Virginia Juliano, Former Marketing VP at Showtime, now CEO of her Own Consulting Company  

Virginia Juliano is one of those busy East Coast businesswomen whose interview below oozes curiosity and business smarts. Formerly a VP of Multi-Platform Marketing at Showtime, she is now the CEO/Founder of V. Juliano Communications, LLC,  a freelance consulting practice, while in the process of launching a startup in the OTT (Over the Top) content space.

A dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, she attended St. John’s University in Queens, along with New York University’s Stern School of Business, and currently divides her time between Manhattan and a bucolic weekend house in Connecticut. She has been married for fifteen years to a husband with whom she happily feels she has “a true intellectual and emotional partnership.”

She is also a breast cancer survivor, a proud inheritor of Italian-American heritage, and a big proponent of Showtime, her former employer. Juliano also loves painting, yoga, being a business mentor, and gives a long list of power books for women in the workplace. Read more below about her energetic take on the marketing side of things, her belief in honesty and directness at work, and why she likes conducting “free-form” interviews with candidates rather than drawing from a classic list of questions.

Can you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
I’m a tech-savvy, strategic marketer with a metric-driven mindset and creative sensibility who has spent most of my career orchestrating complex marketing plans and partnerships across multiple stakeholders and platforms; E-commerce, Direct Response, B2C and B2B marketing are all in my scope of expertise.

For the last ten years I worked at Showtime Networks as the VP of Multi-Platform Marketing, promoting the shows, partnering with distributors and driving subscriber acquisition. We grew ten million subs in the last ten years! My team and I pushed the envelope on performance-focused marketing and really expanded the use of search, display, mobile and social media channels to drive subscriptions and lead generation in a very targeted way.  I learned a lot working there and I’m really grateful for all the experience, but I really feel like it’s the right time, both in my life and in the marketplace, for me to go out on my own.

What does a day in your shoes typically look like?
It’s never the same, and that’s part of what I like. When I was at Showtime, we were always at a different point in a cycle for different campaigns. We were starting the ideation process for one, while in the implementation process for another, and the analysis phase for yet another.

Now with my new business, it’s similar in that I’m working on building out the product while creating the marketing and PR plans, collaborating with designers and developers on different pieces of the business, networking for consulting work, working on consulting projects, etc. I always tend to challenge myself, and I don’t see that changing. It’s my natural state.

What 2-3 things do you do to prepare yourself before work, and is there anything you try to accomplish every day?  
I check email and Facebook and skim the papers online while I have my coffee. I also peruse the latest industry trades. I read voraciously throughout the day too. I’ve told the kids I worked with if they want to succeed in the business they have to be informed. They have to read, read, read, and not sit back and expect the company to provide you with the latest information or training on things. It’s all moving so fast, you need to be responsible for your own advancement and continued education.

What is your breakfast of choice?
When I’m home on the weekends, I make myself smoothie with banana, pineapple, mixed berries, almond milk and kale.  During the week, when I was at Showtime, I would go to a deli and alternate between egg whites with broccoli on a whole wheat wrap (when I was being healthy), and an egg on a bagel with turkey bacon (when not so healthy!).  I’m resolving to eat more healthy now that I’m working from home!

What are your rituals or tips for staying energized and motivated? 
I’m mostly in New York City during the week but I have a place in Connecticut where my husband and I go pretty much every weekend throughout the year. I love it there and it really refreshes and energizes me. It’s my sanctuary. The green, the sky, the quiet — all stuff that you don’t get in the city.

What is the favorite part of your job? 
At Showtime, I absolutely loved that we all talked about the entertainment space all day long and it was part of the job. What was the competition doing? What was this character arc about? How does this plotline affect the marketing plan? Now with my new business, I love that I get to set the tone and the agenda for the business plan and the execution of it. At this point of my career and development, I think I’m ready for that.

What and who inspires you at work?
I love coming up with an elegant, creative solution to a business problem using the discipline of marketing. Digging into the target, what their motivations are, the benefits that drive action. I also find it rewarding to build and manage a team. I decided to pursue a double major in both Marketing and Management in B-School, because I really enjoy learning about management theory, studying different management philosophies, and putting them into action.

How does your culture/background influence your work?
I realized a while back why I think I became a marketer. My dad is an immigrant from Italy who has a rudimentary understanding of the English language and my mom is a native English speaker. So growing up, I needed to adjust my communication to both “targets.”  When I was speaking to my dad, I needed to keep the words and ideas pretty basic in order for him to understand and to get my point across. With my mom, I could be more complex in my language. More descriptive and conceptual.

How many times have you changed your career direction?
I wouldn’t say I’ve changed direction, but I have kept evolving it.

What has been your biggest obstacle in your career, and how did you overcome it?
More than once, I’ve had to be a trailblazer in my role, whether building out a new department within an organization, rolling out a new technology, or trying to incite a new way of doing or thinking about things, it is tough, exhausting work.  People are naturally averse to change and you are often met with resistance. You have to have a real passion for what you are doing in order to get people to listen.

What are your most steadfast ‘don’ts’ rules regarding work and the workplace, and what are your most cherished ‘do’s’? 

Don’ts:

• • • One line I always tell people who work for me is “Assume nothing and trust no one.” I know that it can sound negative, but it’s really about taking responsibility and not taking anything for granted. When you’re the one responsible for something, you need to be prepared to answer for everyone and everything.
    • Don’t get too bogged down in politics and bureaucracy.
    • Don’t assume that just because it’s the way it’s always been done, that it’s the best way.

Do’s:

• • • Do good work – consistently.
    • Do be the person that can be counted on to get the job done and done well.
    • Do choose honesty and directness, even when it’s not always the easiest thing to do.
    • Do allow yourself to be passionate and always try to break new ground and go above and beyond.

What is your favorite leisure activity after a stressful work week?
As I mentioned, I love to read and I’m an absolute self-help book junkie. I also really love to watch small, obscure documentaries. I am also an amateur painter and gardener. And my husband and I are very much into wine (a hold-over from my Wine Spectator days).

What are the most important qualities of a good leader?
Someone who will get into the trenches with you, but also has the perspective to take a step back, see the bigger picture and direct you or tell you when you’re in the weeds. That’s how I always tried to lead my team, and that’s what my best bosses did. I also encourage debate within the team. I find that it elevates the output, and makes everyone feel like they have a voice.

What are the unforgettable traits of role models who have inspired you most?
I generally appreciate straightforwardness and honesty, even when people are telling you stuff you don’t necessarily want to hear. I also appreciate when someone in power tries to be kind, even when they don’t have to. That’s inspiring to me, and I try to take that path whenever possible.

How have mentors impacted your personal and professional development?
I think that my grandfather probably had the biggest influence on me. He was a real family man and hard worker, but also had the soul of an artist. He was an amazing saxophone player, but kept his day job as a lithographer and played sax on weekends at clubs and events for extra money. So he showed me you can be practical but still pursue your dreams.

What are three questions you like to ask during an interview to know if the candidate (or job) is the right fit?
I’ve found that I’ve made better hiring decisions when I do a more free-flow format on interviews. It’s almost a stream of consciousness style, so I don’t have set questions, but I ask about particulars I see on the resume, and get really interested in the stories or examples people call out.  I ask them to go into more detail on things and dig deeper to get a better sense of the person and what they’re about. I want to understand what they actually did on a day-to-day basis to make sure they can handle the job I’m hiring for.

Do you have a ‘Power Outfit’ that you wear for a big meeting or important work event?
I always feel really good, powerful and professional in a well-structured jacket or blazer.

What advice would you give to women starting their careers?
Don’t be afraid to take some chances early in your career. I was so afraid to make a wrong move that I think I might have missed out on some opportunities. I think as I got older and gained more confidence I became more comfortable with risk and trusting my instincts.

What book would you recommend for women just starting their career?
How to Win Friends and influence People and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are classics and basically must-reads for anyone starting their careers.

And for women in particular, I would say the following:

• • • Pushback: How Smart Women Ask–and Stand Up–for What They Want
    • Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead…But Gutsy Girls Do
    • Lean In
    • The Art of War for Women: Sun Tzu’s Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning at Work

What is your favorite quote you try and live by?
I just noticed that they’re all related to challenging yourself and/or the status quo. Go figure.

• • • “The power to question is the basis of all human progress.” — Indira Gandhi
    • “You must do the thing that you think you cannot do.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
    • “Leap and the net will appear.” — John Burroughs