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Day In The Life: Meet AppNexus Trader Neville Hall Jr.

Estimated reading time ~ 6 min
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Neville Hall Jr., Associate Technical Client Manager at AppNexus. Images courtesy of Steven Eloiseau.

Neville Hall Jr.
Associate Technical Client Manager, AppNexus
New York, NY
Twitter: @JustBlameNev

6:00am: Eyes wide. I take a few minutes to meditate, stretch, and prepare my mind. As I do each morning, I reflect and thank God for giving me another day. I appreciate this quiet moment before getting out of bed and diving into the hustle and bustle of my work day as a trader at AppNexus, the internet technology company that enables and optimizes the real-time sale and purchase of digital advertising for many of America’s largest advertisers.

6:10am: I make my bed, put away dishes, and organize my sneaker collection. I’m all about starting off the morning accomplishing small tasks – it helps put me on track for a productive day.

7:00am: I turn on my sound system and blast a mix of J. Cole, Ty Dolla Sign, NoName, and YG from SoundCloud, singing along as I throw on a turtleneck, green cargo pants, and black suede Chelsea boots. Music is very much a form of therapy for me. I pick up my phone and make a conscious effort to stay off Instagram, Twitter, and all social media – instead, I check the weather and type out my to-do list in my notes app. Then I grab my bag and my lunch, and I head out the door.

8:00am: I catch the express train from Jamaica, Queens and enjoy my hour-long commute to Manhattan’s Flatiron district. This is my favorite hour of the day because I get to dive into some of my preferred forms of media. I check out world news headlines courtesy of The New York Times; sports highlights from Bleacher Report; style coverage from GQ; and a mix of all things tech, travel, film, politics, and music from the good folks at Blavity. Next, I scroll through a few messages from group threads with my friends – their memes and GIFs always add a bit of color to my morning. After I’ve had my fill, I take out a paperback copy of Steve Stoute’s The Tanning of America and read until I pull into the station.

9:00am: I arrive at the AppNexus offices, located on 23rd street, amidst the excitement of Fifth Avenue, endless bars and restaurants, and pop-up attractions like Madison Square Eats. Once I’m inside, I soak in the scene. The office is buzzing with energy. AppNexus has 15+ offices around the world, and the New York office has 500+ employees, all with one goal: leveraging technology to help companies reach engaged audiences through digital advertising. While everyone files into work, I stop by the huge, open cafeteria loaded with cereals, fruits, and healthy snacks. I grab a whole-wheat bagel with peanut butter, two bananas, and a kale, pineapple, and ginger juice. After I eat and get situated at my desk, I get to work building a report that includes daily ad campaign spend and online order totals for my client so we can analyze how well their digital marketing campaigns are performing and ensure that we’re on track to meet their key performance indicators (or KPIs, aka goals).

10:00am: I open the inbound communication floodgates. Instead of constantly checking my email and messages throughout the day, I block off this window of time to go through my calendar to accept or decline meeting invites, review Outlook emails, and answer all messages that have come in from teammates through Slack. I’ve found that having this dedicated time to manage my inbox helps me stay in control of my schedule. By addressing only what needs my immediate attention and saving the rest for later, I can stay focused on the priorities I set for myself at the start of the day.

10:30am: Back to trading, i.e. using AppNexus’ cloud-based software platform that helps us efficiently and effectively optimize clients’ programmatic online advertising. I review the setup of my client’s current campaign in detail and diagnose what optimizations need to be made. Then I proceed to trading, strategically placing, monitoring, and adjusting online ads so they’ll have the greatest impact with the lowest cost to our client. There are a lot of possible permutations for any given campaign, so figuring out what combo to run in order to achieve certain KPIs is largely about finesse. Due to how rapidly the internet or “ad space availability” evolves, I encounter unique problems daily. I feel empowered to invent, using data and a bit of creativity to discover fresh ways to deliver for our clients.

12:30pm: I take a break from client-facing work, turning my attention to AppNexus’ internal diversity and inclusion initiatives. Among my recent areas of interest are reviewing the tech sector’s hiring, retention, inclusion, interviewing, and representation practices, especially as they relate to the Black community. I work on researching ways to authentically communicate with and engage the communities from which we recruit and hire.

1:30pm: Lunch time! I step away from my desk to heat up some healthy, home-cooked Jamaican food. I eat in a meeting room while reading up on some new domains to run ads. I draw out my findings on the whiteboard until it all makes sense. I love a good whiteboard session.

3:00pm: I meet with a few product and engineering teammates. The team is developing some new products and features for our trading platform, so we spend the hour running tests and examining detailed feedback on user experience, efficiency, and trading functionality. We want to make sure everything is working well before rolling these products out to our clients.

4:00pm: I grab a seltzer water and some sweet-and-salty popcorn to power through the rest of the day. I submit a custom report to my client outlining an overview of their campaign’s metrics – things like conversions, ad spend, and clicks – to show them how ads are performing. I check my email once more for any tasks due by end of day.

5:00pm: I sit down with one of my managers for a 1:1. During our conversation, I receive feedback on my performance, talk about opportunities for growth and development, and discuss my ideas for account strategy and planning. I try to connect with a co-worker (other account managers or a mid to senior level employee) daily. This effort helps me get to know my colleagues and piece together a roadmap for success.

5:30pm: Before I leave for the office for the day, I stop by our beautiful high-ceilinged library and check out some new books. Then, I change into my workout clothes and hit the AppNexus basketball court. I shoot around and practice my jump shot before saying goodbye to the office and heading to my boxing studio. While in transit, I scroll through my Twitter and Instagram feeds – it’s my way of unwinding and “turning off” the programmatic advertising switch in my head.

6:30pm: In my best Mayweather form, I get into the zone at my favorite boxing studio. A few minutes in, I’m drenched, working on my technique, power, speed, and accuracy. I’ve been boxing for almost two years, but the experience is still as intense as when I started. There’s a level of discipline and challenge that keeps me coming back to work on my skill. No matter the kind of day, good or bad, after work you can catch me putting these hands to work on a heavy bag.

7:30pm: I take my time walking to the train, deliberately focusing on reflecting and slowing down my pace for the day. New York City is hyperactive, and I really appreciate this moment – the quietest, most introspective moment of the day, where I control my own time. It’s a little reward that goes a long way. Once I make it to the station, I hop on the train and head home.

8:30pm: After a quick shower, I make one of my favorite Jamaican dishes: curry chicken with breadfruit, white rice, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Then I eat while doing some online research for an upcoming trip. I love to travel, and on the schedule for 2018 is my ideal vacation: 20+ friends, one beach house, 80-degree temperatures, and a full fridge.

11:00pm: I do a few pushups, stretch a bit, and drink a glass of water before getting into bed. Feeling accomplished, I call it a night.

AppNexus is a Jopwell partner company

Images courtesy of Steven Eloiseau

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