MTR Team: Lital Barkan, our Sage Advisor

Q: What is your role at MTR?

A: My title is CEO, but my role is advising our clients and team members.

Q: Ok, but who are you, really?

A: Just a girl trying to make a difference

Q: What do you do for MTR clients?
A: I help them understand their path to success and ensure they get the support to get there.

Q: Where do you live?
A: I live in suburbia with my patient husband and three monkeys kids, in a quiet town in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains in southern California. Our claim to fame is that the show “Weeds” and the movie “Pleasantville” were filmed here. My favorite things to do all involve my family and the beach – my favorite people in my happy place.

Q: What’s the most exciting thing you are working on right now?
A: Expanding the methods, knowledge, and insights we offer to our community. It is not just about “How to” do all things marketing – it is about how to do them in a way that makes a difference.

Q: What is one thing MTR clients would be surprised to learn about the company, the team, or the process?
A: That though it feels (and IMO, truly is) like a team that has been playing (and winning) together since the beginning of time, most of us have never met in person. We are a remote company and our team members span the globe. One time, when I did meet a team member whom I had been working with – and video calling with – forever, the first thing I said to her was “wow, you are so tall!” I had never seen anything but the “news anchor” position – desk & up!

Q: What is an achievement you are really proud of?

Q: What makes you laugh?
A: My kids. Like Ayla, who at two and a half walked up to the kitchen counter and said “Alexa, can you change my diaper?”

Q: What 3 things do you need to create your best work?
A: Quiet, deep understanding, and inspiration.

Q: What is your vice/guilty pleasure:
A: Wordle and coffee...simultaneously when I am really being a rebel!

Q: If this were a high school yearbook, what would you be voted for: “Most likely to….”
A: Say something inappropriate.

Q: What else should we ask everyone and what is your answer to it?
A: “What’s the most inappropriate thing Lital has ever said to you?” ← See?

Q: Tell us one interesting (non-confidential!) thing about another member of the MTR team.

A: Duncan, Christina, and I all collect Starbucks mugs from around the world – but they both have ones that are way cooler than mine! Ashley wanted to get in on the trend, so she sent me Virginia recently… mother of presidents!

Q: What are your favorites (and why)?
A:
Book: Too many to possibly list here. I am currently reading – and loving – “A Beginner’s Guide to America” by Roya Hakakian. Some of my other recent 5-star Kindle reviews were for books whose characters have stayed with me like old friends: American Dirt, The Nightingale, This Magnificent Dappled Sea, Count the Ways. I also read business books, but that’s probably not as spicy.
Song: Imagine by John Lennon, because it just says everything there is to say.
Tradition: Definitely family costumes at Halloween.