Coach Class
Coach Class is hosted by Dom Burch. He is a business coach and mentor. He interviews fellow coaches about their field of expertise, and inspirational leaders about what makes them tick, how they motivate themselves and others, and what it means to be authentic.
Coach Class
Careers Are Lattices, Not Ladders - How Michele Martin Navigates a Traveller's Career Mindset
In this episode of Coach Class, I’m joined by Michele Martin, Senior Director of Global Brand and Integrated Marketing at Ticketmaster, to explore how careers are really shaped — not by straight lines or perfect plans, but by curiosity, community, mentorship, and a willingness to say yes before you feel ready.
Michele grew up in Maine and stayed. She reflects on how growing up in a place that feels like “one big small town” instilled a deep sense of community — something that has quietly influenced every stage of her career. Combined with being a first-generation college student, this grounding created both responsibility and drive.
Her career began in journalism as a student newspaper reporter, before she realised it wasn’t writing that lit her up, but the commercial and advertising side of storytelling. An early agency internship proved formative, particularly because she was treated as a professional from day one — an experience that stayed with her.
A defining chapter unfolds at TD Bank, where she spent a decade across marketing, partnerships, sales strategy, and customer experience. It was here that mentor Matt Chevalier introduced the idea that careers are lattices, not ladders — and that sideways moves are development, not distraction.
That mindset led Michele into call centre and customer experience roles she hadn’t planned, but which became some of the most formative of her career, eventually opening the door to L.L.Bean. She joined through customer satisfaction before returning to marketing and brand leadership, working on purpose-led campaigns rooted in respect for customers, employees, and place.
From there, Michele made a deliberate leap into the startup world at Mercari, where speed, ambiguity, and ownership stretched her confidence and capability. Today, at Ticketmaster, she finds herself full circle — working again in sports, music, and entertainment, now at global scale, leading teams with curiosity, trust, and belief in people.
One of the most resonant ideas she shares is a traveller’s mindset: building just enough structure to move forward, while leaving room for happenstance. Mentorship and community — especially peer-based — run throughout the conversation.
The episode closes with advice that captures Michele’s approach perfectly: “Get a mitt and get in the game.” Wherever you are, show up fully — or have the courage to move on.
It’s a conversation about careers that meander, mentors who matter, and the quiet power of community — and a reminder that the most meaningful journeys are rarely the most linear ones.
🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, and please rate or share if it resonated.