begun discussing Andra's career journey as of today. After going into detail about her motivation, Andra explained to me that during this crisis, she is taking the opportunity to assess and work on the business to ensure that she and team are elevating themselves along with the product. The point she made clear to me was that, with the unemployment rate skyrocketing to over 30 million, today it is easy to identify people who are go-getters and those who are not. And because of this, she has been able to find employees who unfortunately lost their jobs, but are fantastic at what they do. When I asked about how her industry handled COVID-19, Andra's response was that the tech industry became swamped. Within her industry niche, companies needed to adapt to video call systems and businesses needed to adapt to the Cloud. Due to this situation, Marketopia and those in tech needed to show up and help people understand why the suggestion to implement Cloud wasn't a suggestion but a necessity. I pointed out to Andra that this is what I felt was the silver lining for the industry. For years people have pushed away from Cloud due to it being complicated to understand and costly to implement. But what companies fail to see is that Cloud is the future and having everything online will benefit them in the long-run. Andra agreed and added that she believes that coming out of COVID-19, there will be a significant push for protection against hackers, etc. After speaking on the subject for a bit, we moved on to my favorite question of the interview, "If you had an intern right now, how would you train and give them the experience you described before?" Andra smiled and talked about how Marketopia does have interns at the moment, but the training process hasn't changed. Most of the training is already in video format and focuses on educating the intern on the industry. Her company also assigns interns projects and mentors so they can have as much of the full internship experience as possible. Andra then continued to explain how communication and staying ahead of what is happening has become more critical than ever. She mentioned how her company has morning huddles and monthly meetings where she is transparent about where the company stands and keeps her team up to date on the current situation.
As we got closer to wrapping up, I asked her, "Could you tell me about a project or anything that you worked on that was impactful for your career and company?” a question coming from Sergio Farache, a Senior VP at Tech Data. Andra laughed and responded that it had to be Marketopia, but looking at her previous jobs it was tough to pinpoint one specific project as she remembers always searching for opportunities, building relationships, adding value and helping businesses grow strategically. But one fun memory she has was when she took initiative and created an organizational chart for a business. By making the chart herself, Andra was able to place people in positions where they would provide the most value, including herself. What made this impactful for herself and her career was that she leveraged her network to get the chart implemented and, in turn, got a position she created. This experience proved to Andra that if you present an opportunity that adds value to a business it can be taken seriously no matter what age you are. As long as you are adding true value that helps the individual or the business - they will listen! Finally, I asked Andra if she had any words of wisdom or advice for people in similar situations as myself. She told me that people should take time to reflect on what they want and then act upon it. Take the time to set what you feel to be is a realistic goal and dream and make it happen. You'd be surprised how open companies are to making positions for you if you reach out to them and explain how you'll add value and why it will benefit them.
That’s it for the interview!
I want to thank Andra for not only jumping on this call with me but also for inspiring me to start this project. She is truly someone I look up to and aim to be like in my coming future.
Thank you all for reading. I hope you learned something new and that you're staying safe and healthy! Make sure to check out The COVID-19 Internship's Podcast for more.
Written by Rebeca Farache
Copy Written by Sophie Gharai
