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While some fans of the popular TV series, “Mad Men,” got hooked on the show solely for the drama, stellar acting and fashion, David Peña got something else out of watching — an interest in marketing as a career.

“’Mad Men’ was a time piece, it made me fascinated with the idea of being able to sell your time and ideas to build a career and also impact culture at the same time,” says Peña.

After graduation, Peña landed a full-time position at Canvas Worldwide, AdWeek’s Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year in 2019. As a brand strategist, he worked with their No. 1 client, Hyundai Motor America.

On the job, he was responsible for making sure that when a campaign was completed, it was displayed to the right people, at the right time, in the right place and in the right way.

“I learned about different departments, and that led me to create profiles of what I thought people would be like, their interests, hobbies, education and skills,” Peña says.

This exposure is what he says directly led to his current work as a recruiter in advertising for Rubin Postaer and Associates (RPA), using that knowledge as a superpower to then find good talent in unexpected places.

Peña credits CPP and the business professors and community for making his journey possible and attributes his success to a key factor. “It’s all about building authentic relationships with people.”