Women in Marketing: Molly Wolfsehr Boone, Event Experiential Marketing Manager and Producer at Google, and soon to be Premier Event Director at Salesforce.org

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying talking with these powerful and amazing Women in Marketing! What started off as a small side project to learn more about other’s career paths and life stories has become such an inspiring journey for me! Today I talked with Molly Wolfsehr Boone, fellow UO Duck and Event Experiential Marketing Manager and Producer at Google.

As an Event Experiential Marketing Manager and Producer at Google, she starts her day around 7 a.m. and works on the train until she gets to work. When she gets there, she’s in meetings from 8:30 a.m. until 4 or 5pm. She goes home, spends time with her family, makes dinner, works online from 8:30 p.m. to 12 a.m., and starts again the next day. When asked how she does it, she replied, “When you’re doing what you love the day goes by really fast.” Isn’t that the dream? Molly’s incredible dedication to her work is amazing, but what I was most inspired by was that she absolutely loves it. 

Her biggest projects include running the Google Sandboxes, which she describes as zones for experimental product demos. There are about 120 demos at each Google I/O conference, and they are normally large scale.

From my personal experience speaking to peers, I find that in our early twenties we are a bit lost in our career goals. It seems that there are so many possibilities and it can be tough to figure out what you want. Molly says she discovered that Event planning was what she wanted to do when she made the move to NYC a year after college: 

I went to U of O and studied History and [had a] Journalism minor, since my parents said History wouldn’t pay the bills. In college, I catered events for McMenamins in Portland and I just loved it. I moved to New York a year after college and got job in a museum running events. I had a mentor who was an amazing event planner and I was in heaven, I thought it was amazing that I get paid to do this.

Molly credits her mentors for helping her find a career she enjoys, by saying:

In my experience, I’ve had really incredible mentorships, and I continue to have that now with various managers and leaders. Specifically I’ve really looked for women who have families and really big big jobs. That has been the key to my success. And also, do not let anyone tell you you can’t do something.

Goal setting far in advance can be hard for some, but Molly has a clear idea of what she wants. She shares that goals are an integral part of her career plan, and she sets them very early on. She says:

I never give myself any limits . . . I set goals 5-10 years out. I already have a goal for the next 15 years. I definitely think that helps get you to those really crazy cool jobs.

Her past set goals have now been accomplished. Years ago she had a dream to work at a top tech company and says:

About 12 years ago I told my grandma I wanted to work for Google and she laughed at me . . . Everyone laughed. Smile at those people and say, ‘I know it sounds crazy,’ and then privately, just believe it.

Today, she’s about to start her new journey at Salesforce.org as an Event Director, her dream job.

Wishing you the best of luck in your new position as Event Director at Salesforce.org, Molly! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me.