There’s being calm, and then there’s being as composed as McDonnell is when under pressure. She helped usher in a company-wide transition during the Viamedia.ai-LocalFactor combination back in March, staying busy behind the scenes and assembling an activation force before the transition became public. That resulted in the internalization of digital operations being completed a month ahead of schedule (and most importantly: zero disruption with clients). A third-party evaluation even revealed that buyers would pay premium CPMs to continue collaborating with McDonnell and her team. But McDonnell knows it’s a team effort to find clarity amid times of chaos. “I push my team to challenge themselves and work with a sense of autonomy, while always supporting them and guiding them along the way so they know they’re not left out on an island,” she says. “Assigning and delegating projects to them that move the business forward… allows them to feel like a part of the business and our successes, not just a cog in the wheel. And from there, they start to come up with projects on their own that they proactively take on.” When McDonnell was at LocalFactor as its VP, Customer Success, she transformed the digital ad company’s operations from a single trader into a multi-disciplinary team that included account management, traders, search, social and media strategy. McDonnell also created a customer success playbook and formalized quality assurance processes. When she made the move to Viamedia.ai during the merger, McDonnell hit the ground running with expanding the new-look organization’s self-serve line by hiring an onshore trader. The result? More optimization and scaling volume by about 500%. “People trust Kristen because she delivers, and they follow her because she helps them do their best work,” says Becky Jones, Viamedia.ai’s Chief Marketing & People Officer. “She is a builder of teams, a stabilizing force in times of change and a catalyst for better outcomes across the business.”
CHAMPION
Becky Jones
“Kristen’s leadership embodies balance—driving results while reinforcing a culture rooted in accountability, trust and shared success. Her team thrives under her leadership because she truly is a leader’s leader. She builds and empowers and because of her style, her team grows.”