Maya Lobban ’12

Vice President, Brand Marketing Lead, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Education: Syracuse University, Public Relations (B.S.)

What I’m Doing Now: I’m an integrated campaign manager for J.P. Morgan Payments, an arm of the Corporate Investment Bank. Day to day, I help oversee the planning and execution of our integrated campaigns, which includes managing relationships with internal teams and our external agencies to ensure they have all the information they need to create optimal work for us. 

How KPS Influenced Me: Thanks to Kent Place — where I learned that there are multiple ways to approach a problem or view a situation, where I really honed my critical thinking skills — I didn’t shy away from making a career shift. Before coming to J.P. Morgan, I had never worked in finance before. Even though I did have marketing experience, I was always on the creative/agency side. But I got to a point where I wanted a new challenge. Moving to the brand side of the industry has allowed me to experience a holistic view of the marketing industry, and what goes into the process before a company engages an agency to create dynamic campaigns for them. I really enjoy that closer look at what priorities a company deems important, and how creative and strategic decisions are made internally. 

My Biggest Disappointment, and Most Important Lesson: For the first time in my career, I was laid off earlier this year (which apparently happens to almost everyone in the communications field). At first, I panicked. It was a situation that was completely out of my control. I remember sitting in my living room and applying online for job after job after job. But then I realized, “What am I doing?” I had been burned out and wanting to go to the client-side for several years, so it turned out to be the break that I needed to really buckle down and figure out how to do that. The disappointment for me was in not having control over how I took my next career step, but I had to realize that it’s okay. You’re not always going to be able to dictate your next move. It’s how you take advantage of the situation you’re presented with that matters.

Advice for My KPS Sisters: There’s no place like KPS. Enjoy your time there because it flies by like you would not believe. And cherish the girls' school environment. Had I gone to a coed high school instead of KPS, I don’t know that I would have been as focused, that I would have gone to college being willing to raise my hand in a classroom full of guys who think they’re smarter than anyone else, or that I would have raised my hand for leadership positions in and outside the classroom. Kent Place propels you into leadership roles whether you like it or not. It prepares you to be a leader for not just today, but for tomorrow.