Meet Liana Douillet Guzmán, Chief Marketing Officer, Skillshare
Liana Douillet Guzmán believes that for a project or campaign to cause real-world change, it needs to be authentic and tied to real world action. She gets to work on that mission in her role at Skillshare, where she is responsible for helping to shape their long-term strategy, and overseeing their brand, communications, and partnerships. Learn more about her and her inspiring work in our latest feature.
For those who don’t know you, tell us a little about your background.
I’m currently the CMO at Skillshare, where we’re on a mission to inspire discovery through creativity. In that capacity, I’m responsible for helping to shape our long-term strategy, and overseeing our brand, acquisition, communications, partnerships and sales teams. Prior to joining Skillshare, I spent 4 years at Blockchain.com, most recently as the company’s COO, where I helped the company grow its revenue, expand into new product lines and geographies, and grow its user base 10x to over 40M. My work has landed me Forbes’ list of top 50 marketers and my philanthropic work earned me a spot on the New York Observer’s “Top 20 Philanthropists under 40” list alongside Olivia Wilde, Zac Posen and Carmelo Anthony, among others. A fan of dichotomies (which I blame on a childhood split between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Guilford, CT), I may very well be the only country music-loving, mean rice and bean-making francophile.
What are you most looking forward to about reviewing Anthem Awards entries?
It’s no secret that elements of our digital lives have a negative impact that we’re only just beginning to reckon with, but I also think this year has proven the profound positive impact that technology can have on our lives. When we were forced indoors, we used our digital footprints to learn new things, to find new ways to work, and to connect with family and friends.
Our resilience has been facilitated by and reflected in our digital lives across the last 18 months. I look forward to recognizing those who, in the midst of so much upheaval and heartbreak, inspired their communities to take action and helped create a better world for us all.
What does it take for a project or campaign to cause real-world change?
For a project or campaign to cause real-world change, it needs to be authentic and tied to real action. Real, long-lasting change happens when companies keep up their work after the spotlight fades.
How does your work at Skillshare support your mission?
At Skillshare, we believe that when we create, we discover who we are. We’ve seen again and again how the seemingly simple act of creating can be a force for growth and change in people’s lives. We want to inspire creative exploration, and expand the power of expression, learning, and discovery. One recent example is the Creative Activism Toolkit we created in partnership with Nikkolas Smith, and modeled after his Skillshare Original, Artivism: Creating Inspiring Art for Change. The toolkit centers on 4 key verticals: Learn, Listen, Make, and Amplify, the necessary components to transforming an artist into an artivist. In step with those key actions, the toolkit offers interviews with creatives like Nikkolas and Plant Kween, a playlist and podcasts to listen to, a tutorial on how to make art for change, and downloadable pieces to get the user started on their own artivist journey.
Bonus: What’s your favorite purpose-driven project or mission-driven campaign right now, and why?
I’m a big fan of Arts in Action. Part of USC Visions and Voices, Arts in Action plants seeds for positive social change by activating intensive arts projects between community partners, students, and faculty. You can learn more at https://artsinaction.usc.edu/
