On October 26, Google’s Head of Industry, Media, and Entertainment and USC Annenberg alumna Angie Barrick shared valuable career insights with about 80 students on how to find the right career, work-life balance and the need to constantly learn new professional skills.
The event was organized by Annenberg’s Career Development office and is part of their ongoing Lunch with Leaders series. Barrick (M.A. Communication Management ‘94) manages all of Google’s entertainment-related advertising project and described her job as global, giving her the opportunity to travel across the world to countries in Europe, South America, and North America. Currently, she is working on a collaboration between Google and Time Warner.
Over the course of lunch, Barrick shared her career journey, saying that working at Google has been a great experience not just as an employee, but also as a woman.
“There are a lot of great female leaders at Google and it’s really wonderful as a woman to feel that there isn’t a glass ceiling here. I probably feel inequality less at Google than I have anywhere else in my career,” Barrick said.
While Google is famous for its abundance of free goodies--from relaxing massages to dog visits for their employees-- Barrick explained that there’s more to the company.
“You really do work a lot and great things don’t come for free. There’s a lot of hard work that goes into making sure the company has the money to support those things,” she said.
She described a typical day’s hard work at Google as beginning at 8 a.m. when she makes calls to clients in Europe and Latin America. After speaking to her international partners, Barrick spends the next few hours speaking individually with people on her team. During these meetings, she and her workers discuss problems or questions they may have about projects. Additionally, Barrick may also take conference calls with Google’s clients. After the workday is over, she may go out to dinner with clients to discuss business.
Recounting her college years, Barrick described the challenges of balancing her job as a temporary secretary at Bravo with her classes. After graduation, Angie was promoted from secretary to marketing coordinator and then marketing manager. She credited the promotions that started her journey up the corporate ladder to her Annenberg degree.
“I was specifically told when they first made me a Regional Vice President at Bravo that it was because I had a graduate degree from the Annenberg school. And it certainly helped me in terms of getting promoted at Google to a manager role as well to Head of Industry,” she said.
Hannah Tan, (B.A. Communication ‘18) said she was inspired by Barrick’s emphasis on taking risks.
“I think that it is really important if something scares you. Sometimes, you are really hesitant to take on a challenge but most of the time it’s worth it,” Tan said.
For Mariia Kovaleva, (M.A. Communication Management ‘18), the most important part of Barrick’s talk was her advice on how to make significant career and life decisions.
“Angie said you must listen to your inner voice and make decisions not only from the point that you need to make money and connections to drive your career further, but that you also need to reflect on your inner aspirations in order to be happy,” Kovaleva said.
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