Jane Kim —Top Women in OOH Spotlight 2025

“It’s not just a billboard. This is a career and it’s a great career,”

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 Jane Kim, Group Director, National Sales OUTFRONT Media.

 Jane Kim found her way into the OOH industry 24 years ago through an unexpected connection. While eager to break into advertising, Jane’s journey began with a chance interview set up by a headhunter her roommate, who worked in fashion, had met. Although initially offered a position at the headhunter’s agency, Jane turned it down, expressing her passion for advertising. This decision led to a serendipitous opportunity when her contact’s husband, who worked for CBS, mentioned an entry-level role at TDI—back when it was part of Infinity, CBS, and Viacom.

Growing up as a born-and-raised New Yorker (mostly in Long Island), Jane spent countless hours on the subway, absorbing the ads plastered across the stations long before smartphones took over. It wasn’t until she entered the industry that she fully realized how OOH was everywhere—something she now lives and breathes every day.

Her colleagues describe her as follows:

“Jane has been in out of home for nearly 25 years. Having started as an assistant and moving her way up the organization to now Group Director, National Sales, Jane’s legacy has been left across many functions within the business. Jane is an all star national sales group director working with large agencies and clients, most recently the incredible campaign with Meta/Instagram who curated authentic NY content creators and featured them on OOH and the very last branded MetroCard. “

Her Method of Operation has always been that she’s only ever worked with holding companies. Education on inventory and the marketplace are key, as well as acclimating to the particular person you are speaking to.

“You always have to keep in mind that the specialists and the buyers have to go back to their clients and strategize,” Jane said. “We always talk about relationships in OOH. I can’t treat all buyers the same. They are different in their learning levels and communication styles.”

She has been described as someone who has an ability to understand people. Salespeople are not just the personalities of used car salesmen. Sales is about building relationships through truly understanding and adapting your approach to others, and in OOH, it’s about education.

“If I don’t know my sh*t, I can’t sell it,” Jane said.

“If I don’t know my sh*t, I can’t sell it,” Jane said.

Jane has only ever worked for OUTFRONT, starting back when it was TDI. The past 20+ years she’s only ever wanted to be with OUTFRONT because she believed in it- not only in transit, but in the power of OOH.

“I can’t sell it if I don’t believe in it. Once you lie, you lose that trust,” Jane said. “That’s what kept me with the clients I’ve had the past 20+ years and being with the same agency for over 20 years.”

“I can’t sell it if I don’t believe in it. Once you lie, you lose that trust,” Jane said. “That’s what kept me with the clients I’ve had the past 20+ years and being with the same agency for over 20 years.”

OOH: A Frenetic Paced Industry

Besides always wanting to do just what’s right, the pace of OOH has increased dramatically to frenetic levels. There has been more change in OOH in the last four years than in the last 20 years combined.

“The pace is so crazy, but it’s so exciting,” Jane said. “It’s such a great time when it’s getting the sexiness and praise it deserves.”

It’s also more exciting for her to be part of the industry than ever before. Now that she has been in OOH for so long, her passion is mentoring the next generation and to get them excited about OOH.

“It’s not just a billboard. This is a career and it’s a great career,” Jane said.

The industry is so small that if you make a mistake, everyone will know, but so big because of the vast number of formats and possibilities. If you are good then everyone will also know.

“You can have a place in our industry forever if you are true to yourself, and know your shit. Everyone will know you are that person,” Jane said. “There’s nothing out there like it.

“You can have a place in our industry forever if you are true to yourself, and know your shit. Everyone will know you are that person,” Jane said.
“There’s nothing out there like it.

She says the person who got her into this business was actually the publisher for Sports Illustrated. She remembers that person saying, ‘you can’t sell subway ads’. Print advertising and magazines used to be prime places for advertising. Now OOH is more so.

Never Say No

One of the biggest challenges she’s faced in her career is learning to never say no. There must always be a resolution somehow. Sometimes a client won’t take no for an answer and their demand is they have to be posted. Maybe there was rain, a late delivery, no crews available or someone didn’t send in a contract.

“I don’t know what to tell you when that happens,” Jane said. “You just have to find a resolution whether it be with the agency or with the client themselves.”

When there’s a challenge you have to understand the situation, and never say no. You have to work on resolving the issue so that all parties are satisfied.

Advice for Leaders

In Pre-Covid times, back in the day when it was a male-driven, archaic, mad men type of mentality, everyone sort of got used to that kind of work culture and did whatever had to be done.

Jane never really wanted any of that or to be in a higher position of leadership. She doesn’t see herself as that type of manager. She prefers to manage from the background.

“I don’t want to be in a place of power just to boss people around,” Jane said. “I don’t like that spotlight. I like doing it as part of a team and supporting my client.”

She does wish though that there were more women because she thinks they empathize more with all things. She says women often feel like men don’t listen to them. If more managers, men or women, listened, they would learn much more.

“You will learn so much more if you just listen more. Me included,” Jane said. “My favorite all-time managers are ones who made me feel heard.”

She’s been blessed with female leaders who speak with nuances of empathy, care, and kindness, but are balanced with smart and forward-thinking. She also wishes people all had more self-awareness, and considered issues from every perspective.

Overall, she recommends that leaders should be the boss that you always wish you had.

The Future of OOH is Gen Z

If Jane took over the entire OOH industry tomorrow, she would create a unified system. There are so many different companies, agencies, and media companies that are coming up with their own ways of measurements, ad servers, etc. Creating a unified system from ground zero with the basics would improve quality across the industry and build trust in the medium. As to the future, she thinks we need to focus on those who are just starting out.

“The industry is changing so fast that there is a high level of burnout,” Jane said. “I don’t have as much time as I would like to dedicate to them. I feel like they will just churn and burn and we will lose a lot of great talent.”

“The industry is changing so fast that there is a high level of burnout,” Jane said. “I don’t have as much time as I would like to dedicate to them.
I feel like they will just churn and burn and we will lose a lot of great talent.”

New people coming up in the industry are learning to use AI, programmatic, all of the new tools and more. Older folks in the industry are still trying to learn about all of the new technologies.

“We need them and need to cultivate them more and we need to listen to them,” Jane said.

She says Gen Z wants to come in to get a paycheck. They want to come in and go home. Maybe they want hybrid or remote work opportunities. These should be offered to help keep them, as long as the employees are still effective.

She also sees a benefit to at least a hybrid schedule, because the younger generation needs to be around to hear the older people and learn from their expertise.

So many people have been invaluable resources throughout Jane’s career and supported her throughout her own career, including but not limited to: John Connolly, Mark Miller, Jodi Senese, Norm Chait, and Paul Lenhart.

She’s excited to pass her knowledge to the next generation.