Read about Allegra’s Recognition in MM&M’s 2018 Women to Watch, Published on May 21st, 2018
By Catherine Mayone, Managing Partner, Publicis Health+Sapient
It’s always a thrill to see a mentee progress her career and be recognized for her accomplishments. So when Allegra Mira, Group director, analytics and data strategy at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, invited me to join her as she was recognized as a “Woman to Watch” at the MM&M Hall of Femme awards, I immediately said yes!
There was a time when I actually felt like I had failed as Allegra’s mentor. I was a senior leader with oversight responsibility for Publicis Health data and analytics functions, and I took a special interest in her. She had a very unique blend of left and right brain thinking as an English major who had found her way into analytics that I really valued. But, she was feeling a little lost at the time and no amount of counseling I could offer was helping her to find her way. I was sad when she left our organization, and when I was moving offices 2 years later, I dusted off the eloquently handwritten thank you note she had sent me that I had never been able to throw away.
Two years and two companies later, she was back in our organization! She had a new focus and determination in her career, a renewed appreciation for our company, and interesting new passions like being a circus performer.
I’ve been witnessing Allegra rise up and take on new leadership opportunities in her role at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness. Over the last year, she’s been leading the way with one of our clients to synthesize the data and insights from multiple agencies, both within Publicis Health and externally, and her work is being recognized and valued by senior clients. When she shared it with me, I was so amazed and proud how she was innovating, stepping up and leading.
Allegra said to me, “I’m just following your past advice that if I could learn about all of the different disciplines and how to integrate them, I would be really valuable.”
It turns out she was listening, and I wasn’t failing.
Catherine Mayone is a Managing Partner responsible for delivering Publicis Groupe’s health industry vertical consulting capabilities, bringing the deep health industry expertise of Publicis Health together with Publicis.Sapient’s digital business transformation offering.
Allegra Mira leads the Data Strategy practice at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, where she ensures strategic business insight for her clients by focusing on a balance of technical leadership and the subtle art of asking the right questions. As a data steward and a close partner to her clients, she is responsible for leading inter-agency efforts and building active teams.