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Kathy Yang / WebJuice / Affiliate Manager I am an affiliate manager at WebJuice. I started out in list management and actually had to complain that I needed more work. Thus, I was given the opportunity to spearhead the affiliate dept. My responsibilities include managing expectations of affiliates and doing analyses and optimizations of the click traffic I bring in. This is my first job after graduating from George Mason University, where I studied economics and math. I had originally planned to enter graduate school to become an economics professor, so most of my time was spent holed up in libraries writing 20-page research papers while tutoring younger undergrads in economic. Interestingly, I also studied theatre and scriptwriting, which gave me a bit of excitement from time to time outside of my academic obsession. Where were you born? South Korea Where were you raised? MD/VA/DC Who do you think had the most influence on your life and why? My mom had the most influence in my life. As I grew older, I began to almost unconsciously mimic her work ethics, thoughtfulness, and drive. The aforementioned person, is their influence used/applied at NextInternet? Most definitely – without a doubt! What do you think about your upbringing or life experiences led you to working at a Start-up? Growing up, my mother repeatedly stressed to me the value of time, whether it be working or playing. “Work smart, not just hard,” she said. The longer I stay in this industry, the more that saying rings true. What do you like about working at a start-up/NextInternet? The culture! There’s a unique openness and boldness with respect to ideas and innovation, which I find are unfortunately absent in older industries. If you had to describe your day to day in the office in 3 sentences how would you? You’d expect a magician to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but instead you discover fried chicken! One day, I will spend my time optimizing, analyzing, problem-solving, and interpreting numbers. The next day, or sometimes the next hour, I will find myself negotiating with clients or giving presentations to entire departments within my company. What valuable lessons have learned in working at NextInternet? People, young and old, are capable of amazing things. If you had to tell a new employee of NextInternet what to expect in their first two weeks what would it be? The unexpected, the revolutionary, the innovative – growth you’d rarely experience in any other industry… or company, for that matter. What types of companies have you worked with before? (small, large, etc.) I came from an “everyone works to support the family” upbringing, so I’ve been working since I was 12. I’ve done everything from manual labor and retail to experimental economics research and legal assistance. In your own words: When I graduated college, I really thought I would end up staying in school forever. I had gotten accepted into a fellowship program for my PhD in economics, and I thought, “If I become a professor, I will never have to ‘work’ again.” My plan shattered when my childhood friend, who moved to San Francisco in high school, brought to my attention a promise I had made to her in middle school to be roommates when we grew up. Since graduate school would’ve kept me in the DC area for another 5 years, I withdrew my fellowship acceptance and flew 3,000 miles. So, here I am at WebJuice… After a 4-hour interview, lots of company lunches, and many very entertaining happy hours, I’m amazed at how far I have come. A year and half has gone by in the blink of an eye, but at the same time I feel years older, or perhaps just that much more mature. It’s a new experience for me to suddenly enjoy waking up in the morning to work, and I am definitely not a morning person! Best of all, I met a few true friends, great drinking buddies, and a team to do some amazing work together with. Human capital really is one of the most valuable assets in any organization, and I realize I’m very fortunate to be able to work in a company that shares the same vision. |