Life at Nexxen with Catherine Dauphin

Life at Nexxen is a blog series spotlighting our employees – from their career journeys and go-to advice to the rituals and activities that make up their days here at Nexxen.

In this edition of Life at Nexxen, we spoke with Catherine Dauphin, Director of Client Success from our New York office. Catherine spoke about her path to leadership, what she believes is most important as a manager, and how she spends the first ten minutes of the day.

How long have you been with Nexxen?

I just celebrated my 14th anniversary, originally joining the company on the Tremor Video side.

That’s a long time! Since you’ve been with the company through multiple acquisitions, what has helped you manage the challenges of new teams, processes, and overall change?

It’s a new experience with new opportunities for growth. Understanding that with the change, you can look forward to what is coming. There was always excitement with each acquisition, which is why I’ve continued my career here for so many years.

What was your first role at Tremor Video?

I joined Tremor Video as an Account Manager, recruited by one of the sellers in the auto vertical. I had actually worked previously at an agency specializing in automotive accounts, so she knew I had relevant experience.

I was new to video when I started at Tremor; I had the digital experience, but it was mostly display. I learned all about video as an Account Manager, and then progressed into management and higher leadership roles.

Did you always want to go into leadership? Or was it something that you naturally gravitated towards as you progressed in your career?

I didn’t know from the start of my career that I specifically wanted to achieve a leadership role. It grew out of me becoming a better Account Manager and becoming more senior on the team. I became the go-to person to train any new hires, and that naturally led me towards wanting to pursue a leadership role.

I knew I could do well in a leadership role because I truly enjoy helping people. So I worked hard to become a Manager, then a Senior Manager, and now a Director.

As a manager, how do you make sure that you’re bringing out the best in your team?

It’s important to lead by example. I’m the type of manager that’s willing to roll up my sleeves and do the work alongside my team. I don’t just delegate but often offer to sit side by side to figure out a solution. If someone on my team goes out of office, I will step in and cover their work for them. Not only do I feel like it shows that I’m helping them, but it actually helps me too. My motto is “if you don’t use it, you lose it.”

It sounds like you’re an amazing manager. In that vein, how do you handle giving constructive feedback to your team?

I emphasize being open and having real conversations. This builds trust and ensures that my team feels that they can talk to me about any issues or challenges that they have. And when you establish that trust, it does ease some of the more challenging but necessary conversations with constructive feedback. As a manager, it’s important to have that rapport so that we can have those kinds of conversations and be productive with them.

You mentioned that you’re hiring for your team. When you’re looking for someone to join the team, how do you evaluate people? What kind of traits are you looking for?

Due to the nature of our enterprise team, the first thing I look for is someone that has at least a couple years of hands-on-keys experience in other platforms. Historically, when I was on the Strategic Sales side, I was more willing to train someone that was new to advertising. However, now we’re in a position where we do need someone with a solid foundation of experience.

Secondly, I look for someone who’s proactive, which is crucial for Client Sucess roles. When you’re working directly with clients and in a service-based business, you have to be proactive. You must think about and anticipate what the needs of your clients are and then get ahead of that.

At what point is your team coming in to work with an account?

The Client Services team comes in “post-sale.” From there, we’ll onboard the client with trainings on how to utilize our platform. We’ll take them step-by-step through their first campaign setup. We tailor our onboarding program depending on the client’s experience level and needs. After onboarding, we’re their point of contact for the duration of the relationship. A big part of what we do is the day-to-day management of the campaigns, optimization, and troubleshooting.

Do you have any rituals to start your day or to unwind from a busy day at work?

A lot of my routines revolve around my daughter, who’s 6 years old. But since I’m usually the first in the family to wake up, I start my day with a brief 5 – 10 minute journal entry before I get my coffee going. In terms of winding down, I try to end my day by reading. I’m currently reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.