Humans of TMA: Tina Suh
Humans of TMA is a content series that showcases the diverse, interesting, and creative people that make up The Marketing Arm.
Let’s Get to Know Tina…
Can you describe what your role is at TMA and what that entails? I am on the State Farm account team working on brand campaigns in the media and entertainment space. My role is to help our client identify and execute authentic brand integrations and sponsorships. Part of my job is to consume a lot of media and entertainment, so I can’t complain!
What led you to this career/industry? It was kind of a last-minute decision not to pursue my dream job (at the time) as a reporter. I was a senior in college trying to decide how to pivot my life. When a door opened to intern at an agency in the digital/social practice, I just walked through it and LOVED it! My career mantra since then has been to stay open. Never say never and take new challenges in stride. It’s just putting one foot in front of the other.
What’s the coolest or your favorite thing you’ve worked on at TMA? It was so fun to bring Anthony Anderson from Black-ish to GMA to talk about the Good Neighbor Day movement State Farm was leading. I may have snagged a selfie with Michael Strahan.
What three words would your closest friends use to describe you? Loyal, committed, steady.
How do you bring your full self into your work? What unique perspectives do you bring? By setting my intentions every morning through prayer and some reading. It helps me tackle each day with gratitude to be alive and experience another day. Through this practice, I’m able to come to work with the right perspective and also help my team and clients do the same.
Where do you find inspiration? My gut reaction was to share a podcast or a book that inspires me, but I realized that my greatest moments of inspiration come from the people I interact with on a daily basis – coworkers and friends. I always love exchanging random videos, interesting articles and latest content binges with people! When people share their passions, that is an inspiration to me.
What is your guilty pleasure? Reality dating shows…currently rewatching Single’s Inferno on Netflix.
What causes are you supportive of and why? I firmly believe investing in the youth is our ticket to a better world for future generations. I’m joining this movement through my church and involvement on the Young Professional Board for Breakthrough. I joined the YP Board a few years ago because I wanted to make a local impact and I was amazed with how Breakthrough was addressing needs in the East Garfield Park area of Chicago. I feel like rather than being the one making an impact, I am the one being impacted and inspired by the resilience of the people involved.
What’s your hobby or passion project outside of TMA? It’s always changing (lol), but right now I have multiple hobbies. I love wedding planning (yes, I consider this a hobby), working out with Sydney Cummings, and cooking new recipes (‘cause I got motivated to develop my wifey skills and also binged Nadiya’s Time to Eat). Clearly, I am all over the board.
What’s the best advice you were ever given? You can’t control your circumstances, but you can control how you react to them. I think I probably just read it on Instagram or something. This piece of advice comes to mind because of the current pandemic times we are living in. Having the right perspective has made a world of a difference for me in both personal and professional settings.
What is one thing you wish more people knew about you? I wish more people knew how much my faith is infused into my values and decisions. It’s not something I feel like I tout because it’s so deeply rooted in me. I’m glad I can share that part of me through this question.
What has been your favorite cultural moment of the last few years? Seeing the rise of Korean culture through K-Pop, BTS, Squid Game, and Korean cuisine has been trippy because I grew up surrounded by the culture and language at home. My parents are Korean-Canadian immigrants and came to the U.S. right after they got married. At home, I speak Konglish (Korean and English mixed). It has made me so proud of my Korean-American identity to see more AAPI voices speak out and proudly share their cultures because there is so much beautiful diversity in Asian cultures alone.
Quick Hits…
What would be the name of your TED Talk? How Consistency Leads to Change.
What are you watching? Single’s Inferno on Netflix, Vlogs on YouTube (way too many to list but I like the somewhat cinematic ones that give me a sense of calm…), every new Marvel series that comes out on Disney+.
What are you reading? Memoir is my favorite genre to read. I am currently wrapping up The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates. A few other recent faves are Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, Educated by Tara Westover, and Know My Name by Chanel Miller.
What are you listening to? I always start my morning with an episode of NPR’s Up First. I’m listening to a couple of podcasts: Asian Boss Girl (a range of topics for the modern day Asian American woman) and Being Bumo (raw and honest discussions on parenting, fashion, influencer/entrepreneur Chriselle Lim and her best friend; I’m not a parent but the topics are fascinating to me). I have also been listening to a lot of 30 by Adele and SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo lately.
Who are you following? I enjoy fun, light-hearted social content like @upworthy, @mytherapistsays, and @corporatenatalie.
What are you ignoring? Negative energy. Get outta here!
Photography: John Gress
Tina Suh | Associate Account Director | Chicago Office
Tina has been at TMA for four and half years working across entertainment, cause, experiential, and more. She’s passionate about driving brand impact through community engagement and cultural moments. Tina calls Chicago home and is always looking for the next oat latte or vanilla-glazed donut to indulge in. She also loves to travel (pre-pandemic times) and hopes to hit up Hawaii and New Zealand next on the bucket list.
