Mara Snyder, M. Ed.
Mara Snyder, M.Ed., is a results-driven project coordinator and marketing professional based in Las Vegas, Nevada, with over eight years of experience spanning education, marketing, and content development. With a strong academic foundation that includes a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, Mara brings a unique blend of analytical thinking and creative strategy to her work. She has built a reputation for leveraging data, customer insights, and cross-functional collaboration to design impactful campaigns and learning experiences that drive measurable outcomes.
Mara began her career in education through Teach For America, where she served as a secondary English teacher and leader in Title I schools, achieving significant academic gains and championing equity-focused initiatives. Her time in the classroom sharpened her skills in communication, leadership, and curriculum design while reinforcing her commitment to meaningful, people-centered work. Seeking new challenges and opportunities for growth, she transitioned into marketing within the travel and leisure industry, where she quickly distinguished herself through high performance, earning recognition such as the Rising Star award and consistently exceeding key performance metrics.
Currently working as a Community Marketing Agent, Mara specializes in executing strategic campaigns, managing stakeholder relationships, and optimizing performance through data-driven decision-making. Known for her intentional approach to career growth, she is actively pursuing new opportunities where she can expand her impact across project management, marketing, and content development. Guided by a philosophy of continuous learning and strategic action, Mara is passionate about building innovative solutions, cultivating strong professional relationships, and creating meaningful, lasting value in every role she undertakes.
• Teaching License for NV for ELA 6-12
• Marketing Certificate from UPenn (in progress)
• Project Management Certificate from Google (in progress)
• The Ohio State University- B.A.
• University of Nevada-Las Vegas- M.Ed.
• The College of Global Studies at Arcadia University
• Undergraduate Student Government Delegate
• National Society of Leadership and Success
• Buckeye Greek Leadership Institute
• REAL Leadership Experience Representative
• National Student Speech Language Hearing Association
• Teach for America
• Gamma Phi Beta Sorority
• Teach for America Alumni Fundraising and Event Planning
• Girls on the Run International
• National NSSLHA
What do you attribute your success to?
For me, sales isn’t just a career—it’s part of my heritage. I grew up watching my dad and granddad run a major sales company, so I was exposed to the art of the deal long before I ever stepped into a classroom or a boardroom. After earning my degree, I followed in my grandmother’s footsteps and became a teacher in Nevada. While I’ve since pivoted into marketing and sales in the travel and leisure industry—where I now run campaigns, manage local events, and oversee sales performance—my proudest accomplishment will always be my 685 students, every single one of whom graduated. I’ll always be a teacher at heart, and honestly, they taught me just as much as I taught them.
If there’s one thing I believe, it’s that you have to choose your own path. I originally started school planning to become a lawyer because that’s what my family expected, but I realized I wanted something different. My advice to young women is simple: do what you want, not what others expect. Cultivate your own luck, trust your instincts, build real connections with the people around you, and don’t be afraid to pivot when something no longer aligns. Some of the best opportunities in my life came from taking risks and embracing change.
Outside of work, I make it a priority to stay inspired and keep growing. You can usually find me at the library a few times a week, traveling whenever I can (I’m at 15 countries and counting), or diving into my creative passions like art, makeup, hair, and fashion. To me, influence isn’t about a title—it’s about how you show up every day, how well you listen, and your willingness to keep evolving into the best version of yourself.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Nobody is coming to discover you - you have to find a way to make those opportunities for yourself. One of my favorite quotes is from Courtney, who has a big TikTok and LinkedIn presence, and she says nobody is coming to discover you. That could not be more true once you realize, no matter what field you're in, I have to find a way to make those opportunities for myself. I'm big on posting on LinkedIn once a day, always updating people, always making connections, going outside of your house and working at a coffee shop instead of working in your home, joining other organizations, figuring out what's good in your city, and becoming friends with your coworkers. I know people say don't be friends with your coworkers, but I personally disagree with that. You're gonna spend more time with them than your family, so get to know them and see how you guys can benefit each other, especially young women in a corporate workspace. See where the people around you can help you, and you'll be surprised who knows who and who's connected to who. By you becoming friends and opening yourself up, you open yourself up for opportunities. That's cultivating your own luck. When you put yourself out there and when you help people and you do it out of the goodness of your heart and when you try to make friends, that is where you're going to find the opportunities that are going to take you further than what you thought, or what was in a book, or in school, or what you were taught or told to do.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Do what you want to do, not what everybody tells you you should do. Find ways to cultivate your own luck. I'm a big believer in this - I spent a lot of my life doing what everyone told me I should do, and then towards the end I'd be like, I actually don't think that this feels very good. I realized, oh, I don't think this ever felt very good. So learning how to listen to your gut and being like, hey, it's okay, I know you're telling me this because you love me, but this is what I know that I want to do based on my own beliefs, values, likes, interests, and my own intuitive feelings. Nobody is coming to discover you, so you have to make those opportunities for yourself. Get to know the people around you - I know people say don't be friends with your coworkers, but get to know them. You're gonna spend more time with them than your family, and see how you guys can benefit each other, especially young women in a corporate workspace. See where the people around you can help you, and by you becoming friends and opening yourself up, you open yourself up for opportunities. I'm also a big believer in the pivot. Sometimes you just gotta pivot. You can be in it and be like, this really served me, I learned my lesson, people and experiences are here for a reason or a season, and be like, this is not for me, I need to pivot. Especially when you're young, it's very easy. It's scarier to stay somewhere that I know is not for me or where I've maxed out my potential than it is to pivot. So don't be afraid to pivot.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest opportunities in my field right now is the rapid growth of tourism and new venue development in Las Vegas, where expanding sports and stadium partnerships are creating powerful new channels for marketing, customer engagement, and enrollment within travel and leisure brands.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are ending educational inequality, serving my community, embracing creativity, acting with integrity, and helping others without expecting anything in return.