Meet Voomie Paj Ann Herr
Senior Account Manager
In our ongoing series featuring Voom employees, we sat down with Paj Ann Herr, Senior Account Manager, to learn more about her role and what inspires her. Connect with Paj Ann at pajann@voomcreative.com and meet our entire Voom team online!
What brought you to Voom Creative?
I joined Voom in June 2019. At that time, I was looking for a job with meaning and a work-life balance. I was working 12-hour days doing marketing to get customers to spend more money. It left me unfulfilled and questioning my purpose. When I heard about Voom, I was attracted to the fact I would be working with clients and projects that help people.
What is a typical day like in your role?
Is there such thing as a typical day? It usually starts with catching up on emails, internally and externally, and then jumps into client projects. After that, it’s whatever the day brings … it could be an urgent request from a client or an impromptu internal brainstorm session. My goal is to ensure there are no daily fires, just simmering embers that can wait to be put out the next morning. Also, I do a lot of reading. I subscribe to numerous marketing e-newsletters to stay on top of news and trends that may affect our agency or our clients.
What’s one thing that surprised you about working at Voom?
The team. We have a collective mindset to do what’s right and not what’s easiest, and this cohesion trickles into the quality of our work. We also have fun together. It’s not uncommon to get memes or silly pics over the weekend from one of us. I have experienced this team spirit before in one of my previous jobs and grieved because I thought I had lost it forever when I left that job, but I found it again at Voom.
What led you to your career & what do you love most about it?
While pursuing a double major in public relations and technical writing, I was also working in a job where I supported the marketing department. It felt natural to transition into a marketing role once I graduated. Since then, I’ve been on both the client-side and the agency-side of marketing for both large and small companies.
I love the people in this industry. One trait I’ve seen in most people working in marketing is the ability to problem-solve. This may not seem like the most obvious description for someone working in such a creative field, but do not try to tell marketers something is not possible. We’ll find a way!
What’s your advice for someone who wants to work in a creative agency?
Be adaptable. You’re going to work with brilliant and creative people with robust personalities, so you’ll have to be flexible to collaborate effectively. Also, nothing is finite in marketing, so you’ll need to be willing to pivot, when needed, to meet the changing demands of the industry.
Tell us about an interesting project you’ve worked on.
I was part of a launch for a brand new vegetable! It was a non-GMO cross between two vegetables, with the new vegetable being a petite version of the two parent vegetables. We had a product naming session and my name was chosen. We came up with a baby announcement: these two vegetables had a baby! We garnered a ton of publicity, including the Rachael Ray Show and Oprah magazine. Soon after the favorable publicity, this vegetable was picked up by retailers across the country. It was rewarding to be behind the launch of this novel vegetable and see the marketing campaign reach its goals.
Your Voom bio says you “live for those ‘a-ha moments’ when everything comes together perfectly.” What do you mean by that and what have been some of your biggest a-ha moments so far?
Sometimes you see or hear something and there’s a revelation that makes what was so muddy before so clear and crisp. This sudden insight is like a light bulb that goes off in your head and then you’re washed in a wave of delight, renewed energy and purpose. I love that feeling!
One big a-ha moment was when I realized it’s not where I am or what I have, but who I’m with. The most satisfying moment in my life is when my family and I rode our bikes to the gas station, bought ice cream and sat on the curb enjoying our ice cream together. It was such a simple experience that became special because I was with my family.
What inspires you?
Beauty in unexpected places. On my commute one day, I noticed shamrocks in the cracks of I-94. This delicate plant was thriving on one of the busiest roads in the city. It’s this type of beauty, the kind that breaks with convention, that inspires me. It’s seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.
What is something about yourself you could totally brag about, but usually don’t?
In sixth grade, I won the award for the best handwriting. It was described as “flowery.”
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be?
I’m a pretty spiritual person so it would need to be someone who could share some wisdom and knowledge so I can apply it to my life after the dinner was over. However, I wouldn’t mind chilling with Robin Williams. I feel like he had a soft heart and a deep soul with some humor in between.
What one song could be your anthem?
“Timber” by Pitbull and Kesha. It’s a fun song and reminds me to let my hair down, enjoy the moment, make memories – because I need the reminder.
Finally, tell us about being a self-described “adventure seeker.”
Almost anything can be an adventure if you make it into one. On the mild side, a trip to the grocery store can entail new people or things you’ve never seen before. On the drastic side, a visit to the Caribbean would not be complete without a jump from the top of a waterfall into a swimming hole. It’s really about new experiences. With every new experience, you grow and change.
My most adventurous adventure? It’s a tossup between riding scuba scooters in the ocean or swimming in a sacred cenote knowing there were sacrificial Mayan skeletons at the bottom.
For those seeking to be more adventurous, don’t think, just do.