Her Story
About Emma
Emma Ashmawi serves as Associate Director of Programmatic and has spent over 12 years in the performance marketing industry. She began her career in sales at Sinclair Broadcast Group handling digital offerings including PPC and early programmatic platforms before pivoting around the time of COVID to focus on campaign activation and strategy across multiple DSPs. After moving into e-commerce, she joined Code 3 four years ago where she now manages a team, optimizes in-platform campaigns, and develops data-driven strategies that demonstrate programmatic's value, such as seven times stronger purchase rates when included in media mixes. Emma earned her bachelor's degree in telecommunications with emphases in video production and motion graphics from Ball State University in 2010, along with minors in marketing and studio art. She holds DB360, Amazon DSP, and StackAdapt certifications. She credits her professional growth to strong mentorship from colleagues who encouraged her to step outside her comfort zone as a former top student, and she advises surrounding oneself with smart people who challenge biases. In her work, Emma emphasizes kindness, empathy, and internal drive while encouraging young women entering the field to take up space, question assumptions, make decisions confidently, and remain curious about improvement.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Emma
01What do you attribute your success to?
Really strong mentorship from colleagues who helped me prove myself and get out of my comfort zone after being a top student. I am only as strong as the people I have around me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
If you find that you're the smartest person in the room, you need to find another room. This challenges biases and elevates performance through surrounding yourself with smart people.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Take up space. Question things. You belong there no different than anybody else. Be quick to make decisions, take responsibility, and always be curious about how you could improve.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Overcoming perceptions not rooted in data. Using data to show programmatic's value, like 7 times stronger purchase rates when included in the mix, rather than focusing only on search or inline sales.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Kindness and empathy are really key. My ultimate goal is to produce kind humans. Internal drive is important - motivation should come from within, and work with driven people.
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