CAMPAIGN MEDIA FACES TO WATCH 2019 – BAYAN ISHTAIWI, 29, DIGITAL MANAGER, VIZEUM UAE
Nominated by Anouk Bondroit, MD, Vizeum MENA
“Bayan is a hard-working woman and has already enjoyed a strong career growth till date. Within her current role, Bayan services her clients with diligence, showcasing her skills and knowledge about the digital field on a daily basis. Challenging her team members is Bayan’s forte, whilst making sure that the best comms solutions are put forward to unlock business value. Bayan is always motivated, keen to improve herself and agile within the ever-changing media landscape. Working with Bayan is always insightful and fun due to her wittiness and fresh outlook.”
Career path
“I started my digital journey with no relevant background; I followed my gut feeling that this is what I want to do and I am glad I did. I used to wake up at 5 am to study for Google certificates, and before each presentation I practised presenting by filming myself till I became confident to speak in front an audience of 100 people.”
“Back when I started, my client’s biggest objective was to get more likes and followers on Facebook, where now they moved towards performance, return on ad spend and attribution modelling to understand the role of each touch point, and I’m glad to be part of all of this.”
“I started working as a social media manager, moved to the performance side then ended up with planning. I believe I can be an inspiration to other women and most importantly to my own daughter. Not only by showing digital skills and ROI but also by showing passion, determination, and how to overcome challenges.”
Guiding principles
Try to work smarter not harder. It is not about working late hours, although sometimes you have to. Manage your time, be productive and focus on your strengths.
Scratch your own itch. If you feel you need development in one area, work on it and research. Everything is available online. Don’t just wait for training and for someone to teach you something; that’s on you.
There are always different ways of doing the same thing, the right thing; you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing to succeed, and never take no for an answer.
