EP 74 - Meet Stephanie Smellie, Head of Creator Marketplace Partnerships, Spotify

I Choose the Ladder

In this episode, you meet Stephanie Smellie, the Head of Creator Marketplace Partnerships at Spotify. In this role, she leads the company's strategic partnerships with platforms and brands that enrich Spotify's offering to artists, with an eye toward helping them grow, engage, understand and monetize their audiences. Prior to Spotify, she was Vice President of Business Development and Partnerships at iHeartMedia and led distribution and content partnerships across a variety of industries, including partners like Amazon, Samsung, Hilton, Comcast and Sonos. Stephanie started her career as a CPA, working on Wall Street and was committed to making a career switch to an industry and function that she was passionate about. Since that shift, she's also worked in Business Development at Sony Music Entertainment and Brand Marketing at Under Armour. In her spare time, she's an avid traveler, a budding DJ, and serves on the Steering Committee of Alvin Ailey's Young Patrons Circle. Some of the things that we discussed that stood out to me were: - Maximizing your network - Not being a salesperson for business school - Career pivots - How she's using the skills she acquired in corporate America to build a side hustle - Giving yourself options - Clarity about your job criteria - Stepping outside of your comfort zone