Right Side Up Talent Spotlight: Sam Lederman

The Right Side Up Talent Spotlight series profiles some of our full-time employees and growth marketing consultants. We chatted with them to learn about their incredible professional experiences, expert marketing insights, and how they’re balancing work and life.

Sam Lederman | Senior Growth Marketing Strategist

Sam Lederman is a senior growth marketing strategist who specializes in data-driven digital advertising and programmatic. He’s been a member of our project strategy team since October 2021.

Where is home these days?

Home is Boston, MA—West Roxbury to be exact. My wife and I bought our first home last summer, which we’re loving due to the walkable nature of the neighborhood, some green space, and easy access to public transit. I was born and raised just outside of Boston and returned to the area after spending four years down in Birmingham, AL, where my wife was completing her doctorate.

I currently work from my home every day in a small office overlooking our small patch of grass which one may technically call a backyard. I’m lucky to have the best office assistant in my 4-year-old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Simone. Although she sleeps through many of my calls and can be food aggressive, she keeps the home office going.

What do you do here at Right Side Up?

I’m a senior growth marketing strategist on the project strategy team. My focus is to work with businesses to dive into their marketing programs to understand their current challenges and support gaps. From there, I work with our clients to put together an agreed-upon strategy and talent profile(s) in order to find and vet the best possible marketers for these opportunities. By leveraging my experience as an in-house marketer myself, I approach each role as if I’m interviewing and recommending candidates whom I would personally hire and/or work with.

Tell us about your professional background and areas of expertise. Any achievements you’re proud of or notable brands you’ve worked with?

I’m an experienced in-house growth marketing leader with expertise in data-driven digital advertising and a background in programmatic ad tech alongside agency experience. Over the past 11 years, I’ve worked with seed-funded startups to Fortune 500 brands spanning B2C/D2C and B2B. I started off in the agency world which I like to refer to as my grad school of advertising where I gravitated towards all things digital and performance marketing before joining my first startup. Most notably, I was a founding member of Shipt's growth marketing team where I helped take them from Series A to Target's acquisition and beyond where I led the demand and supply-side growth of the marketplace.

What excites you about growth marketing? Has your work changed since you first started? What do you see for the future of growth marketing?

Growth marketing allows you to combine data-driven decision-making with creative strategy, which is why it’s always interested and excited me. As I ramped up my career originally in the agency world, I was witness to a lot of dollars being spent without any tangible tracking or proven output, as my superiors pushed vanity metrics and narratives that I did not care for. This caused me to turn towards digitally-focused performance channels where you could measure your impact quite clearly and quickly in comparison. 

Fast forward a decade, and this continues to remain true despite the ever-evolving landscape of growth marketing, especially over the past several years regarding the use of first-party data and its impact on so many platforms. Within the growth marketing space, I believe change is inevitable and constant which you have to embrace in order to be successful. As we have fewer levers to pull in platforms these days as well as lower audience match rates and certain KPIs that we have to asterisk now, growth marketers need to become more focused on the full-funnel approach and how each channel can complement one another in an integrated approach. 

Creative also continues to prove to be one of the most impactful performance levers in channels such as paid social where maintaining creative agility within a methodical testing framework is critical at any budgetary level. 

What has the structure/flexibility of Right Side Up’s model allowed you to do outside of work?

Working completely remote and not being beholden to a physical office every day has allowed me to spend more time with my wife whose work schedule isn’t as flexible. Our mornings are much more enjoyable and healthier when we can walk our dog and exercise together without being rushed out the door or having to wake up at the crack of dawn. The flexibility has also allowed me to visit friends and family for extended periods of time which is invaluable. 

And now, let’s get to the fun stuff…

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A filmmaker.

What do you like to do for fun in your geographic area?

Currently, in the Summer, we love to spend as much time as possible down at the beach on Cape Cod. We also love to hike and/or ski in NH/VT/ME during the colder months. Additionally, fresh seafood and live music are always in play despite the season.  

What’s a TV show, podcast, book, video game, recipe, etc. that you’re loving right now?

I just finished watching/binging season 2 of The Bear which I highly recommend. In a similar vein, a favorite recipe of mine right now is my homemade pesto which I make almost once a week from our abundance of basil that we grow on our porch. I’ve also recently been enjoying reading books by Haruki Murakami and Dennis Lehane (alternating reads between the two very different authors).

What was your first concert?

Dave Matthews Band at the TD Garden in Boston.

What’s your favorite place you’ve traveled to? Why?

Costa Rica and anywhere in Italy. Although two very different places, these two are my favorites for similar reasons: The people and their hospitable cultures, the food, the beaches, the national parks, and the relative ease to navigate throughout the country.

What’s a fun fact about yourself that people wouldn’t expect?

I can’t stand salad dressing of any kind, but still eat salad (my wife shares the same sentiment).

Want to speak with one of the marketing experts from Right Side Up about your company’s growth strategy? Drop us a line at growth@rightsideup.co to get started. Or maybe you’re interested in joining the Right Side Up team? We’d love to chat—reach out to talent@rightsideup.co and we’ll be in touch.