“If you had asked me as a kid what I thought I was gonna be, I probably would have said I was gonna be an artist…and in some ways that’s actually what I think led me to technology” – Wojcicki, MAKERS series
A few Fast Facts about Susan Wojcicki, SVP of Advertising & Commerce at Google from MAKERS clip below:
1. Started a side business as a kid selling the neighbors' lemons to other neighbors.
2. Grew up on the Stanford Campus - Lucky girl!
3. Graduated from Harvard. Worked for a software company. Got an MA and MBA.
4. In 1998, she and her husband rented their garage to co-Founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
5. Became Google’s 16th employee as the first and only marketing person.
6. Launched Google video yet it eventually led to the purchasing of You Tube for $1.65 Billion.
7. Developed AdSense & AdWords and today, Wojcicki is responsible for ALL of Google’s advertising products, which make up 95% of the company’s revenue.
Credits: Burning Man Google doodle, 1998 | Family from the San Francisco Chronicle article, "Bay Area's Wojcicki family honored" | Lemons flickr picture by honeypieLiving via Pinterest | Photo: Jeremy Goldberg via ADWEEK
Mad Men Season 6 Finale ends with the song by Joni Mitchell, "Both Sides, Now" | 1969
Joni Mitchell was inspired to write this song while reading Saul Bellow's, Henderson the Rain King and looking at clouds from a plane.
{ Joni Mitchell fast fact via Rolling Stone: http://rol.st/12fzEZx }
SAUL BELLOW: "Africa reached my feelings right away even in the air, from which it looked like the ancient bed of mankind. And at a height of three miles, sitting above the clouds, I felt like an airborne seed...And I dreamed down at the clouds, and thought that when I was a kid I had dreamed up at them, and having dreamed at the clouds from both sides as no other generation of men has done, one should be able to accept his death very easily. However, we made safe landings every time...and I kept thinking 'Bountiful life! Oh, how bountiful life is'". - Henderson The Rain King, Chapter V
JONI MITCHELL SONG
Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I’ve looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As ev’ry fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way
But now it’s just another show
You leave ‘em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away
I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all
Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say “I love you” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way
But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
Credits: Top photo borrowed from Mad Men AMC archives / B/W Clouds photo found via Pinterest.
