Ad Purp Profiles: Justin Young Talks Balancing Pursuing an MBA At One of America’s Fastest Growing Companies

Today, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Sales Operations Manager and general stand up guy, Justin Young (yes, he did do standup comedy for a while). He’s one of the more tenured employees here and I figured he’d have a lot of insight into changes we’ve seen at the company and what it takes to succeed here.

He’s also working while simultaneously pursuing his MBA which not everyone without a strong work ethic would be able to do. The company is very encouraging when it comes to helping people spread their wings, and in this case the idea of Justin’s career ambitions mattering is a great thing to see from upper management.

So, without further ado, here’s more from Justin!

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself! Where did you grow up? Go to school?

Justin: I grew up in Simi Valley and went off to California State University – Bakersfield. I went there to swim Division 1. I graduated in 2015 with a B.S in Business Administration.

Q: Tell us the story of how you ended up at Advertise Purple. When did you start and how did you find out about the opportunity?

Justin: After graduating from Bakersfield, I stayed there for another 2 years. There, I worked on a farm and did marketing for almonds (internationally and domestically). While working on the farm, I was also the head coach for Varsity Boys & Girls swimming at Frontier High School. Then, I wanted to come back down to Southern California and was able to find Advertise Purple on Indeed. I started in August 2017.

Q: You’re kind of an OG Ad Purpler. How has the culture and structure of the company changed since you first got here? 

Justin: The culture of this company has been the same since we were a company of seven. Now, with over seventy-five employees, the culture hasn’t been lost. It’s a close-knit, relationship based environment here at the office. A lot of us hang out very frequently outside of the office. The structure is always changing as our company has grown so quickly. With the more minds around the operation, we can all focus on our task at hand versus having to wear as hats.

Q: What about the role you have now excites you most?

Justin: I think the role in itself has been exciting. I started as an Inside Sales Representative and realized it wasn’t quite the fit for me after the first year. Our Sales Team needed an Operations Manager and I saw the opportunity to fill it. So, being fortunate enough to develop a Sales Operations team and seeing where it will go in the next few months to a year is exciting.

Q: What skills have you developed in your time at Ad Purp?

Justin: As a Sales Operations Manager here, a skill that I’ve developed best would definitely be my communication skills. Being able to support our team to see proposals through and on time has taught me how to communicate better and more effectively.

Q: What made you want to pursue an MBA?

Justin: I wanted to pursue my MBA in order to broaden my knowledge of business. At UC Irvine, the focus of the program is “Leadership in a Digitally Driven World”. Having been in the Digital Marketing space for the past two years, I’ve understood that technology is here and now, so I wanted to get ahead of the curve (at least that’s the goal).

Q: How much support do you feel you’re getting from leadership at Ad Purp in carving out time for your studies?

Justin: The support has been great. Even before the program, my schedule has been pretty flexible here. But, having to leave early twice every Tuesday and Thursday hasn’t been too much of an obstacle thus far.

Q: How has it been working with Brooke Laver, your direct-report?

Justin: Working with Brooke is a pleasure. I admire her work ethic and her knack for always finding details and ideas to help streamline our Sales Operations team. She’s a quick learner and is good at asking the right questions. She’s burdened with a challenging amount of work day in and day out – but she makes it look so easy!

Q: What do you want to see happen next at Advertise Purple? And in your career?

Justin: Honestly, I’d just like to see Advertise Purple doing what we’ve been doing in recent years. Valuing the company culture, innovating and improving how we operate in the space and to keep and better the efforts we make to our community (beach clean ups, donations, etc.).