Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Kessler.
Hi Scott, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up on Long Island, NY and really had a great childhood. As a Millennial, I have fond memories of the pre-internet era where time was spent with my brothers or friends figuring out how to have fun. I played every sport available as a young kid, but my passion was always soccer. Everyone goes through their awkward teenage years where they learn about themselves, who they are, and who they want to be. I’m no exception to that, but luckily I always had soccer as my foundation. I was very good at something, I had practice and games to keep me busy, and I had goals I was working hard to achieve. I’m forever grateful that even as a teenager I realized how rare and lucky this was. In addition to the many life lessons that sports can teach, soccer taught me to dream big. Through experiences like being the first freshmen to make my high school varsity team in a decade or becoming the starting goalie of my division 1 college team as a freshmen, I learned that titles mean very little. It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshmen or senior, a junior associate or a VP, what matters is if you can perform. This knowledge gave me the freedom and confidence to perform well in athletics and carried into my working career.
If I’m being honest, my confidence, belief, and in some ways blind stupidity in myself has propelled me further than my knowledge, skills, and ability ever could on their own in both sports and business. I was never afraid to speak up and share ideas at work, and held my ground when I felt strongly on something. This lead to me being brought into meetings and conversations that were way above my pay grade, and provided great exposure and learning opportunities. This same belief in myself is a main reason why I was able to marry the woman of my dreams. My wife is better than me in all ways (except eye sight), and I credit my early life lessons about dreaming big for helping me find the perfect life partner. We live in Sawtelle with our two cats (one big, one little) and have a wonderful life together. We enjoy dance classes, our weekly bowling league, time with friends, and endless giggling.
After beginning my career as a media planner in advertising in NY, I then left for a relatively unknown company called Roku in 2015. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing in this role, but I listened and learned, and I found opportunities to contribute. I remember when there was a process that needed to be updated in order to scale with the growing business and I simply thought that I should give it a shot. I later learned the output of this new process that I created was being used to inform the board of directors. Another sign that titles and seniority don’t matter as long as you can perform. I held multiple roles on various teams at Roku, eventually transitioning to a business development role at Vizio, a short stint at an early stage start up called MyBundle.TV, and currently work in advertising and partnerships at Amazon. I’ve enjoyed that my career has been non-linear, zig-zagging across the media and tech landscape.
I love all that the West side has to offer. I try to make it to the beach most weekends, enjoy the Malibu hikes, and love the food scene. A few things that LA has provided me the opportunity to do that I otherwise never would have include bungee jumping, hanging with Super Bowl winners, stand up comedy, floating in zero g, and watching endless sunsets over the horizon.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some of my biggest struggles along the way have been orthopedic issues from my soccer career. At this stage I’ve had 9 surgeries to fix various injuries that my body sustained. Each of these take a toll physically, mentally, and financially. The most recent and intense were the two surgeries that left me on crutches for 7-months. This was right after I met my now wife and I’m forever thankful for her understanding and patience. I’ve found that every day is a new adventure in terms of what my body will be able to tolerate. Some days I can run 3 miles and lift weights, others it’s a struggle to get out of bed. While I joke that I got old young, I have no regrets. I proudly say that if I knew then what I know now, I would still do it all the same.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I started my career as a media planner at an advertising agency in NY. While entry level, I ultimately helped plan and strategize the media for advertising campaigns. I eventually jumped over to Roku, joining in the early days of the ad sales business. Over 6 years at Roku, I was lucky enough to learn and grow into various roles from ad sales, to partner management, and various forms of business strategy. Changing roles at Roku is what eventually brought me to LA. Wanting to be more hands on with how deals are made between companies, I joined Vizio in a business development role and later held a similar role at an early stage start up called MyBundle. I built partnerships and agreements with some of the major streaming apps you’re familiar with today, negotiating the economic terms and managing the relationships. Currently, I work in advertising and partnerships at Amazon. My job is to help advertisers find the best places for their ads to run. This requires that I stay up to date on all things media, technology, and consumer behavior. I’ve been fortunate enough to have eclectic consulting opportunities through my consultancy called Scissor Kick. I helped launch a board game, a streaming app, and helped a few different tech companies. I would truly consider myself a jack of all trades and master of none. By having a wide skill set and knowledge base, I’ve been able to find success in different rolls across different businesses and industries. If I don’t know the answer I certainly know how to find it. Since I wouldn’t consider myself an expert in any one field, I’m never pigeon holed into one way of thinking and can always look at a problem from multiple viewpoints.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
While it’s not one specific memory, I truly enjoy the combined memories of holidays with my family. I loved spending time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins that I didn’t regularly see. I loved catching up while watching football and eating egg salad with crackers. I loved the great food and weird traditions like hard boiled eggs cut up in cold, salty water. As the youngest of all of my cousins, I really enjoyed the slow progression of getting older and having them see me less as a young kid and more as a peer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.scissor-kick.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scott_kessler1/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kesslerscott/
