If you’re an ambitious young pro, odds are you’ve already set your sights on one or more jobs, companies or industries you’d be psyched to break into. Moreover, you’ve probably met (or heard of) pros whose careers align somewhat, or even perfectly with your own career dreams–ones who you admire, or even feel a little jealous of (that’s OK, we won’t tell).
If so, congrats! This is the first step in your journey to an awesome career.
“But wait, how does seeing someone else crushing my career goals help me achieve anything?”
Well, as a young pro you have to start looking at everyone who has your dream job as a teacher–someone who can help add clarity to the sometimes nebulous art of following your passion, and actually landing a job as a result.
So, without that said, here’s our selection of pros with cool jobs at top creative companies. Reach out to them (and let them know you found them through our article!) or just stalk their LinkedIn, and we promise, you’ll leave feeling inspired and ready to take next steps in your career.
Or, if you want to take it to the next level, meet these pros and others like them at one of our upcoming FindSpark events. Check out what’s next at findspark.com/events.
Ryan Casey
Junior Copywriter at The Marketing Store
This young creative pro puts his wordsmith powers to use at the Chicago-based agency and recent Hustle Summit employer, The Marketing Store. Some of Ryan’s sick accomplishments include turning his internship at The Marketing Store into a full-time gig and landing (not one) but two super-competitive creative internships with McCann.
Jasmine Jones
Audio Editor and Producer, Podfly Productions, LLC
Jasmine is an audio producer and editor at Podfly Productions. Before that, her career was already studded with an internship at Sirius XM and radio promotions gigs with Mane Record Label. Jasmine was also a core member of our last Hustle Summit Fellowship in NYC.
Alexandra Vensor
Cross-Platform Sales Planner, Disney ABC Television Group
This long-time FindSpark community member holds an enviable title at Disney, where she hustled her way up from a Sales Internship to her current position as a Cross-Platform Sales Panner. Connect with her to learn more about her trajectory at one of the coolest leaders in media.
Thanyawan Ausaranurak
Senior Analyst, Media Technology at DigitasLBi_US
If you’re a numbers-driven pro looking to make a splash in the marketing world, then Thanyawan is your perfect career role model. The ambitious pro is a long-time FindSpark member and has paid the career wisdom forward as a keynote speaker at FindSpark events. Before landing a senior-level gig at Digitas, she did marketing at top companies like Refinery29 and Tasting Table.
Kaila Kane
Fashion Assistant at Condé Nast
Before landing in publishing leader Condé Nast’s fashion department, Kaila landed a job in PR at ASTRSK through the FindSpark job board. She also helped run our epic networking night, Hustle Summit, as a member of our Hustle Summit Fellow program.
Cory T. Taylor
Director, Success and Support at ActiveCampaign, Inc
This ambitious pro helps improve end to end customer experiences at the fast-growing Chicago marketing startup and recent Hustle Summit employer, Activecampaign. Before that, Cory was crushing it as Senior Manager of Operations at Squarespace. Want to be a part of the success of world tech leaders? Then you can probably learn quite a bit from Cory.
Aneri Shah
Co-Founder at Sightworthy
The tech entrepreneur and female founder likes to call herself “a creative who empowers other creatives”. Today, she works at the company she co-founded, Sightworthy–a platform that helps companies create short-form video at scale. Aneri’s previous accomplishments include creating a video education and video community at Shutterstock from scratch and co-founding a women’s fitness app that garnered 250K+ organic downloads in two years.
Impressed?
Jaime Coast
Director, Partner Marketing at Nickelodeon
Got starry-eyed just reading Jaime’s title? This FindSpark speaker alumnus has held a number of impressive creative titles, like Managing Editor at FindSpark and Social Media Director at Tenthwave Digital.
Alexandra Shytsman
Cookbook Writer & Project Manager at Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts
If you want to dabble in lots of creative roles within an industry, think Alexandra as your career beacon. The multi-faceted food expert is a recipe developer, educator, writer and food stylist and photographer. She’s also the creator of The New Baguette, a digital food publication that helps others overcome common barriers to cooking at home. You can check out Alex’s photography at alexshytsmanphoto.com.
Chris Walker
Associate Creative Director at We Are Unlimited
This creative director works for the McDonalds-dedicated agency and recent Hustle Summit employer, We Are Unlimited. He also founded Limited Edition- Comicfy Your Brand, which allows brands to use into comic book culture in innovative ways. Head over to his LinkedIn to check out the rest of his creative leadership experience and to see some of Chris’s awesome illustrations.
Taylyn Washington-Harmon
Associate Social Media Manager at SELF.com
Aspiring marketing pro? Passionate about content, publishing and/or media? Taylyn is a journalism fiend who currently holds an Associate Social Media Manager title at Condé Nast. She inspired pros from our community at our goal-setting workshop, Get Sh*t Done, where she also told us that she’s achieved so much in so little time by staying organized and believing in her passion.
Need more career inspo from Taylyn?
Nancy Nystrom
Art Director at R/GA
Now an Art Director at leading digital agency, R/GA, Nancy has a career journey worth stalking. The Ringling college grad held internships at Nickelodeon and Spotify before landing full-time art direction and designer gigs at MRY, Momentum Worldwide, and eventually R/GA.
Officially a fan of Nancy’s?
Andrea Velazquez Fossas
Creative Strategist, Experiential at Refinery29, Inc.
Can you see yourself crafting awesome events and experiences for some of the world’s largest and most creative brands? At Refinery29, Andrea helps bring to life awesome experiences for companies like Google, HBO, LEGO, Netflix, Perrier, Victoria’s Secret, Adidas, Tinder and ULTA Beauty.
Nika DyBuncio
Senior Web Designer at Bumble and bumble
Creative with a tech edge? Nika certainly is. The ambitious pro formerly held both copy and visual gigs at CBS and Paul Stuart and Aeropostale. Then, she took her role at Bumble and bumble from freelance to full-time–which is no small feat.
Amala Nath
Research Analyst at A+E Networks 
The research pro used her hustle and networking skills to snag an analyst role at one of the leading TV networks in the world, A+E. She also shared success tips with young pros at our goal-setting FindSpark event, Get Sh*t Done, and told us more about how she weaved through amazing companies like NBC, FOX and iced media.
Jovelle Abbey Tamayo
Photographer, Visual Journalist at Jovelle Tamayo Photo
This FindSpark community member is now an independent visual journalist who does flawless photo, video and editing work for brands and individuals. Before that, she did photography and journalism for Major League Baseball (MLB). Interested in the art of freelancing? Think you may have a career in photojournalism?
Cat Owens
Animator/Video Editor at Atlantic Records
This former Hustle Summit Fellow now works as an in-house freelance animator and video editor at Atlantic Records, where she creates and edits content for Atlantic’s personal and musical artist’s social media platforms. Dream of a career in the music biz or music marketing? Cat may be your perfect career role model.
Carla Echevarria
Design Lead at Google
This design powerhouse has 10 years of experience leading product design, brand design, creative, and strategy teams at Google, Facebook, MakerBot, and R/GA. Her work has won awards at the Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD, Art Director’s Club, and the Webbys and has been featured in a number of publications and conferences, including our own FindSpark Creative Conference.
Dying to be in one of these pros shoes? Reach out to them (and let them know you found them through our article, or check out their LinkedIn. And, if you want to take it a step further, you can network with pros like these at our epic networking night, Hustle Summit.
