Pinning Success

PROVO, Utah – May 08, 2018 – BYU Marriott School of Business marketing alum Phillip Andersen Jr. lives in the San Francisco Bay area, has traveled around the world to places such as New York City and London, and has worked for a company giant (here’s looking at you, Google). He also created a job for himself and got hired on at Pinterest. Any BYU Marriott student would agree that Andersen has it made in the shade.

So how did Andersen achieve professional success?

“You need to push yourself outside of the classroom when you are a student,” Andersen advises. “Do your research on companies and understand what your dream role actually looks like and will require. This will put you ahead of the game. If things don’t work out on your first try, don’t get discouraged. Keep preparing, keep networking, and everything will work out the way it is supposed to.”

Andersen, the founding member of the partnership team at Pinterest, definitely has practiced what he preaches, as a student at BYU Marriott and as a working professional.

After serving a two-year LDS mission in Peru, Andersen discovered his strengths and passions and returned to BYU with serious intent to major in something that married the two together.

“I like a good mix of creativity and business. I learned that I can be persuasive and inspire people to change their lives,” Andersen says. “The interpersonal and sales skills that I acquired while in Peru motivated me to give marketing a try once I returned to BYU.”

But simply majoring in marketing was not enough. Andersen got involved with the BYU Marriott Marketing Association where he received invaluable mentoring and broadened his professional network with professors and digital marketers.

“Rocky Garff at Google was a great mentor to me and the reason I started digging into the company, looking for internship opportunities,” Andersen says. “It is thanks to Rocky that I landed an interview with the company. I also took an online digital marketing class from Professor Jeff Larson. This class inspired me to step outside the classroom and learn the bare bones of digital platforms such as Google.”

After graduation, Andersen joined Google and was soon promoted to senior account manager where he managed advertising client relationships. Landing a management position at a company such as Google warrants at least a celebratory pat on the back, but Andersen wasn’t done.

After a few years at Google, Andersen wanted to make a greater contribution. After being introduced to Pinterest, Andersen started using the platform and recognized the marketing potential of the product.

“I bugged my friend almost every week about helping me get a job at Pinterest,” Andersen says. “After about a year, he told me the company was starting to brainstorm about how to work with businesses, and I knew it was time to act. Pinterest didn’t have roles mapped out, so I did more research and wrote a job description for a partner specialist role. I brought the job description to my next meeting at Pinterest and told them that they needed this role and that I was the best man for the job.”

A few days later, Andersen was hired, and for the last five years, he has helped Pinterest build products and teams in San Francisco, New York City, and London.

“I am so excited I get to help deliver the company’s mission by helping people discover and do what they love,” Andersen says.