This week on Strivin & Thrivin, we speak with Rebecca Zeitunian, Head of Brand and Growth at ResDiary.
Coming from a working class family who expected her to get married and have kids, Rebecca’s life couldn’t have been any different.
Starting out in tele-sales and working her way through operations and account management, Rebecca later joined Woolworths for a role in buying and marketing, which saw her work in the meat industry. Let’s just say, she can pick a good steak!
But thankfully, picking a good steak isn’t all Rebecca can do well (although much appreciated). With a thirst for some education, she fell into an opportunity to do an Advanced Diploma in Business Marketing at TAFE. From here, Rebecca fell into a marketing role and stayed there for a few years before jumping ship to Optus, and being the first content person that they ever appointed.
When it comes to what’s shifted for her in her career, she says getting out of a specialist skill and wanting to go more general has been at the top of her list.
“As I look at my career, I’d love to stay at this more general but broader role as I progress. And specialising in those disciplines, I could almost predict there would be a ceiling and I don’t like being restricted. And so really looking for those other avenues to go, okay, well how do I continue to progress my career?”
Rebecca has quite the resume, it’s really shown the power non-traditional career advancement has had and it’s given her the tools to mentor up-and-comers.
“I look at how I’m going to take more of that leadership role and really mentor up and coming marketers in probably a non-traditional way without that full certification of tertiary education, and using more hands-on real life experience. I think there’s different ways to look at it, and if you’re hungry for something, there’s always a way to find opportunities to develop and get that experience.”
So what is the best advice Rebecca has received in her 15-plus years in the biz? “Control your controllables”
