Menu
Meet Monica Hoyer, an Alliance of Women in Tech Leadership member and Director of Marketing at Participate, a certified B Corp headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and ‘Best for the World’ honoree that is empowering educators to ignite change and inspire students through collaborative professional learning, language acquisition and cultural exchange. Participate, formerly known as Visiting International Faculty, then VIF International Education, was founded to celebrate and promote the value of international perspectives in U.S. education. Monica joined the company in 2017 and VIF International Education changed its company name to Participate in order to more accurately reflect their current programs and services. Monica, a customer-focused senior marketing leader with experience in revenue-based, data-driven marketing with both start-up and Fortune 500 companies is making an impact. Walt Disney Internet Group, iContact, iVillage, Crain’s New York Business, Oxford University Press, and Datran Media are all part of her portfolio. Monica brings deep expertise of all functional areas of marketing including messaging, demand generation, product marketing, and sales enablement. She is also knowledgeable in strategic and tactical marketing planning, execution, metrics and analysis. I have gotten to know Monica through the Alliance and thought it was time to share her with the rest of the Tech Marketing community.
Moving to a different city (single, no kids or spouse), establishing a career and buying my first house on my own. I was 33 years old, had a great network in NYC, but needed a change. So I moved to Austin to be closer to one of my sisters. Within my first year there, I bought my own house and by the time I left in 2009, I had developed another network of friends and colleagues.
I was the product marketer at iContact behind four of the largest product launches in the company’s history during my tenure. Most recently though, I am most proud of relaunching the participate.com website after just 7 months as the Marketing Director.
I started in digital marketing in 1998. We created banners with fake form fields because it increased click rates – back when people actually clicked on banners. SEO wasn’t a term. We put meta on pages because that’s what you did. Email wasn’t dead (still isn’t). CAN SPAM didn’t exist. Social media didn’t exist. Marketers have seen tremendous changes in the last (gasp!) 20 years. What gets me excited about the future is what’s next. What will be that next thing? Because regardless of my leadership position I will need to learn it and figure out how to make it work for my organization.During my last year and a half at iContact and now at Participate, I have learned that I thrive in an environment that challenges me and those around me to bring our best selves and also acknowledge that there is so much to learn and so much we can teach each other.
Prove it! Your portfolio is one thing, show me that you want this job. I would rather hire a person who is passionate and willing to dive into the job and learn all that they can before they even walk in the door. Landing a job is about knowing the role and responsibilities and it’s about knowing the industry and the audience.
I have a strong network of females in my family. They are extremely close and supportive of each other. They have shown me how we all benefit when we build each other up rather than tear one another down.
“Get an MBA.” I never did, instead I found great people to work for and asked a lot of questions. I also worked for people who let me fail, helped me back up and taught me to learn from my mistakes.
I have two – one was a boss in my early 30’s in New York at iVillage – Michael Streefland. He believed in me and pushed me to be better while giving me the tools I needed to succeed in my role at iVillage and also in my career.And the other is Nancy Vodicka. She did the same for me at iContact over 15 years later. She helped look at my role and how that could shape the next step in my career. And most of all she had confidence in me, she still does and now we are friends and bounce ideas off of each other regularly. I would work for her again in a heart beat.
I don’t imagine ever leaving marketing, but if I did it would be for something where I make something – something you can touch and feel. Architecture, interior design, owning an art gallery – these were all dreams of mine growing up. Now when I have down-time I create by taking pictures, throwing clay (pottery), crochet to name a few hobbies (I probably have too many to count!). I would return to a product marketing role under the right leadership. I enjoy taking a nebulous technology update and making it understandable and exciting to an audience. But I also enjoy management and challenging as it can be, I like seeing the big picture and helping my team execute on the pieces that make up the whole.
Read previous articles: Introducing Sallyann Hulick, Introducing Angela Connor, Introducing Loren Shumate, Introducing Julie Bryce, Announcing The Alliance.
Our professional woman’s peer group is designed for strong successful leaders in the Triangle. Members include executives in sales, marketing, and business development type roles in technology, pharma, biotech, and healthcare. Our group provides a confidential place to share best practices, discuss strategies, and address business challenges. We share successes, tools, vendors, networks, talent, and ideas that can help each of us grow and develop professionally.
Through our passion, enthusiasm, talent, innovation, recruiting, and success, Women in Tech Leadership support, mentor, and empower one other. We also support one another during trials and transitions, through coaching, collaboration, and resources. Our members are building healthy relationships and stronger networks, creating stronger personal brands, recruiting and retaining talent, positioning ourselves as thought leaders, and communicating with confidence.
We believe in candor and confidentiality, creativity and concision, confidence and circumspection. We believe in taking risks and grasping opportunities that challenge the limits of our capability, and encouraging others to do the same. We believe in winning with integrity, through inspiration and leadership.
Tricia Lucas has over 25 years of demonstrated success in recruiting, marketing communications, and social media and helps technology companies recruit more efficiently by focusing on Recruiting Efficiencies, Employer Branding, and Social Media.