Meet Sofia Pardini | Sales Strategist, Media Expert, & Adventurer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sofia Pardini and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sofia, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor around my success is the people I surround myself with and the attitude I bring to those relationships. They say you are the average of the five people you spend most of your time with, but it is not only spending time with those five people, but having a genuine interest, and desire to listen and learn from those individuals. Regardless of position or circumstance, I always enter the conversation with a ‘student always’ mindset, knowing they have something to teach me.

Building these relationships at work, both increases my personal happiness and fulfillment at work, as well as my performance on the job. I consider myself to be a people person, so forming a the connection outside of a transactional working relationship, motivates me to go above and beyond to exceed expectations. I want to do better to help others so we can win together. High tides raise all ships.

Your peers and coworkers can also be your strongest resource. Conversations with coworkers, will accelerate your career as you learn how different parts of the business operate and you can find commonalities across divisions. Not to mention, many of the most important conversations in your career will take place when you aren’t in the room to speak for yourself. You need people in the room who will go to bat for you when you aren’t there, and that loyalty grows through genuine, personal relationships.

This concept extends beyond the people you surround yourself in the workplace, but also to those you spend your free time with outside of the office. My friends and family are such a support system. I’ve always been a strong proponent of work life balance as a factor that helps you excel at work. To me, to bring your 110% to work, you also need to bring your 110% to your personal life. You deserve to bring treat you personal life with the same dedication as you do your work life to prevent burnout and find perspective. Time with friends also gives you another environment to be creative, and explore new interests or ideas without the pressure you may feel at work to always be making the right move.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have worked in the advertising/media industry for over 10 years, with experience at Hulu, Fox, NBCU, and presently, VideoAmp.

I started closer to the operations of how to run the business, from inventory forecasting (in my world, this is estimating ad space available to sell), to yield management (what is the most effective way to sell and monitor the business today), to a more company strategy focused roles (how do we get from today to tomorrow and grow exponentially). One thing that sets me apart today is my unique ability to not only ideate, and create a recommendation, but to execute it, which I attribute to my earlier days in a more operational position. Often times, leaders come in without having the fundamental understanding of how the company operates, which causes a disconnect between reality and vision and causes internal distrust in decision making. I feel fortunate to have experience on both sides.

Early in my career, I struggled to speak up and share my opinion. I was working in a more traditional environment, where title, age mattered and made it challenging to break through in meetings. I worked on improving this regularly, but it wasn’t until switching companies, I received a piece of advice that this really stuck for me. The piece of advice, was essentially the long standing ‘fake it til you make it,’ but much more eloquently said. My manager at the time pointed out that it is a lot more difficult to reinvent yourself, then to establish yourself as how you want to be seen – a vocal, active participant, not an observer. He continued to say that no one at this new company knows me yet, so even if I feel as though I am playing a role, play it until it is the expectation. Over index to what is comfortable to level the playing field.

It was uncomfortable at first, but I did it, and it worked. My then canned response to ‘what is your greatest weakness’ has turned into one of the largest drivers of my success.

This concept of act until you are can be applied to many situations, and is always a voice guiding me through my next big move. As I have started to dip my toes into more entrepreneurial work, it is important to have the confidence to achieve success.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh I love this question, since I am always the planner in the group.

I am an avid traveler and am gone a good majority of weekends this year, but for one of the rare weekends I am in LA, it would look something like the following.

If the weather is nice, starting at a rooftop such as Hotel Erwin or Elephante for sunset is the ideal way to kick off the weekend on Friday. This would be followed by a long dinner in Santa Monica or Venice to catch up with a friend visiting, recently have enjoyed Si Mon, Ospi, or Bar Monette.

I am an early riser, and like to start Saturday morning with a solid workout. I mix it up between running, weight lifting or a hiit or yoga class. Next, would grab a good coffee around main street, and enjoy brunch, hopefully somewhere with outdoor seating. Saturday will depend on the weekend. I have family in Orange County, so often times finding myself down there for a celebration. If staying in LA, I’ll spend most of the weekend with friends, picking up a new hobby or chasing an adventure (popup, exhibit, concert).

I am not one who likes to spend Sunday’s indoors – if we only have two days in the weekend you need to treat them both that way! I’ll find a friend who also wants to explore with me, maybe play tennis, venture to Hollywood for a hike or explore a new part of town. By the evening, it’s time to wind down early with a good book and start prepping for the week ahead.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
While there are many people that have supported me along the way, there are two individuals, Os Ansari and Chad Bender, that I can confidently say I would not be the person I am today without their mentorship.

Os and Chad were my managers at NBCU, and are two of the most genuinely thoughtful, considerate, and people, that I feel fortunate to have worked with.

Os taught me how to problem solve. He challenged me to take a step back, fully understand the macro-effects of a decision and see how all of the dots connect versus focusing on the impact to my specific focus. You could not stop here though, it is just as important to have the bullet proof data to back up the decision.

Chad knew how to deliver on results, and that successful delivery is dependent on the receiver. He taught my the importance of knowing the your audience, and the value of differentiating yourself through preparation and hard work. For example, Chad knew I wanted to learn. He took the time to always deliver feedback, even when things were going well, to push me to grow every day.

I will be forever grateful for their time spent and advice that turned into a lasting mentorship and friendship.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiapardini/