By Anna Skinner
Samantha Schwartz spent 14 years in male-dominated corporate America before she decided she wanted something a bit different.
Cue The Plaid Agency of Carmel, an integrative marketing advertising agency, that Schwartz co-founded.
“We are marketing advertising without any borders, we are more customer centric than channel specific, so we came up with the plaid name” she said. “If you think about it, a plaid pattern is just lines and if it didn’t come together in right way, it’s just abstract. But when it does come together, everyone recognizes it as a bold, classic pattern. We want to take all those different channels and bring them together for our customers.”
Schwartz decided to branch out of the corporate technology industry she was involved in when it scared her more to not accomplish her goal than to risk it.
“When I go into a certain situation, I never let it change me,” she said. “You have to have confidence in what you can deliver, confidence in your mission and confidence in the team behind you. If I had to say anything, the one word is perseverance. You get knocked down millions of times or told no, you get the door closed and you just have to keep going on.”
Schwartz said there have been multiple occasions at meetings where someone will address a male colleague instead of her, but that fearlessness is what has led to her success.
“You just have to go back to the core and deliver,” she advised. “Just getting your foot in the door is the first step, relentless fierceness in doing what we do for the customers (has led to success) … it’s not about gender, it’s about who can get it done.”
The Plaid Agency is at 580 E. Carmel Dr., Suite 200. For more, visit theplaidagency.com.
