Learn more about Nina McCann in this Women Who Wow profile. Nina is a marketing, public relations and business development professional with nearly 20 years of experience in the professional services environment.

Currently, she is the Director of Marketing for NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation), a national alternative dispute resolution provider. Her in-house roles at professional services firms have included overseeing marketing at a national accounting firm (Citrin Cooperman) and regional and global law firms (Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP, Nixon Peabody LLP and Fried Frank LLP).

Nina started her career as a publicist for a NYC not-for-profit organization, Victim Services, Inc. where she acted as a bilingual spokesperson, resulting in media coverage in The New York Times, Daily News, Newsday and El Diario.

Nina has contributed to numerous industry articles, participated in panel discussions and has been featured on the radio discussing marketing, public relations and media. She is a member of the Hispanic Public Relations Association – New York Chapter and a former Board member of the Public Relations Professionals of Long Island. She was honored by the L.I. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with its Director of the Year award, Long Island Business News legal marketing award and named a 2021 Power Women in Long Island by the Herald Community newspaper publications.

Learn more about why Nina is a woman who wows.

How I met Stefanie:

I was out of work for two months when the pandemic first hit and, while job hunting, I was also active on social media, searching for educational webinars to enhance my skill set while I had downtime. I stumbled upon this online program called Legal Marketing Coffee Talk while quarantined and it provided me with a daily dose of what I was missing in the legal marketing world. As Stefanie was hosting the show at the time, I was introduced to her within the legal marketing professional environment. I now follow her blog and on social media because, as a professional, her values including, women’s empowerment, diversity, inclusion and equity align with mine.

Tell us about your career path.

Like many before me, I fell into legal marketing. After living in London for almost 3 years, I signed up with a temp agency so I could start working right away. One of my first jobs was a maternity cover at a global law firm, the marketing team was a great group of women with which I am still friends almost 16 years later. We all worked very well together, supported and collaborated with each other. The powers that be decided to keep me on permanently and that was the beginning for me!

Do you have a mentor?

Yes, I have had several mentors throughout my career, but two stand out for different reasons. I had a strong female mentor who probably didn’t even realize she was mentoring me by helping me navigate the corporate culture. With her encouragement of my abilities in the corporate environment, she was a champion of me and the department she helped build. When someone values what you bring to the group, it empowers you to be your best. My other mentor was a man to whom I reported and he always made me feel like his equal and a team member rather than a direct report. Through his encouragement, I started to ‘lead’ more meetings and initiatives on my own, which resulted in my first director role.

What advice would you give to women in your field?

Legal marketing can be demanding, challenging and ever changing, so I would recommend joining a professional organization to continue to share ideas and learn, and network with others experiencing the same challenges.  It can make all the difference and turn your job into a career.

How do you achieve work/life balance?

It’s soo very important to me to be organized; if my desk is a mess then I am a mess. I jot down a daily ‘To-Do” list in the hopes of getting to cross items off the list but as we all know, unexpected things happen daily and the list just grows. Secondly,  I also put everything in my Outlook calendar which helps me manage deadlines and provides me with a more forward planning view.

Every month, I also take time to find personal or professional development programs to watch or listen– beyond what my company provides. I love learning! To relax, I really got into High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) classes during the pandemic.

How has social media helped you build your brand?

I love social media – I am a people person and I enjoy engaging with colleagues I’ve met throughout the years through different jobs and keeping up with them and their achievements and celebrating their successes – social media has been especially  important during lockdown as we are unable to get together in-person. Social media has also provided me with a platform to enhance my personal brand. This is not defined by who I work for but rather who I am, what I stand for and what I bring to the table.

What do you love most about what you do?

I love that marketing is multifaceted and encompasses such a wide spectrum. I am a multi tasker so I can start my day at an event, then move on to handling an interview, doing some industry research and ending it posting on social media. Every day is varied and different and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Also as a people person, I really enjoyed the events side, both live and now virtually, and the networking for the business development side. I loved being one of the ‘faces’ of the firm and representing my company professionally to clients, prospects, professional associations and community organizations. I often feel like a ‘brand ambassador’ for my firm.