Olivia Wesel - JDM Impressions

Working remotely, like we do at JDM, doesn’t mean being disconnected from colleagues. As part of our culture-building initiative, and to introduce the digital marketing world to our awesome team members, we regularly peel back the curtain on the lives of JDMers. This week, we’ll get to know Performance Marketing Specialist, Olivia Wesel!

Name: Olivia Wesel
Position: Performance Marketing Specialist
Location: Austin, Texas 

When did you begin working at JDM?
April 25, 2022

How did you know JDM was the right fit for you?
Going through the interview process, I resonated with multiple team members that I spoke with. I wanted to work for a company with a positive work-life balance and a good company culture. During the first couple of weeks, I was able to meet the whole paid team through 1:1 intros and already felt connected to the team. Coming from a large agency, I never had the chance to experience a close-knit company like JDM that encompasses the same values I have. 

What’s your favorite part of the workday?
Getting the opportunity to collaborate and learn from other team members at JDM. There are plenty of team members who are very knowledgeable in the industry and able to talk through various questions or ideas I have about certain Search and Social platforms or a client's needs. I’m continuously improving my skill set by picking their brains on various topics.

What’s the most gratifying part of working with your clients?
JDM has built great relationships with each client I’ve worked with, making even the most pressing tasks fun challenges. The clients and our team at JDM have a mutual understanding of the same goal, so when the client succeeds, we also succeed. It is nice to share the wins with each other. 

In a remote company, how do you stay connected with your team?
I love talking with co-workers through Slack. Even though we’re a fully remote company, the active communication that happens at JDM makes it easy to build friendships with team members. 

What three words would you use to describe the JDM culture?
Empathetic, Collaborative, Innovative

What's something you love about JDM?
I appreciate how transparent JDM is. Through weekly All-Hands meetings, our CEO Tyler, keeps everyone up to date on quarterly goals and our strategy of how we’re going to get there. JDM does a great job keeping everyone in the know, ensuring we’re all on the same page, pushing the company forward. 

Can you recall a time when JDM challenged you, and how we supported you through that time?
I recently began ownership of a new client account and there has been a lot of prep work that comes with the onboarding process. I needed some extra support figuring out what to prioritize first and my manager and other account managers set aside time to give me additional guidance, reassuring me that I was on the right track. 

What’s the best thing you’ve done with your unlimited PTO? 

I went to Australia for 2 weeks! 

What's something you love about the marketing industry?
Digital marketing is constantly evolving with new platforms being introduced each year. I love how there is always something new to learn and different strategies to take in order to have successful ads. 

What do you think has been the most interesting change in the marketing industry or in your channel this year?
The introduction of ChatGPT has allowed marketers to perform market research very quickly and has become a very beneficial tool when it comes to brainstorming. It’ll be interesting to see all of the different avenues marketers use this technology for. 

What digital marketing platform, technology, or skill do you see gaining the most traction in the next 1-2 years, and why?
Tiktok has been on the rise and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon with the amount of influencer marketing that is going on. 

What are the names and ages of your kids (or furbabies)?
I have one furbaby named Nala. She is a 9 year old black lab.

What's something you've implemented or tested, and what was the outcome?
We’ve done a lot of testing around RSA’s since the sunset of ETA’s. This included testing different themed messaging, pinned & unpinned headlines, and incorporating popular search terms in headlines. The outcomes differed between several accounts, which I found very interesting. What might work for one account, doesn’t necessarily work well for another, which is why testing is so important. 

What’s a project that you’ve worked on that you’ve really enjoyed?
I’ve been wanting to enhance my public speaking and presenting skills so I’ve had the opportunity to lead a variety of internal team trainings. I enjoy being able to learn a new skill and find ways to incorporate it into my day-to-day work and then share my findings with the team.