{"id":4190,"date":"2018-09-07T11:34:14","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T18:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/?p=4190"},"modified":"2023-04-28T05:30:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T12:30:43","slug":"springboard-mentor-suzy-deline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/business-and-marketing\/springboard-mentor-suzy-deline\/","title":{"rendered":"Springboard Mentor Suzy DeLine: From Broadway-Bound Performer to Marketing Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Suzy DeLine grew up dancing and singing. She was convinced she was headed toward a career on Broadway, and even earned a drama degree from Northwestern University. But during her time as an undergrad, Suzy realized that directing and producing\u2014calling the shots\u2014was even more fun than performing. So she set her sights on business school. \u201cFrom there, the drama of Silicon Valley\u2019s technical revolution called me, and I\u2019ve been telling those stories since,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suzy is a content strategist and marketing manager with more than 15 years of digital marketing experience<\/a>. A few of her favorite things about her work: writing creative briefs, putting together \u201ca killer <\/span>DACI<\/span><\/a>\u201d framework, setting up project timelines, and learning new marketing technology<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of her go-to tools<\/a> is Hubspot. She was introduced to the software firm\u2019s products via an agency she worked for that encouraged her to become certified. \u201cIt was amazing, being able to see the full results of a whole campaign in a single, easy to use, easy to set up platform,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it also gave a new structure to how a person thinks about content strategy planning and execution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Suzy<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tech industry is an exciting and sometimes volatile one, and Suzy has experienced the full range of experiences. She has supported product launches at huge companies like Intel and Intuit, and she\u2019s worked with small startups and nonprofits. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of her favorite professional experiences, however, involve mentorship. Suzy has been on both ends of the relationship, beginning at Intel, where she took everything her mentor said literally. \u201cHe would visualize the optimal situation for our new group, and being new at the company, I didn\u2019t realize that these things were hard. I just assumed if he wanted them they should happen,\u201d she said. \u201cHe hoped we could attract, to our group of four, six of the highest-quality new recruits. Between college and internal channels, I made it my mission and our team became a superteam, noticed by many others to some envy but much admiration.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The personal connection mentorship provides \u201cis profoundly motivating,\u201d Suzy said. \u201cTo know someone is expecting your best makes you bring it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the accountability, the open communication\u2014especially the ability to ask questions\u2014\u201cmakes learning something new so very much more doable,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suzy eventually began mentoring other young marketers through various platforms. At the end of last year, she joined Springboard, where she said she had her favorite mentoring experience (more about digital marketers here<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The student with whom she worked, Janelle, shared Suzy\u2019s hybrid creative\/business background and took to the \u201cphilosophy of content and digital marketing<\/a> like a fish to water,\u201d she said. \u201cIn addition to our connection, the tools of Springboard made it so efficient to get our work together done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a time when Janelle had a confluence of conflicts\u2014work obligations, performances with her troupe, personal travel\u2014that affected her ability to complete her coursework. \u201cI let her know it was OK to take a pause, but we worked together to calendar her return so that the pause would not be open-ended,\u201d Suzy said. \u201cAnd during that time, I stayed in touch so she knew she was still part of the program.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a sense of satisfaction that comes from giving back and sharing knowledge with early-career professionals. But mentors also learn from their mentees. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is huge value in people in different stages coming together for a project,\u201d Suzy said. \u201cIn this instance, I learned a great deal about the current state of job search techniques and mindsets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the end, Suzy said, it’s the relationship that matters. “Both the mentee and the mentor learn and grow while they are working together, and when that period ends the invaluable intergenerational friendships last.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Suzy (left) and Janelle during a recent video chat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since you’re here…
<\/strong>Ready for a career in digital marketing? Test our curriculum with this free digital marketing learning path<\/a>, and check out our salary guide<\/a> to see what you could be making.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Suzy DeLine grew up dancing and singing. She was convinced she was headed toward a career on Broadway, and even earned a drama degree from Northwestern University. But during her time as an undergrad, Suzy realized that directing and producing\u2014calling the shots\u2014was even more fun than performing. So she set her sights on business school. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":4546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[],"marketing_tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-and-marketing"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4190"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43203,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4190\/revisions\/43203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4190"},{"taxonomy":"marketing_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/marketing_tags?post=4190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}