Ria Spencer, Account Director, NY, shares her experience as a female in the industry in celebration of Women’s History Month…
Tell us a bit about yourself!
Happy Women’s History Month! My name is Ria Spencer and I’m an Account Director in the New York office at Momentum Worldwide. I’m southern born (Little Rock), mid-west raised (St. Louis) and now a die-hard New Yorker (Harlemworld all day)!
Who has empowered you in your journey and why?
One of the great blessings of my life are the older women who’ve crossed my path and shaped me along the way. While there are many many names I could call, two immediately come to mind. The first is Katherine, an MD at my first ad job back when seeing women in leadership rarely happened. Katherine was a Chanel-clad spitfire who herself was mentored by trailblazing women from the MadMan era. She also routinely forced me out of my comfort zone and made me do everything from press runs to lettershop instructions so I’d learn the business from the ground up. Whenever I waffled she’d lean across her desk, twist her 3-strand pearls and say “It’s not my job to make you happy. It’s my job to make you better”.
Then there’s Sally, my beloved voice teacher. Sally stood 5ft nothing with a soaring high C that could hit the back of the house. She’d come to NYC at 17 and was not only a successful performer but earned two Master’s degrees along the way which really wasn’t done by women in the 1970s. She gave me, a true amateur, a scholarship to study voice because she believed music taught life skills that should be available to all. Her lessons started with the same reminder “head up, shoulders back, focus on what’s in front of you but remember to look ahead. And use your full voice because we do not go through all this to blend”.
Why do you feel it’s important to mark Women’s History Month?
To me, Women’s History Month is a time to give a well-deserved shout to the Katherines and Sallys of the world plus the countless women like them. Women who did the hard work of breaking down barriers day in and day out to pave the way for generations of women to come. Moreover, it’s an opportunity to recognize the unique role women’s energy, creativity, perseverance, resilience and wisdom have played and continue to play in shaping the world around us. And that benefits us all.