Megan Steen ’04 is the director of brand strategy at ThirtyFiveSixtyFour, a podcast aimed at celebrating middle age as a time of growth and reinvention. Previously, Steen was the director of marketing at Quest Software and a behavioral therapist for children with autism.
During her freshman year, Steen was M-A’s mascot. “I had a lot of friends from middle school who were cheerleaders, and they convinced me to be the mascot because we were in desperate need of one,” she said. “I thought it was very funny at first, but it ended up being a very unique experience for me and I had a great time.”
“Being mascot gave me a lot of school spirit and inspired me to be a cheerleader for the next three years with my friends. I was always so sports-oriented, so it was cool cheering at the games and actually knowing what was happening,” she continued.
Steen also played softball all four years of high school as a pitcher and a catcher. “We had a great team, like a family,” she said.
After M-A, Steen went to Concordia University to study psychology. “I had learned about sports psychology towards the end of high school, and I had always been interested in how the brain works and our individual behaviors,” she said.
Following college, Steen worked as a behavioral therapist for children with autism, providing one-on-one therapy, and tracking their behavioral progress. “My younger self wasn’t very confident in the field, but looking back I wish I would have kept pursuing that,” she said.
Steen also worked at Quest Software for 14 years. She worked her way up from receptionist to director of growth marketing, where she oversaw email marketing, social media, website analytics, and revenue across multiple digital platforms. “I was able to have about eight or nine titles in my 14 years there because I had networked my way up and got to know my colleagues personally, which is super important in any position,” she said.
Steen is currently the director of brand strategy at ThirtyFiveSixtyFour. “My friend and host, Karen Stones, invited me to work there, and I instantly said yes,” she said. “I’ve never done anything with podcasts, and I love them and listen to them every day, so this was really a chance for me to start something from the ground up.”
ThirtyFiveSixtyFour, targeted at middle-aged viewers, offers weekly episodes with insightful conversations about thriving in midlife. They interview a diverse range of guests, from TED speakers to estate attorneys to musicians, each offering unique advice on entering a new phase of life. “I love how our podcast impacts so many people,” Steen said. “The best part of my day is when I get a text saying ‘I listened to this episode and I gained so much wisdom.’”
Steen’s job consists of working on content strategy, finding podcast guests, and advertising their startup. “It’s really cool to see how quickly podcast marketing changes. I have years of experience in marketing, but this is different, fast-paced, and so much more competitive,” she added.
As for her goals for the future of ThirtyFiveSixtyFour: “I would love to get our podcast to a place where we could sell it, and get really accomplished guests like Oprah or Michelle Obama.”
Steen’s advice to current M-A students: “Put in effort to stay in touch with your friends. You are all going to go off to do different things, but those connections are super valuable for the rest of your life because networking is going to be your biggest asset.”
To those interested in podcast marketing: “Marketing is always changing, so it’s important to stay in tune with social media and observe the strategies that companies use to achieve success and stand out.”
