International Women’s Day: 2025

Ada Li / Manager, BI Data:

One of the stereotypes that I have experienced professionally is the belief that women are more likely to conform to existing norms and are less inclined to question authority or disrupt established systems. I actively push for change by challenging outdated processes and advocating for innovative strategies that break from traditional norms. Whether it’s introducing new approaches or proposing new workflows, I take the initiative to drive transformation and encourage a shift toward progress, showing that I’m not just accepting the way things are, but actively shaping the future.

One project I'm proud of at Tatari is when I led the design and user experience for our Tableau dashboards. What began as an initiative to streamline and automate clients’ weekly decks quickly expanded into something much more impactful. It sparked new ideas and creative solutions across various teams, positioning Tableau as the central operational tool for the entire organization. The dashboards not only improved how we monitor different business sectors but also enabled teams, like Media Buying and Client Development, to work more efficiently. By centralizing key data, the project revolutionized how we manage and access information.

Anna Young / Data Quality Analyst:

I think I have been very lucky to not have experienced blatant and obvious negative stereotypes against women in the workplace, but I also haven't been working that long. What I do sometimes find a little tricky—because I work in a primarily male-dominated field—is non-work related chit chat. At times, some work conversations tend to steer towards sports or topics that are more targeted toward men, which I don’t have much interest in nor do I feel the need to pretend to enjoy just to be part of the conversation. However, I do think everyday chit chat is super important for creating workplace bonds, and familiarity and camaraderie, so I try to find ways to include my own domain of interest into these conversations. For example, I can bring up Taylor Swift whenever football is discussed, which can lead to conversations about the inter-personal dynamics between NFL and Taylor Swift. I always try to find ways to integrate myself into the conversation with my own interests.

A project I'm proud of is one that's actually still ongoing! The Data Quality team is an integral part of onboarding new clients, and that historically has required a lot of manual DQ Analyst effort. Something I've been working on for a long time is automating how we assign clients’ industry categories. Currently, this is a very subjective process. As a team, we are researching how to use clustering and OpenAI to automate grouping new clients and assigning them industry categories. This directly impacts new clients' industry drag factors, so it'd be great to automate this process and make it more accurate!

Non-work related, I'm really proud of the “Women in Tech” group at Tatari. This is my second year leading it, and it's been a really fun and gratifying experience. It's really helped me to get to know the women on different teams I don't interact with day-to-day, as well as (hopefully) create a stronger community within Tatari. When I first started and was invited to a meeting, I thought it was such a great way to be welcomed to the Company. I've learned a lot from the women in this group, and I hope to continue learning and helping others do the same throughout the year!

Barbara Eruo / Digital Marketing Specialist:

A stereotype about women that I’ve experienced professionally is the idea that women are mainly supposed to be caring and smiling often. While that is part of my personality (I like to laugh and have a good time), it isn’t necessarily how I come across in all work settings. I intend to hold myself confidently and assertively. The hard part is that as a black woman, I have two layers of biases to work against, where I don’t want to come across too strongly and be labeled “aggressive.”

A project that I am proud of at Tatari is the upgrade I made to our Google Ads campaigns at the end of 2024. I redid the account structure to focus our ad spend on keywords that drive the most efficient leads for our business. As a result, I significantly reduced the cost per lead and increased the conversion rate with the new setup.

Emily Mester / Client Services Associate:

I have always been told to “smile more” or that I have a “resting you-know-what face.” No one says that to a man, so I simply ask “Why?” which usually ends the conversation right there and then.

 I am most proud of the ongoing prelog clearance tool project I have contributed to at Tatari. By working with the engineering and product teams, we have been able to cut down the manual day-to-day work for the Media Ops team and increase accuracy when it comes to clearance for our buyers.

Iana Bilokoz / QA Engineer:

When I was just starting my professional career, one of the biggest stereotypes about women I encountered was that we were not seen as strong specialists in quality assurance engineering, and therefore should choose something else, like design or management. Despite that, I focused on my growth goal by learning and developing new skills. Even now, many years later, I realize that stereotypes exist everywhere, but we must choose our own path and decide what is best for us, and to go forward without stopping.

The project I’m most proud of at Tatari actually has nothing to do with my professional skillsets. In 2023, we hosted a charity challenge, “Walk for Kyiv,” where everyone had 5 weeks to count their exercise miles to the distance from the US to Kyiv, Ukraine. This shared goal was very motivating, and it was very valuable to participate and actually hit this milestone.

Jaycee Spies / Product Marketing Manager:

One stereotype I’ve come across is the idea that women aren’t always seen as natural decision-makers, or having their decisions questioned more often. I think this makes it more challenging for women to be seen as leaders, as our decisions seem to need more validation. As such, I approach each decision with confidence, data, and a collaborative mindset. I keep my reasoning transparent and ensure everyone’s voice is heard. I’ve also been lucky to be surrounded by many strong female mentors who’ve helped boost my confidence and build leadership skills, including decision making. My goal now is to help empower other women to trust their own voices and lead with the same confidence.

One project I’m really proud of is helping launch our sister company, Vault. I played a key role in developing the go-to-market strategy and worked closely with various teams to create marketing materials. It was a massive team effort, and I loved the opportunity to collaborate with people across the entire organization. It made the project both fun and incredibly rewarding!

Jena Vent / Director, Data Science:

Early in my career, I developed deep subject matter expertise in a particularly complex part of our client’s systems. In one instance, after I provided a clear and concise solution to a problem, the discussion continued, and my response was second-guessed. Another colleague was asked for input, and ultimately, the conversation came full circle back to me to confirm the answer. This was one of my first experiences of not being immediately believed, and it made me more aware of some of the biases that can exist in the workplace. My takeaway from that moment was to remain confident, lead with facts, and trust that expertise speaks for itself.

At Tatari, I'm most proud of building a fully embedded cross-functional team spanning product, engineering, and data science. This team develops machine learning capabilities and intelligence tools that help optimize our customers' media buying. Together, we reduced model development time from months to days and implemented model monitoring to better understand how our models drive customer outcomes. Beyond the technical achievements, what makes me most proud is the team's collaboration and shared commitment to delivering better solutions together.