Around this time last year, Jill McDonald achieved a major career accomplishment, being named President of M&K Media. With Co-CEOs Julie McIlroy and Julie King stepping aside after 21+ years, this marked the beginning of a new era for M&K Media.
We took a moment to catch up with Jill and provide insight into her journey from entering the industry to running and managing successful campaigns. Now, we find Jill running an agency and teaching the next generation (all while balancing her home life), she also provided us with a few photos.
Looking back to your first year of working in the media industry – what did you think you’d be doing years later?
Jill – My first year in the business was spent at Cossette Media in 2003, where I held my first role in media as an assistant media planner. This was the foundational year where I made lifelong friends through a new network of colleagues in media. We spent many hours late at night processing invoices and discrepancies and also had way too much fun ordering take-out dinners. A lot of whom I still see and talk to regularly; some have left the industry, and some remain! I always thought that we would all always be together and travel from job to job together… I think we all thought that at the time
- I also learned what media planning and buying meant as I didn’t go to school for media, but a post-grad in journalism. I learned on the job and soaked up as much information and knowledge from the senior managers and staff as I could
- If you asked me then what I thought I would be doing in 10/20 years, it would be running my group within a media agency and winning a lot of awards. I have always wanted to be the best strategist in the room and drive media creativity for clients
How did you cross paths with Julie & Julie?
Jill – I met Julie and Julie through an industry recruiter who I had made contact with many months prior. I was looking for a new opportunity that was entrepreneurial in spirit, highly strategic, managing people and at an independent agency
What was that ah-ha moment when you knew the ad industry was your future?
Jill – I knew that media was for me when I started to become an expert at my craft and felt a sense of pride and confidence in my knowledge and expertise. I believe that media is an expertise that is rooted in a foundation of key theories, concepts, media math, data analytics, and creativity. I believe the ah-ha moment came in a meeting when I was empowered through my knowledge and experience to solve a problem on the spot and provide a media solution. The effort you put into your craft, the more you get out of it
- The most recent ah-ha moment was when I started teaching media at Humber College. Initially, I was a bit nervous as I had never taught before, but I realized that my knowledge of real-world media situations and experience is highly valuable to students. I also knew that helping students enter the industry is one of my passions and I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I see and hear that past students have successfully entered the media industry at various agencies. I know they will be prepared to start their first job and I hope their minds are still open to learning more and more as they gain experience in media and learn from their teammates
When you were first approached to take over M&K Media, what were your first thoughts /reactions? Who was the first person you told?
Jill – The first person I told was my husband David. I had met with Julie McIlroy in the afternoon, and that same night, David and I were going to an industry event with his colleagues. I met up with Dave and said to him, “Well, that meeting went very well! I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Julie!”. I felt very excited and felt in a way that we were kindred media spirits.! Similarly, when I met with Julie King, I felt that we shared a passion for the industry and the job.
- My thoughts and reactions were that this job is a huge responsibility and a legacy that I need to take very seriously. I treated the opportunity with a lot of respect and still do to this day and will continue to do so.
- I was honoured to be considered for the position and to have the chance to be a part of a 100% women-owned Canadian independent company. This was a big part of my interest in this job and I knew right away that Julie and Julie would support me throughout my journey and my life as an individual in the industry and personally.
What made you want to teach? What impact [if any] has it had on your role at M&K Media?
Jill – As I mentioned above, I started teaching at Humber College, faculty of business, during the pandemic. I’ve always wanted to teach at the college level, partly, to be honest, because my mom taught IT at Fanshawe College when she was my age. I always thought it was so amazing that she did that as a side hustle in the 80’s/90’s and was very progressive at that time.
- The impact it’s had on my role at M&K is widespread
- I learn a lot from the students each lesson and time we meet. They tell me about new tech, new platforms, AI, etc. Sometimes I’ve heard of it before, sometimes I have not
- I have established a very knowledgeable group of other part-time professors who have my back. Ivan, Lisa, and Sabrina to name a few. They are also working full-time in advertising and they support me in my teaching journey along with the Humber staff
- Teaching to 60+ students in person every week, has challenged my public speaking skills, my ability to troubleshoot questions and queries, and finally how to manage my time overall. Teaching is very difficult and takes a lot of time spent outside of the actual classroom.
What advice do you have for the next generation?
Jill – Kindness is your greatest asset. It’s always been my motto and continues to be. I always strive to lead with kindness in every facet of my life as much as possible.
Take time to learn as much as possible. On the job, in the boardroom, classroom, through shadowing senior people. Listen and observe various meetings, situations and other media experts as they solve problems for clients and create solutions.
As technology continues to advance create shortcuts, and solutions, and accelerate the rate of media solutions and data etc, I believe it’s important for media professionals to strive to be rooted and grounded in media planning and buying fundamentals beyond the computer, dashboards, AI and other tech resources. Being able to think and solve a problem using your brain is underrated.
Oh and ALWAYS bring a calculator to a meeting – preferably a large manual calculator (media joke). You never know when you are going to crunch some media math live in the room.
We often hear the term ‘imposture syndrome’, any advice for those reading this that might feel that?
Everyone, and I mean everyone, feels it at some point in their lives/careers. I believe that there is nothing wrong with stating you haven’t learned something yet in life. No one on this earth knows everything about everything, it’s impossible. There’s always room to learn, and grow and your options are limitless. Find mentors, friends, colleagues, family members, or anyone in your life, that will build you up and help you get to where you want to go. No one can do it alone and having a support system is an important part of career development.
Jill McDonald through the years…
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