Mary Patterson Clark, Chief Marketing Officer at Syniverse

1) What was your first job?

My first job was working as a tour guide in Annapolis, Maryland, in the U.S. I gave walking tours of Annapolis and the U.S. Naval Academy every summer for seven years, starting when I was 14. I loved it! After graduating from college, my first job was sales selling fax machines in five counties in Maryland and Baltimore City. For this 100 percent commission-based job, I drove 1,000 miles per week and lost money. I did it for six months before finding a role that gave me the ability to use my communications degree. But it was probably the best possible introduction to pure commerce and business I ever could want. It was really difficult, but it was great!

2) What led you into a career in telecoms?

I was looking for a job, just having returned from living in Japan for 16 months, and my friend asked if I wanted to join her where she was working selling mobile phones. That was November 1992. It was also 100 percent commission-based sales but a great business. From there, I fell in love with the industry and just couldn’t get enough of it.

3) Without naming and shaming, tell us about your worst ever boss.

Oohh – that’s very delicate. Let’s just say that you never know where you’re going to end up and to always manage your relationships carefully with an eye on the fact that you can deal with anything for a length of time.

4) What has been your worst business travel experience?

Over the years, I am sure I have simply blocked them out – but a few come to mind: landing in India for the first time and having to transfer from the international terminal in Mumbai to the domestic terminal to fly to Hyderabad in the middle of the night, in a very rickety bus, with no other women – PITCH BLACK night – a little scary; being really ill for the entire time during my one and only trip to Beijing so far; landing in Sao Paolo when I was 13 weeks pregnant with my first child and doing a week-long trip that included Argentina and Chile; and then the numerous delays, cancellations, bad food, cranky people…it is the joy of business travel. But at the same time, I get to typically fly and travel with people I like, stay in fabulous places more often than not and have been able to see a great deal of the world – albeit a few more conference rooms and less actual SEEING the places than ideal, but you have to pay the bills.

5) What has been the proudest moment in your career?

While I was at Cibernet, two new roaming data clearinghouses launched their services in 1998, and they requested entry into the Cibernet Financial Net Settlement Program. This kicked off a very challenging diplomatic process that involved competitors and customers and a great deal of fraught interaction among the players. I led the process along with my team, and it required a lot of effort by a lot of people – many very late nights. It was resolved successfully with the program expanding to include these new clearinghouses, and I am very proud of the work from that time. There are a few others that come to mind but this one has always stuck out for me.

6) Where do you see yourself in five years?

The industry continues to provide change and challenge. I see myself being in mobile, still thoroughly enjoying the technology and its amazing influence on our lives.

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