The Top 24 Women Who Drive Growth in Out-of-Home —2023

by Sarah Druhan, OOH Today Journalist

It’s finally here: welcome to OOH Today’s annual shortlist of the Top Women Driving Growth in Out of Home. Last year, we highlighted 22 women shaking up the industry in 2022. This year, we’ll be highlighting 24–because we go the extra mile.

As most of us likely know, this post coincides with the annual date of International Women’s Day. But we at OOH Today believe that we should be working to elevate the voices of women in our industry not just today, but every day—and to understand why, you need look no further than the 24 names below.

Passionate and highly accomplished, all of these women are so much more than just names on a list. They are salespeople, executives, presidents, and all-around luminaries for the industry as a whole. As we read through all of the many achievements on this list, it’s important to remember that diversity is so much more than just checking off a box on a piece of paper. Rather, it’s the driving force of our industry itself: revitalizing old approaches with the awesome power of new perspectives, and ensuring the art of OOH never stays stagnant for long.

the driving force of our industry itself: revitalizing old approaches with the awesome power of new perspectives, and ensuring the art of OOH never stays stagnant for long

Still have questions? We’ll let these Outstanding Women of OOH take it from here.

This is OOH Today’s list of the Top 24 Women Driving Growth in Out of Home, this year and beyond.

Cynthia Beiler, Regional Vice President at Adams Outdoor Advertising 

Cynthia Beiler is a Regional Vice President with Adams Outdoor Advertising, overseeing the Midwest markets and National Sales team. Adams Outdoor is the 4th largest privately held out of home advertising operator in the United States. Prior to her current role, Cynthia has served as a GM, GSM, and SM in various Adams markets over the last 12 years.

Cynthia has spent the last 20 years building and rebuilding sales and marketing organizations in the media, technology, and finance industries. Her specialty is developing and implementing an overall sales strategy to accelerate profitable growth. This is inclusive of, but not limited to, development in the areas of culture, leadership, structure, and process.

How can the industry take a bigger slice of total ad spend? 

We need to enhance our sales approach and conversation to ensure the OOH Value Proposition is offered in a manner that increases the value of OOH in the mind of our buyers. Key to this is discovering the WHY before the WHERE, gaining a clear understanding of a buyer’s goals and target audience. While geography will always have a place, our CPM value proposition aligned with business objectives and target audience wins every time!

Claudia Damas, CEO and Partner at Altermark

Claudia Damas has created an extensive career in OOH. In 2016 she opened Altermark’s Global headquarter in Miami. Altermark is an Out of Home specialist that plans and buy campaigns across the world for direct clients as well as agencies. Since then, Claudia has opened Altermark offices in Mexico City & Buenos Aires to manage the increasing demand for OOH specialists across the region. Some of Altermark’s latest accomplishments include being appointed OOH AOR for Prime Video and managing the launch of HBOMax across Latin America. 

Prior to becoming Partner and CEO at Altermark, Claudia was the Director of LATAM at Kinetic WW, a leading Global OOH specialist. While at Kinetic, Claudia expanded the company portfolio across the entire region while simultaneously launching their Multicultural Division, Alcance, in the US. Claudia has 20+ years of experience in the Latin America OOH markets and has placed great attention on the development of the industry within the global stage. Claudia sits on the board of the DPAA’s WEDOOH, is a member of Tribe Global and a contributor to several OOH publications across the Americas. Claudia lives between Miami & Rio de Janeiro, is mother to two boys; Noah and Thomas and an avid runner and traveler.

What’s the most interesting part of your job?

It surrounds me. OOH is a free museum for the world. Every time I step outside, I get to have a no-admissions taste of awesome creative and unique installations.

Dawn Del Mastro Chruma, CEO at Del Mastro Outdoor

Dawn Del Mastro Chruma is the current CEO at Del Mastro Outdoor, a leading source of premium, large-format Out of Home Advertising. Dawn served as Vice President of City Outdoor—Del Mastro Outdoor’s previous title—for over 22 years before stepping into the role of CEO in December of 2021.

Del Mastro graduated from the University of Delaware, where she received a BS in Advertising Design. She has been a vital part of the Out of Home industry for almost 25 years, and promotes the unique values of Out of Home advertising across the cities of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

When did you first know that this was the industry for you?

I always knew advertising was the industry that I wanted to be in. I worked in media on the agency side and then went into magazine sales. One day my father told me it was time to stop selling for other people and to come work for him. I knew OOH was for me when I saw how agencies and vendors want to work together to do what’s best for the client.

What’s the key to your success?

I don’t get complacent, and I always make sure I give rationale as to why Del Mastro inventory makes sense for my clients. Honesty and integrity always come first for me.

Alice Gogh, SVP Strategy, Innovation & Product at Captivate

Alice Gogh is charged with heading strategy, innovation, and product to deliver growth and foster a culture of change at Captivate. Her role at Captivate has evolved, including leadership of various teams such as corporate strategy, media planning and demand analytics. Currently, she is responsible for the product team and content & programming teams to deliver the best experience for viewers, clients & partners. Alice leverages over 15 years of experience developing and executing on strategic growth across diversified verticals spanning legal, finance, insurance, and technology. Ms. Gogh also serves on the advisory board of WE.DOOH, DPAA’s Women’s Empowerment Initiative.

What’s the most interesting part of your job?

This industry is always evolving. It’s an amazing inflection point that forces us to constantly be evolving as well. Consumer engagement with digital out-of-home is deepening, which means market perception is warming, which means technology is advancing and ultimately, we are all having to learn and adapt daily. The challenge of a new development or a new thing to learn means stagnation is not an option and I get to keep my mental acuity lean & engaged.

Stephanie Gutnik, Global Head of DOOH at Yahoo

Stephanie Gutnik is the Global Head of DOOH at Yahoo, responsible for defining strategy, product and go-to-market plans for the channel. She previously held roles as Vice President, Digital Strategy and Programmatic Sales at OUTFRONT Media and Vice President, Business Development at Broadsign. She also ran Marketing for Broadsign and worked in ad sales at News Corp. Stephanie sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of New York, the DSE Advisory Board, and is Co-Chair of the OAAA Innovations Committee. Stephanie graduated with a BA from McGill University, a MBA from Edinburgh Business School and is currently pursuing a doctorate on the advertising effects of CTV and DOOH.

When did you first know that this was the industry for you?

In my early marketing days at Broadsign, I started a column called “Leading Ladies of Digital Signage” – interviewing executives in the industry and writing about their career paths. Women such as Nancy Fletcher, Jodi Senese and Christina Radigan were welcoming and gave wonderful advice. It made a lasting impact on my perception of the OOH industry and the ample space for women within it.

Vanessa Hartley, National Sales Director at Orange Barrel Media

Vanessa Hartley is a 20-year veteran of the Out-of-Home industry and joined Orange Barrel as National Sales Director to lead and foster the growth of client relationships on the East Coast. Prior to coming over to OBM, Vanessa was the President of Omnicom’s Outdoor Media Group of Companies from 2020 to early 2022 and worked with the company for over 16 years.

During her tenure at OMGc, she led a diverse portfolio of profitable clients including Netflix, AT&T, HBO, McDonalds, Gatorade, Quaker, H&R Block, Intel and Dell. Proficient in data-driven planning, Vanessa liaised with various agency investment teams to harness attribution models using mobile analytics to arrive at ROI analysis. Vanessa has a proven track record as a forward-thinking innovator. She was a pioneer in the industry incorporating digital extensions, like Geo-Fencing and live-feed social streaming, into OOH platforms creating revolutionary ways for consumers to interact with the brands. While at OMGc, she served on Geopath’s Board of Directors and OAAA’s D&I committee where she spearheaded the OOH industry’s advancement of education and empowerment for diversity within the channel and its membership.

What is the key to your success?

My network of people. The people who have influenced me and in turn, the people I have influenced over my 20 years in OOH. Consistent persistence: to create new opportunities, push boundaries, and make an impact in the industry. I’m committed to always being a student of my practice, and thrive when learning.

Julia Hice, National Sales Director at IKE Smart City

Julia Hice is an OOH veteran with over a decade of experience selling everything from billboards and transit to high impact wallscapes. Julia began her career as a sales assistant at Clear Channel Outdoor in New York. 

Julia currently serves as National Director of Sales for Ike Smart City, where she is responsible for driving innovative change using new and emerging technologies. Julia has always been an art enthusiast, so Orange Barrel Media + IKE Smart City is near and dear to her heart. IKE creates unique signage that is thoughtfully designed, and includes content beyond advertising such as serving as a platform for public art and community organizations. Julia’s leadership is focused on hitting revenue goals, building client and agency relationships, and growing a successful sales team. 

Julia currently resides in Charlotte NC with her husband Carter, two sons Noah and Banks, and her Cavalier King Charles Pippa.

When did you first know that this was the industry for you? 

I was literally born into this industry. My mom has been in OOH since I was born in 1990, and she would strap me into my car seat and bring me on market rides as a baby. As soon as I graduated from the College of Charleston, I moved to New York and started my very first job at Clear Channel under Valerie Vespa. Since then, I have been mentored by some of the very best women in the industry including my mom Gale Bonnell, Denise Levine, Danielle Williamson, and countless colleagues that have helped me grow over the past 11 years in OOH. I am now leading a team of all women for IKE Smart City, and I absolutely love it! Collaboration and creativity is my happy place.

Nancy Hoffman, SVP, Technology and Transit Operations at OUTFRONT Media

What’s your golden rule for the workplace?

I actually have three!  First, work hard and be nice to people. The iconic Anthony Burrill graphic print has hung on the wall of every office I’ve ever had.  Second, say thank you often and to everyone that has a part to play in your project, plan, success, etc.  And third, even if you’re actually the smartest person in the room, don’t be – listen intently, seek to understand different perspectives, ask questions, and don’t assume you have the right answer or solution.  Being “that guy” won’t get you very far, even if you are technically correct!

Brigg Hyland, Partner at The Hyland Effect

Brigg is a partner at The Hyland Effect, a boutique full-service agency with a specialty in local campaign development including out-of-home planning and buying, sponsorship and experiential. An advertising industry veteran, Hyland had a 16-year career within the CBS/Viacom family, joining TDI (the predecessor to CBS Outdoor) in 1994 as an Account Executive. Hyland was tapped by CEO Bill Apfelbaum to relocate to London due to their then-recent London Underground acquisition. From 1994-1997, Hyland was Business Development Director and formulated the now internationally sold Station Domination platforms, as well as other long-term corporate station sponsorship opportunities.

In 1998, Hyland returned state-side as VP of Special Projects for TDI, specializing in high-profile spectacular signage along The New 42nd Street in Times Square. There, she was instrumental in building more spectacular signs in a three year period than were built in the 10 years prior,  including Showtime, Target Lava Lamp, A&E Biography, CBS Network  to name a few.  Hyland also also rolled out Station Dominations in the US topping $20m in sales during its four-year roll out.

In 2001, Hyland became SVP at Viacom Plus, where she worked with clients to develop advertising programs across all of the Viacom/CBS assets.  Hyland excelled in areas of multi-platform, customized sponsorships for clients. She returned to out-of-home in June 2005 with CBS Outdoor as SVP, Business Development, cultivating high-level direct client relationships. Hyland also served as Chief Client Officer for out-of-home agency Posterscope USA from 2010-2012 where she was instrumental in restructuring and growing the business. Brigg subsequently joined forces with her husband, Peter, launching The Hyland Effect, and has not looked back!

What’s the key to your success? 

There are two.  First, patience. It takes time to build client relationships, trust and to grow business. There are ups and downs– proposals that you work on for months that don’t come through and then times when a call comes out of the blue and results in a big campaign in just mere weeks! It is a marathon and not a race!  Second, is our media partners– without their support of a small boutique agency and their incredible attention and partnership, I truly do not believe that we would have achieved the success over the past 8+ years and I make sure to thank them all!

Danielle Kenyon, Regional General Manager at OUTFRONT Media

Danielle Kenyon is a seasoned professional with over 23 years of experience in the out of home advertising industry. She currently serves as the Regional General Manager at OUTFRONT Media, where she oversees sales and real estate for Chicago, Minnesota, and Indiana. Throughout her career, Danielle has held various positions, including account executive and sales director, honing her expertise in strategic planning, revenue growth, and team management.

Apart from her professional achievements, Danielle is also deeply committed to promoting inclusion and diversity in the workplace. She serves as the co-chair of the women’s employee resource group at OUTFRONT Media, where she advocates for gender equality and works to empower women in the industry. Danielle’s passion for inclusivity is evident in her leadership style and her efforts to foster a supportive and collaborative work environment.

Danielle’s extensive experience and dedication to promoting diversity make her a respected leader in the out of home advertising industry.

What’s the key to your success?

Hard work and persistence are the foundation, but remaining flexible and adaptable is the key. It also helps that I truly enjoy the OOH world and the amazing people I’ve had the opportunity to work with throughout the years.

Lucia Lacombe, Vice President of National Sales for Trailhead Media

Lucia Lacombe is currently Vice-President of National Sales for Trailhead Media. She is responsible for all national business across their rapidly growing footprint. Trailhead Media ’s national revenue has  grown exponentially since she joined the company in 2021. Played a key role in establishing new business in the Southeast, enabling the company to remain competitive but gain market share.  Core areas of expertise include client relationship management, new business development and programmatic sales.

What‘s your golden rule for the workplace?

Work for someone who believes in you. Listen and ask questions.

Sarah Maher, Vice President of Sales at do it outdoors media

As the Vice President of Sales with do it outdoors, Sarah leads the/her team by providing guidance, support and insightful trainings while collaborating with marketing on the overall direction of sales. Always staying on top of industry trends, she oversees the advancement of data and attribution to their fleet of Mobile Billboards, as the nation’s largest provider, servicing every market in the continental US. Sarah’s career began in advertising almost 20 years ago as a buyer with Zenith Media, transitioning to a sales role in 2006 where she thrives on building partnerships and providing solutions.

How can the industry take a bigger slice of total ad spend? 

We need to focus on the lasting impression OOH delivers and leverage the data we’re obtaining to provide an omnichannel solution to our partners. In working cohesively with brand teams and buyers, we’ll be able to expose the true power of OOH enhanced with smart technology.

Maureen McCloskey, Managing Director at Kinetic WW

Maureen McCloskey oversees the development and strategic direction of Out-of-Home media planning and buying for Kinetic’s New York Office. In her role as Managing Director, she is responsible for building strong relationships across the GroupM agencies and collaborating with all teams to connect brands with consumers on the move.

Maureen began her career in media in 2001 at Carat U.S.A and then OMD. In 2006, Kinetic Chicago opened their doors and Maureen joined team as a Manager in 2007. She and her team managed all Out-of-Home planning and implementation until she worked her way up to Group Director in 2012. She was promoted to Managing Director of Kinetic New York in 2014, relocating to New York City after spending 14 years in Chicago, where she now manages a team of 22. She has had the pleasure of working across a variety of business sectors including Financial, Entertainment, Travel, Technology, Retail and CPG. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a focus on Advertising from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH and a Masters of Science in Strategic Communication from Columbia University in New York City.  Ms. McCloskey serves on the advisory board of WE.DOOH, DPAA’s Women’s Empowerment Initiative. Outside of work she cherishes her time with her husband and two-year-old daughter, Frances. In her spare time, she supports marketing and social media efforts for her husband’s business, Block Island Seafood Co., and contemplates running a fourth marathon. 

What’s the most interesting part of your job?

Every day is different.  When people ask what I do, I tell them I play whack-a-mole all day.  One thing comes up, I take care of it and then another thing pops up.  Every day is like running up and down the basketball court, switching between offense and defense, except I am doing it in heels!

Rosie O’Meara, Chief Revenue Officer at GroundTruth

As Chief Revenue Officer, Rosie O’Meara leads top-line growth across all company solutions, with direct oversight of the company’s sales teams. During her time at GroundTruth Rosie has been instrumental to the company’s market strategy and expansion within the advertising industry. This includes developing and implementing key company growth and product initiatives such as the acquisition of Addy. Rosie is also deeply involved with companywide cultural initiatives, including serving as an executive sponsor of GroundTruth’s DEIB initiatives (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging), participating in internal mentorship programs, and serving on the committee of Women@GroundTruth.

As a 2022 Top Women In Media and AdTech honoree, Rosie has been recognized as a Tech Trailblazer for her impact on the greater digital media and advertising technology community. Rosie’s industry insights, views on cultural change and business accomplishments have been featured at major industry events and in top-tier publications such as Advertising Week. Rosie is also a board member of the DPAA and WE.DOOH, the DPAA’s women empowerment group.

Before joining GroundTruth, Rosie served as Vice President of Customer Success & Mobile Initiatives at a4Media. She joined a4Media through their acquisition of mobile ad platform Zapp360 in 2018. As CEO of Zapp360, she built and grew the business into a profitable SaaS mobile marketing platform for local media companies, such as Tribune Media, Hearst, TEGNA, and Viamedia. Prior to Zapp360, she was part of New York-based brand and agency sales teams at Verve Mobile and ITN Digital.

How can the industry take a bigger slice of total ad spend? 

One of the biggest challenges I hear over and over again from brands – who believe in OOH but struggle with proof points – is standardization. As an industry, there needs to be more clarity and universality on how we measure and deliver impressions, reach, and performance. Other channels have gotten so granular and data-driven, and advertisers want every impression to be as addressable as possible. There are a lot of interesting things happening in OOH to move in that direction, but I believe the magic is in demonstrating the unique value of OOH, instead of trying to get to parity with how other channels work and are thought of.

Mary Perrella, Vice President of Media and Marketing at Vengo Labs

As Vice President of Media + Marketing for Vengo Labs, the leading programmatic-first, venue-based DOOH network, Mary leads sales, sales strategy, and marketing. Mary has been instrumental in driving the strategy and growth of the company as it evolved and grew from 1000 screens to over 27K locations with a focus on digital enablement, during a challenging time when many venues were shut down.

Prior, Mary had a successful sales career at Time Inc, and launched several new magazine titles. Mary led Sales and Marketing for Interspace Airport Advertising, driving tremendous growth with the addition of 60 new airport programs and more than doubling annual revenue, which led to acquisition by Clear Channel. Throughout her career, Mary has been a sales leader who is driven by the impact of technology on the influence of OOH advertising. In the last 4 years at Vengo Labs, Mary has displayed drive, enthusiasm, and resilience in steering Vengo from a DOOH network owner to a comprehensive programmatic technology solution. Vengo’s media network reaches consumers outside their home where they are highly engaged with screens in bars, colleges, gyms, offices, retail and more. Vengo is the exclusive programmatic solution for partner networks including CheddarU, AMI Bar Network and Innovare Medical Media.

What’s the most interesting part of your job?

“It’s a brave new world” is my mantra now. Our industry is in the midst of a huge shift from the manual processes of the past to the automation and technology of the future. I am fascinated by the impact technology is having on our industry and the insights I gain from every contact I have with our SSP and DSP partners, buyers and the industry leaders that I have the privilege to interact with.

Christina Radigan, SVP, Strategic Research, Insights and Analytics at OUTFRONT Media

Christina Radigan is the SVP, Strategic Research, Insights and Analytics leading those efforts for OUTFRONT with the aim of uniting data-driven sales and marketing strategies and OOH exposure to better business outcomes for brands. Prior to joining OUTFRONT, she served as Chief Marketing Officer of the OAAA where she led committees and industry initiatives to advance automated transactions, marketing mix modeling/multi-touch attribution, OOH Exposure Measurement, Creative Best Practices and more.

During her tenure in Out of Home, Christina worked alongside colleagues and clients for over 15 years at OmnicomMediaGroup (OMG) developing strategy and measurement solutions to bring OOH into the omnichannel ecosystem. Christina is an active member of the OOH industry and continues to serve on advisory boards and committees for the OAAA, Geopath, DP-AA, and the MRC.

What advice would you give to other women moving up in OOH? 

• Don’t be Afraid to Fail: If you fail, recognize it, give yourself grace, and learn from it. Failing is growth.
• A Growth Mindset, Positive Attitude and your EQ (Emotional Quotient) are just as valuable as your IQ.
• Accept Challenges & Opportunities:  Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone will boost confidence, expose you to new experiences, and will advance your capabilities.

Julie Radlovic, Group Vice President at OUTFRONT Media

Julie Radlovic is the Group Vice President and Head of National Sales on the West Coast for OUTFRONT Media. Julie has been in the OOH Industry for over 14 years and prior to that spent 10 years in radio sales. She has extensive knowledge and experience partnering with several brands over the course of her career. Julie resides in Los Angeles, CA with her three daughters and her dog Duke.

What advice would you give to other women moving up in OOH?

I would tell them not to give up, not to be discouraged that there are not as many women leaders in OOH as men. We are changing the industry one day at a time and if you work hard and stay focused, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. I would tell them the best thing they can do is support other women in the business and stay strong and positive. We are better and more successful as a team, and we can all help and support each other.  Do not compare yourself to other women; the only person you should compare yourself to is yourself.  That is how you will get ahead—by pushing yourself to do more.

Susan Rezmovic-Cohen, Regional Director at Outdoor Media Group

Susan Rezmovic-Cohen has been in the OOH industry for 25+ years. At this time, she is a Regional Director at Omnicom’s Outdoor Media Group, overseeing all the Out of Home activity that emerges from their sister Omnicom companies; OMD and Beauty Co-Lab, as well as some independent clients and the Texas Regional offices. Susan’s experience has spanned across just about every product category imaginable, and that has always kept it fresh and never a dull moment! She has had the great fortune to manage some amazing brands such as PepsiCo, L’Oreal, Nissan, Bacardi, FedEx, British Tourism, Virgin Voyages, Virgin Atlantic, The Home Depot, American Red Cross, Absolut Vodka, just to name a few.

Over the course of her career, Susan has purchased OOH media in every DMA in the country up to about 210+.  She participates in major and minor industry functions, workshops and seminars and has sat on multiple Geopath and OAAA committees, with involvement in special projects for industry resource companies. In her spare time, she loves to cook and create. Fun Fact: Her creative passion is making chocolate confections, and when time allows, she creates chocolate goodies in all shapes and sizes for all types of events and celebrations. Susan lives in Long Island, NY with her 20 year old daughter, a junior at the University of Delaware majoring in Art/Visual communications.

What’s your golden rule for the workplace?

Be VERY organized. Never ever get “comfy”. We need to be better tomorrow than we were today. And never EVER take short cuts. They end up taking a lot longer to fix.

Melody Roberts, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Out of Home Creative 

Melody Roberts is the founder and chief creative officer of Out of Home Creative (OOHC), a creative agency specializing in outdoor advertising. The challenge of simplifying a brand’s narrative with a single image, word, or headline and evoking audience response drives her passion and energy for the OOH industry. Melody has dedicated her 22-year career to designing for the OOH medium. Before launching her agency in 2015, she served as Clear Channel Outdoor’s southeast regional creative director and was a member of the national creative committee. In addition to her work being recognized internationally by the Outdoor Media Association’s “Best of OOH Worldwide,” she has won awards and honors at the national level and is a four-time OBIE finalist. Melody serves on the OAAA creative committee and is a 2023 OBIE Award judge. She also contributes to the industry by writing guest columns for OOH news sites and speaking at conferences.

What’s your golden rule for the workplace?

Work as a team. Advertising that yields ROI should be something we accomplish as a team effort. Everyone I work with is integral to my creative process, and each person’s contribution is valuable.

Kristy Schlepp, CEO at Outdoor Nation

Kristy Schlepp is the CEO for one of the most exciting and fastest growing agencies in the OOH media buying space, ODN. She has been fortunate that throughout her career her next step forward always presented itself due to endless networking and proven success along the way. She surrounds herself with dynamic people that knew they had the potential to be great but needed the opportunity to unlock it! Learning and understanding scale has been a passion of hers throughout each step in her professional journey and holds true to this day.

What’s the most interesting part of your job?

THE CHASE! Learning and understanding how to keep the ball gaining momentum, and getting bigger each and every day. LOVE our incredible, dynamic team and the fact we get to hand pick our clients, and seeing how our entire team continues to elevate themselves and their careers as the ball continues to get bigger.

Jill Schnitt, President at Outdoor Media Group

Jill Schnitt is a results driven business leader with a passion for building high performing teams at the forefront of media innovation. 

Currently, Jill is the president at Outdoor Media Group, overseeing over $500 Million in billings for the organization. Previously, she led the development of the company’s data driven platform and the go-to-market strategy for Outdoor Media Group’s emerging programmatic digital out-of-home practice. In 2022, she launched the first programmatic private marketplace for retail media screens. 

Prior to rejoining Omnicom, Jill spent a decade working at global media agencies with a focus on the emerging digital OOH space. In 2012, she helped establish [d]theory, Outdoor Media Group’s inaugural digital OOH and innovation specialty group focused on bringing OMG into a new age as digital networks proliferated. Following OMG, Jill spent 3 years at Dentsu as an OOH Director. In addition to her agency experience, Jill spent 2 years at the sales organization, Intersection, an Alphabet company, whose mission is to improve the daily lives of people living in cities through media and technology.  

Jill’s time on both the agency and sales side has shaped the way she approaches business. She encourages her teams and clients to pilot campaigns to help them stand apart from their competitive set and drive business results. With a people first approach, she has taken a deep interest in mentoring and developing talent to perform to their fullest potential. She takes pride in maintaining meaningful relationships with colleagues and peers. Jill also enjoys participating in industry panels to provide thought leadership and advocate for the OOH industry. 

Jill is a proud Penn State graduate and currently resides in New York City with her husband. 

What advice would you give to other women moving up in OOH?

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Every situation is an opportunity to develop new muscles, learn and add tools to your toolkit! As the OOH space transforms, it allows you to network and collaborate with different people who are shaping the future of the industry. Visibility to different perspectives will expand your own critical thinking. Personally, embracing the uncomfortable and leaning into new advancements in OOH has led me to have the most impactful experiences and work alongside the greatest minds.  

Denise Shewmake, Executive Vice President/Regional Manager at Lamar Advertising

When did you first know that this was the industry for you?

Having worked in a couple of different sectors where work weeks were basically alike, I knew within the first couple of months of being in OOH that this industry was for me. No two work days, much less weeks, are every the same in an OOH plant. It also helped that I’ve always been an admirer of good billboard creative, even as a child. Vacations always seemed better if you were able to get excited about all the fun things to do (colorfully depicted via billboards) on the way to your destination.

What advice would you give to other women moving up in OOH?

Our differences from men are our strengths. Don’t feel like you need to fit into someone else’s box.

Danielle Williamson, Vice President of Sales at Orange Barrel Media

Danielle brings more than 25 years of experience to her role as VP of Sales at Orange Barrel Media, a national out-of-home media company with inventory in top markets, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington DC. Danielle joined the company in 2010 and now leads a team of 38 sales professionals to deliver custom media solutions for advertising and agency clients. Over the past 13 years, Danielle has grown her team to include National and Regional sales associates for large-format displays and pedestrian-level digital kiosks called IKE. When she’s not spending time with her team and clients, Danielle is busy with her husband and three teenage kids – a son in his first year of college and twins in high school.

What’s your golden rule for the workplace?

I have two. First, there are different ways to achieve the same goal – my way is not the only way. Respect that others might approach something differently but get the same result. Second, the answer shouldn’t be “We can’t,” until you’ve asked yourself “How can we?” and tried to figure it out. There’s almost always a way, and effort matters.

Elevating underrepresented voices is one of the core beliefs of OOH Today’s mission. Please click the links on the women listed above to share the celebration and recognition.  If you think we missed an opportunity to highlight someone you know, please post a comment below in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box.