Victoria Blinova, Strategic Partnerships @ YouTube

Victoria, welcome to the podcast. If you could just start off by telling us a little bit about your career so far.

Sure. Hi, Peter. Thanks for inviting me. It's an honor. My name is Victoria. I'm quite passionate about all things marketing, influencer marketing, creator economy. And that's essentially how I've been in the industry. Pretty much all of my professional life. I have worked in consulting, management consulting with a focus in marketing across the Middle East. I then moved into Nestlé where I was the digital marketing lead for the B2B business. #LinkedIn. And current, I then moved into Google specifically for working for the YouTube team. I was doing a marketing role for the EMEA market. Europe, Middle East, and Africa. And I currently work as Strategic Partner Manager for YouTube, where I work with some amazing, amazing creators across the market. Yeah.

And how did you first realize that marketing was how you wanted to start your career? And why was it something you were so passionate about staying in?

Great question. I think given that we're talking to university students or potentially high school students, right? I was a very confused student and I, I'd say I didn't know for a very long time where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do. And the way I found out was just through experience, honestly. It's through my first marketing internship, I learned that that's something I'd like to pursue as a career. I did not have a major related to marketing and I definitely was always intrigued by ads and advertising industry whenever I'd see an advertisement, but when I actually did a marketing internship, I was very excited and decided I'd pursue that full-time whenever I graduate.

Yeah, and you went to university in New York. Having spoken to you a little bit beforehand, you've been almost everywhere and anywhere, and tell me a little bit about your experience at New York and and how you actually found out what you were passionate about there and decided, oh, my first step. How did you come about?

Sure, sure. I actually went to a very specific program. It's New York University, but specifically New York University has an international program called New York University Abu Dhabi. I'm originally from Russia and I was from a small town actually, and I was looking for different opportunities abroad to travel all around the world. And I've heard of this specific opportunity that allows you to study in up to 4 countries. And fun fact is the university in Abu Dhabi specifically covers the cost of that, which was an interesting value proposition to me. I applied and got in. And while I was at New York University Abu Dhabi, to answer your question, they just exposed us to so many experiences. So many, whether it was an internship or a class, I got to just navigate different cultures while living abroad, have different friends from different countries, really learn what I like and not like. And frankly speaking, sometimes it's looking at what your peers are doing, what your professors are talking about and just learning what you like and don't like. Does that answer your question?

Yeah, absolutely. And I'm curious as to how living and working in all these different places has contributed to— you've ended up in London now working for YouTube, and obviously London is also a very cultural place. I'm sure YouTube has a very diverse workforce. And you are now managing a team and you have a responsibility to fulfill. And yeah, I'm curious as to how that influence and living in different places has shaped your management style.

So, well, I guess I'll start with where I lived so the audience gets a bit of a background and then I'll let you know how that impacts day to day. So I am from Russia, grew up in Cyprus as a kid, then moved back to Russia at age 12. I then went to the US at age 17 for an exchange program for high school, Future Leaders Exchange Program. Everyone knows it's a big program, lots of alumni. So shout out to anyone on the podcast if they're part of that program. It's a great one. And I hope I hope you enjoy it. After that, yeah, I went back to Russia and then went to university for 4 years. While at New York University Abu Dhabi, I spent time in the Middle East studying Arabic, but I also spent time in the US. I did a semester in Spain. I did 1 month in Argentina and 1 month in Australia. So it was really, really fascinating. And after that, after graduation, I decided to pursue my career in the Middle East. Practice Arabic and essentially really get a bit of work experience specifically there. And I was in Dubai for 4 years and I now I moved to London. Talking about managing teams. So I don't necessarily manage a team directly right now, but I manage many, many stakeholders and let's say teams such as agencies on very, very frequently. So there's definitely a lot of people management. And we were talking about this with my team today, where over time or with international experience, whether it be in London or outside of London, you learn that people have different paths. And I think you just learn to respect that as much as possible. Or let's say, keep that as a strong reminder to yourself that people around you may think differently and not to be too surprised when someone has a completely different idea from yours. And I think it just helps you be a bit more tolerant and in a way more innovative where you expect people to have different opinions, different ideas around you. And I imagine just more open to dialogue that way. So that's one way. So let's say if I work with someone from the Middle East, I expect usually or sometimes different way of working versus with someone that's a stakeholder that's in the US and vice versa stakeholder from Russia and so on and so forth. But I do I do think there's a danger zone. One shouldn't stereotype just because they had this international experience. They think they know how a person behaves, so on and so forth. But definitely it helps, I think, just open your mind and be more open to different ideas.

Yeah, I want to go back to something you said earlier where you said you're a confused student, which I think is kind of the reason why I do this podcast, because you're kind of meant to be confused. But the problem is, for some people, that confusion stagnates them in a career sense and is almost paralyzing in terms of stopping them exploring different avenues and doing like things. But even though you were confused, you obviously, you know, your education and your careers, you're always doing something. You're on the move, you want to go experience new things. How did you overcome that paralyzing feeling that can come with confusion?

This is such a good one. Um, and whoever's listening to this, I was really confused for a very, very long time. You're not alone. And even if it takes years, you're not alone. Trust me, trust me, trust me, because I, you just reminded this to me and it took me so many years. And I know if you look on my LinkedIn or whatever socials, it looks like I really know what I like and it took so long. And even, you know, even now, you still might have several doubts here and there, but, but what really helped me get out of this confusion is really trying to do new things. And I think that's probably a theme in your podcast, but really just just keep trying to do new things. I remember back in the day I was following Gary Vee years ago. Do you know Gary Vee? Yeah, he's great. Yeah. Yeah. Well, in some ways, and he kept saying, and I agree with that, keep trying new things and learn what you don't like because that will give you clues into what you like. It's definitely very difficult because you might discover you like so many things and you don't know what and which to choose, but, uh, I'd say in the case if you're continuously confused, just do things. And I know it can be paralyzing. Paralysis sometimes comes from perfectionism. So try to work on that as much as possible. And what drags me out of perfection sometimes is just do something you love. So in my case, it was classes on research or classes related to human connection somehow. Yes, they weren't directly marketing related, but it actually helped in my day-to-day job these days. Another thing I really, really loved was Arabic language. And you think, how is that related? But I currently work with the Middle East a lot. So that helps in my day-to-day job. So two pieces of advice: keep doing things and lean into the things you like. Yeah.

You said, if you look at your LinkedIn, it looks like, you know, you've always known what you were doing. But when I look at your LinkedIn and you look at your posts, you make a very conscious effort to kind of explain that whole journey. And, and that comes up, the name or word of personal branding, right? And it's so important now, it's more important than ever, I think, um, because now even if you're starting a company or you're working for a company, you can't just be hidden behind a screen. You need to put your name to a company and a face to it. Uh, so what are your, your views on, on personal branding and any advice to your students who might be thinking, I wanna build a personal brand, but where do I even start with it? Because I don't feel like I have one.

Yeah. This is a really good point. I'd say, yeah, build a, I'd say building a personal brand is paramount right now. It's very important. Why? Because essentially the, barrier to entry, or let's say, we were now in a time where so many people create, you know, it's no longer where, let's say, this person who's so great at drawing will create an account and post their pictures of their drawings because they're such a talented artist. Let's say, creating a personal brand is no longer something that's, you know, for a brand manager that really knows how to do this and so on and so forth. It became a lot more normalized to just put yourself out there. This is my life. This is who I am. And this is my personal brand. So I'd encourage people to do that. Because essentially, this is where we are at the moment. So if you're running a company, essentially, that is the pressure. But this is not to say that you have to, there's ways that you can work around it. If that's something you're not comfortable with, you can have your team members help you out with that, right? There can be people who are representing you on the partnership side, or there can be people representing you from different angles. So I wouldn't say it's a must-have, but to the people who are interested in leaning into that, go all in. That's all I'd have to say is that keep at it, keep it consistent. And I'm really happy to hear that you're saying that I have a personal part to it. And that's exactly my agenda, or let's say objective usually is like, really bring your authentic self to social media, to online platforms as much as possible, because this is what will create that connection with your audience. You know, where the days that I'm mentioning are, are in the past where only polished content is out there. That's, you know, so perfect and so amazing. We're in an era where Everyone's creating. And, you know, if you are seeing yourself doing that, go ahead, do it. If you're looking for a sign, this is it.

Yeah. And what you said there is exactly why I started and I'm doing this podcast still, because you see these CVs and you think they're so unattainable to do what they did. But I really want to humanize and, you know, for myself, but also for everyone else, make it seem that much more feasible to replicate a career like that. So yeah, thank you for sharing your journey. It's amazing you're doing that. I want to ask about Google, see if you spent some time there. YouTube is technically still within the—

yeah, yeah, yeah, it's basically a— we're literally— it's just a floor in the Google office. We all have a Google email and so on.

So at Google, I've had 3 people from Google on the podcast now, and I find them all really fascinating because When you think of corporate companies, you tend to think of like a bit more red tape, more restriction, but at Google they really seem to have developed an environment, ethos, where they encourage people to do their own work as well away from the company. I think they actually said they delegate an amount of time.

20% projects.

Yeah, which is awesome. How important, you know, obviously Google is the pinnacle for a lot of people, but was that in your decision-making to go there?

Yeah. Um, actually I had a, I think a weird journey with it. Um, I remember I got recruited and, uh, I remember I was working at Nestlé and, uh, yeah. And then I, I was looking out for a job and I remember, yeah, a recruiter reached out and I wasn't sure, um, actually if I wanted to full on, uh, go for the opportunity. It was a great opportunity, but, uh, in a way, I guess in my head I had this, idea that just because a company has a huge brand, I'm not gonna fall for it. That was my maybe a bit conservative view where I thought, well, you know, it's great. You know, lots of companies have great brands, but that doesn't mean necessarily I belong there. Or like, I like to be a bit, you know, I'll do my due diligence or whatever and whatnot. And And I joined Google. And honestly speaking, however cheesy it might sound, I definitely feel that a lot of the positive that's told online is quite true. And I'm very grateful. I'd say that the thing that strikes my chord pretty much every day, or at least every week at work, is the people. I hear a lot of people working at Google say that, and I stand behind that as well, is people tend to be incredibly empathetic and incredibly intelligent. I can't vouch that, you know, for every single person in the company, but that has been my experience where I just feel a sense, not every day, obviously, but quite frequently, I feel a sense of joy for working with the people I'm working with, where I feel my ideas are welcome. And Even if, let's say, there's room for improvement, room for development, it's usually done in an empathetic way, but not in a way where I feel like I'm not developing or not doing cool things. I feel like a lot of the work I'm doing is strategic, is incredibly impactful, incredibly cool. I feel pushed and challenged, but at the same time, I feel like having a good time with some really, really cool people, and that honestly, Apart from all the fluffy things that they talk about online with the ping pong tables and candy and ice creams we have, and we do have that, I think it's the people that really like mind blows, like it's mind-blowing for me.

Yeah, without going into the intricacies of your day job, I assume a big part of your job is working with creators and in that creator marketing space. And you see, I mean, even with two that I'm involved in, you kind of live and die by the sword of what you put out online. And like generating that momentum and traction is a lot down to influencer marketing, right? And your advice to companies, other brands on how they can really utilize and make the most of influencer marketing and what is it? Because some people won't know.

Having a good time with some really, really cool people and that honestly Apart from all the fluffy things that they talk about online with the ping pong tables and candy and ice creams we have, and we do have that, I think it's the people that really like mind blows, is mind-blowing for me.

Yeah, without going into the intricacies of your day job, I assume a big part of your job is working with creators and in that creator marketing space. And you see, I mean, even with Water 2 that I'm involved in, you kind of live and die by the sword of what you put out online. And like generating that momentum and traction is a lot down to influencer marketing, right? And your advice to companies, other brands on how they can really utilize and make the most of influencer marketing and what is it? Because some people won't know.

Yeah. Yeah. I think, Yeah. I mean, even from my work as a creator on LinkedIn or Instagram or working with, having worked with creators, I do believe very often brands are a bit shy, one reason. And second reason is there's not enough infrastructure to work with creators, right? Because shy is because sometimes you're afraid that the creator who's creating awesome content, well, you know, in 2018 posted this video that they're not super comfortable with, so they're not going to work with them. So that's one reason, which I think is a bit tricky because to me, again, social or being online is all about being authentic and taking risks as a matter of fact. So it's important to still invest in influencer marketing because huge opportunity. And two, sometimes there's not enough infrastructure. So brands feel like, well, it's just easier to go and, you know, do a digital marketing campaign and book a bunch of online ads at a click of a button. And that's true. And unfortunately, there's sometimes not, no support, which is a great, you know, hello startups opportunity. And there's a lot of them out there. So again, to answer your question, is don't be shy, work with a bunch of creators. I mean, like, I really think we're not no longer in the era where we want to be that polished. I mean, look at what's happening online, right? It's a lot of short-form content going out every day, if not every hour. So it's time to be part of the present and the future. And to work with startups, companies, whatever platforms there are that create the infrastructure for you to work with influencers. I don't think I need to explain what the ROI, insane ROI, influencer marketing can bring. I think everyone knows how creators constantly sell out brands and constantly, constantly bring beautiful stories to a brand. But yeah, there's a couple of gaps.

Yeah, I know. It's that storytelling as well is so important and they just help you do that as well, whether it's like bringing in that videography skill or putting people that aren't meant to be on camera in terms of like maybe they're a bit more business savvy.

100%. 100%. I mean, um, there's a creator who I've been following for years, like personally, and absolutely love her content. Content is educational, fashion, and, uh, very much about self-development, some fitness. The person would regularly, she would only do ads a few times a year. But if she did one, the store sold out within 24 hours. Absolutely. You know, no matter how much supply they would bring, they just absolutely sell out. And this is the kind of power one creator can bring to your brand. And again, one, don't be shy. It might take risks. I mean, yes, that creator potentially every once in a while can post something that she strongly believes in that might make you uncomfortable as a brand. And two, yeah, it probably took some either scaled work or in a way, you know, very personalized work where you had to approach the creator and really find a connection with the brand. But because that incredibly strong storytelling was built, you're sold out within 24 hours. That's absolutely insane. So, and I've heard of these stories on and on and on and over again, or scaled approach, you know, there's plenty of companies that work with influencers at a scale. And again, there within hours you can get sales and so on. So I'd say it's just, yeah, really just do it. Yeah.

And although you may not classify yourself as an influencer, I'm sure you worked with a lot of influencers day to day and you know them really well at this point. Having conversations with them, have they given you any advice on how one would become an influencer? Like maybe learnings that they made that they would try not to do if they were to do it again?

Yeah. I think, um, with my creators and creators I work with, uh, very often we do, let's say, an exchange of ideas, or very often I help them grow on YouTube. And, um, overall, having worked with these creators, The most common point, which honestly just refers to all of life or anything in life, is consistency. Um, it's just a matter of continuously doing the art or the work you're passionate about and not stopping, not giving up. Um, creators that, let's say, the most, let's say for lack of a better word, famous, or the creators that have, um, a huge, huge, huge audience, like millions, and audiences are usually people who absolutely love what they do and they wake up for it. They do it super consistent and so on. I very often make the comparison with the gym, right? Everyone knows how to get a six-pack, but unfortunately, how many people have it? Recently there was a survey or something like less than 2% of women have it or something, something crazy. Like, yeah. So why? Everyone knows. What you need to do, but you know, you need to have the love probably usually for the sport or the lifestyle and actually execute it passionately. So honestly, the same with content creation.

Yeah, maybe not so much of the gym, but with content creation, in my opinion, one reason why, for example, I was scared about posting on LinkedIn initially is, you know, if you've been in any kind of school or university, which you have, like there are social pressures that come with it. Like, you know, feeling like you're being judged. And really, like, my own personal opinion, the only advice I can give is know who your friends are, like, because not only is life a lot better when you, when you know that, like, but when you start putting out content, like, they don't have to, like, support and comment on everything, everything you do. But, like, if someone is genuinely, like, like, looking down on you or making fun of you because you're putting something out there, everybody that wants to have a career This is a good one.

I definitely had a moment in my life where I wanted to be off socials. And that was exactly because of peer pressure, I think. And retrospectively, you later understand that, that peer pressure is something that you best avoid. Or you later understand that What I'm trying to say here is that for a very long time, I didn't believe that, you know, you can have haters or like people that look down upon things. I don't like, uh, thinking of people that way. But at some point, what you learn is whenever you start putting yourself out there, uh, we sometimes call it, uh, tax on content creation or whatever. This is not an internal YouTube term or whatsoever. I've heard it somewhere where the moment you start putting yourself out there, and especially the moment, you know, one of your posts or whatever, your account starts hitting a certain viewership, whatever, uh, likes, comments, whatever it is, you will pay a tax. And that is the haters, or that is the people that you know, or people that you're very close with that will give you a comment that you will not be happy with. And I think when you hear it from people closest to you or, you know, your coworkers that are, it's It's probably, it's usually the most hurtful or painful, or that hater who, you know, comments on your appearance or whatnot, or says something that's very truthful, but again, very hurtful. So tips on overcoming that is just know that you're doing something you love. If you're doing something you love and you're not hurting anyone and you're not doing something like you're, you're not making someone or something worse off, continue doing it and grow your art, grow your passion. Also, another tip is surround yourself with people like yourself. That's very usually really, really helpful. And that's what I also love about working at companies like YouTube or in creator economy. You're surrounded by a bunch of content creators. Everyone's creating content. The last thing they're going to do is judge each other. For the posting.

Yeah, something that Craig Fenton, the managing director at Google, said to me a while back now was you need to live life with a sort of playful curiosity. And I think to get that going, you can't— if you can't find it in your actual day-to-day job, you need to find it outside of that. And, you know, if you look at your Instagram, you've been doing things like stand-up comedy. You obviously, like, try a lot of things outside your day job, and I guess that helps to bring it into your actual day job once you're doing it outside, but you know, that constant curiosity of learning the other things. Like, he's a pilot, you know, he's a crazy guy, but definitely he's gone to like arts here. How do you make sure that you're sort of living by this playful curiosity motto?

This is a really good point, and I absolutely love the idea of playful curiosity. I think I've learned more of it at Google, actually. Because even today, they brought us this helium-packed balloons that are edible, and we're eating candy, and, you know, inhaling helium for fun. I mean, you know, all jokes and, you know, very safe. But, and sometimes I'm like, why on earth, you know, do we have this in the office? But exactly that playful curiosity, or making sure you're playful. I mean, my meeting today comprised of what, more than 10 meetings and a lot of work. But finding those pockets of joy throughout the day, makes me so grateful as an employee, but also in a way, indirectly fuels my productivity. Obviously, one can abuse it as much as they can. But so I would add that to your life as much as possible. And how do I do it is by creating mental space as much as possible. What I've learned the hard way through experiencing burnout at some point in my life is that if you don't expose yourself to nature, to proper social time, to proper, proper entertainment time, and you can usually only expose yourself to that by creating mental space, and you can create mental space through physical activity, not enduring too much stress in your life. And once you create that physical, again, mental space, I'm not a mental professional here, but once you have that space, all of a sudden you start igniting a sense of curiosity in something. So an example would be, you know, if you're a student stressed out during finals week, I mean, good luck enjoying, you know, your bingo game whatever you like to do for fun, right? But if you are, let's say at the beginning of your semester and you're just enrolling classes, all the classes are introductory classes. Okay. All of a sudden you have a bit of mental space, then, you know, take a moment, go for that walk and think, oh, what am I curious about? What do I wanna learn about? What do I wanna do for fun? And schedule it. Really try to add it in. Uh, my story with standup comedy was, both me wanting to get a hobby, but also it was just actually very, very good community out there. And let's say it was more of a, like a dance where they really dragged me in as well. So that I'm super grateful for that. Basically, I can't take 100% credit for my standup comedy hobby, although I really enjoyed it. But basically sometimes what I'm trying to say is you really need to schedule these things and push yourself. To be curious, but sometimes you will meet a community that will also help you expose yourself to something new and cool.

Yeah, and as someone who's just done 3 years at university in London and kind of grown up in and around London my whole life, my dad said something to me when I was a lot younger which I didn't really understand because I was young and it didn't really mean anything to me at the time, but he said if you treat London well, they'll treat you well. If you treat London badly, it will treat you badly, which basically means that you could be— obviously, a lot of people move to London as the pinnacle of like, how are you excelling your career? And it's like, gotta go there, gotta go there. But then you can go there and you're paying a lot of rent, you're living in a small place compared to back home, and you're working obscene hours, and you're thinking like, why am I doing this to myself? But I would implore people to realize that there's a hidden cost in that rent and everything, which is like, there is the best entertainment possible, the best cuisine possible. All these things are available. And yes, they're not free, but some are. And I just think you should use it as a driver, but you can't use it as a driver unless you try and experience it. So, yeah, I think, because obviously you've lived all around. I'm actually curious on your own views of London and how you make the most of it.

I, um, so my, yeah, I, first of all, I love London. And, um, second of all, Madrid used to be my number one city, ironically, although I lived all over the world. People always get surprised, but I think I like the whole Mediterranean feel, probably because I grew up in Cyprus. Uh, but slowly but surely, London became my number one, um, favorite city, favorite place to live. And exactly to respond to what you're saying. Yeah, I think there's a hidden cost behind the high cost compared to Dubai or New York. I do believe there's so many great cool things you can do for almost free, either free parks. I am a huge lover of parks. I don't know, I guess maybe I lived in the desert for too long, or maybe in cold weather for too long that I just love going to a park and that's usually a tube ride away or a walk away. And at some point I almost put this objective, like invisible objective in my head that I need to visit every park in London and good luck. It can take you 10 years to do that. Or, I mean, I guess I'm a slow one, but you know, those are free. Again, if you don't like parks, fine. There's a bunch, a bunch of museums, free museums are free in London. A bunch of then cultural events and moments that are affordable. And frankly speaking, I found London, apart from the rent, more affordable than a lot of cities around the world. If you're just careful and you're leaning into the culture side of things. And yeah, incredibly, incredibly rich when it comes to exploring new things. And I've heard a saying, it's maybe not as romantic as your dad's saying, but that it literally takes at least 3, if not 5, if not 10 lifetimes to explore London. So in a way, I have a bit of FOMO knowing that there are so many corners that I won't explore in my own life because it's just such a big city with so much to offer.

Yeah. I'm curious how much you love London and you're working in a great job right now. Um, you know, it's fair to say that your career up to now maybe isn't like a settled one, right? You know, you didn't, you don't settle for a location or a job, so to speak. But, you know, as you are getting older and trying to— and getting closer to like big life decisions and everything, are you feeling more settled than ever? And, you know, what really— what is next for you? Do you have ambitions to do things for yourself, like on your own? Like, what are those, uh, those pressures in your, in your head right now?

Well, um, Without giving too much away, I mean, I definitely, I'm enjoying my time at Google and I really just want to learn and grow within the company. I'm also very passionate about working with startups and that's something I do where I work with founders and I've helped in the past, I still help founders with their marketing strategies, sales, growth strategies. And it's been a really, really exciting journey, especially in London. There's so many cool projects, startups, all sorts of people from all sorts of walks. So yeah, I just plan on continuing doing that and see where it all takes me. To be honest, I really like London and I want to stay here for a while, but honestly, I never, you know, never say never. So I'll see where life takes me. I think in life, success is understanding what you want and having what you want, but in a balanced way that keeps you happy.

It's all right, it's been great. Thanks so much for coming on.

Thank you, Peter Wood.