With Gratitude as I've Grown: The SourceCode Leaders Who Have Impacted My Career
As I’ve taken the time to reflect on all the high and lows we’ve experienced this year, a common theme for me has been my growth through relationships, both personally and professionally.
When I first joined SourceCode, some of the attributes I loved the most about the company were the collaborative environment and the various avenues of opportunity to work with different portfolios. Equally as important, it was clear that the incredible leaders here are inspired every day to have a large impact on their team’s life beyond work. The encouraging, constructive and applicable feedback from my wonderful manager Cori Cagide and close colleague Sophia Feleke helped propel me forward to my promotion to Senior Account Executive after 6 months. In addition, with their guidance and support, my love for the work I do has grown exponentially because I was given the gift of being able to find balance throughout my work week. While there were times in which the ‘life part’ of work-life balance posed some challenges, it was through my professional relationships that I learned a valuable personal lesson.
The SourceCode Strong program supports and acknowledges the need that all employees have for work-life balance and mental wellness. Thanks to these leaders, I was reminded that it's not just about the hours we work or the amount of PTO we take throughout the year to find balance, but it’s also about having the ability to take care of yourself and your own needs, so that you’re able to thrive and tackle your passions at work. Self-care doesn’t just include doing things that energize you and prioritize your mental health, it’s also about finding a way to marry your passions with your work and applying those lessons to your relationships inside and out of the office.
If I’m taking one lesson into 2023, it’s that in order to be my best self professionally, I need to give myself the grace and love to be my best self personally. With that lesson learned, I’m ready for what this next year has in store.
With Gratitude as I've Grown: The SourceCode Leaders Who Have Impacted My Career
I can’t believe we’re in December, that time of the year when we reflect, plan ahead, and forge a path forward for the upcoming year. It is important to reflect and look at the path that has gotten us where we are today so that we have the opportunity to learn, grow, and help plot the future.
As I reflect on my six months here at SourceCode, I’ve learned a lot and have grown professionally in many ways. I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of two DMC accounts, where I’ve gotten the chance to shine light and support women and minority-led businesses. I’ve also seen many of my clients secure coverage in top-tier trade publications and garner interest from reporters covering their industry. It’s been a wild ride and I’m so happy to be a part of it.
I’ve been lucky enough to be able to work with a variety of people across my accounts and gain different best practices and ways to look at strategy. That is one of the advantages of working with such a tight-knit company, you get the opportunity to collaborate and even work with senior level leaders. One of my colleagues I’m most grateful for is Kristen Stippich (EVP). She always encourages me to push myself and have confidence in my abilities; she has taught me to trust my gut. Through her mentorship, I’ve grown in my position as an account manager, becoming more assertive as I drive results through data in my pursuit to make strides as a leader on my own accounts. For example, when a client proposed a plan of attack on a campaign that the team developed, I provided strategic, thoughtful and partnership-driven advice as to why our plan would garner more results (based on data) thanks to the guidance and stewardship I’ve learned from Kristen.
As we close out the year, I encourage you to reflect on not only what you want to accomplish for the upcoming year but also look to see how you can grow to better position yourself for success.
SourceCode Stands Against Antisemitism
Over the last few months, Antisemitism has been on a global rise. According to a report from the Anti-Defamation League in 2021, Antisemitic incidents rose by 34% from the previous year. Hateful speech towards the Jewish community is at a fever-pitch on a variety of public platforms and Jews around the world are feeling threatened and nervous for their safety and well-being.
We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community; those around the world and certainly those who self-identify as Jewish within the SourceCode family.
Throughout our 5 years, we have worked tirelessly to use our platform to amplify the voices of those that need it most. As we have seen this hatred grow, we are distraught and believe it necessary to make a clear statement about where and with whom we stand.
We see you, we hear you and we are with you.
To read more about how you can best support the Jewish community during this time, please reference the below resources:
https://www.adl.org/
https://www.ajc.org/resources/antisemitism
https://www.cjp.org/antisemitism-initiative
Making FitXR Synonymous with Accessible Fitness
With the fitness industry historically not showing diverse bodies in their advertisements and marketing, VR fitness platform FitXR wanted to establish itself as an inclusive fitness product for people of all body types and fitness levels. Since its founding in 2017, core to FitXR’s mission has been making fitness more accessible. The company has since expanded its offerings to include new exercise formats, additional workouts, updated VR environments and more accessible options for people of any level, ability and at any stage in their fitness journey.
WHAT WE DID
SourceCode researched and identified social influencers who embodied and exemplified the type of user FitXR wanted to attract and then established strategic partnerships through product seeding in order to generate diversity-centric content on behalf of the FitXR brand.
To complement influencer videos and reviews, SourceCode utilized FitXR’s trainer who was born without legs, Zion Clark, as the spokesperson for this topic and offered interviews with key media for him to speak about the importance of accessibility in fitness, in addition to utilizing him for live workouts and demos with media, including through social channels like Instagram Live.
RESULTS
We landed feature stories and interviews centered on Zion Clark with numerous top-tier fitness and lifestyle media such as Shape and a PIX11 broadcast segment. Reach also expanded to social, with an Instagram Live workout booked on Shape’s account. Traditional earned media efforts were complemented by partnerships with strategic on-brand influencers, such as Big Fit Girl Louise Green, which resulted in posts on her social pages and a contributed article in SELF highlighting how FitXR was her favorite virtual reality game on the market.
Metrics:
- Feature stories and interviews with FitXR’s trainer Zion Clark in fitness and lifestyle media such as Shape and PIX11 broadcast
- Over ten articles centered around FitXR’s inclusive and accessibility-forward offerings and trainers
- Social media coverage secured with Shape via Instagram Live
- Influencer posts from Louise Green, including via social channels and a contributed article in SELF highlighting how FitXR was her favorite VR game on the market
Launching Teltech’s Mid-Year RoboKiller Report
Each year, RoboKiller, the Teltech app that eliminates 99% of robocalls and robotexts, releases a mid-year report that explores spam texts and spam calls across different states, industries, and brands. SourceCode was tasked with raising visibility and media coverage around the report’s results in an effort to drive more coverage and awareness than their primary competitor, elevating Teltech as the leading industry expert.
WHAT WE DID
We first reviewed the full report to distill key themes and supporting data points in order to develop numerous pitch angles that would be relevant to a wide variety of reporters. We executed an embargo strategy to maximize coverage on launch day and increase the feeling of timeliness when offering the report to key reporters. Other strategies included utilizing Teltech’s executive spokespeople to provide additional commentary and context to the data points and extending a promo code for media to try the consumer-facing app for first-hand experience, building brand recognition and rapport for future coverage consideration.
RESULTS
In advance of the report launch, we thoroughly prepped 2 executives with key talking points and supporting data to use in interviews. We had multiple reporters accepting the news under embargo as a result of our pre-briefing efforts and a total of 5 pieces of coverage secured around the launch of the report in key publications such as Consumer Affairs, Best Life, TMCNet and NBC 5.
Metrics:
- 5 articles secured
- 2 feature articles published in ComputerWorld
Raising Awareness for Telehealth Startup, Plume
Plume, the leading telehealth provider for transgender healthcare, is a company built by trans people for trans people. As the company looked to expand its presence in the U.S., SourceCode was tasked with developing and executing an earned media strategy to increase Plume’s brand awareness, specifically amongst the transgender community.
WHAT WE DID
We created a comprehensive, multi-prong media relations strategy to ensure a consistent cadence of media coverage. This approach consisted of developing a 12-month proactive pitch calendar to insert the brand into key cultural moments such as Mental Health Awareness Month and International Day of Trans Visibility, and crafting varied pitch angles to hit all relevant media verticals: health trades, LGBTQ+ media, local, business. We also spotlighted patient stories to humanize Plume and showcase the personal stories behind their impact, and amplified momentum moments and milestones for the brand around its expansion and roll out of services in new markets. We complemented proactive outreach with reactive newsjacking around key moments such as the anti-Trans bills and also highlighted Plume’s co-founders and founding story to break into business press.
RESULTS
Over 6 months, we secured 107 placements (including syndications) in key publications such as Fierce Healthcare, Livestrong, Houston Chronicle, NPR, PopSugar, CNBC: The News with Shepard Smith. We also secured a brand feature story in Business Insider that highlighted the company’s co-founders and mission. This cadence of media coverage increased Plume’s SOV by 42.5% between Q3 2021 to Q2 2022.
In addition to earned media, we landed co-founder, Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, a spot on 2022 Inc. Female Founders 100 list, and CEO, Matthew Wetschler, a speaking opportunity at HLTH 2022, in addition to the company on LinkedIn’s Top Startups list for 2022.
Metrics to call out:
- 107 pieces of coverage
- 42.5% increase in SOV
Bringing Gorillas’ 10-minute Grocery Delivery to the US
Gorillas is a well-known European company that specializes in delivering fresh groceries quickly and efficiently to your front door. Their ability to provide on-demand delivery without sacrificing quality and their rider employment model has driven their success in the space. SourceCode was tasked with launching Gorillas – at the time, Europe’s fastest growing unicorn – into the U.S., specifically focusing on the NY market. Our goal was to secure coverage that clearly communicated the brand’s key messaging and value propositions, and drive users to download the app.
WHAT WE DID
In order to guarantee an in-depth feature on the launch, we executed an exclusive strategy, giving the news to a top-tier publication that would hit both business and consumer audiences – Business Insider. Once BI went live, we widely pitched additional relevant media across local NY, business, tech, consumer, retail and real estate publications so that Gorillas would have a splash of coverage extending beyond launch day. While planning our outreach around the US launch, we also built a proactive earned media strategy leveraging Gorillas’ data to continue momentum with consumer and local NY press long-term. In addition to our outreach efforts, we partnered with the Gorillas team to ramp up their NYC influencer program to streamline messaging across earned, paid and owned platforms, while also driving additional visibility for the brand and the US launch across social media.
RESULTS
We secured two feature pieces of coverage from Business Insider - one exclusive around the launch news and another that was an in-depth profile on Gorillas’ CEO. After the exclusive hit, we secured an additional 80 pieces of coverage including online and broadcast syndications, and received six inbound media requests.
Metrics to call out:
- 2 Business Insider feature stories
- 80+ pieces of coverage
- 3 influencer partnerships