Turning a love for true crime into a career in podcast advertising
How did you first get into this business? What attracted you to a career in podcast advertising in the first place?
Honestly, I just thought working with podcasts would be incredibly cool. I actually came from a graphic design background. Being creative is something that has always come very naturally to me. At the time, I was super into listening to podcasts as a fan, and it hit me: “Wait, you mean I could actually work with podcasts, collaborate with the podcasters, and make this a full-time gig?” That completely sparked my interest.
When you say you were “super into podcasts” back then, what exactly were you listening to?
I’m the absolute typical female who listens to every single true crime and murder mystery podcast out there! That’s 100% up my alley.
That makes complete sense given how much you look after the SKIMS campaigns on Murder with My Husband.
Haha, yes! Aside from that, I really love comedy and interview-based shows like Armchair Expert.
Tell me about the road to ROI MEDIA 360 – you were one of the earliest employees, right.
I actually started out at Oxford Road. When the company had to do a round of layoffs, it was one of those tough situations where my old boss, Kyle—who is just a great guy—didn’t actually want to let me go because we worked so well together. He kept his ear to the ground for me. When ROI MEDIA 360 was starting up Kyle immediately said, “You’ve got to pick her up.” It worked out beautifully. The moment I spoke with Patrick and Mary, I knew it was the perfect place for me.
Looking back at the growth since those early days, what do you love most about our culture here?
I love the pure freedom and trust. We aren’t micromanaged here. Everyone knows that I take care of my clients and get the work done, so they give me the space to execute. I never feel like I’m chained to a corporate desk. I can structure my day based on the workload—whether it takes six hours or eight hours—and as long as my clients are thriving, we’re good. That freedom is amazing.
What are you most proud of building since you joined?
Definitely the campaign management processes I’ve helped implement. Because I’ve been here since the beginning, I was able to build a foundational workflow that has worked incredibly well—so well that we’re now rolling those same processes out across all our other client accounts.
I’ve also loved becoming the go-to person for qualitative ad reviews. A great example happened recently when I stepped in to help with Cozy Earth. I manually audited their air checks, spotted a few creative areas where the reads could be tweaked to sound better, and brought it to the client. They were so grateful—they told me, “Wow, I can’t believe we didn’t pick up on that ourselves. Thank you for catching it.” It’s incredibly rewarding when a client openly recognizes the deep value you’re providing.
The podcast landscape is shifting fast right now, moving from pure audio into streaming video platforms like YouTube and Netflix. How do you view this evolution?
I embrace it completely; I’m just here for the ride! Being in the industry right when a major shift like this is picking up is the perfect time, because you get to learn it from the ground floor. I already know the audio side inside and out, so we just tweak the strategy slightly for video and execute.
Personally, I think video is going to give performance a massive boost. For example, since Murder with My Husband migrated to Netflix, the performance lift has been completely crazy. I actually think podcasting is going to take over the traditional talk show format entirely, leaving legacy TV to handle dramas while podcasts become the new, unscripted version of reality TV. It gives independent creators without previous notoriety a real opportunity to rise up and become the next Alex Cooper.
And of course, shows like Only Murders in the Building have had a huge impact.
Oh, I love that show, it’s so fun! The cast dynamic is amazing—it’s like the wholesome fiction version of Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg becoming best friends. What’s really wild is how that show put podcasting completely center stage on television. Without a major network show making podcasters look that culturally relevant, I wonder if streaming platforms would have even thought to bring real-world video podcasts onto their grids as quickly as they are now. It really paved the way.
Last question: what do you like to do outside work?
My main hobbies boil down to two things: murder mysteries and travel! I don’t necessarily go on a million vacations, but I spend a lot of my free time daydreaming and planning them. I am a total beach person. I love the sun, being outside, and researching Caribbean beaches with warm weather. I also paint – especially beaches!