Instagram

How I Got Here

19-01-2021 • 34 mins

Episode #3: Rachel Xanttopoulos, Product Marketing Lead, Instagram Ads.

Shortly after beginning her career as a management consultant, Rachel Xanttopoulos realized that the job wasn’t a great fit for her long-term. After mentioning to a colleague she’d love to work for the New York Times, she landed in the NYT strategy group and rose up the ranks for a few years before deciding to return to school to earn her MBA at Kellogg, with the intention of starting her own business. After a business school class exercise in which she pitched the idea to her fellow students led to overwhelming enthusiasm and support, Rachel launched Daybreak, a daily newsletter that summarized interesting events and resources for students at Kellogg. Although Daybreak quickly grew in popularity and team size, the difficulties of building a business from a local newsletter led Rachel to take a job at Instagram after school, where she knew she would learn from a best-in-class company how to monetize a media business - knowledge she may put to use when she starts her next venture. This conversation is brought to you by The Garage at Northwestern University.

Show Notes