Women Who Will: Megan Boveri
Welcome to 'Women Who Will' , an LBB series pitched in by DDB Group Melbourne creative director Becky Morriss and senior art director Alayna Kunitake. 'Women Who Will' aims to champion women across the industry and around the world, and sees interviewees share their ambitions, highlight who they look up to, and nominate others, creating a ripple effect of recognition and inspiration.
Megan Boveri is chief media officer at Pinnacle Advertising and Marketing, where she brings 20 years of experience in media strategy, cross-channel campaign activation, and data and analytics.
She is known for her forward-thinking approach, leveraging insights and emerging trends to stay ahead in a constantly evolving media landscape. Megan’s strengths lie in blending strategic thinking with analytical rigour and a relentless focus on what’s next.
LBB> How did you get into the industry?
Megan> To be honest, I stumbled a bit into a career in media. I had never even heard of media as a career option until after I was already an Advertising major in college. The curriculum focused primarily on creative and account services, but in my senior year I finally had a course dedicated to media and found that I loved the mathematical tangibility of it, in addition to the opportunity to still be creative and audience centric.
Starcom, one of the top media agencies in the world, recruited heavily at my alma mater (the University of Illinois) and invited me to participate in a Shadow Day at their office in downtown Chicago. From there I was hooked and started working at Starcom right after graduation and stayed there for the next 18 years, before transitioning into my current role at Pinnacle Advertising.
LBB> Who are some of the people along the way who have helped you the most?
Megan> I have had several informal mentors across my 20 years in media and have learned something from every single person I have worked with and for. I will name a couple people specifically who have taught me particular lessons that I still lean on to this day.
Rob Davis -- president and CMO, Novus Media
I worked under Rob for a handful of years at Starcom and as I was working my way up in the organisation, he told me something (which he probably doesn’t even remember!) that I still carry with me today. He described agency leadership as being responsible for three interconnected balloons which represent your people, your client, and the agency. Your job as a leader is to keep all three balloons inflated. Sometimes you may need to squeeze one a bit to keep the others inflated (for example, pushing your people harder to keep the client happy, or eating into agency profitability a bit to maintain employee morale), but you can never squeeze one so hard that it pops or everything falls apart.
LisaAnn Rocha -- EVP, Donor
I reported directly to LisaAnn for a couple years and she taught me that, as a boss, how you make people feel about themselves is more important than just about anything else you can do to increase employee performance. Because LisaAnn believed in me wholeheartedly, I started to believe in myself and worked up to the level of trust she placed in me, achieving things I probably would not have been able to otherwise.
Michael Magnusson -- founder and CEO, Pinnacle Advertising
As my current boss, Mike has taught me the importance of relationships in the agency business. The tenure of our clients, and our employees, is almost unheard of in the quick-churn agency world, and it all comes down to the strength of the relationships Mike has built over the last 27 years.
LBB> Who have you looked up to throughout your career?
Megan> As a mother of three, I have deep respect for women who can balance the equally critical responsibilities of managing a team and managing a family.
I have so many role models in this arena, but one who specifically comes to mind is Danielle Gonzolez, who is currently the chief client officer at Spark Foundry. I never actually reported into Danielle, but I always admired her ability to be a boss bitch at work, while never leaving you doubting that her #1 priority was her 5 kids at home. Moreover, she is just plain nice – she always had a kind word for everyone, but her niceness never got in the way of getting the job done. That’s a balance I aspire to in my own leadership.
LBB> Who do you look up to now?
Megan> I really look up to my current boss Mike Magnusson for his ability to build and maintain relationships with just about anybody. It has been an important lesson from a business development perspective -- it’s not always the smartest plan or the cheapest price that wins the day, but the strength of the relationship and the chemistry between agency and client. At the end of the day, you want to work with people you like and trust. As someone with a default tendency toward prioritising the work, it’s important to remember that needs to be balanced with the quality of the relationship for a successful long-term partnership.
LBB> If you could give your younger self one piece of advice on navigating the industry, what would it be?
Megan> Never underestimate the importance of communication skills, particularly the ability to tailor your communication to different audiences for maximum impact. Just about every misstep I can recall over my 20-year career ultimately came down to misaligned expectations, which could have been avoided simply by taking the time up front to ensure alignment and clarity.
LBB> Tell us about a piece of work that best reflects your ambitions.
Megan> My personal ambition is continuous learning. It’s not necessarily about growth in title or salary, but about growth in knowledge and continued opportunity to provide value. In an industry like media, continuous learning is imperative as things are constantly evolving, particularly when it comes to digital media, where capabilities, audience expectations, and legal requirements are changing all the time. If you are not constantly educating yourself, you will be left behind within six months.
One recent project that exemplifies this ambition for continuous knowledge is a new business pitch I recently worked on for a large automotive client. Our agency has a strong automotive heritage, and because of that, we have several people on staff with extensive expertise in auto advertising. As such, when I was brought on, I prioritised building out and optimising our non-automotive portfolio and left auto to the experts on the team.
This worked well for a while; however, recently, a large auto pitch came up while my expert was out on vacation. This required me to educate myself quickly to show up as the expert in the room for that pitch. It was a ton of work in a short amount of time but was really invigorating as I got the opportunity to expand my knowledge base, ensuring I can continue to provide value to the team where they need it.
LBB> How has a woman helped you in your career?
Megan> Here I will again highlight LisaAnn Rocha, who I reported to for a couple years at Starcom.
I look up to her as a role model in how to win over difficult clients, build/maintain strong relationships, run a large team with kindness and grace, and get the best out of your employees.
Because LisaAnn made me feel that she believed in me, I believed in myself and experienced the fastest growth that I have under any other leader. She personified for me that old saying, “It’s not what you say. It’s how you make people feel.” I think that is undeniably true and critically important when leading others. I am, by nature, a bit untrusting, and I constantly remind myself of my experience working with LisaAnn when dealing with my employees now.
LBB> Where do you hope we are as an industry in a year’s time?
Megan> Obviously, the rise of AI-assisted planning and buying is a huge topic in the media world right now. A year from now, I would like to see the normalisation of AI as an assistive tool, not a replacement for human judgment, alongside a renewed emphasis on craft and fundamentals. What I hope that we, as an industry, avoid is becoming so reliant on technology that we lose the creativity that is inherent in media planning.
LBB> And five years’ time?
Megan> Five years from now, I hope we will have fully embraced technology as a foundation rather than as a focal point, allowing it to quietly power the work while people focus on higher-value thinking.
My hope is that AI and automation can handle the complexity and scale, freeing media leaders to spend more time on strategy, creativity, and building meaningful partnerships with clients and vendors. If we can combine smarter tools with stronger leadership and clearer thinking, media will be better positioned as a true business driver rather than a cost-centre.
LBB> What’s your non-negotiable?
Megan> Time to travel with my family. We have a family goal of hitting all 50 states and all 63 national parks. So far, we have hit 24 states and 22 parks. So, we’ve made good progress, but still have a way to go! Next on the list is Maine/Acadia over the 4th of July weekend next summer.
