Intro: In the “Women in Streaming” series of articles, we talk to incredible women who have contributed a lot to the growth of the video streaming industry and share their stories. In this installment, we talk to Alexandra Giusto, Senior Director, Strategic Accounts & Strategy, Zixi.
Alexandra Giusto is a senior director at Zixi with over 13 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry. For over 10 years Alexandra has managed Tier 1 media and entertainment streaming companies including FOX, CBS, EA Games, Comcast, Dish & fuboTV.
Thank you, Alexandra, for agreeing to this interview. It is a pleasure to hear about your experiences.
Q) Please tell our audience a little bit about your background, how you got started in the media and technology industry, and your journey so far.
My first “corporate” job was an internship at Level 3 (this was before it was Centurylink/Lumen) during my junior year of college. My internship was on the IP product management team but when it was time for me to graduate, there was a product marketing role open on the Vyvx & CDN (Content Delivery Network) team, so I made the switch and haven’t left the media & entertainment world since.
During my time at Level 3, I progressed from product, to product marketing to field marketing, and then into vertical marketing where I focused on our company’s media & entertainment customers exclusively. After Level 3, I worked at Charter and then made my leap out of the corporate space into the start-up world. Leaving the corporate world was tough, but this was made even tougher by switching to the “dark side.”
My first job was in sales. Turns out, the experience & learnings gleaned from my career progression through product to field & vertical marketing, prepared me well for sales.
During my time there, Streamroot was acquired by a large telecom company with a CDN solution offering … sound familiar? You guessed it, Centurylink!
Not ready to go back to the corporate world, I went on to continue sales at a second start-up, RealEyes, which was later acquired by Dolby.io, and then joined the team at Zixi, where I’ve been for almost 3 years. Here I support strategic accounts including Fox, fuboTV, Dish, Charter, Comcast, and others.
Q) Can you give us an overview of your role as Senior Director at Zixi? What’s your typical day look like?
I manage & support some of our company’s largest strategic Tier 1 accounts. On a daily and weekly basis, I spend time with different organizations within each company to continuously evolve my understanding of their streaming workflows, pain points, projects, and future goals surrounding linear video acquisition & distribution. A “typical” day may include a customer sync to touch base on how an existing project is progressing or reviewing the status of their most recent feature requests. Most days include “whiteboarding” video workflow solutions tailored for different customers.
Zixi has historically been most well-known for creating the best video transport protocol in the industry, but what I enjoy most are the days we get to demo our ZEN Master orchestration & monitoring platform to customers. Our team has been listening and learning from our customers & partners for 15 years to enhance our tools and nothing makes me happier than seeing customers’ eyes light up during the demo.
Q) As someone deeply involved in the industry, what excites you the most about the potential developments in video streaming and OTT services?
That’s a tough one. Of course, I’m excited to see how AI and ML continue to evolve and influence the industry – Zixi has even been developing our predictive analytics based on AI/ML for better RCA & advanced video telemetry.
But even more, than this, I’ve enjoyed watching the industry view of the “wild west” (open internet video delivery) shift from distrust or skepticism to much wider acceptance and quickly becoming the preference. I’ve noticed more and more customers are looking to shift from satellite to IP video delivery. Even customers of mine who just two years ago believed fiber or satellite were the only trustworthy ways of video delivery are now looking to start POCs at the beginning of the new year.
Q) It’s great to know that you also serve as an Advisor for the Women in Leadership program at The University of Colorado. Based on your experiences, what essential skills, attributes, or mindsets do you think women should develop to thrive as leaders in ever-evolving industries like video streaming and OTT?
Given that the media and entertainment industry is largely male-dominated, I’ve always found it beneficial to identify like-minded successful women to learn from as role models – especially in roles that have conventionally been held by men (operations, finance, engineering, etc.).
To be a good leader, it’s important to understand the difference between bosses and leaders. Bosses tell you what to do, leaders show you. Bosses care about deadlines and deliverables, while leaders care about their team’s growth and their team’s happiness. Look for the stereotypes about women and work to overcome them. One that comes to mind is about women being “emotional” which in turn has often been used as a reason why women wouldn’t make good leaders. I find the opposite to be true.
Women’s ability to empathize allows us to have a better and deeper understanding of customer’s needs and frustrations. Women leaders fiercely protect their teams and advocate for their needs. Tell a woman she can’t do something and she will use that as fuel to succeed.
The future is brightest with women leaders.
Q) What’s one lesson your career has taught you that you think everyone should learn at some point in their life?
It’s important to purposefully pause; whether that be once a year or once a quarter and ask yourself if you’re where you want to be. Are you growing? Are you learning new skills? Do you enjoy the role you’re in? Is this role helping you get to where you want to be?
If you don’t actively take charge of your career, you can too easily drift along for years, without realizing how much time has passed, and end up in a role or at a company without really realizing how you got there. I often hear people admit they don’t know if they should be making more money or if they should have a higher title at this age or stage of their life. How do you know if you’re doing well or if you’re falling behind?
Only you can answer that.
But I find it’s a less overwhelming question when you have a grasp of where you’re at and where you want to go. It could just be “I’d like to be a director in the next two years” or “I’d like to be Six Sigma certified.” Then make yourself accountable towards these goals – make a plan and keep to it.
Q) Last but not least, we come to our rapid-fire section – a list of fun questions about you.
- Favorite way to relax: Crocheting – I just learned how to do it with my mother over the Thanksgiving weekend and I’m already quite addicted to making granny squares.
- Favorite cuisine: Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Indian Food. The spicier the better.
- Favorite travel destination: Africa – I went in August for my honeymoon and can’t wait to get back.
- Favorite sport: Volleyball. Playing and watching. I can’t wait for the 2024 Olympics.
- One thing on your bucket list: To run a half marathon. I’m a pretty terrible runner and I’d love to not hate running.
- Hidden talent: Singing. Before I graduated with a finance degree, I was actually a musical theatre major. However, I get stage fright so don’t ask me to sing 🙂
Thank you, Alexandra, for this wonderful interview, and we wish you all the best.
Abhi Rao
Abhi is the Managing Director and Head of Marketing for OTTVerse. She holds an MBA from Queen’s University, Canada, and comes with more than a decade of experience as a Business Analyst working with some of the biggest banks in the US and Canada. Before joining OTTVerse, Abhi ran her educational startup focusing on content creation, sales, and marketing.
Abhi runs the day-to-day operations, marketing, and sales for OTTVerse.