Paige Mamer

My Road so Far

[Transcription of Video File]

I'm Paige Mamer. I'm a marketing coordinator at Onshore Seismic. 

Well, um, I went to school for geological engineering and I did my masters as well at Queens. Uh, and then I came out to Calgary to, uh, work as do your physicist, um, a large oil and gas company. Um, the culture I found really wasn't for me. So I left and I joined the service companies, uh, on it's still an oil and gas.

And, um, uh, I really enjoyed that. So I worked for geoscience, uh, technology companies, and I really enjoyed it, but unfortunately, the back-to-back economic crises really, um, put a lot of stress on my career. I went through layoff after layoff and, uh, eventually I decided that I needed to do something different.

So I did a lot of soul searching, worked with coaches. I worked with mentors, worked with chic geek and eventually landed on marketing. 

CG: What is your approach to pivoting?

Um, well, the first thing I did was, uh, I worked with a friend that was a career coach and she had transitioned from geoscience as well. That's why she really understood my journey. And, um, I really had to go through a mourning period and just, um, let go of my old career and, uh, just really take stock of what my skills were and what I really enjoyed, not just what I was good at, but also what I enjoyed.

Uh, and that really brought me to marketing. Um, and from there I just started reaching out to people and learning more about it

uh, I did do a lot of the online career type tests to see, you know, where I would be compatible with career wise. Um, and a lot of the same sort of things would pop up. Um, but marketing was one that sounded a little bit different and a little bit interesting. And the more I learned about it, the more I learned that it was really compatible with my skill sets.

Um, there's a lot of analytics that, that come into play a lot of strategy and that's something I've really loved throughout my career and something that I can apply in a new life. 

CG: What is the day in your life like?

Yeah, well, it's interesting because marketing, no matter what you're working with, if it's, uh, something tangible or not, it's a lot of the same approaches. So, um, figuring out how that all fits in with say software is, uh, something I've had to learn, but it's been really interesting. Right? So right now I'm working part in the office part remote. So my day changes from one week to the next.

But, um, right now I'm only a month into the new role, but I'm doing everything from developing a marketing strategy, uh, to working on the day-to-day things like, uh, social media posts, branding, uh, working with the sales team to really understand their vision and figure out how to communicate that to a broader audience.

 For me, um, working on a marketing strategy is really exciting.

I really love the strategic element of marketing, um, and it comes into play in any business, but I find that is, um, it's been really fun. Uh, the other thing is, um, digging into the analytical side of marketing. Um, you can measure pretty much anything. Uh, it's pretty amazing. So being able to leverage my background, doing a lot of analysis, uh, in the geosciences, I've been able to use that and I'm really excited to, uh, to dig into the data so that I can make of it.

That's kind of interesting pivoting to the new career, but being in the same industry, I'm seeing a new side of everything.

Um, so I'm able to take that knowledge, but then put in new lights. So for example, putting together a conference booth, uh, I've been to a lot of conferences. I've attended a lot of technical talks, but now being able to arrange that and show a brand to the world is something I'm learning. I’ve already understand the market because I've had the job I have worked at.

And so now being on the other side, I, I can really leverage that. And it's, it's really nice. 

Well, the one thing I, I started by doing once I decided I wanted to do marketing was to give myself some time, um, you know, it's easy to say, I want to change careers right now, but it's actually really hard to do.

So I gave myself a two year timeframe to build a network, to get the credentials that I needed, um, and get into a new career. And it happened faster than I expected. But I started volunteering. Uh, I worked with a lot of technical societies doing their communications work and I joined the board of, uh, of a large geoscience conference.

And so that really got me some hands-on experience. And then I also wanted the credentials because when you applied to a job and people see geophysicist and you're applying to a marketing position, it can look a little strange. And so I really wanted the credential. To back me up. And so I spent six months doing an extension certificate in marketing and strategic communications at MRU.

And, uh, so I just finished. And, uh, yeah, so that puts a little bit of, uh, weight behind, uh, behind my efforts as well. I was a little apprehensive to go back to school because it's been a long time for me. Um, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the material because it was something I wanted to do rather than something I had to learn. So it was really natural and something that I could get really excited about.

Um, I really enjoyed a lot of the content marketing courses. Um, and I also enjoy the brand strategy courses, you know, taking a brand beyond just a logo or you know, the really recognizable stuff into more of an essence of what is a company. And I thought that was really interesting, yeah. So it's for is what I'm working with, it's more for oil and gas. Um, yeah, so there's a geophysics component, a geology component and engineering as well. 

CG: What’s the skill difference between geophysics and marketing?

Um, so let's see marketing is very strategic, uh, and there's a lot of things to measure. So having a very quantitative background really helped and having, uh, worked in business development and learning the strategy side of things, really transitioned well into marketing. Uh, and my current job is also still within the geo-science field.

So I was able to pivot my career, uh, you know, within the same space, but just a different job function. Um, and then I just worked to, um, get the experience and the credentials to, uh, to support the new career path. 

Um, I find that working in the tech space, people are unabashedly, nerdy. People just love being nerds, and it's great. Yeah.

Um, well, I was very choosy when I moved into the new role. And so the company that I'm with has a really wonderful culture. Um, the first thing they do is they put everyone through a crucial conversations course so that they can resolve conflict and, uh, you know, things don't, don't pile up.

Um, and so the team works really effectively together and there's a big sense of pride, uh, a big, um, people have a lot of enjoyment in their work and it really shows through. And so it's just a really fun company to work for.

Um, well being in marketing, um, you want to market to your target audience, right? And so I just had to find the right fit for me and my, you know, my, my people, I had to find my people. And so I had actually come off a really terrible job interview. It didn't go, well, it wasn't, it didn't seem like a good culture.

And then I was scrolling through LinkedIn and I saw a posting for my current company. And I knew that that was just the perfect fit, um, because I knew the business I'd use the software and, uh, it was just, it was meant to be.

um, well, first of all, you have to be brave, uh, networking and making a new network can be really scary, especially if you are moving into a space that you're not used to. And one thing I did was I just reached out to people who had cool job titles. And I asked them just if they would give me 15 minutes out of their day and just tell me about their jobs and because it was the pandemic and everything was virtual, most people could accommodate that.

And so I was able to learn a lot that way. Uh, I met Teresa that way and chic geek, um, and so just by reaching out to strangers and having conversations with people, it just opened doors. And, um, I was able to broaden my network that way. So yeah, just being brave. The worst that can happen is that people say no, or they just don't answer you.

CG: Any advice for women in tech?

Um, Well, some of the advice that I got from mentors that was really helpful was how to reframe my previous career so that I could apply it to my next career. Um, and so taking something complicated, like geophysics and breaking it down to its elements and reframing it, uh, say, um, data analytics really can help you communicate what you do.

And without that barrier of people just not understanding or just writing you off. So that was really great advice for me. Well, I have a lot of people reach out to me to connect as well. And one pitfall that people tend to make is not have a purpose behind their message.

So like you might reach out, and maybe you meet, but they don't have anything prepared. Um, so you really need to go on with the intent to get something out of that conversation and have some pre-prepared questions we're ready to go.

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