Ideas
September 24, 2021

7 Questions with… Melissa Chen, Manager, Strategy

We pride ourselves on having employees with unique backgrounds: meet Guinness World Record holder and manager of strategy @Melissa Chen in our latest “7 Questions with…"

GALE

A Business Agency

Q. You joined GALE earlier this year — welcome! Can you tell us about your role as a manager of strategy?

Thanks! To put it simply, as a strategy manager I devise integrated plans that drive business results for our clients.

Q: Are there any digital marketing tools or strategies you’re excited about?

The collaborative tools that make remote teamwork possible – e.g., Figma, Miro, Lucidchart. Also love a good matrix.

Q: In your role, what do you think is missing from marketing work for businesses today?

Understanding people as humans. Would love to see user testing and the user experience become more central in everyday marketing discussions.

We all have specific decision-making processes, key influencers, and moments when we are likely to take action. The best marketing is helpful. Taking some time to investigate the ‘end-to-end journey’ will help us figure out where and how to be helpful.

Q. What advice would you give to someone aspiring to have your career path?

Figure out the types of problems you might enjoy or be particularly good at solving, the type of environment and pace of work you like, and the types of people you wouldn’t mind spending a lot of time with. Then go for it. And know that everything is changeable.

Q. What do you think sets GALE apart from other companies?

Critical and analytical thinking as the thread through every domain, and an atmosphere where everyone rolls up their sleeves and pitches in, no matter the seniority level.

Q. Who or what inspires you?

Eliud Kipchoge.

Q. You hold an official Guinness World Record. Tell us everything!

I hold the current world record for fastest half-marathon, dressed as a vegetable (carrot). I had started a work run club and thought it would be a fun way to inspire others to run their first race.

The race included an unnecessary panic sprint in the last mile because a kid said they saw ANOTHER carrot and I thought they were ahead of me. Turns out they weren’t. We had a couple teammates complete their first race and first half-marathon and also some new PBs. It was a great day.