By Angela Sun
This week, we meet Tufts alumnus and Media superstar, Steven Wolfe Pereira. Mr. Wolfe is the Executive Vice President of MediaVest and Managing Director of MediaVest Multicultural (MV42ยบ). MediaVest, under Starcom Media Group, is a leading full-service media specialist agency. Mr. Wolfe studied International Relations and Economics at Tufts University, and has had extensive experiences across five different industries throughout his professional career.
Why did you choose to pursue a career in Media?
I have worked in a variety of sectors ranging from Investment Banking to Technology. But the Media industry is particularly exciting because it is at the intersection of my passions for media, technology, and business. What my company does is analogous to what an investment bank does, except it is in the media business. A creative agency develops the advertisement, and then we invest the dollars for our clients in their media strategy, planning, and buying. For example, we decide what gets put on TV and what gets put on online. For me this isn't work, this is fun. I get to talk to all kinds of people, from leaders at technology companies to content producers in Hollywood. My company gets to do things that have never been done before. We recently did a mobile news feed takeover on Facebook for Walmart, and it was picked up by the WSJ. There is so much innovation in this industry. It is important for me to continue to stay inspired ('Be Inspired' is the title of Mr. Wolfe's blog, which can be accessed here).
How did you secure your current position?
Well at one point, I didn't even know that the business existed! But the people you go to school with and the people you meet in the professional world are invaluable to your career path. I started in Investment Banking, then moved on to Technology. Through my experience in Technology, I met a contact who I then partnered with to start a hedge fund doing Asset Management. A contact I met through Banking then recruited me to work at the Media Agency. The common thread of my career development has been the power of relationships.
What is one of your proudest achievements?
There's something very 'club-like' about media. It's all about who you know, and can be very tough to break into. Media and advertising is a great career path, so I wanted to improve accessibility for the multicultural community in particular. Since I am a big believer in paying it forward, in 2011, I created the first annual Multicultural Media Talent Pipeline to provide multicultural students and graduates with the opportunity to come to New York during Advertising Week and meet with industry leaders and executives. In organizing this event, we also did a service for the benefit of our clients. We represent Walmart, Coca Cola, P&G, Kraft, Heineken, Honda, and more. We and our clients recognize that there is a real need for more multicultural talent in industry, because there is so much untapped potential in multicultural advertising!
Being part of the Tufts Alumni Network is great because the Tufts alumni are particularly open to talking to other alumni in the business world. My education at Tufts has also served me well. Though it may not have been immediately apparent, in the long run, my major in International Relations actually gave me a diverse set of skills that have been useful throughout my career. I enjoyed the training I received from studying the building blocks of International Relations, Anthropology, and so on.
What has been your formula for success?
I started off as simply a member in the work force, but now I also oversee hiring. The critical factor to success is having the right DNA. I will take someone that is wiling to work hard that has a great attitude, someone who is willing to be the first one in and the last one out. To qualify, you don’t have to have all the skills, but you have to have all the smarts. Smarts are the entry ticket. If you go to Tufts, then you already have the smarts. So then what you need is to gain the right skills, have the right attitude, and be an active problem solver. I would take someone who can identify all the right challenges and get the job done over someone with a 4.0 GPA any day.
What advice would you give to students on the job hunt?
Whatever industry you are going to be in, it is key that you read all the publications of that industry. So for advertising and media, that would include Digiday, Adage, Mashable, Adweek, the WSJ, the biz section of the NYT, and so on. You need to understand what people in your industry are talking about, and you will need to continue to be a student--even after you graduate!
I would advise anyone who is interested in media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and finance to feel free to reach out to me at Steven.wolfepereira@mediavestww.com. There is a large responsibility for alumni to give back. So do your homework, and connect the dots. Just off the top of my head, I remember that there is an alum who is at Facebook and killing it. The former chairman of NBC is also an alum. So reach out to alumni in the Tufts Alumni Network Database, and make sure you have a clear understanding of how your online presence across your social media channels look before you reach out to alumni.
Once you're in the work force, you will have to roll up your sleeves. It's hard to roll up the ranks, and even harder to change industries. But you can't be afraid of failure. Every time I went into a new industry, it was a challenge. I had to pick up all the new metrics, and for sure there was a learning curve. But there is nothing to fear because even failure is valuable as it teaches you what you like and what you don't like. Keep going on a journey of discovering and building your personal brand--ask yourself, what do you stand for?
Whatever industry you are going to be in, it is key that you read all the publications of that industry. So for advertising and media, that would include Digiday, Adage, Mashable, Adweek, the WSJ, the biz section of the NYT, and so on. You need to understand what people in your industry are talking about, and you will need to continue to be a student--even after you graduate!
I would advise anyone who is interested in media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and finance to feel free to reach out to me at Steven.wolfepereira@mediavestww.com. There is a large responsibility for alumni to give back. So do your homework, and connect the dots. Just off the top of my head, I remember that there is an alum who is at Facebook and killing it. The former chairman of NBC is also an alum. So reach out to alumni in the Tufts Alumni Network Database, and make sure you have a clear understanding of how your online presence across your social media channels look before you reach out to alumni.
Once you're in the work force, you will have to roll up your sleeves. It's hard to roll up the ranks, and even harder to change industries. But you can't be afraid of failure. Every time I went into a new industry, it was a challenge. I had to pick up all the new metrics, and for sure there was a learning curve. But there is nothing to fear because even failure is valuable as it teaches you what you like and what you don't like. Keep going on a journey of discovering and building your personal brand--ask yourself, what do you stand for?
