[00:00:00] Jodi Lebow: I flow in teams out and had sat down with the agency in an office and had a strategic planning session, got to know them, really mapped out some goals in a plan, did a QBR live and

[00:00:10] really fostering that team because they really are part of that. And you have to put in the time like they're not gonna be able to do things in a vacuum and that you want or you're not gonna be happy. 

[00:00:58] Daniel Weiner: Hello and welcome to episode seven of the YouShouldTalkTo podcast. I am Daniel Weiner. And this podcast is still brought to you by YouShouldTalkTo, till we find a sponsor. Maybe after today with our wonderful guest. YouShouldTalkTo pairs brands and marketers for free with vetted agencies and or freelancers for marketing and tech needs.

[00:01:18] Why? Because finding a good agency is a pain in the ass. Super excited to be joined today by Jodi Lebow, Director Global Demand Center at Hexagon. Jodi, thank you so much for joining us. 

[00:01:29] Jodi Lebow: So excited to be here and talking to you today. 

[00:01:32] Daniel Weiner: It only took us how many reschedules with your, uh, ridiculous amount of meeting schedules?

[00:01:37] I think four. You're lucky I like you. You know, I played a lot of calendar Jenga to make this happen, so I appreciate you talking on a Friday especially. Tell us a little bit about how you got here? Give us the Cliff Notes. You've had some really interesting experience, especially working with some global companies.

[00:01:51] Tell us a little bit about, uh, your background and all that good stuff. 

[00:01:53] Jodi Lebow: Yeah, sure. Well, you know, when I think about it, I'd like to be able to tell you that it was all masterfully architected on my part. But I think there's been really a great bit of serendipity that's led me through a bunch of wonderful experiences in, in my career.

[00:02:08] I think I've also been a part of a lot of high-growth organizations, so I've had a lot of M&A, and that always provides a lot of opportunities for growth, along with a lot of lessons about integration and, you know, what's really helped me to continue to be more agile and open to what comes my way.

[00:02:22] Jodi Lebow: So, yeah, I've had some great roles across Digital Marketing and Demand Gen, both small and large tech companies, and it just kind of keeps unfolding from there. 

[00:02:32] Daniel Weiner: Awesome. Tell us what Hexagon does, 'cause I don't think I could describe it in one sentence either, so I'll, I'll leave it to the experts internally.

[00:02:38] Jodi Lebow: Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, Hexagon's a global leader in digital reality solutions combining sensors, software and hardware, um, and a lot of autonomous technologies. We really kind of put data to work across a lot of industrial and manufacturing and infrastructure industries. So really doing some very cool and innovative work.

[00:02:58] And the company has over 22,000 employees in 50 countries. So, big team. 

[00:03:04] Daniel Weiner: That's in, that's incredible. Is it, what's it like working in such a large organization? 

[00:03:09] Jodi Lebow: It's great. I think, you know, I mean, I'm within one of, you know, a specific kind of business unit division, and so it feels like, you know, your family within the family, but then there is a lot of cross-collaboration, especially from a marketing standpoint.

[00:03:20] We've been collaborating across all the divisions, and really we just launched a new hexagon.com. 

[00:03:26] Daniel Weiner: Yesterday? 

[00:03:27] Jodi Lebow: Yeah, just this week. And so, you know, bringing together all of that story to be more customer-centric, to present one hexagon. So they don't need to know our internal setups and what divisions sell what products, right?

[00:03:40] How do we help our customers explore everything Hexagon can do for them. So... 

[00:03:44] Daniel Weiner: Did you lead the new website project? 

[00:03:45] Jodi Lebow: I did not. Um, I, I helped, I let my team let it from our division, but it was coordinated by our core kind of central marketing team that works across all the divisions. 

[00:03:54] Daniel Weiner: A relatively seamless process?

[00:03:56] Jodi Lebow: Yeah, it was. Any website redesign, especially when you bring it together multiple, you know, websites that had to collapse into it. But it's been a long road, but really excited about what we can build from here. 

[00:04:08] Daniel Weiner: Sure. I know you guys work with a ton of different agencies for various things. What's your overall, not even just at Hexagon, but just in your career, like what's your overall opinion of agencies?

[00:04:16] They get, at least in my world, you know, I've been at an agency, now I work in between agency and brand. Agencies get a bad rep sometimes. Like overall, I'm all get lumped in together. How do you feel about, you know, your past agency experiences? 

[00:04:28] Jodi Lebow: Yeah, yeah. Well, and actually started my, you know, corporate career right out of college at an, a large agency, um, is a TV and radio media buyer.

[00:04:36] So, you know, I have that in my pocket as well. But no, I think, you know, with agencies, I think that for me it's just, it's one size doesn't fit all. There's so many types of agencies and different approaches that you can't just lump them. You know? And I think that agencies can provide a lot of best practices and expertise,

[00:04:53] you know, that you might not be able to build up fully internally. And they can also be great for kind of staff augmentation when we can't build up the size teams internally, it might take to do a lot of things. So I think there's real value. I think, you know, just like anything now it, you have to kind of maybe weed, weed through some things to find those really good nuggets of those teams and those agencies that are the right fit.

[00:05:14] Daniel Weiner: Sure. Do you think you have a unique perspective coming from an agency in terms of like maybe, uh, you know, commiserating with the struggles of agencies? I always found my favorite clients at least because, not necessarily 'cause they were easy, you know? I've actually posted recently, like the best clients I've ever had are tough, but, you know, tough but fair and all that sort of stuff.

[00:05:30] But I find clients over time who had started an agency and gone to brand, like kind of were in our corner a little bit more. Do you think you have that kind of perspective with that experience? 

[00:05:40] Jodi Lebow: I think I do. I think I understand, you know, sometimes the position that people in an agency are in and having to manage maybe multiple accounts and work on different things.

[00:05:49] And for me, one of the reasons I, you know, I even looked to move from an agency to brand was that impact, right? That feeling connected to what I was working on. And, you know, it was like I was doing all these things, but I wasn't ever feeling like I saw the value and the outcomes. And, you know, I wanted to be more a part of that. And, so you know, how do I bring that to some of my agency partners to really connect them to what we're trying to drive and the success,

[00:06:11] Jodi Lebow: so, you know, it is not so much a disconnected experience. 

[00:06:15] Daniel Weiner: Sure. What sort of nuance are you dealing with, you know, agency or beyond working at a global company? You know, you've got different units in different countries. You're traveling the world, as far as I know. Talk me through that. What's the difference,

[00:06:26] you know, like when you're evaluating partners and even thinking through like, who to work with for what regions and stuff like that, working at a global company like that?

[00:06:34] Jodi Lebow: I think it's a challenge. I want us to be able to have a consistent global approach to our strategy, but in recognizing that we, we have to tailor for different markets for different needs.

[00:06:45] And sometimes that's just a matter of, "Okay, how do we translate content or creative or make small tweaks?" But then, in other places, it really requires different channels or tactics or knowing the local market and vendors to, that people that we're trying to target actually use, right?

[00:07:00] And, and you know, we all understand in some countries, you know, it's not all about Google. And, you know, there's other search engines that people look to or other social networks, and you know, how do you tap into that real kind of insights? And can your agency partners truly support you globally in those different areas if they don't have fee down the street and local teams?

[00:07:21] And it's been a challenge because I don't necessarily want to pop up different agency partners in all those markets, but I think in some, maybe you have to. And I think, you know, my experience getting to travel out into some of our regions and engage, it just helps me really

[00:07:35] reinforce that. It builds collaboration with our teams and understanding that we get what you know happens outside the US and that we understand those nuances. And so I think it makes it stronger than when we come back, and our team is interfacing with our agency partners, and we can kind of represent those needs of our local regions.

[00:07:54] Daniel Weiner: Yeah, 

[00:07:54] it's funny, whenever an agency tells me that I'm vetting, you know, if I ask if they're global and they say, "Yeah," the question is usually like, "Are you actually global or do you just have like a WeWork in one of these places?" And the usually I get sometimes a sense of shock, like, "Oh yeah, like we are." I'm like, "I don't know if you guys are actually a global agency.

[00:08:10] Like, I don't know if that necessarily qualifies." Do you think, when I travel, I kind of hate it about myself now like I noticed myself looking at like the different ads and things I see in different countries and even different states. But do you think like the, since you do travel to these markets, do you think it has made you kind of invaluable experience in terms of like understanding culturally when you go to these places to make you a better marketer?

[00:08:33] Jodi Lebow: I think, you know, I'd like to think so. I probably still have a long way to go. Right? I think you know that business culture is different in every country and even our target market. My, you know, my division really focuses on a lot of industrial facilities. You know, we're talking power, chemical oil, and gas, and you know, that's, those are industries that are very different than what I do working in technology and software.

[00:08:52] So there's also just understanding those personas and thinking about people that work in plans day-to-day and things, and that's very different. So how do I get inside the, you know, the buyer and that mindset of, like you said, what resonates with them and where they're looking for ads? And that is, that can be different too.

[00:09:08] So I think whether it's, you know, specific to countries and localization or just, you know, when you're targeting an audience that's very different than your own experience, how can you build up those insights and try to give them, you know, in their heads a bit. 

[00:09:20] Daniel Weiner: Sure. I'm gonna, I'm gonna try not to trigger you on this next portion.

[00:09:23] I, I, whenever I talk to folks like you, it seems the consensus is folks with your title or anybody leading marketing at any organization theoretically, but especially big or perceived big global companies, are getting hit up by vendors a hundred times a day. LinkedIn messages, email, phone calls, the whole shebang.

[00:09:41] Is that your experience as well? A constant stream of inbound stuff? 

[00:09:45] Jodi Lebow: Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, I think it is. I think it's reality for the time, sometimes you're like, " Where did they get my cell phone number?" Or, "Why are they calling me?" And, you know, yeah, emails, you know, it's hard, I, I, feel because we, you know, have SDRs and people that are trying to outbound as well. And so I try to, to understand these, these people that are reaching out to me, but you see everything, right?

[00:10:04] You see very personalized, tailored outreach where they clearly might actually know who I am and what's always something about like me versus other things you see that are just like blatantly bad and like off course. And you're like, "What? What is this?" 

[00:10:20] Daniel Weiner: Is there anything somebody can do to stand out in a cold scenario if you have know, you know, understanding of who they are,

[00:10:26] and have never heard of the company name or anything like that as an agency or a vendor? 

[00:10:30] Jodi Lebow: You know, I think it's hard. I think it's sometimes it's just timing and, and it's sort of like cutting through the noise because, you know, obviously, I don't truly read every single full email or in thing in my LinkedIn inbox.

[00:10:41] But I think, you know if there's something that sparks where I can quickly see something pops out, you know, again, where it resonates. If it's the right kind of topic or, or, you know, but often it, it has to be coming from timing, right? Like I have to possibly be having a need, whether it's fully baked or kind of early on where I'm kind of more open to those messages and, "Well, well, what is that?"

[00:11:04] Right? But other times, I'm full heads down, and well, we're currently working on, and I'm just like, "Delete, delete." Honestly, so. 

[00:11:12] Daniel Weiner: I tell everybody this is their chance to offer up, uh, what you want as like a really expensive gift. If somebody really wants to stand out, you know? If wine's your thing, send, send you, here's your chance to plug, you know, what, what sort of case of wine you want.

[00:11:23] All that sort of stuff. 

[00:11:24] Yeah. When you do need to outsource or need to look for a new vendor agency, where are you typically starting the search? I interviewed a Kathleen Booth who's now Head of Community of Pavilion. Actually, um few weeks ago, and we launched the episode yesterday, but you know, her whole thing lately has been community

[00:11:40] is the new Google, and no one's really starting on Google. Is that your experience? Like where are you starting that process typically, other than working with me, of course?

[00:11:48] Jodi Lebow: Yes. 

[00:11:48] Daniel Weiner: Which you'll always do now, for sure. 

[00:11:50] Jodi Lebow: I will. I know. Well, I think it's a mix, right? I mean, I think first I dig deep, you know, back to my past engagements, right?

[00:11:56] Who are people that I've had success working with? And you know, I mean there's a few kind of partners and agencies now I've worked with at more than three companies, right? So you kind of go back to that to, "Have I worked with someone who does this before?" But then, yeah. Otherwise, I do think it's my network, right?

[00:12:10] Jodi Lebow: You reach out to trusted contacts for our referral for ideas because there's just like, it's like they're helping you weed down, you know, the universe. And obviously, you know, if someone's had a positive experience, that's is gonna be a quicker plus to us wanting to talk to them.

[00:12:26] So I agree, it doesn't start with search. I mean, you know, I think you kind of reach out to people first, and then if you are like, "Okay, let me look up this very specific kind of thing I need." But, but yeah, there's so many out there how do you start there. 

[00:12:41] Daniel Weiner: Yeah. In general, what are you typically looking for, and like what's super important to you?

[00:12:45] You know, the constant debate around agency stuff that I have with folks is like, my somewhat hot take is, "The work doesn't matter." And what I mean by that is, of course, the work matters, but you don't get to do the work if you don't nail the relationship side. And just like everything pre that of being a helpful resource.

[00:13:02] So how do you kind of look at that? When you're looking for an agency or vendor, what are you kind of like, you know, focused in on? Is it capability, is it all of it? 

[00:13:09] Jodi Lebow: Yeah. You know, I think largely I don't want the jack of all trades, master of none. Right? I really appreciate vendors that are a fit for a specific, you know, need

[00:13:19] we have. And also those that are willing to start with that and not try to sell me on all the things. Right? Like it's great to know you have capabilities that extend Hexagon I'm here to talk about. But how about we focus and talk about nailing that? And then, you know, we'd be very open to considering more.

[00:13:35] But I think, you know, it's looking for those agencies that, yeah, I feel like a fit that could be, I could see as an extension of my team that can move at my speed and hear me during that evaluation process and what we're looking for and can really hone in on that. Because the worst thing is I think to spend time trying to articulate a challenge or need or what we're looking for and then have them sort of just still come with some generic pitch deck and, you know, try to talk about what they wanna talk about, so those that actually can customize and dig in and, and try to understand what we're looking to do.

[00:14:06] Daniel Weiner: Yeah, I have those conversations a lot where I joke, like, agencies just can't help themselves sometimes. My opinion is, I'm, they're like, "Should we tell them all of the, you know, capability?" I'm like, "Just focus on this. Like, also you don't do all those things the best, like you do this one thing. Focus on that and, like go from there, do a really good job."

[00:14:22] Like, they just cannot stop themselves from selling sometimes, which sucks. I hate it as well, and I'm the one sending them to folks like you. So, definitely a, a common thread there. I'm curious, since COVID, I've seen you just talked about it a little bit like moving to smaller specialized agencies. Do you care about the size of an agency for a global company like yourselves?

[00:14:44] Does it make you nervous to work with a, a smaller shop, or it doesn't really matter? I've seen it not matter nearly as much pre-COVID, especially now, like after COVID, it kind of, uh, democratized, and you know, people, I think now more than ever, see that there's talent everywhere in a lot of places, not just bigger shops.

[00:15:01] Do you care about like the, the optics around the agency necessarily? 

[00:15:05] Jodi Lebow: No. I mean, and I think, like you said it's similar to us hiring our own staff, right? Like the COVID change that. Like you said, the talent is everywhere. We don't just hire where we have a, a headquarters or an office. You know, I'm home-based, you know, in office you look for the good people.

[00:15:18] And same thing with agencies. I don't think you centralized for centralization's sake. What does that bring you? And you almost put too many eggs in a basket. And we're, we're not that type, even though we're a large organization, that isn't our vibe, right? We are fast-paced and moving and want those experts in different areas.

[00:15:35] And so, yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, we go for doesn't matter about size, it's capabilities and what's gonna really just like mesh with our team. 

[00:15:43] Daniel Weiner: Yeah, makes total sense. This is the portion where we do a, we, we gossip a little about agencies. So I, I always preface with, uh, we're not here to name agencies 'cause we don't, we don't do that here.

[00:15:52] But, uh, for, for the more positive side, can you think of a really wonderful agency experience, either at Hexagon or anytime over the course of your career? And if so, what made it such a great experience? 

[00:16:04] Jodi Lebow: Yeah, I mean, for sure. I, I've definitely had some great experiences. You have the good and the bad, but I think when I... 

[00:16:10] Daniel Weiner: We'll get to the bad. We'll, we'll get to the bad after this.

[00:16:13] Jodi Lebow: Yeah. No, but when you think about the good, I mean, I think it's where we've truly had that alignment on strategy and you know, what we're trying to accomplish. And we've had a really good fit of the team. Ultimately you're not actually hiring the agency, you're hiring the team that's working your account. And that is can be really hard because a lot of agencies do have turnover and move things around.

[00:16:34] You know, it's really hard because when you find a good team and the people on your account and they actually learn about your company and they learn all the things and they're adding value and it's working, like that's the magic. And when they're rotating and ripping people off and you're having to start all over and trying to educate and bring people up to speed, and or you get people you don't vibe with, that kind of like breaks down everything.

[00:16:56] So, you know, I think, just staying centered on success metrics and really just knowing the onus is on us to have that same successful relationship. Right? We have to share. We have to enable them to help them help us. So. 

[00:17:09] Daniel Weiner: Yeah, you hit a really important point that I'm typically advising that I find truthfully not because, like, I don't know,

[00:17:15] I guess just people in your role don't think of it sometimes or like think they can. To your point, like you're not hiring, presumably the three people on the phone. You're hiring a team that you haven't even met yet. And I, 99% of the time, am recommending, like if you're, you know, having a good experience presale and agency, ask to talk to who's gonna be leading your account.

[00:17:34] Ask to talk to people executing. You know, they're probably gonna say something like, "Oh, they're actually working right now." But set up some time to do it for 15 minutes just to see if you mesh. 'Cause you're usually done with the people that you're talking to about the actual scope once you actually engage. And yeah, the biggest pain point I hear

[00:17:49] Daniel Weiner: more so from bigger agencies is, "Yeah, like our team rolled over 10 times." Or like, "Our account person left, we've got three account people in six months, and like, you know, we don't mesh well with this new person." And stuff like that.

[00:18:00] Jodi Lebow: Yeah, totally. 

[00:18:02] Daniel Weiner: I'm curious on your, my comment about the work. Like, yeah, I know the work can suck.

[00:18:07] I don't take that opinion, but like if you had to pick, is it more making your life easier or is it like world-class work? 'Cause the more consistent answer is like, I would rather from folks like you is I'd rather mediocre work if it makes our lives easier and we can do it quick. Quick is always the thing.

[00:18:22] We need to move quick. We need to be flexible and we need to have non-bad work essentially. 

[00:18:29] Jodi Lebow: I agree. I do. Right? I mean, yeah, you want great work, but now at what end? I mean, we do, we need to move fast. We need to get things in market. We need to make my team's life easier. And when it becomes a hassle and takes more work out of us to try to manage the agency and the work, it's not adding value.

[00:18:45] We could probably do it ourselves better, right? So, yeah. I, I mean, I hate to say mediocre, but you can, but yeah, no. 

[00:18:53] Daniel Weiner: Yeah, it often, I mean, paralysis by analysis, you know, if you try to have perfect, you'll never put stuff into market. So, usually learn more from doing it quick and messing it up from my experience.

[00:19:03] Yeah. On the flip side, some negative experiences and what made them negative from an agency standpoint? 

[00:19:11] Jodi Lebow: Yeah. You know, I, I've seen things go south, and I think sometimes it, it has to do with both sides. I, you know, it's never, rarely a just a one-sided thing. Right? Probably similar to, to relationships.

[00:19:22] Right? But I think there's, when I look sometimes at what, when things haven't gone right, you know, maybe our team wasn't as organized as we could have been in bring specific goals to the table and, and helping not just direct them on in the execution, but really sharing the what we're trying to do and letting them kind of help us fake the plan.

[00:19:41] But, you know, a couple of the, the things I could really come to mind or, or things we've talked about too on the agency side where they've had that account turnover, things got lost in transition. There's, you know, things fall apart. They can't move at the speed that we need to. And, you know, or also making us feel like transactional. Like we're just another kind of client and that, you know, these things and, I wanna feel like a bit of a strategic account.

[00:20:04] Jodi Lebow: Like we're, you know, we're here to, to do something cool, and you're not just here to manage media or deploy ads for us, right? It's like, that's not what I'm looking for. 

[00:20:13] Daniel Weiner: You want them to at least fake excitement on your account when they're talking to you. Do you think once a situation like that has gone south, that it is salvageable?

[00:20:23] Jodi Lebow: It probably depends on how early you identify the issue and try to course correct. You know, the ones that have gone that way, you know, I think communication is critical to try to like get, be very like upfront and transparent about the issues and try to work through them. And sometimes I've seen, you know, some staffing changes or changes in process, but ultimately I think sometimes, it is too late, and often the tough part is just realizing like, "Okay, this isn't working."

[00:20:49] And how do you part ways gracefully, and how do you try to do that without disruption to the business? Yeah. It can be, it can be rough. 

[00:20:56] Daniel Weiner: From my experience, you get, I, I joke, you get 1.5 chances. And what I mean by that is you get one big thing happening and one small thing happening.

[00:21:03] That's your 1.5 chances. And if you don't make, hopefully, they don't happen like the same day 'cause that's probably not bad. And yeah, it's interesting, like, do you want the mistake to happen early, like where it's somewhat expected, or do you want it down the road? I, I don't know that. None of it is good, but yeah, it's typically how agencies react, I think, in terms of like making it right,

[00:21:23] that leads to attention. 

[00:21:24] Yeah. For the positive stuff, you know, I presume even based on scheduling this, you have a million calls, you're traveling internationally, all that sort of stuff. And from my experience working at an agency, our success and our output was usually directly correlated with the input and the time spent with a client within reason,

[00:21:42] of course. How do you get, how do you balance that truthfully? And how do you get the best out of your agency partners, you know, in terms of like collaboration, all of that stuff, knowing that there's only 24 hours in a day? 

[00:21:52] Jodi Lebow: Yeah, no, I think that, that's it. It has to be collaborative, right? That it's never gonna work.

[00:21:56] And like I said, it's bringing them in early, and you know, I mean often in some of the, like those best examples that I can think of that you've referenced, it's been in person. Like I flow in teams out and had sat down with the agency in an office and had a strategic planning session. Got to know them, really mapped out some goals in a plan, did a QBR live, and really

[00:22:17] fostering that team because they really are part of that. And you have to put in the time, like they're not gonna be able to do things in a vacuum and that you want or you're not gonna be happy. So, you know, I think you have to have that time to share and, and review. And you know, also to know, like, we aren't always the channel experts, and we want people to push us. We wanna try new things, and I expect them to bring that to the table.

[00:22:39] Jodi Lebow: And, how can they do that if we're not, yeah, sharing and collaborating and, and so you got to make the time, so. 

[00:22:47] Daniel Weiner: That, that fine line of bringing you new ideas, but not always trying to sell you something. Something we always talked about at my old agency, and it was basically the line we drew was like, "We wanna always be bringing stuff.

[00:22:58] We just don't want a dollar amount to be associated with everything that we're bringing." So it's tough. What are you most bullish on with everything going on in marketing these days? You know, we've got, I don't even know if it applies in this scenario. But Metaverse and Web 3.0 and all of that stuff.

[00:23:12] We've got events coming back, or they are back, I presume. What are you most excited about as it pertains to Hexagon or just in general? 

[00:23:19] Jodi Lebow: Yeah. You know, I mean, I just, when I think, even just back over the 20-plus years that I've been in Digital and Demand Gen and, you know, it's, I think the evolution of the technology, right?

[00:23:29] Like the way we're going with more personalization and with targeting and with account-based strategies, and it just keeps evolving. And so staying on top of that and, and leveraging that, I think as a marketer, we're able to be much more efficient and much more successful. I mean, like we talked about, my audience, my, my targets are very, very defined and specific.

[00:23:50] I'm not selling, I'm bringing Hexagon solutions to every small mom-and-pop or, you know, accounting firm out there. So, you know, to think about when I am creating, you know, messaging or via media to be able to know that I can tailor that and actually reach, and be more efficient with my dollars of getting to just the right people.

[00:24:08] And I think there's more and more of that tech that's helping us do that. So that's really what I think is gonna continue to, to move things forward. 

[00:24:16] Daniel Weiner: Do you have a particularly, uh, favorite technology that you're excited about? Maybe I can get them to spo, maybe if we shout them out here, they'll, they'll be a sponsor.

[00:24:23] Yeah. Well, I mean, we work with a lot of different marketing technologies and... What makes your life the most easy? I should... 

[00:24:29] Jodi Lebow: Yeah. Well, I think a couple of the course. I mean, we work with Demandbase from an account-based marketing perspective. We work with Uberflip on creating awesome content experiences and, and personalizing and starting to, you know, how we piece all these things together. Putting in drift for conversational chat and, you know, and you kind of bake an ecosystem and you put together a text stack to try to like have those relevant interactions. And yeah, it's been a lot of fun bringing some of those into the fold here at Hexagon.

[00:24:54] Daniel Weiner: Do you know, off the top of your head, how many pieces make up your tech stack? 

[00:24:58] Jodi Lebow: It's a lot. No.

[00:25:00] Daniel Weiner: Over a hundred, you think? 

[00:25:01] In terms like small things or? 

[00:25:04] Jodi Lebow: Yeah. I mean, if you went at, no. The core, there's probably, you know, under 20 of like the core, core MarTech stuff that's really driving. 

[00:25:12] Gotcha. The final marketing focus question. What keeps you up at night from a marketing or just business or career standpoint?

[00:25:20] Jodi Lebow: Trying to do it all. There's so many priorities of being part of a growing organization and... 

[00:25:25] Daniel Weiner: I feel that on a deep personal level. 

[00:25:27] Jodi Lebow: I know, I sure you do. Running, growing and starting your own, Right? But I mean, I think, I just think of all the things that my team, and, and myself are trying to do. And it's that balance of not just the like activity, focus and doing, but trying to, are we doing the things that are gonna move the needle.

[00:25:43] And how do I clear some of the noise to allow us to focus on, on those big priorities and get everyone on board with those same priorities? 'Cause you know, we've got other stakeholders and teams want this, who wanna do this project, and we're there to work with them and support them. Yet I'm like, is that taking us away from, you know, some of these big core things we're trying to drive?

[00:26:01] So it's just, yeah, bringing that all into focus and not burning out. So. 

[00:26:08] Daniel Weiner: I hope you don't burn out, and I hope you're actually able to sleep at night. I do a 

[00:26:12] couple, actually. 

[00:26:12] Jodi Lebow: I sleep well until 3:00 AM, and then then there's that, "Oh my gosh. Wake up." Everything's going through my head. 

[00:26:19] Daniel Weiner: Do you act, I actually do that.

[00:26:20] It's so unhealthy. I'll wake up with like an idea or something and get out of bed sometimes. I, I hate myself or, and write it down, so I don't forget it. Do you actually do that? 

[00:26:27] Jodi Lebow: I don't get out of bed. I don't, which I probably should 'cause sometimes I'm the, it's two hours. I'm still laying there, and I can shut it back down and,

[00:26:34] you know, you go back to sleep and the alarm goes off. 

[00:26:37] Daniel Weiner: That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. I hope that doesn't happen. Get some sleep this weekend. The final few questions. Nothing to do with marketing. What was your, very, very, well, maybe marketing, but what was your very, very, very first job even growing up?

[00:26:49] Jodi Lebow: Yes. Babysitting. I, I did a lot of babysitting for lots of kids in back in Minnesota in my neighborhood. And, and then came a few fun, interesting retail jobs at the local mall, so yeah. 

[00:27:01] Daniel Weiner: Do, do tell, were you an Abercrombie, uh, salesperson? 

[00:27:04] Bath & Body Works, selling sun lotions, Victoria's Secret and Crate & Barrel, I think briefly.

[00:27:09] Jodi Lebow: So.

[00:27:10] Daniel Weiner: Wow, you've got the full gamut. Do you think any of those jobs prepared you for what you're doing today or, uh, gave you, you know, better experience for it? 

[00:27:17] Jodi Lebow: No, but maybe realized I didn't want to that, that I wanted to stay in forever. So good. 

[00:27:23] Daniel Weiner: I truthfully, I worked at a restaurant was my first... My car.

[00:27:26] I worked illegally at a car wash. My first legal job was working at a restaurant. And I feel like that truthfully did just like in terms of patience, if not being pissed off at anybody who, uh, acts a certain way. What would be your death raw meal? 

[00:27:39] Jodi Lebow: Well, that's very dark, so I maybe... 

[00:27:41] Daniel Weiner: Super dark.

[00:27:41] Jodi Lebow: What's my big celebration? 

[00:27:43] Daniel Weiner: Your fi, if 

[00:27:43] you had, if you had to have one meal for your, your final meal, maybe you're not on death row, you could pick one meal. Maybe just tonight. You don't even have to have committed a crime. I'll reframe this for the next podcast then. 

[00:27:55] Jodi Lebow: Umso many good things, but probably a really good steak with some red wine and a side of french fries.

[00:28:02] What kind of steak? I'm a ribeye person. 

[00:28:04] Jodi Lebow: Ribeye or filet. I kind of, I go back and forth, you know, sort of. 

[00:28:08] Daniel Weiner: Okay. Okay. And then the final question, who is somebody who inspires you? 

[00:28:12] Probably my brother. He, I have a brother with special needs, and you know, I think he's taught me a lot in life about not taking things for granted, making the most of every day, you know. And with that, the importance of family and sort of loving unconditionally.

[00:28:25] Jodi Lebow: So I think he keeps me going. 

[00:28:27] Daniel Weiner: That's awesome. That's really good to hear. That was a wonderful conversation. What's the best way, not from a selling standpoint, if somebody really wanted to find you and not send you a sales pitch? LinkedIn, I presume? 

[00:28:38] Jodi Lebow: LinkedIn is great. 

[00:28:40] Yes. 

[00:28:40] Daniel Weiner: Awesome. We'll put that. I always joke if anybody's mean to me, I'm gonna flash their cell phone on the screen, so we won't, we won't do that here.

[00:28:46] But now, thank you so much for joining. Uh, this was awesome. And I'm excited to, uh, see the continued successes of, not only your career but Hexagon and all that stuff. And I just like hearing that you're traveling globally every 12 seconds and being jealous of it. 

[00:29:00] Jodi Lebow: Thanks. Yeah, this has been fun. Glad we could connect.

[00:29:03] Daniel Weiner: Talk to you soon. 

[00:29:04] Jodi Lebow: Sounds good.