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Data to 'I Do': Mia's Journey of Storytelling and Wedding Planning
29 Plays3 months ago
Mia blends data storytelling with wedding planning, sharing her journey from a small town in Connecticut to Manhattanville College, and how her experiences shaped her career and personal life. Discover Mia's unique perspective on finding your passion, balancing multiple roles, and the art of storytelling through data. Tune in for insights and inspiration on personal growth and resilience.
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Transcript
Reconnecting After COVID
00:00:27
Frank Furbacher
Hey, Mia, thank you so much for joining me today.
00:00:30
Mia
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
00:00:33
Frank Furbacher
So, Mia, um it's so great to see you. I feel like we haven't seen each other in forever. Definitely like pre-COVID kind of a thing where you just sort of lose touch with...
00:00:45
Frank Furbacher
I don't know, maybe like the social circle that you had before, especially when it comes to the alumni network ah that you and I had.
Balancing Dual Careers
00:00:52
Frank Furbacher
um But that's part of the reason why I wanted to start this podcast was to reconnect, say hello.
00:00:58
Frank Furbacher
um So Mia, tell me about what you've been up to today. What are you doing for work? Tell me about it.
00:01:04
Mia
Thanks. Yeah, for sure. I think Anvil is always the connection no matter how long between chatting with people. it' Even if you happen to wear a sweatshirt around town and someone says, oh, I went to Manhattanville in the 70s. There's always that connection. So um I love that. But now I am um at BuzzFeed. I've been there for almost nine years.
00:01:25
Mia
I say I storytell through data. um So that's one half of my professional life. um Simultaneously, i have a side hustle of wedding planning called Mary, M-E-R-R-Y.
00:01:36
Frank Furbacher
Bye.
00:01:38
Mia
So I kind of have two different professional worlds going on. um The side hustle makes me better at my day job and my day job makes me better at the side hustle. And it's fun and busy and interesting. And when one stresses me out,
00:01:54
Mia
um I hop to the other one and the other one feels like no problem. And then when you know weddings stress me out, I go, Buzzfeed's nothing.
Early Life and Education
00:02:01
Mia
I can figure this out. So...
00:02:03
Frank Furbacher
That's so great. That's so great. So I have so many questions about both of those things. But before we go into it, I want to hear about your story sort of before Manhattanville. You know, where did you grow up?
00:02:14
Frank Furbacher
And then eventually, how did you wind up even ah hearing about Manhattanville?
00:02:19
Mia
Yeah, so I grew up in a tiny town, 2,000 people, no high school, no stoplights in Connecticut, northern Connecticut. And I went to an arts magnet school um for the second half of the day in high school. So I went to a public high school in the morning, not in my town, so I didn't feel very connected.
00:02:37
Mia
to it because I didn't grow up in that town, right? So Academy really saved me as a Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. And i majored in theater and i really loved having a focus. Sports were not my thing. The traditional high school experience just wasn't going to work.
00:02:56
Mia
And I'm so glad that I identified that even before going to high school.
Directing 'The Laramie Project'
00:03:00
Mia
um And then in high school for my senior project, I directed the Laramie Project, which is the story of Matthew Shepard, who was killed because he was gay, and raised thousands of dollars to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
00:03:11
Mia
And it really felt like that was my purpose in high school. I did that at my public school. I didn't do that at an academy where people were very open and you know it would have been a blip at Academy to direct Laramie Project, but it was a big deal at Canton.
00:03:23
Frank Furbacher
Thank
00:03:27
Mia
The Westboro Baptist Church actually ended up coming after me and put out press releases with my name. They basically doxed me. I was barely 18 years old at the time they put my home address. It was madness, but it was a really formative experience.
College Search and Experience
00:03:41
Mia
And in that same spring, i was applying to colleges and i had gone for an interview at Manhattanville and i couldn't believe that I could get scholarship money for doing community service and being civically minded. i think now it's called the Mary Clark Center, but formerly the Duchenne Center. And I just was so excited and that felt Like, oh, I found my people. I found people that get it, that I can, you know, go to college and make a little bit of a difference in the world, you know?
00:04:16
Frank Furbacher
That's so great. That's so great. um Yeah, the Duchenne Center played a ah pretty big role on campus, I would say. Everyone knew what it was. Everyone knew that there were service hours to be done.
Freshman Year Challenges
00:04:28
Frank Furbacher
um And in in a funny way, it also got you out of your immediate circle and then meeting other people, which was really, really good, in my opinion.
00:04:39
Frank Furbacher
what um
00:04:39
Mia
thats
00:04:41
Frank Furbacher
Tell me about like, okay, You're getting ready to go to college. um Now's the time. Was Manhattanville number one on your list or was it where other colleges considered?
00:04:52
Mia
That's a good question. it ended up being the apparent number one. And I was very excited, very nervous to go off to college in general, but ah very excited about the idea of Enville, where it was, everything like that.
00:05:09
Mia
I didn't get into my reaches and I'm forgetting even what they are, which is amazing because, you know, in that moment, and maybe that's a little bit of advice for people, everything feels like such a massive deal. And the fact that I can't even remember where, what those reaches were, like Manhattanville through and through and like looking back on my life.
00:05:29
Mia
oh my gosh, I almost feel like I'd be nothing without Manhattanville. Like my entire life is around Manhattanville. um But yeah, it it really, it clearly became the right thing, even though freshman year was really tough. And that was a me problem. That wasn't Manhattanville's fault at all.
00:05:45
Mia
um It ended up just like really being the right fit. And I, sophomore year, I feel like I hit the ground running with my experience there.
00:05:54
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, I can recall my freshman year as well. it's so It's so fun, yet so...
00:06:00
Mia
Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:02
Frank Furbacher
i don't know. i don't know if it's isolating or what it is, but you're still getting your feet under you, in my opinion. um There was, ah for me, um sort of like ah I was in one of the upperclassmen dorms. I was in Founders. So I was away from all the other freshmen for a semester until I moved into there.
00:06:19
Frank Furbacher
um And that was just a weird experience for me, just to be like... you see the freshman dorms, everyone's doors open, everyone's hanging out. And upperclassmen dorms are like, eh, door's shut, you know, not interested.
00:06:32
Mia
Right, right. That's that's totally tough. and And, you know, finding your group. Like I said, I didn't play sports. So if i had I had walked in with a team, I mean, I walked in and there were all these girls who had been there for preseason hockey and they were already friends. And I was like, but I don't play field hockey. I want to be friends too, you know.
00:06:49
Mia
So it was finding what was right on campus and then it just... at some point all clicked, but it was again, it was me needing to go find those experiences.
Leadership Roles in College
00:07:00
Mia
They're not just going to fall in your lap. I mean, if you're lucky, someone awesome is going to come along and say, want to be best friends, but doesn't always happen like that.
00:07:07
Frank Furbacher
So what were the things that you did that allowed you to connect with others and find that like immediate circle?
00:07:12
Mia
So I had kind of toyed around with different clubs on campus um that weren't totally the right fit, whether it was whether it was my passion for the activity or the structure of the club or something like that.
00:07:32
Mia
um But I ended up joining student government at the end of my sophomore year after like getting my feet under me for the year to begin with. But I ran for junior class president and then became senior class president and student government really was the thing that made it all click of what I wanted to do, what type of company I wanted to be in,
00:07:54
Mia
when I graduated, how I loved being the liaison among administration and students and representing each group. I mean, there were times where I was the only student in President Strauss's office with meetings with a ton of different faculty and, you know, bringing up, you know, points that the students had been complaining about it on campus and going back and feeling, hoping that they felt felt represented by me.
00:08:19
Mia
And like all of that really made sense in that role. I also ran um social media for the college, I believe just senior year. But that helped me have that tangible work experience to be able to say, okay, I increased viewership to our Facebook pages by X amount and really understand, okay, i can take that step, put that on my resume that's actually going to help me get a job versus just like...
00:08:42
Mia
I posted some Instagram photos like to actually understand how that was going to work. um So that that really was it. Simultaneously just like found my group of girlfriends.
00:08:53
Mia
um Just saw them last weekend. That's why my voice is a little off. And it just we were joking that, gosh, we all work together because ah we're totally ourselves with that. And so I think leading up to that point, and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this, sometimes you're striving to be...
00:09:11
Mia
in circles that are not for you. And you know that you're on the outs and it doesn't feel good. But when you find those people that you can like be your authentic self with it, just like totally click simultaneously. Like met my now husband and we've been together since the first day of sohomo my sophomore year, his freshman year.
00:09:27
Mia
And it just all settled.
00:09:32
Frank Furbacher
And what made you join student government? Was it just one of those, let me try this, I'm interested in it? Or did somebody kind of pull you along and say, hey, maybe you should do this?
00:09:40
Mia
So I had that experience in high school. I was ah was class president, I believe junior and senior year of high school. I had been on student government and middle school. It was always this thing that I did, and I just didn't have the confidence or the connections to feel like I could have come into Manhattanville freshman year and, and already ran for that. I almost wish I did like, why not? Like, I wish I had that confidence to do that. Um, it just didn't seem,
00:10:11
Mia
possible It felt like so far away. um But I love that I was like, wait a minute, I can do this. I know more people. i know the campus. I'm not as nervous. I'm feeling settled in my classes. i know more professors.
00:10:23
Mia
um Just had to like kind of get comfortable with myself being through this new major transition of of going off to college. um So it was probably within myself. I don't remember anyone else really flagging it to me because I think at that point people didn't know high school class president Mia, but it's like so a part of my identity now. I i always joked that I wish I could be a professional class president. and Wish that was a thing.
00:10:51
Frank Furbacher
Yeah. ah Being a professional student even would just be a lot of fun.
00:10:54
Mia
Right.
00:10:55
Frank Furbacher
the um Now, I was part of student government as well. I joined my sophomore year. um
00:11:01
Mia
Okay.
00:11:02
Frank Furbacher
But I will say this. um The things you learn about sort of ah higher education and how Manhattanville actually functions... is one of the perks of doing that. Like you said, meeting with the president, being in meetings with all these different administrators or board of trustees even.
00:11:19
Frank Furbacher
um You're learning how does this place operate and what are the things that they talk about?
00:11:24
Mia
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:11:28
Frank Furbacher
And then you realize too, or at least I did, the student voice is something that, and I think this goes to the research piece of like your background and some of what I do,
00:11:40
Frank Furbacher
the student voice is not necessarily represented in so many of those meetings.
00:11:45
Mia
here
00:11:45
Frank Furbacher
And there's like this there's always going to be a list of priorities for a college. you know We have to repave the parking lot. We have to maintain this building.
00:11:58
Frank Furbacher
And those are things that are on the list that have to happen at some point.
00:12:01
Mia
Mm-hmm.
00:12:01
Frank Furbacher
um But then you start to see like some of the bigger decisions that are made, um why they're made and how they're made. And it's for nothing else. It's interesting to to learn about that.
00:12:14
Frank Furbacher
um But it's also interesting and fun to be one of the few student voices that they actually hear to give that point of view. what do you think about that?
00:12:21
Mia
Right. You're totally right because there were times where I would kind of see, I hate this phrase, but see how the sausage was made and really understand why people were making a decision. And then it would be around groups of students who would say, oh, they're just making this decision for no reason. I'm like, well...
00:12:38
Mia
Probably even if I wasn't in those meetings, I would be able to say, there's probably some reason, but I was able to actually say, no, they're doing this because of X, Y, Z. It's actually a really good thing. Or yeah, i hear you, they're doing this because of this and that's not amazing, but let me go bring that up that the students are not super happy about it.
00:12:56
Mia
And that has really stayed with me throughout my professional career. There's times where things happen you know at BuzzFeed and some of us who aren't in those C-suite level conversations will say, well, why is it happening? this And I'm like, there is a reason. And maybe that's a little too trusting, but I do trust my leadership at BuzzFeed that in the same way that I trusted President Strauss and that level and of administration while I was at Manhattanville,
00:13:27
Mia
um But there is a reason for these things. And, you know, a good organization like BuzzFeed, like Manhattanville, will explain that and and and and make that clear.
00:13:38
Mia
But I think that there are certain personalities who will just say, oh people are just doing this to like, make our lives hard or something. I'm like, that that's not it. There is a reason behind. And then that next step is Okay, well, if we're not happy with this, like, how can we make that impact? And whether that's me as a representative or, you know,
00:14:00
Mia
me as, ah you know, as my role at BuzzFeed of like, okay, well, how can I either make this work for me or raise my hand to say, hey, this doesn't make part of our organization happy, this doesn't work, and and then creating that impact after.
00:14:16
Mia
um But understanding that there is a reason behind stuff and there is a bigger picture of, you know, private colleges needing to do XYZ thing to ah to survive. You know, it was a lot of that. And and sometimes that perspective is not there when you're 20 years old and you're worried about yourself. and and And that's fine too, because like that's your role as a 20 something, you know, but I think understanding that bigger picture has been a really important thing throughout my post-college life.
00:14:47
Frank Furbacher
It's also fun to be a person on campus who actually knows what's happening or what's coming. And so anytime there's any change in anything, all of your friends go to you and say, what's going on with this? why is Why is this sign changing? What's going on with the construction over here?
00:15:02
Mia
Right, right, exactly. You're totally right.
00:15:05
Frank Furbacher
um I will say too, being in those meetings with administrators, staff members, faculty, board board of trustees, um it's like really the first time that you see the dynamic of that high level meeting going on.
00:15:22
Mia
Mm-hmm.
00:15:22
Frank Furbacher
And it also for me was able, I was able to, for the first time, and I think, see, okay, what are the, when people are presenting or stating an opinion on whatever topic it is,
00:15:35
Frank Furbacher
what are the Who are the people who we I feel like are getting support for whatever whatever it is that they're mentioning versus the people who are maybe you you take away from whatever they said and say, oh, but that didn't sound too good or that person wasn't very prepared or that was a pretty gutsy thing to say in this meeting.
00:15:55
Mia
you
00:15:55
Frank Furbacher
um which you know Where else would you learn about that stuff or experience that before you get to the real world?
00:16:03
Mia
Right. You're right. And I would take stock in who respected the student voice in the room and who didn't and who would skip meetings. Like some of those little things that it's not that I really even remember someone at Manhattan, but I just, I understood like how to act, how to show up on time, how to you know be respectful for the president of my college. Like that was a big deal. The same way I'm not going to like roll in late with, with a peer all the way up to anyone, you know, high level at my job. and And also I'm going to treat everyone the same. And there were, it was very clear with administration, like who treated me the same as they treated president Strauss. And that was really formative because that's how I want to treat everyone and as well from our interns to our C-level folks.
00:16:55
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, that sticks with you. And you're like, oh, that person made me feel good.
00:16:59
Mia
Yeah.
00:16:59
Frank Furbacher
That's how I want to make people feel.
00:17:01
Mia
Absolutely.
00:17:02
Frank Furbacher
So that's a really good point. um So tell me, you're you're involved on campus. You're majoring in what?
Post-Graduation Struggles and Entrepreneurship
00:17:11
Mia
Communications, which I think now is CAM. But class never stressed me out. After like settling in freshman year, it it was everything else.
00:17:19
Frank Furbacher
Thank you.
00:17:21
Mia
You know, not even that it stressed me out, but it was just like that was that was my day-to-day. Class was like this thing I had to go pop to. I would definitely learn something. i loved my professors, but it was like...
00:17:34
Mia
student government, directing vagina monologues, running social media. Like it was that other stuff that I was doing that filled my day, that filled my calendar, that was fulfilling and exciting and challenging. And I would learn in such a different manner than the classroom. Like i but, and I always knew I wanted communications. and I hate that it gets a bad rap.
00:17:57
Mia
If you can't communicate, it's nothing. And I've seen so many people, so many smart people throughout every aspect of my life, professional and personal after college, where, man, y'all should have been communication majors.
00:18:04
Frank Furbacher
Thank you.
00:18:11
Mia
i think you'd be a lot more successful. You'd be a lot nicer. You'd figure it out, figure out how this would work. um And so I just, I'm such a, such a proponent of communication programs. I think it's so important.
00:18:25
Frank Furbacher
And I could see the communications piece of it with the um social media part of what you were doing in school. um But tell me, you're you're getting to senior year um so you're in your senior year.
00:18:40
Frank Furbacher
Now it's time to graduate. Do what what are your do you have a job? Are you looking for a job? What was your kind of like status at that point?
00:18:50
Mia
So I would just walk around campus just like, just with tears. And I would just wander and say, oh my gosh, but like, this is my life. Like, I feel like I'm peaking, like this is it. I just, I and feel like I know everyone. It's a small campus. So it's so fun to like have all these contacts. And I knew all of the adults and it just, it felt like this is it. How can it get better? I don't have a job offer. I'm class president and I don't have a job offer. Like this is, this is so frustrating. This is so embarrassing. There were so many parents at graduation after I spoke saying, Oh, class president, what's your job? I'm like, don't have one going home to mom and dad's house.
00:19:30
Mia
Um, but I had said no to a couple of jobs and, and I had really bad interview experiences, um, that, that spring of senior year. And it was super frustrating. And finally, at one moment, I said, I'm just going to take a beat, even though this is daunting, to go home and take that summer.
00:19:50
Mia
i made a rule for myself of like, okay, if I'm not going to a job application every day, like I have to work out or do something for myself or like feel okay, because it just was this roller coaster. And it kind of reminds me of me not being but being able to think of my reach colleges because it was such a big thing at that moment.
00:20:09
Mia
But now looking back, I'm like, oh my gosh, a summer off like where I was able to go home and had that privilege that I could go back to my parents' house and be okay and and figure things out was great.
00:20:10
Frank Furbacher
Bye.
00:20:20
Mia
But it it was daunting and freaky. And in that time, my brother was getting married and I helped plan my sister-in-law's bridal shower.
00:20:31
Mia
And on the Metro North home from Brooklyn to Connecticut, I made an Instagram for the crafts that I had done for the favors and some of the decorations.
00:20:44
Mia
And i gave it a random name from something my sister-in-law had given me. And then they got married that fall at a big bustling Brooklyn venue that I have since...
00:20:57
Mia
been coordinated at. We're coordinating there later this month. um And I just identified that There's some people who have full-on wedding planners and there's venue coordinators and there needed to be an in-between and you can't just rely on your venue coordinator. And so I saw this missing piece to, not that I invented day of coordination or anything like that, but I saw in action that you need somebody, you need that ancillary person in your corner. And I kind of think of myself at BuzzFeed like that.
00:21:29
Mia
I was just talking to a new seller the other day saying like, I'm your girl. I've been here nine years. Like if you can't figure out where something, who you're supposed to go to, like, come to me, I'm your girl. Like I'll figure it out. I'll, I'll democratize data. I'll demystify some system that's confusing. Like, even if it's not exactly my role, I can help give you who I think you should chat with.
00:21:48
Mia
Um, And so in that time, there were all these different professional things happening at my first job out of school. And um one of the women on the sales team had gotten engaged and she had been a wedding planner in a past life. She was in a sales role.
00:22:03
Mia
And she said, Mia, I know you did events at college, just not a wedding. Let me teach you everything I know. Be my day of coordinator for my wedding. Simultaneously, It was one of the first times as an adult I saw a wedding at my brother's wedding. I'm like, oh yeah, you know I did miss the cake cutting because an older family relative needed an Uber.
00:22:23
Mia
And I like had to run and go do that. And i was like bummed I missed my brother and sister-in-law's cake cutting. So then when my coworker asked me, I was like, wait a minute, this could work. like This is so daunting to help run someone's wedding. But then from there, it became so many other women on the sales team hired me for day of coordination that it was family, friends, and it was strangers on the internet. And then I turned that craft Instagram into the married by Mia handle. And, and that's, and you know, I post our weddings and then people getting married at those same locations, see,
00:22:54
Mia
see that I've tagged that location and and they'll reach out and hire us. And we're the preferred vendor for a bunch of top tri-state area locations. And we've worked at Central Park Boathouse, White Hotel. We're one of the top preferred vendors at the Audrey's Farmhouse Properties in Hudson Valley and Roundhouse Beacon. And it just kind of all clicked from there, but it really is from Manhattanville. Like it was from that experience of how I acted at my first job and how I talked about what I did in my experience there that Courtney said, wait a minute, Mia knows how to event plan.
00:23:26
Mia
And you know she's in her young 20s and like malleable and and I can teach her how to do this. And I just like need that representative at my own wedding. And it really all they really all came from came from Enville. And I'm not just saying that. I constantly look back at that is the thread throughout my professional life, my personal life. It is Enville, frankly.
00:23:51
Frank Furbacher
you found ah You found a passion or you found something that was like a sort of an unlocked passion that you turned into something now. how many How many years have you been doing it and how many weddings would you say that you've done so far?
00:24:07
Mia
So it's been about 10 years. I think we're over the hundred mark for weddings. First couple of years, it was a ah few. um Last few years, it's over 20.
00:24:19
Mia
um And it's just so... fulfilling and interesting and even the tough moments. I feel so lucky to be that person there and to provide that advice and help pull everything together.
00:24:36
Mia
Um, but it's, it's a whirlwind and, It's, I would, i like I said, I just think it's, you need someone ancillary in your corner the same way I felt that as class president throughout my life. And I think this is, maybe this is the version of being a professional class president, you know, being, being the person that people can go to and say, Hey, why is that happening at the wedding? Like how you said, well, why is that sign changing? Like, guess that is a wedding planner and a day of coordinator essentially. Yeah.
00:25:08
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, you're the person with all the knowledge and expertise and the background and you're just trying to direct it and make sure it goes as smooth as possible. That's so cool.
00:25:17
Mia
yeah yeah
00:25:18
Frank Furbacher
what um you You wind up ah kind of doing this in the meantime and saying, okay, I want to start doing the wedding planning. So tell me, like how did you wind up in your first professional role?
00:25:32
Frank Furbacher
How did you find that job and how'd you get there?
00:25:36
Mia
So i had been interviewing and every application had felt like pulling teeth and it was confusing and tough to just write out my response.
00:25:49
Mia
And then I found ah job application that I'm forgetting the exact question, but it was fun to fill out. And it was, um so my first job out of school was a furniture and office supply company. And the whole idea was work happy and you beautify your office space.
00:26:05
Mia
um And like that the real world doesn't have to be terrible. And cause that was a lot of like what I've been hearing people being like, Oh, best four years of your life are behind you. I'm like, I don't, Like, really? Like, it really? Did I peak? Like, is that it? Is that it for life? I'm 22 years old and this is it.
00:26:22
Mia
And um so the pop-in application really made sense and was exciting. and And I was going in for an interview with the... CMO at the time.
00:26:34
Mia
And I saw his bio on their website mentioned he was class president. So of course I led with that. I was like, we have something in common. um And it just all clicked and it was fun. And Poppin gave me the opportunity to identify that you know there were feedback loops of some issues with it because I was in a customer service role. There were issues with the stickers on our one of our products and it and our customers kept calling, getting so frustrated. We were having to send out new ones.
00:27:08
Mia
But was that information getting back to our warehouse and our production team? No. And so I was creating systems to make sure that that feedback loop was there. And so it's always you know that communication and over communication.
00:27:20
Mia
um, that I was able to identify this piece that was missing. Um, and that's, that's how I, that's how I ended up at pop. And it really all ended up clicking and looking back those job applications that were tough. And those interviews where I left in tears in the parking lot, it's because it wasn't right. And I wasn't doing my best in them because it wasn't a right fit. I didn't have the right answer because I shouldn't have been there in the first place.
00:27:46
Frank Furbacher
Yeah. ah What you're saying is resonating so much with me, just as the connector of things. um And my first job was customer service as well at a college. And what was amazing about that, um which is the the same point about what we were saying before, terms of the student point of view that you bring to those higher-up meetings in college,
00:28:07
Frank Furbacher
um which the customer is having an experience and you as someone in customer service is seeing it firsthand. And all of a sudden, you you very, very quickly realize, okay, if there's a trend here, maybe we should do something about it.
00:28:25
Frank Furbacher
Now, who's the right person to ask?
00:28:28
Mia
It's true. It's true. and It connects all the way back to ah theater experience in high school and in college of this is the first time or this is their experience of that company at a wedding, at you know get receiving a sales pitch from someone at BuzzFeed.
00:28:44
Frank Furbacher
Thank
00:28:48
Mia
This is the first time. So it might feel like the 10th time or the 100th time if we're talking weddings for us, but this is their kid's wedding day. This is their first time calling the company to get a replacement for something they just spent $100 on. And like, that's a big deal. And to be that face and to be, you know, approachable and create that feedback loop and all of that, like, is so important to, for me to to to be that person um so it doesn't just...
Career at BuzzFeed and Storytelling
00:29:21
Mia
fall to the wayside and it doesn't go anywhere and people don't feel heard and then they get disgruntled about the company or experience and then they're even tougher to deal with, you know, so it's it's also, it's also that push pull of representing the company or place that you're in.
00:29:36
Frank Furbacher
Yeah. what Tell me about how you wound up at BuzzFeed.
00:29:41
Mia
i You know, I felt like there had been so much prep for finding your first job, but no one really ever talked about when you know you're done with your first job and it's time to move on to the second.
00:29:53
Mia
had... i had found the application and I was able to apply the social media experience from Buzzfeed.
00:30:06
Mia
Um, but I had, I had just found it and I said, why not? I think I had kind of gotten my confidence back that I had lacked freshman year of college that had Mville had built. And then my first job had built and I was doing the weddings and I said, why Why not? like BuzzFeed felt like a reach at the time.
00:30:24
Mia
um So just threw my hat into the ring and hours of interviews. And that was the first time that I had a test in an interview process. And I remember exactly where I was walking home into my apartment, getting that email. There was going to be a test. And I said, I can't do this.
00:30:39
Mia
but I'm out. I'm out. I didn't get the job. I'm going to ignore this email. I'm like, well, why not? And actually love tests with interviews because when you get there, if you have any imposter syndrome,
00:30:51
Mia
you have to tell yourself, well, I passed that test. So I didn't, I didn't just talk my way into the interview and, you know, showboat i past it, passed it. So, um so that all, that all really clicked, but I had just, I had found it. I had been excited about Buzzfeed and the the, the work that they were doing. And that's still how I feel. It's still why I'm there. um And I knew the same way with Poppin that they wanted to improve,
00:31:19
Mia
you know, the real world and BuzzFeed brings truth and joy to the internet. Like I just wanted to be somewhere good the same way that Manhattanville. I loved that, you know, they had the Duchenne now Mary Clark center that it was recognized to be bringing something good to the world. And if I can be a cog in the wheel of that at BuzzFeed, like that is really important to me and excited me and it still excites me. And it's why I'm there nine years later.
00:31:47
Frank Furbacher
That's amazing. What role did you wind up in and how has your role evolved since then?
00:31:56
Mia
Good question. So i started in kind of an entry level insights role. Now I'm senior manager of research. i was doing one particular type of kind of regurgitation research.
00:32:16
Mia
storytelling through data. Now it's really expanded and have been able to have ad effectiveness under my belt and find different types of research for our ad sales clients and identify sentiment analysis and thought leadership and really expand on that role. i think that's been four or five promotions from that original place. and And similarly to Manhattanville, Buzzfeed has been an experience of
00:32:50
Mia
Everything is what you make it Don't just wait around for someone to throw the party. You throw the party. Don't just wait around for someone to hand you the internship.
00:33:01
Mia
Go talk to your professors, figure it out. You know, is something missing like that feedback loop we were talking about? Well, create it, you know, put people on a listserv and send an email out of what you're seeing week to week with those trends and insights.
00:33:15
Mia
with, with Buzzfeed. Um, that, that has been the biggest thing there.
00:33:23
Frank Furbacher
So tell me when it comes to the skill set that you're using today, obviously there's a ton of communication involved. Obviously there's a ton of kind of analyzing that's involved. um But then the the final piece of it is how do I take all that and tell a story with it?
00:33:39
Frank Furbacher
So tell me about those skills and how you've sharpened them over the course of your career.
00:33:46
Mia
At first, i would probably simply take something at face value. If there was a number, that was it. Here's the number. Versus what is that number really telling me? What what goes into that number? was Was the survey, the syndicated research tool, for example, was how...
00:34:07
Mia
How was that question presented to a group of people that's modeled for the US?
00:34:11
Frank Furbacher
Thank
00:34:12
Mia
You know, what is the bigger picture here? What are we, what's really making people tick? What's the macroeconomic layer on top of all this of why people answered a certain way versus it really at first was like, okay, you need to know how many people are in the market for shoes. Here you go.
00:34:30
Mia
Versus, well, Why are people buying or not buying shoes? What, what type, what, ah what are they buying for their kids? How does that make them feel? Do different, this is a silly example, but do different shoes represent different things?
00:34:45
Mia
um Is, you know, when, It's just so much deeper and in depth and there's so much more of a curiosity now that I have of what is that kind of psychology behind consumer behavior and ads on the internet and everyone's relationship with social media or not, like, you know, feeling burnt out by it. And um how, how does that impact what we all do on the internet and what we engage with and, and how long we're engaging with something. And ah it's very different from when, when I, when I first started and the world has changed so much over these nine years. So that has,
00:35:31
Mia
been kind of a backdrop for, for all of this curiosity.
00:35:36
Frank Furbacher
Is there a piece of you, because I feel this way, is there a piece of you that wishes that you had taken more psychology classes when you were in school?
00:35:46
Mia
Maybe, you know, probably, but like I said, like, I just loved, I loved what I did with comp.
00:35:47
Frank Furbacher
Thank you.
00:35:53
Mia
I felt like I had fond those classes. It it wasn't, it wasn't confusing or and they were challenging, but they weren't like frustratingly tough to be. And so it just felt like,
00:36:09
Mia
in action, I was doing all those other things around campus, like I said, to, to kind of apply that experience. Um, but, but maybe I think, I think psych always worries me that there would be some math in there, but it's funny that I ended up doing such a math minded thing and and was a math major in, I'm sorry, not a math major, a math, um, Oh, what was that called? The, um, in the, the,
00:36:38
Mia
that you'd go and support the teacher and you'd be like a, not an, you'd be an intern essentially for like a math professor. i and handful And I'm doing that. and i think that just speaks to like, when you get somewhere and something clicks, even something that you never imagined yourself doing, if you're doing it, it means like everything is working. Everything is clicking, whether that's Manhattanville or your job after.
00:36:59
Mia
um So I haven't thought about that, but like, maybe, maybe I needed, maybe I should be like brush up on some psych stuff for that. Yeah.
00:37:07
Frank Furbacher
And I mention that only because in my role, there is um it's consulting. So it's heavily influenced by the research that's done. And then, okay, let's start building whatever it is that we need to build based on the findings that we had.
00:37:23
Frank Furbacher
um But just the the overall behavioral science piece of things, the why do people do what they do? What influences their decision? um a lot of times what we're doing is we're saying, okay, if a customer has a journey that they're going on, we need to find out where are the weaknesses for that organization within that journey.
00:37:45
Frank Furbacher
Let's do some research to understand what those are, identify those points, and then figure out, okay,
00:37:49
Mia
Right.
00:37:51
Frank Furbacher
How do we enhance those touch points so that they are um going to put the company right in the best light moving forward to keep that customer engaged to give them a great experience?
00:38:05
Frank Furbacher
um Because customer experience is our thing. So I often think about um whether it's behavioral science or psychology or or whatever it may be that
00:38:08
Mia
right
00:38:17
Frank Furbacher
It's such a linchpin to so many things. And when you're curious about things, especially in data, I mean, a lot of what I'm doing is searching for the why inside of that, right?
00:38:19
Mia
The
00:38:28
Mia
why
00:38:30
Frank Furbacher
um But that goes to the storytelling piece that you were mentioning before as well. um Tell me about like crafting a story using data. Like what, and even if it's just super high level, where where do you look for, what do you, what are some things that you've learned as to how to but tell the best story based on data?
00:38:50
Mia
That's a good question. I would say that it it needs to be rooted in truth. It needs to be rooted in those numbers, you know, very much how I started out in this type of role.
00:39:04
Mia
But then you do need to look at the other influences. And is it is it a regional trend? Is there...
00:39:20
Mia
what is making the consumer tick? Is it fear? Is it anxiety? Is it excitement? Kind of that sentiment and behind, it's it's essentially that sentiment behind consumer behavior. And that is what helps me tell the story because I often find that we have demographic research and then we have psychographic research and The demographics are obviously what we all are on paper, but we're all so much more than that.
00:39:52
Mia
And a few years ago, I found that our top video game enthusiast audience overlapped most closely with our beauty enthusiast audience.
00:40:03
Mia
And I think that's surprising to people. And so what What is that story? What is the story we want to tell? What is this what is the truth behind that? And what is going to then help the organization most? What is going to put forth the best story and to make sense to the clients and make and and put that in a ah digestible manner for our sellers?
00:40:27
Mia
um And it's essentially that to always really understand who your audience is, as who you're presenting this to, who's your stakeholder audience, and then in general, who was who is the audience that you're creating that story for?
00:40:38
Frank Furbacher
Thank you.
00:40:43
Mia
What does that really mean? Why are they so into beauty? um Does that mean that like we really can't be pigeonholed into one thing? And that's what ah that my biggest takeaway from who the BuzzFeed audience is, that it's not just one type of person. It's not um it's not just what we all are all are on paper. It's so much more than that. Everyone has a variety of different experiences that they bring to the table that...
00:41:12
Mia
um You might not be able to guess what they're going to do next as a consumer because we all are so many different things. And I think the internet internet has really changed that in people that, you know, you don't just have to be into one thing. It might say it might look like that on paper, but that's not us at all.
00:41:33
Frank Furbacher
Yeah. And are you working um remotely?
Remote Work and Career Advice
00:41:38
Frank Furbacher
Are you ever in the office?
00:41:40
Mia
So I have been remote since 2020. um I love it. I think it makes me a better worker not having to commute. I um work probably longer, but healthier.
00:41:53
Mia
um Something that I would tell myself, like looking back, is like, oh my gosh, don't get into... work gossip and drama. Not that I ever did that at BuzzFeed, but I think working from home takes out some of the fluff of a corporate experience that only detracts from your professionalism and your your like life in general. i'm very much I'm so much better at you know closing my laptop up at the end of the day and moving on from my day
00:42:29
Mia
you know, not being in the weeds with who's doing what and and who who's not doing what because I'm removed from an office a little bit, but still fear it feeling very connected. um So I, yeah, I'm 100% remote. does.
00:42:43
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, I will say it it makes healthy routines much easier when you're working remotely. That's for sure.
00:42:47
Mia
Yeah.
00:42:49
Frank Furbacher
um Now going to sort of the advice piece of this, would love to hear me. I mean, you've shared a ton of great pieces of advice throughout here.
00:43:02
Frank Furbacher
But you know someone who is, let's say in their junior senior year, or you just in general in college, What advice would you have to them as, you know, probably the person thinking either number one, well, this college graduation is so far away, I don't have to worry about it. Or number two, oh my gosh, it's finally here or approaching.
00:43:25
Frank Furbacher
What advice would you give to that person with regard to, you know, their professional life?
00:43:33
Mia
Sorry. A
00:43:37
Mia
couple different things. I would say
00:43:40
Mia
I've said this, but you create your own experiences. Life is not going to happen to you. You have to figure that out. Also, don't settle. Don't feel like you have to settle. You went to a good college.
00:43:50
Mia
You have resources around you. Use them. And if you don't know how to use them, just at least start that conversation. There were so many times where I was so daunted by the next step that I just kind of froze and I went inward and I didn't talk about it and it was scary. and now looking back, if I had maybe just opened up to even one or two more people, maybe would have gotten a job earlier, which again, I don't feel like I really needed to. I was lucky with that, but just don't get so siloed and stuck and frozen because you're nervous about that next step.
00:44:31
Mia
but and And really all it is, is the unknown. I had someone say this to me a couple years ago of, you know, anxiety is unppro but not feeling prepared because you don't know what's next or you haven't prepared enough yet for something.
00:44:44
Mia
You do know what's coming up, um but don't freeze.
00:44:45
Frank Furbacher
you
00:44:48
Mia
like Figure it out. and and um and and Even if you don't want to talk to people in your life, it's the same thing that I say about Mary. like An ancillary third-party person sometimes the best to talk to because you're not going to feel...
00:45:02
Mia
you know, judge, they don't know you personally, you know, whether that is an administrator at Manhattanville or you know, cc the Center for Career Development or, you know, ah friend of a friend who's in a role that is similar to like where you want to be down the road.
00:45:19
Mia
Chatting with someone like that can like really help just like kind of open up your world. I will also say if you have anyone who is, you know, asking Center for Career Development. Okay. Is there anyone in X industry that I can talk to? A a very impressive student just emailed me the other day who was interested in wedding planning.
00:45:39
Mia
And felt like when I graduated, my siblings are a bit older than me. And so they had peers that, you know, that I would talk to and and later ended up, several of them ended up emailing me after I did info interviews with them saying, hey, there's an entry-level role at my company because I realized now being 11 years out of school, I don't know many 21-year-olds looking for jobs.
00:46:06
Mia
So even if I connected with one, like that one student who emailed me, if there's a role that pops up, that i I have, he's going to be the first person I think of because I don't have, I'm not a ah peer of 21 year olds anymore. I don't have 17, 21 year olds looking for event planning jobs. It's just this one person.
00:46:23
Mia
um So if you're able to figure out those connections with People who also are in that same boat, they're going to think of you, even if you, I would say, even if you halfway impress them, right?
00:46:34
Mia
So um I think that's tangible experience and whatever can build your confidence. If it is ah type of role or gaining experience in something like what, what is ah truly trying to look inward and say, what is making me a little insecure here?
00:46:52
Mia
What is making me not be my best self in these interviews? Is it the wrong interview or is it lack of experience or is it something else?
00:46:58
Frank Furbacher
Thank you.
00:46:59
Mia
Identifying that and fixing that, or even just being self-aware that there is something to fix maybe or adjust, um, I think can go a really long way.
00:47:10
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, and I don't think, I could be wrong about this, but I don't think the students, current students, realize the power of reaching out to people who graduated from that same institution.
00:47:22
Frank Furbacher
It is, um people are willing to give back, and people are typically willing to give 15, 20 minutes, 30 minutes to hear provide some guidance.
00:47:24
Mia
Mm-hmm.
00:47:34
Frank Furbacher
um It's something that ah if I were a student, That is exactly what I'd be doing. I'd be looking for what am I interested in, who works in that industry, and what can I do to learn more about what they do?
00:47:49
Frank Furbacher
Because at the end of the day, you know I thought, for example, yeah I was a finance major, thought I wanted to be in finance. I did one internship in finance. Yeah. and realized, oh, this really wasn't what I thought it was or not the environment that I want to be in.
00:48:05
Frank Furbacher
um But yeah, that's that's great advice, Mia.
Campus Memories and Influences
00:48:10
Frank Furbacher
Next question, and we get to a few quick hits here. What was your favorite place on campus?
00:48:16
Mia
Oh, probably the castle, which is funny because I ended up getting married in the castle in 2021. But I just love it. I think the architecture is so beautiful. I think it's so interesting. You're around every corner and there's something new and interesting and like i But from the art on the walls to the ah banisters, I know that sounds a little cliche, but what an interesting place to go to college. It's not just these, you know, kind of boring buildings. I'm the daughter of an architect, so maybe that that's coming out here. But I just, I think the castle is it.
00:48:51
Mia
the so is it
00:48:53
Frank Furbacher
ah Favorite thing to eat on campus.
00:48:57
Mia
Probably a pub wrap. I know everyone probably says that, but like, oh, actually they started doing burritos like my senior year and they were really, really good burritos. I'll go with that.
00:49:05
Frank Furbacher
Good. um One thing that you did while you were at Manhattanville um that you never thought you would do um before you got there?
00:49:19
Mia
Hmm. That's a good one. Um,
00:49:23
Mia
One thing that I...
00:49:26
Mia
Oh, oh, you stumped me. um Is I just want to go professional and resume and and the things that lined up with that. But Enville was so much more than that. I know on this, it sounds like that was it. But um I mean, probably directing vagina monologues. I'm not...
00:49:46
Mia
super surprised I did it, but it was really, it really made a big difference. And I learned so much from everyone that was involved in it that I wouldn't have predicted that I would have been in that type of role there um,
00:50:05
Mia
be able to direct it and have a group of 30 people in the show and have sold out shows and and get all the sports teams to go like that felt like a massive undertaking that actually made a difference on campus.
00:50:23
Frank Furbacher
Favorite professor.
00:50:26
Mia
Oh, every comm professor, um, Dainey, D'Amico, Rudell, uh, Oh, there's so many more. Proctor. um I just loved all of them. I really had such a good experience. I love it. Oh, um all the women's studies professors, all of them.
00:50:46
Frank Furbacher
And favorite staff member administrator.
00:50:49
Mia
um JJ Pryor, head of communications in the castle. um What an impactful, interesting woman who gave me so much knowledge for the rest of my career. She's who I reported to um running social media.
00:51:05
Frank Furbacher
That's great. Well, Mia, we're going to wrap this up, but I want to say thank you so much for your time, for providing ah some insights into your experience. I really appreciate it.
00:51:16
Mia
Thank you. Have a good one.
00:51:18
Frank Furbacher
Take care.