Lauren Huang

Can you tell us about yourself and your role at Made Media?

By day, I work as a Digital Producer in our US office, responsible for coordinating smooth delivery of projects, and supporting our clients through thick, thin, and 2020. I started working with Made in 2018 as an Account Manager, but after sticking my fingers in all of the pies was shifted over to my current role a couple years later. 

By night, I’m a multi-hyphenate artist. I perform circus acts for variety shows, self-produce videos for YouTube, and work as a line producer/writer/performer for SCOWL, a stage combat show which focuses on putting queer narratives at the forefront of action stories. 

What made you want to pursue your chosen career path and job role?

The first company I worked for was a healthcare start-up that got bought out, and closed its New York offices - rapidly forcing me to think more seriously about what I wanted to do. When contemplating my next move, I realized that the thing I enjoyed most about that job was the fact I was good at it. Given enough time, resources, and drive, you can become skilled at any job, but that’s not enough to build a career out of. So rather than focusing on a specific industry, I worked on identifying the skills that I connected with, enjoyed utilizing, and wanted to expand. That train of thought led me towards Account Management.

It was honestly a complete coincidence that I ended up working at digital agencies. But it's been a wonderful match, and not just because it allows me to foster relationships, something I locked onto during that first transition. Working in tech gives me the opportunity to really dig into how things work, trouble shoot, and learn. Finding a job that didn’t just use the skills I liked, but expanded them was a boon. 

What would you say are the main skills you need within your job role?

Being a Digital Producer requires you to wear a lot of hats at any given moment so it pays to be a “Jill/Jack of all trades, master of some,” to commandeer the saying. We touch almost every corner of the business internally, and externally. You’ll always have the support of your teammates, but in order to truly collaborate it’s just as important to have a basic understanding of our platforms and technologies as it is to accurately relay client needs to the team. On any given day I’ll bounce between standing client meetings, putting together preliminary project schedules, triaging support issues, developing new business leads, working with our tech leads to spec a new project, and managing delivery once projects are underway. I couldn’t do all that if I didn’t feel confident in my ability to context switch, and have a shared base understanding of our work. 

The other thing a Digital Producer has to have is conviction in the face of realities. Sometimes clients want something that isn’t advisable, other times a project deadline may be looming and it’s a tight squeeze to get to that finish line with a solid deliverable. Something may not be going according to plan and the point of no return is approaching. Digital Producers need to be able to take in that information, and have the conviction to make a decision and lead the team forward. The flip side of being involved in so many aspects of the business is the Digital Producer can have the most complete set of needs for a project, and thus is best positioned to make decisions about priorities.

What's your favourite thing about working at Made? (If anything) 

From the beginning I appreciated that I could make my work relate to the arts. Working in the digital space can mean working on apps for vacuum cleaners, or building custom internal CMS’s, or any number of vital, but ultimately mundane things. I’ve always been a performer, I went to school for acting, so I consider it a real blessing to be able to make impactful contributions to the arts when I’m offstage as well. 

What I couldn’t have anticipated was the team. With relatively small companies every person is a large percentage of the company’s make up, culture, atmosphere, and everyone at Made understands that. So even though I’m an ocean away from most of my coworkers, I feel just as able to collaborate and socialize with my colleagues. I can ask questions, and dive deep into a subject matter that someone else is an expert in, but I haven’t had a chance to learn about yet. I can also have “water cooler” conversations about comedians, share a fun YouTube video, or a sassy meme. I haven’t worked at another company where the team was as collectively lovely as they are here.

What was the last play/film you went to see? 

The last movie I went to see in theaters was “Birds Of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.” I cried over a hair elastic.

What's your favourite movie quote? 

My Cousin Vinny. That’s it. The entirety of My Cousin Vinny.

What's your hidden talent or party trick? 

I enjoy being crafty, whether it’s with tasty desserts, making an entire cosplay by hand, or handcrafting chain mail jewelry for friends. But the best party trick I can show off on a dime is being double jointed in my elbows. 

If a new person was to join us at Made Media what advice would you give them?

Google Calendars has a feature where you can display two time zones side by side on the left of your screen, it is a godsend for transatlantic scheduling. Turn it on now. 

Who would play you in the film or your life and why? 

Jessica Henwick. She kicks butt, made Star Wars history, and also was the only person worth watching Iron Fist for. She can play me, no questions asked.