Congrats to Cynopsis Rising Star Allison Smith

We’re excited to share that Allison Smith, Associate Media Director, Cadent entertainment, was honored with a Cynopsis Rising Star Award for her work at Cadent last year.

The award is given to stand-out performers, innovators and emerging leaders in the media industry, and Allison couldn’t be more deserving. Her teammates said that along with dedicating herself to making sure the client feels prioritized, Allison is a great motivator and manager:

“She’s a real go getter, always willing to help out and problem solve. She shows patience and persistence with new hires, and one of her stand-out qualities is the underlying analytical tone she brings to problem-solving.”

Here’s a condensed interview with Allison on her approach to teamwork and her dedication to clients:

On developing a rapport with her team: My group tends to be very focused and mission-oriented, so making the time to create a culture was important. We really do have a super supportive group, with everyone willing to jump in and help. It says a lot about about the team culture.

On keeping up team morale: I send out a slide every Friday with random questions that I survey in the group, like, “What’s your Hogwarts House?” It keeps things light and helps everyone know more about each other.

On finding ways to innovate: I crave novelty and am always looking for ways to push forward. A lot of the inspiration for new strategies comes from asking questions. The Addressable team, our media partners and, of course, my team are great sounding boards.

For one client, I programmed pivot documents to automatically populate newly requested client asks using charts that the team was already managing. I worked on it during weekends, and it ended up cutting down on manual effort from the team and created efficiency and clarity for the client. We’re always looking to optimize what we have.

On moving from planning to an analytics role: Our system is set up in a way where you can clearly measure the effectiveness of what the team has done. I’m a curious person generally, and now, I can focus on those deeper questions. My new role is about long-term projects, daily diligence and ensuring progress. Because our clients are experts, I like to hear their questions and how they’re looking at their work. It pushes me and my thought processes forward.

On finding and providing mentorship: I have always been really motivated to network and seek mentorship opportunities on my own, but I feel like for every bit of my effort, I have received 10 times the support back. Not every company is dedicated to helping employees grow – and that’s a big part of why I’ve continued to work with Cadent.

People thrive on encouragement, so I make a point of looking for those opportunities to express genuine appreciation and praise for positive improvement and growth. Mentorship has been a big part of my own growth story. Offering equal opportunities for mentorship to my team has been vital to our success. To truly be successful, you need other people, and helping nurture talent in the people I rely on to do my job well has been key.

See the full list of 2018 Cynopsis Rising Star honorees.