This month’s spotlight is Benyam Tesfai, Director of Client Partnerships for a full-service creative agency. Read on to learn more about Benyam’s incredible path to a successful career in media and marketing.

Could you briefly explain some of your responsibilities in your current career role?

I’m the Director of Client Partnerships for a full-service creative agency. I’m responsible for the overall management of key clients, from creation and communication of brand strategies, scope and contract negotiations to account relations and presentations. Along with our Head of Strategy and Creative Directors, I work closely to set the creative and strategic tone with and for our clients.

How did you decide that this was the right career path for you?

I spent the last 6-7 years working as the head of digital and marketing for a public figure and family-owned film and entertainment company. There I led marketing strategies on theatrical film releases, in partnership with Sony, that achieved major success at box-office ($400m), as well as partnered with the former Head of CNN to stand up the first of its kind, faith-based personality driven SVOD (subscription video on demand) channel.

The jump to the creative agency was a function of 1) wanting to continue pushing myself beyond the walls of media and gaining exposure to other industries and niches and  2) candidly, I felt it was time to shake things up and take on a new challenge. They say, “our greatest regrets are not our failures, but our failures to try.”

What skills have you found vital for your job, and how did you learn them?

Being organized, over communicating, being personable and demonstrating that you actually care not just about the business but also the people – on both client-side and internal. These things, when taken together, allow you to lead and not be led by the client and this makes the work so much more enjoyable. Believe me, no one ever gets it right 100% of the time, but it’s something that you strive towards.

How can you build excellent client relationships?

You definitely can! You don’t have to be voted most friendly in your high school *clears throat* or win a Mr. Congeniality award during grad school *clears throat, again* lol BUT my advice to anyone looking to improve their client relationship skills is to talk less and do more listening — these are people, not faceless institutions, and corporations — that’s kind of always been the magical unlock. You should never be prescriptive out of the gate if you haven’t done the work to understand the client, their motivations, and their business challenges.

Also, good communication is overcommunication. The research says that, “leaders are 9x more likely to be criticized for undercommunicating than overcommunicating.” From timelines, post meeting notes, action items, reminders, check-ins, and statuses – do it all, and then repeat it.

If a partnership starts to become strained, what would you do to try and fix the issue?

I always ask myself first what could I have done differently? If the client has an issue with the creative, then maybe I fell short helping shape the creative brief. Did I leave out a critical input? Did I overstate something? Did I approve a timeline that didn’t bake in enough time for the creative team to put forward their best work? It’s important to challenge those defensive instincts to point the finger back at the client, or even worse, your own team.

Fixing the issue always starts with looking inwardly. From there, assess the strain, acknowledge it with the client, and provide a responsible recommendation that you and team can commit to.

What do you think is the most important factor to consider when choosing a new job?

I think it depends on where you’re at in life. My advice to young professionals, choose a job where you’ll grow the most, not the job where you think you’ll be the happiest.

My first job out of grad school was at a big institutional bank in Boston. And in my first rotation, they put me in this quant research house in Cambridge– literally an unassuming family home with a kitchen…bedrooms converted into office space…and a basement with more of the same. It was the dwelling place of the sharpest minds at this Bank – from math and physics PhDs, economists, professors, etc – and I felt inadequate. But after spending six months in that rotation, I grew leaps and bounds. So much so that my Excel skills put me in the top 3% of the Bank. And till this day, those skills haven’t left me and I’ve used them in every career since.

To date, what is your greatest professional accomplishment?

In 2014, there were two massive changes happening in the television and digital media ecosystem — 1) media consumption habits were evolving as time spent on internet video eclipsed that of network television and 2) advancements in media technology had finally made it such that it was now not only possible but also affordable to start your own subscription video network, going direct to consumer.

These two insights were the underpinnings that led me to explore a personality-driven subscription video play with a well-known public figure. We were able to disintermediate the cable networks, cable operators, and even social platforms that were starting to throttle organic reach. In partnership with the former president of CNN, we stood up the first of its kind, direct to consumer, faith-based personality driven video platform. We achieved massive success, with tens of thousands of subscribers with over 300+ pieces of rich video content from master classes, teaching seminars, original series, and AMAs.

What’s one piece of advice you would give someone looking to transition into your line of work?

It’s not enough to be smart. You have to be curious. Go deep and narrow when learning about a particular industry. Try to formulate a mini thesis on where an industry is going — not where it is today. Pro tip: find thought leaders on twitter and search them on podcasts.

What do you do for fun outside your hard work and efforts toward building your career? Hobbies?

When I’m not in dad mode, I unwind through running—30-50 miles per week. Keeping the dream alive to one day break 3hrs in the marathon. I suppose I would need to attempt one first 😅