Laura Nardella
Laura Nardella is a senior advertising sales and revenue leader with nearly two decades of experience spanning some of the most influential companies in digital media and technology. She most recently served as Head of East, Lyft Ads, where she led the East Coast advertising business, overseeing account management, sales, and creative strategy while helping scale Lyft’s advertising organization during a period of significant growth. Her career has been defined by a consistent focus on building, scaling, and transforming sales organizations at moments of major industry change. She specializes in early-stage and high-growth environments, where she helps translate emerging platforms into structured, scalable revenue businesses while developing teams that can operate at a high level of performance and adaptability.
She began her career in Chicago in ad sales, entering the industry during a period of rapid digital transformation. Early roles at companies such as Hulu positioned her at the forefront of the shift from traditional linear television and cable to connected and streaming TV, where she played a key role in educating the market and helping advertisers understand the long-term implications of digital streaming. She later joined Spotify in the early days of its U.S. expansion, helping establish and evangelize the brand in market before it was widely known domestically. In that role, she helped drive understanding of how music consumption was moving away from physical media and downloads toward streaming ecosystems. Her trajectory continued at Match Group, where she stepped into formal leadership for the first time, managing teams and deepening her commitment to talent development, mentorship, and building strong, accountable sales cultures.
Laura went on to join Reddit during a pivotal stage of its growth, when the company was evolving from an early internet community platform into a scaled advertising business. She helped build and expand its go-to-market strategy, contributed to major organizational restructuring, and partnered closely with leadership through periods of rapid change, including COVID-era acceleration and preparation for the company’s IPO. Most recently, after serving as Head of East, Lyft Ads, she stepped away from her role to take a career sabbatical following a breast cancer diagnosis last year, focusing on recovery and reflection while considering her next professional chapter.
• AI Certification
• Marquis Who's Who
• Step Up To Leadership
• DePaul University - MA
• Miami University - BA - Speech Communication, Public Relations & Promotional Marketing
• Marquis Who's Who
What do you attribute your success to?
I truly think it's the people that I've met along the way. There are so many smart people, and we might not be directly saving lives every day, but having that network and support and people that show up for you when you need it, whether that's a medical leave or maybe it's finding your next role or whatever it is, and learning from each other, like really having such an open mind. I had lunch recently with an old coworker who's gone on a different path, and she just shared so much with me about what she does in the day-to-day that's so different than what I've done, and all that's really enlightening, so I truly value everyone's experience and what they can contribute. I've also been able to scale sales teams from zeros to millions, tens of millions of dollars, and being able to see how the sausage is made and understand how to hire the right people. I would say learning to see the forest through the trees and understanding how to predict things before they're able to happen is a rare skill and something that my background has allowed me to acquire.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One piece of advice and feedback I received from a mentor was, context is king, and that really resonated with me because I think so often, especially in the ad sales world, we are asked to do a million things with everything's a priority, everything's due yesterday, and sharing the why behind when things need to be done, as opposed to being a directive leader, is so important. When teams can understand why they're spending their time to do something, what it's going to be based on, how it's ultimately going to benefit them and the company, to me, that motivates them to do it properly and do it well and not think of it as just another chore that they have to do. Context and transparency is definitely one of my leadership values.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Number one, I would say just be confident, have the confidence of a man, and advocate for yourself. Be your own champion, and one big way to do that is networking. No matter who you meet, in or out of this industry, you never know where you might cross future paths, whether that's getting your next job or meeting your future partner or whatever it may be. Networking is so important, and being a connector pays itself forward. And the last thing is, your timeline really shouldn't look like anyone else's. Create your own individual path and own that, because we're all here to bring different perspectives, and if we were all carbon copies of each other and our own careers, then it wouldn't be any fun.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Boundary setting and how important it is to prioritize your own energy, and come back, shut your laptop, and come back recharged the next day. As a leader, that's something that I try to embody so that my team feels the same. I'm a believer if you're on PTO, you're on PTO. Unless something is urgent, we can all cover for each other, come back, enjoy your time off, and be better for it. Context and transparency is definitely one of my leadership values. When teams can understand why they're spending their time to do something and how it's ultimately going to benefit them and the company, that motivates them to do it properly and do it well.
Locations
Lyft
New York, NY 10014