Leadership Is a Skill, Not a Title: A Conversation with Christiana Marouchos and Becky Tasker of StackAdapt
When you are building a career in a fast-paced industry, especially one like ad tech where the landscape shifts constantly, it is easy to get stuck in execution. You do the work. You get the results. But somewhere along the way, leadership becomes part of your job. Not because of a title. Because people are looking to you to create direction and hold the line.
In this episode of Badass Women in Business, we talk with two leaders who have made that shift with intention and clarity.
Christiana Marouchos is Vice President of Marketing at StackAdapt, where she leads brand and communications. Becky Tasker is Vice President of Growth Marketing, responsible for data, digital strategy, and performance. Both women work in a technical space that is still dominated by male leadership. Both built their way up by doing the work, figuring things out, and learning how to lead real teams through real change.
Building Teams Requires Letting Go
Their stories started in a similar place. Both began in email marketing. Both learned to move from systems and tactics into strategic thinking. And both stepped into leadership without a formal roadmap. What they learned along the way can help anyone who is navigating growth in a demanding environment.
When Christiana joined StackAdapt, she was a team of one. Over time, she built a team of nearly 60. That kind of growth brings pressure. It also brings clarity. She shared how leadership meant letting go of being the person who does everything. Delegation, trust, and people development became core to her role. She learned how to move from owning tasks to empowering others.
Leadership Built on Systems and Strategy
Becky shared a different angle. Her early career was grounded in data and systems. She could see patterns, build infrastructure, and optimize performance. But stepping into a VP role meant learning how to inspire people, not just manage operations. It meant creating alignment across departments and driving toward shared outcomes. She spoke candidly about the learning curve. You can know the work inside out and still have to grow into leadership. That growth is not always clean. But it is always necessary.
Confidence Grows With Action
A major thread in this conversation was imposter syndrome. Christiana and Becky were honest about the moments when self-doubt crept in. When you are one of the few women at the table, it is easy to question your place. But both of them learned how to push through that feeling. Not by pretending it did not exist. By choosing to act anyway. By looking back at their track records and remembering that success was not an accident.
Confidence came from doing. From learning. From showing up again the next day.
Equity Happens in the Day-to-Day
They also spoke about how equity shows up in the everyday decisions that leaders make. Becky recalled how early in her career, she became the default note taker in meetings. It was not malicious. It was just assumed. That experience shaped how she now structures her teams. On her team, admin work is shared. Note taking rotates. Everyone gets visible projects. Everyone gets opportunities to lead. Equity is not just a value. It is a process.
Storytelling as a Strategic Tool
Christiana talked about the role of storytelling in marketing. In tech, most tools offer similar features. What makes a brand stand out is the way it connects with people. Storytelling is not fluff. It is a strategic asset. It builds trust, creates clarity, and helps people understand why your company matters. She believes storytelling is not just a tool for external marketing. It is a way to build internal alignment, drive clarity, and help teams see the impact of their work. In a world that often prioritizes speed and scale, storytelling slows things down just enough to make meaning.
Leadership Is Not the Same as Management
The conversation also surfaced a simple but often overlooked truth. Leadership is different from management. Management is about keeping things on track. Leadership is about giving people the context to care. Becky shared that when teams fall out of sync, it is often because they do not understand how their work fits into the bigger picture. Good leaders fill that gap. They make the strategy make sense. Then they give people the autonomy to execute.
Lessons Worth Holding Onto
Toward the end of the episode, we asked them both to share one lesson that has stayed with them.
Christiana said this: nothing is personal. When something feels hard, when someone disagrees, when feedback stings, it is rarely about you. It is about the system. It is about the work. Take a step back and stay grounded.
Becky said this: raise your hand. Even when you are not ready. Especially when you are not ready. Every big moment in her career started with a decision to say yes before she had it all figured out. Those moments brought growth. And growth builds confidence.
Leadership is Built Over Time
This episode is not about overnight success. It is about building slowly and with intention. It is about letting go of the need to be perfect and showing up with a clear point of view. It is about making space for other women while still owning your voice. And it is about staying honest when the job gets hard.
You can listen to the full conversation here:
If you are in a leadership role or thinking about stepping into one, this episode offers real stories and practical insight. Send it to someone who needs the reminder that leadership is not about being fearless. It is about showing up anyway.
