Ep 153 – Live from AdMonsters PubForum – Chris Contreras, Chief Customer Officer at MNTN

In episode 153 live from AdMonsters PubForum Miami, Erik and Kerel talk with Chris Contreras, Chief Customer Officer at MNTN. Chris was first born American after his parents moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic. He comes from a long line of well-acclaimed family members, his father who taught himself English and practiced medicine, a mother who was an architect, and his grandmother who was the first female to run a bank in the Dominican Republic. Chris deciding between medicine and business eventually chose finance and has worked at Univision, NBC, Snap, and more Global Customer Success organizations.

Chris not only works full-time at MNTN but also has a lot of outside obligations including founding an angel fund, a mentorship program through MNTN, as well as a mentorship program in the CS sector, and mentoring VPs and SVPs. He believes that DEI is not something to be promoted as a time-based initiative, but something that is weaved into a workplace and leadership. Chris shares soft and hard skills employees need to have stepping into leadership positions, the importance of mentorship and why future leaders need to get clarity on their weaknesses to figure out a great balance for themselves, their team, and their company.

“I think communication is such a valuable component. As you move up in your career, the clarity, the succinctness of which you provide feedback, and just general guidance to a customer and internal constituent becomes even more and more important, because the time that you have with senior leaders is very limited.”

Timestamps
:33: Chris Contreras, Chief Customer Officer at MNTN, shares his career background with Univision, NBC, Spap, currently MNTN, and other startups

1:25: Chris talks about his family history, being the middle child of three boys, his family coming from the Dominican Republic, and him being a first born American

2:37: Chris shares about how he is a servant leader after being a part of a bad leadership experience, what it takes to move from junior roles to leadership roles, and how he’s carved his own path

4:55: The best advice Chris has received from his mentor, fellow servant leader, Charlie Echeverry who was the CRO for Univision Digital

6:24: An example of how Chris has seen the impact of leadership and how great teams have helped companies thrive

8:55: Chris shares the training program MNTN has for new employees who may not have ad tech experience and why it’s so important for those people to be involved in the evolution of building and growing the onboarding experience

11:30: Chris talkies about the two pieces about his leadership style and how he brings inclusivity to his companies

11:51: How Chris focuses on making sure there are opportunities for people who are behind him after he leaves his company

14:46: How Chris has navigated two important parts of his career, his ability to manage and his ability to build a pipeline behind him for others to take his role

16:44: Chris shares how leaders can allow their careers to move forward without getting boxed into a specific role

18:48: Chris’s experience with moving into leadership positions, this mistakes that were made, and how he has learned to develop employees to take over in leadership positions

21:11: Important soft and hard skills to have moving into leadership positions

21:53: Chris talks about the importance of mentorship in leadership and why people should reach out to possible mentors no matter if they think they will say yes or not

24:45: Where Chris draws inspiration from

25:21: One piece of advice for anyone who’s looking to level up into a new leadership position

27:03: What is on Chris’s music rotation these days including

27:21: Where listeners can connect with Chris and MNTN

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