What makes someone stay over 12 years in the same company nowadays?
Marielle took her first steps at Criteo as an Account Strategist in London 12 years ago. She’s been growing ever since, building herself an inspiring and challenging path toward leadership.
Recently appointed Senior Director for Strategic Accounts & Verticals, Marielle looks back on her journey, sharing what made her stay, grow, and thrive all these years at Criteo, from London to Barcelona.
The no routine part, for sure. It’s been 12 years, and I still feel challenged to grow here.
I joined Criteo when it was on the verge of becoming a big company, and I grew alongside it, from London to Barcelona, where I’ve recently been given a new scope and responsibilities as Senior Director for Strategic Accounts & Verticals. I didn’t plan to stay so many years; It just happened as there were always new possibilities, opportunities, and changes coming my way. We’ve got the “reinventing yourself” part down here at Criteo, which means there are always new products, roles, and teams to build.
To me, that’s a big upside to navigating in a fast-paced environment. This constant challenge is what made me stay all these years, along with the great people who’ve grown alongside me.
Yes! It’s been a big change as we’re a new team that was created following an investment case. Our purpose is to focus and deliver the best to our most strategic accounts in EMEA. We now follow a more vertical approach to deliver the best support and performance possible to our top clients. By going more in-depth, we can now drive better impact and craft solutions truly tailored to their needs and unique challenges.
Being a new team, everything was quite new for everyone, including me.
My first big challenge was raising awareness about my team and explaining to all stakeholders what we do, what our added value is, and what kind of impact we make for our clients and for Criteo.
My second challenge was to hire the right people for the job. One part of the team was already assembled, but the other was mine to build. It is challenging, but it feels nice to build something from the ground up.
One thing that surprised me was the importance of being well-established and well-known by all stakeholders to succeed in such a metrics organization.
I understand that you need a genuinely holistic approach to succeed. You must be aligned with the people you work with and the people you work for. It’s my job to assess which level of detail should be shared to make sure we’re all on the same page.
Resilient.
I mean, we are still in a fast-moving environment where rules constantly evolve, and things change in the blink of an eye. With everything happening in the world now, there are many things we can’t control.
So, I think what we ought to cultivate is resilience and the ability to flow. It’s about embracing those changes and making the most of them.
Curious.
As I said, so many things are now in motion. On one side, AI is reshaping our world and changing the rules of the game. The future is being written now, and I choose to see the glass half full. With change always comes an opportunity. Our CCO, Ed Dinichert, once advised us to stay agile, live every day as Day One, and just be excited about what comes next.
The way forward will bring change and transformation, and I, for one, am curious to see where it’ll take us.
The impact we make
Marc has impacted his teams through his unique vision and compassionate management style. In this interview, he explains how fostering DEI values and empathetic leadership will help us adapt to change and thrive.
View More
From the inside
Between technical expertise and soft skills, we expect a great deal from managers today. In this article, Matthieu shares his management journey, revealing the challenges he faced and how they shaped his approach to leadership.
View More
Opinion columns
Dive into this inspiring piece of content where Marielle shares her thoughts on how to create a people-first business culture for both employees and clients.
View More