Influential Woman · Tech

Samantha Roberts

Global Marketing Lead, Pinterest

Brentwood, TN

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Business degree with focus on Marketing Cert Meta Certification Cert Pinterest Advertising Essentials Certification

Her Story

About Samantha

I've been working in tech and marketing since 2012, bringing 14 years of experience to the industry. I started my career really focusing on the entrepreneurial side, building businesses. I joined Uber when it was less than 150 employees and after that went to a startup as well, really focused on the building angle. My expertise is in global marketing, educating advertisers on how to use technology products. In my current role, I focus on Pinterest advertising, and my previous role was at Meta, where I worked with agencies to help their clients better understand how to use the platform, how to advertise on it, and how to optimize their results. I've also worked with enterprise brands and have some experience with SMBs as well. I was previously on a management track where I managed and mentored a little over a dozen individuals, but now I'm on the IC track focusing on lead, leadership roles as an IC. After starting my own family, I've taken a step back from the hustle and grind to have more balance in my life. I just recently had my third child who's about 5 months old and am currently on maternity leave. For the next 5 years, I'm looking to either continue on the track I'm on with global leadership experience in marketing, open to management experiences, and potentially even going back into the startup world, taking all of the big global tech experience I have and applying it in a startup setting.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Samantha

01What do you attribute your success to?

I'm a firm believer in God, and I believe that God has truly guided me in my career. By giving my career path to him, I have been able to be given opportunities that I don't feel like I would have otherwise. It's a combination of believing and working really hard for what I want, and aligning with the right people. If a career opportunity doesn't work out, I know that it's not meant to be, and I take any no or any failure and turn it into what did I learn, and how can I succeed in the future as a result of this experience. I also have to mention my husband, who is also in tech. He was at Dropbox in the earlier days, and we were both grinding, working around the clock. As we've navigated the tech space, we've been able to help each other, coach each other through situations, and just be a sounding board. It's a very unique space and tricky to navigate, so I feel very grateful to have him in my life. I'm glad that I waited for someone that I can partner with from a career perspective, because we understand each other really well. When we have a really important meeting or whenever things come up, we're there for each other.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

People going into marketing now are more well-positioned in terms of leveraging the resources that they have, which is AI these days. Leverage AI to help you work smarter versus harder, like we had to do back in the day. But because everybody has those resources available to them, it's going to come down to being competitive and making yourself stand out. Whether that's building your own brand online in order to get attention, getting your feet wet at different companies to get different experiences, having that blend of branding yourself, getting the experience, and using technology to help you be as efficient as possible as a marketer. You have to advocate for yourself first in order for you to be the best in your industry.

03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I think standing up for what I believe is really important. Having a strong opinion, knowing where you come from, and also reading the room in a professional setting and making sure that you are doing what's best for the business. For me, I'm a firm believer in God, and I believe that God has truly guided me in my career. By giving my career path to him, I have been able to be given opportunities that I don't feel like I would have otherwise. It's a combination of believing and working really hard for what I want, and aligning with the right people. If a career opportunity doesn't work out, I know that it's not meant to be, and I take any no or any failure and turn it into what did I learn, and how can I succeed in the future as a result of this experience.

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