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Eva Neumann
President & CEO
ENC Marketing, Inc.
Career Quick Look
Age: 42
Location:
Education: BS in Marketing
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Salary: $30,000 and up
Years in field: 20
"It's important to always promote yourself," Eva says. "Always think of the value you're contributing to an organization, and try and increase that value."
Getting Started:
"My father was involved in computers early on, and had always pushed my sister and me into technology," Eva says, "but I always gravitated towards the softer side of things." After earning her B.S. in marketing, she spent several years working in retail management, where computers were just being introduced at the store level. "NCR had a new point of sale computer, for inventory tracking," she says. When her company first implemented this new technology, she says, "I was the only field manager who really understood the technology and how to make it work. So as the systems were deployed throughout the company, I helped the other branch managers, nationally, implement and troubleshoot their systems."
Eventually, she says, "I made a conscious decision to get into technology." She found the fast pace and the innovative aspect of the industry highly attractive. "I like marketing products and services that can have such significant impact on everything," Eva explains.
With a few key goals in mind ("I wanted to get into technology marketing, and ultimately work with helping launch products") Eva set out to make the transition from fashion retail to the technology sector with a series of informational interviews. She admits it wasn't easy to convince prospective employers that her experience would translate, but through persistence and networking she landed a job with GTSI, a major re-seller of computer products to the U.S. government. Working with brands such as Microsoft, Lotus and IBM gave Eva broad exposure to the industry's emerging technologies - "much more experience than I would have gotten if I'd worked for just one manufacturer," she says.
Eva spent eight years in technology, and as the industry grew she discovered there were few marketing agencies equipped to keep up. "I was hiring agencies that were experienced marketing car dealerships or insurance agencies, so I had to train them in technology," she says. Sensing the need for a marketing firm that truly understood the technology they were charged with promoting, she decided to start her own agency, ENC Marketing. "All of our clients are in the tech field," she says. "That's all we've done for ten years."
Education:
Eva's academic background is in business, having studied marketing at the University of Maryland. Though her business curriculum did not offer formal training in information management systems, or marketing technology in general, her curiosity and interest helped her learn what she needed. "I was always mechanically inclined," she says, "and I always liked knowing what the technology could do."
Greatest Professional Achievement:
Eva cites ENC as her greatest achievement. "It's a very well-run, very solid company," she says, "and I think that happened because we have great people. It took years of really delivering quality product and building a reputation for solid deliverables." Based in northern Virginia, ENC now has ten employees - and these days, Eva says, "all of our business is through referral."
Barriers:
Like anyone who has ever tried to start her own business, Eva says she encountered "lots of barriers" along the way. "Typical things like lack of funding, at the start" she says, along with weathering the industry's economic hard times. "But you just have to work around it. I'm a very make-it-happen kind of person," Eva says.
Working with Men:
While the technical side of the IT industry tends to be male-dominated, Eva says the sales and marketing environments have always had plenty of women. "Even with product marketing - which tends to be technical - in my experience it's been female dominated."
Advice for Women:
"There's lots of opportunity going into technology, and it's important to always promote yourself," Eva says. "Always think of the value you're contributing to an organization, and try and increase that value, because that's going to help the organization and it's going to help you." She says many women simply aren't accustomed to self-promotion in the workplace. "Women tend to wait for things to happen to them, versus making things happen for themselves," she says. Learning to network and help promote one another is equally important, she insists. "I don't think women do enough of that."
Typical Workday/Environment:
Eva describes her typical workday as a mix of customer meetings, along with sales and business development for ENC. "It's probably 20 or 25% working on the 'business' end of the business - which I happen to love - and about 40% customer focused," she says. "There's about 15% association work, because I do a lot of pro-bono. And the rest of my day involves working with staff here - which I never get enough time for - just to poke my head in the door and say hi."
Career Ladder:
"For marketing, it's really helpful to have a sales background, because it really helps you understand what marketing is supposed to do," Eva says. "Sometimes people don't enjoy sales but I think it's very, very good training - and that applies for any executive position. I think it's also helpful to have a channel marketing or channel management background, so you understand the distribution of products." Gaining any kind of entrepreneurial experience - whether starting your own business or introducing a project or service- is "wonderful experience," she says. "At each organization where I've worked, I tried to create something or start something that created value for the organization."
Professional Associations:
Eva is currently President of Women in Technology, an organization with 700 members in the Washington, DC-area. They run a Girls in Technology program to promote science among female students, she says, "and we have a very strong mentor-protegee program." She also serves on the board of directors for Make-a-Wish for the mid-Atlantic region, the Capital Speakers Club, and the Association for Federal Information Resource Managers (AFFIRM).
Hobbies:
"I love to cook," Eva says. She also lists hiking, reading, golf and travel among her interests. "I think my ideal would be to travel, eat, read, drink good wine and hike - all at once," she laughs.
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