Cadent's Rachel Hudson: In the Room Where It Happens

The hats are leftovers from Zoom happy hour sessions Hudson has hosted for her teams during quarantine she says quotI believe we should have fun with what we39re doingquot Hudson says quotYou need to go beyond just working with someoneamp8212you need to really connect on a personal levelquotHudson39s philosophy of making deep connections is part of the reason Cadent39s senior vice president of pricing ampamp inventory network operations has found such success at the company Coworkers appreciate her passion and ability to distill complex topics into easily understood bites whether they be interns looking to network virtually these days or execs looking for advice on a strategic decisionHudson is a key advisor to Cadent39s exec team serving as a bridge between sales and operations She is to borrow a phrase from the musical Hamilton in the room where it happensquotI39m not just in the room where it happensquot she says quotI39m working with everyone who makes it happen and get to support our collective success I started at Cadent as an individual contributor and have grown into a role where I get to be a touchstone for many different teams To see where I39ve come from and where I am now being part of the larger business strategy that39s what I39ve been working toward and I39m very proud of thatquotAn Evolution from Media Business to Advanced TV Platform Hudson is keen on the idea of supporting individuals in service of both their personal goals and the company39s overall strategy quotIt39s very important to me to knowamp8212as a manager as a leaderamp8212what you want and to align and facilitate this growthquotShe herself started her career in retail as a buyer at Macy39s and QVC When the opportunity came to work at Cadent Hudson says the prospect of jumping into an entirely different industry was slightly intimidating but all the more alluring because of the growth it would require on her part quotIt was this leap of faith in myselfquot she says She also received tremendous support not just making the move from retail merchandising to media but as she progressed through her career in mediaCadent has evolved quite a bit in the intervening 14 years from cable ad network to a robust advanced TV platform Hudson herself has grown in parallel she says quotAs the company evolved so did Iquot She started in sales selling ad inventory to clients quotThat was an incredible foundationquot she says That frontline experience led her to understand Cadent39s products on a nearly atomic levelAfter she segued into operations she soon realized she had a unique perspective understanding both the frontline needs of sales folk and clients and the guiding strategy behind themThese needs were changing even before the global pandemic that is still raging To meet these needs Cadent has been expanding its advanced TV capabilities including acquiring data activation platform 4INFO earlier this year quotWe39re a trusted partner to our clientsquot Hudson says quotAs they make the shift to be more datadriven so has CadentquotHudson acts as a sort of sieve taking in massive amounts of data and detail about various projects and products and delivering bigpicture messaging while being able to dig into that detail at a moment39s noticeShe views her position as a blend of art and science she says quotArt is relationships and science is having that knowledge of the business having the data and knowing what it39s telling youquot she addsHudson was recently named an Industry Leader on the Cynopsis Top Women in Media list an honor she says she learned about during a meeting when the chief marketing officer announced the win to the entire exec suite quotTo not only be honored but to find out that way was just incrediblequot she saysThe achievements Hudson comes back to though are the teams she39s put togetheramp8212the teams that execute Cadent39s strategy and build trust with clients a trust she points out that comes from connectionThat trust is more important than ever in a time when brands are looking for advanced TV partners who can expertly and efficiently execute targeted campaignsThe only sure thing about the ad landscape is that it will continue to change Hudson will be there and so will Cadent quotWhatever the landscape looks likequot she says quotCadent will be here to provide that trusted partnership to our clientsquotClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Cadent's Rachel Hudson: In the Room Where It Happens

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Oriana Schwindt

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Cadent's Rachel Hudson: In the Room Where It Happens

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