Once I spoke to this week’s grasp in advertising and marketing, I used to be stunned at how seamlessly she had mixed her two skilled loves, digital advertising and marketing and life teaching. I’ll admit to having been skeptical about life teaching prior to now, however this dialog modified my thoughts. As a life coach, she developed a framework she calls the Three See’s — extra on that under — that may assist any marketer up their recreation.
Meet the Grasp
Sheena Hakimian
Senior director of digital client advertising and marketing at Condé Nast and certified life coach
Enjoyable truth: Sheena’s journey to changing into a life coach started at her favourite NYC restaurant, Piccola Cucina, which led her to taking an eight-month certification course. “One of the best determination I ever made,” she says.
Lesson 1: Give attention to what you’ll be able to management.
“There’s simply a lot change,” Hakimian says, in what I might contemplate a gross understatement for the time being. “From the [shift in traffic patterns] to us not realizing precisely how AI goes to form our jobs to issues occurring on this planet.”
For those who give attention to all of that directly, it turns into muddle. (See: my mind.) And all these uncertainties simply breed extra nervousness. However “how do you construct resilience to uncertainty?” Hakimian asks. “It’s by specializing in the issues you’ll be able to management.”
As a marketer, this may appear like what your knowledge is telling you, understanding your buyer wants, or rising your electronic mail lists.
Condé Nast has a really various set of manufacturers — Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and Vainness Truthful are only a few — so Hakimian actually took the time this yr to “slice and cube. Actually understanding totally different segments of your web site and the way they reply to totally different elements of your funnel.”
“We all know we are able to’t have a one-size-fits-all technique on our web site anymore,” she says. So about that slicing and dicing: She did A/B testing inside simply the politics part of Vainness Truthful. And she or he discovered that permitting readers one free article earlier than gating the content material — i.e., requiring a subscription — led to a 20% improve in subscriptions of their take a look at panels.
Hakimian and her staff have taken a whole lot of time during the last six months to do that testing thoughtfully — as a result of what you do with the info is one thing you can management.
Lesson 2: Make your boss’ life simpler.
“What [is my boss] speaking about that may not be on the KPI sheet?” Hakimian asks. It’s not a rhetorical query: You possibly can’t resolve enterprise issues when you don’t know what they’re. “The mindset is, I’m right here to make my boss’ life simpler.”
That doesn’t imply Hakimian doesn’t care about herself — “it simply signifies that I’m aligning [with] the people who find themselves answerable for my profession.”
![i’m aligning [with] the people who are responsible for my career. what [is my boss] talking about that might not be on the kpi sheet? —sheena hakimian, senior director of digital consumer marketing at condé nast and certified life coach](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/hubfs/sheena-hakimian-3-20250731-8315244.webp)
She’s spent a lot of this yr engaged on being a great communicator, even sharing her communication objective along with her staff and asking them to carry her accountable.
And which means being a great listener.
Wanna make an influence? “Actively listening — while you actually hear,” Hakimian says, you’ll be capable of ask higher questions and discover extra readability. Whether or not it’s a 1:1, a Zoom assembly, or perhaps a firm all-hands, Hakimian retains her ears open for issues, complaints, or different bugbears.
“After which I can simply shift my mindset — and resolve for that.”
Lesson 3: Construct a robust in-person model.
As each a life coach and a digital marketer, Hakimian sees her personal private progress — significantly unlocking her self-confidence — as important to her advertising and marketing profession.
“A fantastic tangible approach to actively pursue constructing extra self-confidence — and in the end self-worth — is by constructing a robust in-person model,” she tells me.
It’s not that your digital presence is much less essential — “we’ve got to take management of how we’re perceived on-line,” she says — however Hakimian is “on a mission to remind those who the way you’re perceived [in person] is essential. Actually essential.”
So essential, the truth is, that Hakimian constructed a framework she calls the Three See’s: The way you see your self, how others see you, and the way you see your future. She makes use of this proprietary framework in her life-coaching enterprise to assist different individuals construct a robust, aligned private model.
However like every good marketer, Hakimian examined it out first — on herself.
“Getting tremendous self-aware and trustworthy with myself has launched a whole lot of that imposter syndrome in order that I may go in and take dangers” in her job as a advertising and marketing chief at Condé Nast. And that, she says, will make you stand out.
Lingering Questions
This Week’s Query
Have you ever discovered AI making an influence in your work at Condé Nast? If that’s the case, has it been a internet constructive or internet unfavorable? In some ways, the proliferation of AI content material is making creating high quality content material, particularly instructional content material, tougher so I am at all times curious how this new expertise is affecting different fields? —Max Miller, Founder and host, Tasting Historical past
This Week’s Reply
Hakimian says: From a advertising and marketing and subscription standpoint, we’re excited to discover how AI might help us ship extra dynamic, personalised experiences on our websites. That stated, the human contact remains to be the center of our technique, particularly in relation to model voice and artistic route.
The rise of AI-generated content material has really made high-quality, considerate content material much more helpful. It’s simpler than ever to pump out content material, however a lot tougher to construct belief, credibility, and originality.
At Condé Nast, our distinctive edge remains to be our storytelling and editorial integrity. AI, to us, is a instrument to scale our voices round that, not substitute it. So general, I’d say it may be a internet constructive when used with intention. However like something, it is determined by how thoughtfully it’s built-in.
Subsequent Week’s Lingering Query
Hakimian asks: [Our next master in marketing has] constructed an unbelievable popularity for understanding Gen Z habits and creating genuine, community-first content material. In a world that’s consistently chasing virality, how do you stability consistency with creativity, and what recommendation would you give to manufacturers making an attempt to construct real relationships over time, not simply attain?
