Adweek’s 2018 Young Influentials
Kinjil Mathur, CMO, Squarespace
“If I wasn’t at a for-profit company, what would I be spending my days doing? Should I be out there in Uganda doing microfinance?” These are the questions that keep Squarespace CMO Kinjil Mathur up at night. But it’s not as though she’s been squandering her time.
Since joining the company in early 2017, Mathur, 36, has pioneered its efforts to effect social change around pressing contemporary challenges. In honor of Equal Pay Day in April, the company offered a 20 percent discount for prospective female customers to emphasize the fact that women in the United States make just 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. In June, Squarespace threw its weight behind LGBTQ Pride marches in Dublin, New York and Portland, Ore., to demonstrate its support of equal rights and opportunities.
Squarespace has also embarked on new partnerships. A longtime sponsor of podcasts, it recently expanded its foray into the audio realm with Casting Call, a collaboration with Gimlet Creative. The company also joined forces with Madison Square Garden Co. to create the Make It Fund. Small businesses apply for grants of $30,000—the amount Anthony Casalena, Squarespace’s founder and CEO, got from his father to launch the company—and mentorship from both MSG and Squarespace.
Along the way, Mathur has pushed herself to become outspoken about her experience in the workplace as a woman, first-generation immigrant and a person of color. “Other people are looking to me to be that person,” she says. “And I’m honored to do it.” —Sara Ivry