Deepika D’Mello is a young award-winning ambitious and highly motivated Senior Analyst at Media Experts, a Marketing Agency within the Interpublic Group of Companies. In this role, she engages clients across a range of industries such as Financial Services, Healthcare, and Technology. Prior to working at Media Experts, Deepika was an International Undergraduate Student at McGill University, having received a dual degree in Psychology and Communications. She is keen on discovering innovative approaches to Marketing and helping exceed client goals by having a deeper understanding of consumer wants and needs due to her background in Psychology.
Deepika D’Mello was born in Mumbai and raised in Dubai by her entrepreneurial parents along with her younger brother. Inspired by her parents’ work ethic, Deepika wanted to establish herself in the field of her choosing; she adds, “This has been a key factor in my ambition and determination as an adult.”
However, it wasn’t after enduring several challenges that she has strived to reach greater heights. At the young age of eight, Deepika was faced with a dire situation. She was in class when she suddenly collapsed, lost consciousness and shook sporadically. At the time, Deepika could not understand the event, but knew it would change her life. Because when she woke up and observed the faces of those around her, she perceived one emotion – fear.
That was the first of many more seizures Deepika experienced in her childhood. During the next two years, she was pulled from school, and spent her time under heavy medication, observation and intensive care to treat her diagnosed brain tumor. She couldn’t comprehend how a tumor could have such an impact on her life, but more importantly, she couldn’t understand how it could create such despair and hopelessness in everyone around her. “When I looked around my hospital room, I saw only sadness in my family and friends, I felt that hope may indeed be lost.”
But Deepika was willing to take on the imminent challenge and was determined to make it out the other side. “I held on to my positivity,” she says “I knew there were better days ahead and I just had to be patient. In the end, I knew I would be rewarded.” One July morning, Deepika underwent surgery and her tumor was removed. She finally returned to school, delighted that the traumatic experience was behind her so she could return to her old life. However, she didn’t realize that while she had changed, so had those around her.
She says, “I once again felt alone and hopeless in my journey. That was when I truly felt that the illness took over my life and defined me for who I was going to be – just a survivor, never a thriver.”
Frazzled by the reaction of those around her, Deepika entered a period of self-reflection, during which she gradually developed an interest in psychology. She says, “As I delved more into the subject, I started to get a better grasp on my own emotions.”
Deepika understood that it was her own positivity and mindset that led to her survival. “We are our own champions. There’s no one who should put more trust and faith in you, than yourself.” Desperate to change the narrative, she began prioritizing her education, wanting to stand out not for what she had gone through in the past but for what she could achieve in the future. “That’s when I discovered my potential”, she continues, “I used to perceive my illness negatively, but now I see it as the opportunity that allowed me to push myself. It undeniably forced me to grow up, but at the same time, it let me discover who I truly am.”
“After studying psychology, I felt compelled to begin a career in Marketing as I could now understand people, and I could better discern how to cater to their wants and needs.” She adds, “I am both a creative and analytical person, and I felt as though a career in Marketing would allow me to tap into both aspects.”
However, after graduation, many employers were hesitant to hire Deepika in a marketing role without a management degree. And so, she did not start her full-time job until almost one year after graduating. In this time, she started to lose that positivity she had worked so hard on developing. “I started to put too much pressure on myself”, she continues, “I had to teach myself to overcome these constraints because I knew what I had been through and I knew what I could accomplish.”
Persevering, Deepika took any opportunity she could to better herself. “I started working as a sales associate and as an unpaid intern to gain the skills required to start my career and fill my knowledge gaps. I also enrolled in courses to build my resume and I received a certificate from Harvard University after attending their summer program.”
In her pursuit of excellence in the field, she received an excellent job offer and joined Media Experts as a paid search coordinator. Deepika soon realized that this was her passion and has now worked across a range of clients to systematically increase their brand presence and target potential leads. Due to her exceptional abilities, creative strategies and work ethic, Deepika soon got promoted in just under a year.
“I learnt that with hard work and determination, what’s meant for you will always be yours. I also learnt that it’s okay to fail; ultimately failure is just a mindset that can be changed. Tomorrow is always a fresh start.”
Talking about the impact of her work, she shares the story of one of her clients she recently worked with; she says, “Throughout the pandemic, my aviation client pulled back on their search efforts and investment as travel restrictions grew around the globe. However, I felt we were missing out on great opportunities to get new, qualified leads through generic campaigning. I wanted to spend our budget more effectively to show our client that there was still an opportunity to grow the business. I regularly tracked search demand and available impressions, participated in industry-specific seminars and discovered new search engine products that would benefit my client.” She continued, “As travel opened up, I saw a significant increase in flight demand. I pulled budget from other campaigns to successfully maximize efficiency and I was able to increase our performance with incremental funds.”
With their metric optimization, Deepika and her team grew this client’s budget by 170,163%, and with the investment growth, she improved her client’s return on ad spend by 3,600% within three months.
Due to her phenomenal work in aiding this client, Deepika was awarded Google’s Performance Honours Star to reward her contribution to Media Expert’s success. Deepika was recognized for her excellence in Budget Efficiency for maximizing performance and staying ahead of the competition. She was only one of six professionals from Canada who were honored. Deepika attended a three-day award ceremony, where she spoke with Google product specialists and learned about the future of paid search. Soon after, she received her second promotion within the company, where she has the opportunity to mentor and train junior team members. While Deepika is still very young and has a long way to go on the road to success, she is determined that she will make it big no matter the odds.
In conclusion, Deepika’s advice for all budding leaders is, “Put yourself out into the world, seek any opportunity, and get rejected until you find what’s meant for you. Your journey will continuously be filled with good and bad times, but a true leader will learn to thrive, and just not survive.”
