I was born in Warsaw, Poland and my parents immigrated to the United States when I was two years old. We settled in Rockford, Illinois where I grew up with good Midwestern values.
I attended the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana getting my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Advertising, graduating with high honors, receiving the Jules and Jody Becker Scholarship.
During that time I was the first Advertising student to forge the way for study abroad in the College of Media. I worked with my department to gain approvals to study Art and French at the Marchutz School of Fine Art in Aix-en-Provence, France.
After college, I was recruited by Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L), a Publicis public relations agency where I started my career in communications specializing in consumer goods like Charmin and Jimmy Dean.
After three years in the Windy City, I acted on my California dreams and headed West to San Francisco where I've been ever since.
Here, I've established my career in high-tech communications, working for some of the fastest growing tech companies today. In my free time, I do yoga, get outside as often as possible, and work on my puns.
Experience
Global PR Lead
Zscaler
September – Present • San Jose, CA
Global PR lead for the world's largest security cloud responsible for managing global corporate, product, and technology communications, also taking part in executive communications working closely with the CEO, CISOs and extended executive leadership.
Senior Director of Global Communications
OneLogin
April 2018 – September 2020 • San Francisco, CA
Global corporate communications lead serving both internal and external capacities for the leading cybersecurity identity access management SaaS solution. Responsible for public relations, analyst relations, corporate communications, social, crisis, and internal communications including town halls. People manager working cross-functionally with executive leadership C-Suite.
Corporate Communications
Zendesk
2015 – 2017 • San Francisco, CA
Developed strategic communications for product launches, feature updates, partner/customer marketing, and international outreach. Helped Zendesk’s 114,000+ customers and partners be successful storytellers by uncovering interesting media angles. Collaborated with general managers, sales, and marketing to tell compelling stories using creative mix of communications platforms and channels for maximum impact.
Director of Internal Communications
Salesforce
2013 – 2015 • San Francisco, CA
Head of internal communications for the Human Resources division reaching 19K+ global employees. Led major global internal campaigns delivering key messaging, FAQs, and talk tracks. Deployed 500K emails per quarter using Salesforce Marketing Cloud technology, optimizing for best CTR and OR. Partnered with Design on creative assets extending across all communications vehicles and platforms including email, direct mail, Chatter, digital screens, social media, event branding, web, and intranet banners.
Vice President of Communications
United Business Media
2005 – 2013 • San Francisco, CA
Promoted through the ranks, landing as Vice President of Communications charged to steer internal and external communication strategy for UBM’s Media and $200M Event businesses. Led North American marketing communications for London-based headquarters ensuring brand consistency and best practice across global communications, PR, sales, and marketing groups. Worked with top tier Silicon Valley personalities and influencers including Al Gore, Lance Armstrong, Mark Zuckerberg, Vint Cerf, John Battelle, and Tim O’Reilly on PR for the Web 2.0 series of global events. Developed expertise in high-tech communications, creating compelling narratives that spoke to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Education
University of Illinois
Master’s degree in Advertising
2002 – 2003 • Champaign-Urbana, IL
Recipient of the Jules and Jody Becker Scholarship for academic achievement. Worked as a teaching assistant for creative advertising courses to Professor Peter Sheldon.
University of Illinois
Bachelor’s degree in Advertising
1998 – 2002 • Champaign-Urbana, IL
Marchutz School of Fine Art
2001 – 2001 • Aix-en-Provence, France
Studied fine art and French for a semester abroad.
Exhibitions
2014
Art exhibit, 3 Pokolenia, Klub Kultury - Warsaw, Poland (I showed my oil paintings alongside my grandfather and mother at a fine arts gallery in Warsaw, Poland.)
Skills
Public Relations Internal Communications Media Relations Strategy Editing Media Coaching Product Launches Social Media Awards Employee Engagement Events Event Marketing Corporate Communications Networking Tradeshows Messaging International Business International Markets Global Strategy and Planning