Hannah Kim: What is your typical day like?

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Brigitta Christiansen: Our department makes sure that the billing process for the media department moves smoothly from client invoicing to vendors invoicing us. We make sure clients are being invoiced on time so we can pay our vendors on time.

 

Doris Wong: We work closely with all of media and integrated media. Integrated media is when we’re working alongside the account team and production. They have media accompanied with it so it’s an across the board kind of thing.

 

 

HK: Why are you in advertising?

 

BC: It’s fun and it’s great! I came from medical billing, so I did that for five years. My fiancée is a copywriter and I just saw how much fun he had working for ad agencies and I wanted to have fun. I wanted to actually like going to work so that’s why I did it.

DW: I’ve done it for almost nine years now. It’s never dull. It’s always new and evolving. What says the same is the kind of rules that you instill when it comes to money and billing. That’s why we’re in operations. It’s just so fun to be in an atmosphere where technology is evolving as well and you have to figure out a way to bill something out and maintain budget and all that. And you see it grow and it’s just a wonderful thing to be a part of.

 

 

HK: How did you get your job? Any past experiences that got you here?

 

BC: I used my fiancée’s connections in advertising to get my job here at Swirl. There was a guy who knew the media director at the time. He just connected us through email and that same week I came in for an interview.

 

DW: Because media is so new to Swirl, in a way, it wasn’t until the past two years that it started to grow really quickly. Because it was growing so fast, Swirl just needed some fine tuning and extra help. There was a lot of evolving on Swirl’s part too. Prior to swirl, I worked at a different ad agency, prior to that was at an e-commerce company, and prior to that was at the Y for eleven years as a financial analyst.

 

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HK: What has been your most difficult experience in this industry? How was it resolved?

 

BC:  Sometimes it could be hard for some co-workers and even some clients to fully understand the billing process. Why we need payment with our terms, why we can’t pay vendors, why we can’t pay something out. I wouldn’t say it’s difficult, it’s just more of a learning curve.

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DW: I can kind of see that too. I feel like there’s not enough education around the billing process and what we do. Anyone that does anything involves money, in a way. Whether you’re taking it or spending it, it’s a give and take situation. It all rolls up to a money related situation, like budget and all that. It’s just a matter of learning it and understanding the whole process so that it helps each other out more. As fast as this company is growing, I would want them to feel empowered to learn more and feel like they can get a sense of the billing process.

 

HK: What has been your most gratifying experience?

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BC: I think it’s been educating people here at Swirl about the process of billing and what needs to be entered into our system. When you teach someone that and then you see them doing it on their own, where they set something up and it’s set up correctly in our software and they’re billing on time. That’s really satisfying to see.

 

DW: And we keep on saying media billing but it’s kind of a full circle process because it’s not just billing but reconciliation. It has to have a start and beginning and then seeing people see that process and being ahead of you is a proud mama moment. It’s a wonderful thing to see.

 

 

HK: Who would you encourage to join this industry?

 

BC: Anyone who loves working in Excel. Anyone who is most excited about the newest technology, how you can reach out to people with what’s going on with smartphones and tablets and things like that.

 

DW: Any open minds, really. It does take a lot of work. We work in support so closely with the media department because there’s a lot of planning and strategy involved. There’s so many little things to pick out. It’s really anyone who wants to find a place to doing media work.

 

 

HK: What key piece of advice would you give yourself when you first started out?

 

DW: I wish I was open to asking more questions. I was a little kid who was afraid and shy and didn’t know how to ask questions.

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BC: Everything led up to coming here and I don’t know if I would have been ready to come here prior to coming here. Being a medical biller for years taught me a lot about numbers and learning how to deal with different personality types. Maybe I would tell myself not to stress out so much because there’s no way I won’t be able to do all of the work on my own. It’s not failing, it’s just a lot of work. At the time, it was just me and I needed someone else to help me do the work.

 

 

HK: What is the significance of diversity in advertising?

 

BC: You have to have all sorts of backgrounds to come together and succeed. It’s really important. Advertising is so creative and a lot of it just has to do with the people that you work with.

 

DW: I feel like it makes you stronger too. If you had a million Doris’s running around, we would be really organized but the creative department would probably suffer.

 

 

HK: What is an insider tip you’ve learned over the years?

 

BC: Say yes to everything. Just do everything. And get to know your coworkers. Every time there’s an opportunity to build your team, do it.

 

DW: And be open to the opportunities that come your way. Even if it takes a little more time and effort, you’re learning and growing. Never stop learning is kind of the biggest thing. I’m still learning and it’s nice to learn different things and grow your skill set and level. And never stop networking.

 

 

HK: In a few words or a sentence, what does advertising mean to you?

 

BC: It’s fun. Honestly though, it totally is, all of it.

 

DW: I agree. When you think of ads, you can say “I was a part of that.”