Lisa Murray serves as the Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of Octagon Worldwide, Inc. of Octagon, Inc. Ms. Murray oversees Octagon's internal and external communications, advertising, cause-related and other strategic marketing initiatives on a global basis. Her forte, developing and implementing highly-integrated event marketing strategies, and activation programs, is highly regarded within the industry. In 2005, Sports Business Journal ranked her one of the 20 most influential women in the industry. In 2003, Ms. Murray was the only consultant to make The Sporting News annual "Power 100" list. She became one of the industry's leading experts on strategic event marketing on a global scale, successfully leveraging premiere properties, among them, FIFA World Cup and Formula 1 racing. Lisa Murray participated in a discussion with the XX Project, a community designed to catalyze positive personal and collection growth in June 2015.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
Number 1: It's by doing. I believe you can only lead if you have the experience. Number 2: I've been fortunate to have worked alongside some of the best leaders, and I try to exude the same traits I see in them.
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Octagon?
Early on in my career, I was fortunate to work across a number of different marketing disciplines including Entertainment, B2B, PR and Hospitality before coming to Octagon. Those experiences provided me a broad foundation that I leverage to developing fully integrated programs.
What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at Octagon?
Highlights: The best wins have been sharing in my clients' success and having the opportunity to experience fan passion across the globe.
Challenges: My golf game...
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
The advice I give is universal to any industry; make sure it's your passion and always exceed expectations.
What is the most important lesson you've learned in your career to date?
Always be open to new ways, new ideas and new approaches.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
There's no secret to this one, you do the best you can every day.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
If you're good at what you do, there shouldn't be issues. Don't think about how you can succeed as a woman - just figure out how you can succeed. Period. If you consume yourself with thinking about gender, you can lose sight of the real goals.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
Throughout the years, I've respected so many of my clients in the industry including Pam Hollander of Allstate, Maria Dincel of Cisco, Ali Giordano of MasterCard and Holly Means of Johnson & Johnson.
What do you want Octagon to accomplish in the next year?
Our mantra is Passion. Engagement. Results. Every year, we strive to provide world-class services that tap into consumer passion through sports and entertainment; to develop and execute compelling brand engagement programs across the globe and to execute flawlessly and deliver returns on quantifiable business and brand objectives.