by Amber Larkins, OOH Today
We recently published our annual list of the Top Women Driving Growth in Out-of-Home (OOH) for 2025. Today, we are highlighting Sarah Teachout, VP OOH Practice Client Services, Publicis Media.
For the last six years, Sarah Teachout has been VP of Publicis Media East OOH team, overseeing all OOH media buying and planning for high profile National advertisers including LVMH, Comcast, Pernod Ricard, Marriott and TD Bank. Before that, she was under the Media Vest/Spark branch of the company for many years, working with top brands. She was continuously promoted from Activation Planner to Activation Director, culminating in her current role.
One of her anonymous nominators says, “Sarah has been an OOH leader at PMX for over 20 years… She has grown Comcast for over the past 13+ years and most recently has dived into the LVMH Portfolio. Under her leadership she has developed and grown the next generation in OOH.”
Creativity Breeds Success
Sarah started out in radio and TV buying as an assistant buyer for local teams, but spots and dots wasn’t creatively fulfilling for her.
“I was really intrigued by all the unique ways you can buy OOH and not every day is the same and not every placement is the same,” Sarah said. “Visually it can be very appealing.”
“I was really intrigued by all the unique ways you can buy OOH and not every day is the same and not every placement is the same,” Sarah said. “Visually it can be very appealing.”
She attributes her success to keeping clients aware of anything new, exciting, and innovative in the space.
“There may be new opportunities to take advantage of and new ways to think of the space that may not be how they played in it historically,” Sarah said. “I think that it has helped a lot of my clients push the needle on their side when they get facetime with new partners and see their capabilities and use cases, or best-in-class examples of competitors.”
She says she pushes all of the recent trends in the industry, stays on top of the new vendors and tech available, and makes sure the clients are aware of the potential out there.
One of her biggest challenges was relocating to the west coast a year and a half ago. She still leads and manages a team of eight out of New York and her clients are still on the east coast. In spite of this she still goes to the office three days a week. Though it’s challenging to manage a team and run business 3000 miles away she’s managed to keep good relationships with reps, clients, and with her team.
Continue to Be Curious and Don’t Take No for an Answer
Though there’s many women in the industry, many times with upper management and senior leadership it still seems to be a boys club. Sarah says she feels on the agency-side some of the glass ceilings are still in place and it can be challenging to break through.
However she does have advice for those starting out.
“Speak up, advocate for yourself and don’t take things personally,” Sarah said. “It’s a business but know your boundaries, stand firm in what you believe in and the value you can bring to a company and clients.
“Speak up, advocate for yourself and don’t take things personally,” Sarah said. “It’s a business but know your boundaries, stand firm in what you believe in and the value you can bring to a company and clients.
She recommends women keep pushing themselves and have enough confidence to stand up and get a seat at the table when they may not have been given that opportunity before.
Publicis Media as a whole does a really great job of supporting women. Sarah leans into that by mentoring the younger women that work for her and with her. She likes to have an open door that makes people feel empowered to come to her with any concerns, whether professional or personal and setting them up for success. She wants women to feel listened to and heard and enjoys helping them identify accounts or development areas that may be more suited for their interests and skill sets.
She also wants women to have more confidence and be true to themselves.
“Continue to be curious and don’t take no for an answer. Push clients to trust you and rely on you and your expertise. Push partners to advocate for you and your clients. Don’t be afraid to say what you mean,” Sarah said. “It’s really staying true to yourself and not backing down if you feel like your back is against the wall.”
“Continue to be curious and don’t take no for an answer. Push clients to trust you and rely on you and your expertise. Push partners to advocate for you and your clients. Don’t be afraid to say what you mean,” Sarah said. “It’s really staying true to yourself and not backing down if you feel like your back is against the wall.”
Future of OOH is Continuing to Innovate
If Sarah had to pick one thing to change about the OOH industry, it would be more consistent measurement across the board to make buyers’ lives easier. It’s been talked about for a decade, and she hopes it gets there.
But to get a larger slice of total ad spend, Sarah says we need to continue to push boundaries, innovate, and bring new ideas to the clients.
“OOH globally is sometimes so much more expansive than it is here in the US,” Sarah said. “It’s like if they can do it elsewhere, be scrappy, find a way to create something similar. Every client wants to be the first to do something new.”
“Every client wants to be the first to do something new,” Sarah said.
As to the future, it appears that digital is continuing to be where all of the evolution is happening. Digital screens “outside-the-box” would give advertisers a unique custom opportunity to do something huge.
“I’m envisioning more advancements in the digital space, whether it’s executions or locations similar to the sphere,” Sarah said.