Q and A with Samantha P. from Long Island, New York, living in Northern Israel
“You are never too old to learn something new!”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: My passion is helping small to medium businesses and startups (B2B SMBs) find their voice and market themselves correctly to the right audience. Marketing is such an overlooked part of what allows businesses to make money because it can be hard to put a dollar value on the benefit a newsletter or social media post brings to a business. I started my own fractional marketing business to help small businesses understand the value that marketing will bring them, as well as to tie it to their sales so that we are marketing to get them money. My husband does VP sales and business development as a service (VP Sales/7 Biz Dev as a service), and even when we don’t have shared clients, we always consult each other. It’s such a benefit to each other (and our clients) that we each have the other as a resource since sales and marketing really need each other to gain the maximum advantage.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I always loved learning and would read whatever I could get my hands on. I’m glad that that love has stuck with me because as a marketer, I can get clients from any industry and it means I need to learn a lot very quickly about vastly different sectors, from AI robots to desalination.
I didn’t always work in marketing. In fact, for the first 10+ years of my adult life, I spent working in environmental science and politics. I was always very passionate about protecting the planet, even before Al Gore made climate change cool. [Samantha laughs.] When I was 31, I followed my dream and left the USA to move to Israel. I’m very fortunate that my mom and brother also moved to Israel after me. Growing up, it was always just the three of us, so I’m grateful that we have each other here as well. Moving to Israel was definitely hard! I had to learn a new language and get used to a very different culture. I am very happy here though. There is much more emphasis on family than I found in the US. The country is built for kids; there are playgrounds and daycares everywhere. It’s not uncommon for a stranger on the bus to ask you to hold their baby for a second while they pay. I see the struggles my friends in the US go through not having maternity leave or affordable daycare, so I’m especially grateful to be living here.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: When I arrived in Israel at age 31, I saw that there was a very, very limited number of positions that involved environmental protection, and for almost all of them, I needed to be fluent in Hebrew, which I wasn’t yet. I had to reevaluate my goal, asking myself if it was to continue to build my career in environmental issues, or successfully start a new life in Israel? I chose the latter and did a program that helped me identify my skills in order to find a job. It turns out that my years working in politics and organizing and promoting events allowed me a very natural transition into marketing. I’m not almost 10 years into my ‘new’ career and have worked my way up to CMO as a service (also known as a Fractional CMO). I love what I do, and I love seeing how business owners light up at my recommendations and the results of my work. I very much encourage people to consider changing careers if they find themselves stuck. You are never too old to learn something new!
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism means being able to accomplish what you want professionally, without having to give up what it means to be a woman. I shouldn’t have to be excessively aggressive to be taken seriously or paid equally. Women should be allowed and encouraged to have children and all that comes with it, without being penalized professionally.
Thank you for reading!
The Woman Wednesday Blog 