On the road: Clarissa Gent, AWS

Join Rick Currier in London with special guest Clarissa Gent, a trailblazer in partner marketing at AWS, as they explore career growth and empowerment. Clarissa details her career journey, emphasizing the pivotal role of mentorship and supporting women in tech. From her beginnings as an individual contributor to leading commercial-focused initiatives, Clarissa’s story underscores the importance of resilience and skill diversification in navigating the tech industry. Tune in for an in-depth exploration of success, leadership, and the transformative power of diversity in tech.

Navigating the world of tech marketing: insights from Clarissa Gent

In a recent episode of the “On The Road” podcast, Rick Currier sat down with Clarissa Gent, Director of EMEA Partner Marketing at AWS. Clarissa’s journey through the tech landscape and her insights on mentorship, challenges, and opportunities provide invaluable lessons for anyone in the digital B2B marketing space.

The journey to AWS

Clarissa’s path to AWS is a testament to her determination and strategic thinking. Initially working at Rackspace, she made the significant decision to transition to AWS, a choice she credits in part to the guidance of her mentors. She reflects, “Having mentors has been incredibly useful, especially when you have a regular cadence with them. My mentors have typically been professional, like my ex-boss Fabio, and they’ve helped me navigate crucial career decisions”​​​​.

The role of mentorship

Mentorship has played a crucial role in Clarissa’s career. She emphasizes the evolving nature of what mentorship means to her, stating, “I don’t think I really knew what a mentor was, and my definition is probably still evolving”​​. She describes mentors as invaluable sounding boards, particularly during pivotal moments like her transition from Rackspace to AWS. “The value in someone you know and trust, who knows a bit about you and can have an open and honest conversation without a vested interest in the outcome, is immense”​​.

Clarissa also highlights the importance of having mentors who challenge you. She recounts a significant piece of advice from a former boss: “If you have more data to back your charismatic personality, you’d be unstoppable.” This pushed her to seek out mentors who could help her refine her data presentation skills, ultimately making her contributions at AWS even more impactful​​.

”if it’s something that you want to get out of, and you’re gonna give it, give it everything”- Clarissa Gent

Empowering women in tech

One of the most inspiring aspects of Clarissa’s work is her involvement in initiatives like “Get IT” and “Ladies at Launch.” These programs aim to empower young girls and women to enter and thrive in the tech industry. Clarissa shares her passion for these initiatives, explaining, “AWS’s ‘Get IT’ is designed to help young girls feel empowered to enter the world of tech, and ‘Ladies at Launch’ helps support women in tech achieve more”​​.

Overcoming challenges and embracing opportunities

Throughout her career, Clarissa has navigated numerous challenges, often using them as opportunities for growth. She advocates for clarity in priorities, advising, “In a very complex world, try not to boil the ocean. Get clarity around the priorities, things that are really going to move the needle”​​.

Clarissa also believes in the power of pushing beyond comfort zones. She encourages seeking mentors who don’t just provide comfort but also challenge and push you to achieve more. “Seek mentors not just because they’re going to make you feel comfortable, but because they’ll push you further and challenge you a bit”​​.

Conclusion

Clarissa Gent’s journey and insights offer a roadmap for aspiring tech marketers and professionals. Her emphasis on mentorship, continuous learning, and empowering others highlights the path to success in the tech industry. For anyone looking to advance their career, her story is a powerful reminder of the importance of building supportive relationships, embracing challenges, and continuously seeking opportunities to grow.

As Rick Currier aptly summarized, “What I loved most about this conversation was Clarissa’s involvement in initiatives designed to empower others. It’s a great conversation for any digital B2B marketer looking to get better at what they do”​​

Clarissa Gent is the Director of EMEA Partner Marketing at Amazon Web Services

About Amazon Web Services :  

Since 2006, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any workload, and it now has more than 240 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, media, and application development, deployment, and management from 105 Availability Zones within 33 geographic regions, with announced plans for 18 more Availability Zones and six more AWS Regions in Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. Learn more at http://aws.amazon.com