Krystle Kopacz

Tell us your story.

I started in journalism in college. I went to Penn State and worked in our school newspaper there. I really wanted to figure out what I wanted to do when I was in school and I knew I loved writing and reporting—breaking news, the energy that we all had that we were ‘changing the world’. But when I graduated the newspaper industry was really depressing, and I promised myself no matter what I wanted to prioritize working somewhere where people were excited about what they did.

I applied for other jobs and landed a position at a health start up. I knew very little about the industry and it was the lowest salary offer I had which made my parents furious. But that didn't matter; when I walked in the people we passionate about their jobs. The company grew a lot while I was there and I did with it. I loved audience development and analytics, acquisition challenges, and getting people to ‘opt into’ whatever new thing we were doing. It was a total ‘learning culture’ and I loved it.

I was there for 3 years and then got a job at Atlantic Media in audience development. I was kind of like a kid in a candy store and soon took on a larger product management role where I focused on understanding audiences and serving them through digital and mobile products. After that I ran the digital business at our government division, serving both the users and advertisers in ways that made sense for each.

This role is one I was newly promoted into at National Journal Group. It’s a different division from where I started, so I am constantly learning and applying my knowledge to new areas of the organization.

What do you most want other women and young girls to know about being a woman in our digital culture?

Embrace your skills whatever they are. Your role or talent doesn’t need to be ‘traditional’ and fit into a singular job description - good companies hire around talent and will find the position for you to succeed. The second thing: It’s important to always keep a sense of curiosity. Run to areas that make you uncomfortable, areas that you need to learn more about. And don’t say no before thinking about saying yes to projects.

Pass it on!

My colleagues inspire me. They constantly expect more of themselves and each other, and they bring creativity and ingenuity to their projects. When I see creative things happening, it inspires me to create things myself.

The Women in Tech campaign exists to help redefine what women in technology means in the 21st century. Started independently by a group of professional women who, after many impassioned discussions about women in tech knew we wanted to expand this definition beyond 'traditional' technology skills. To us, it includes most every current, emerging or evolving role within an organization. By featuring leaders and emerging leaders across industries who embody this we hope to collectively 'stand up', be proud of our place in the digital world and inspire young women or those new to the 'tech space' to get involved.