As Pinterest’s UK country manager, Adele Cooper is responsible for launching the social network’s ad business outside the US for the first time this year. She is hoping that marrying online with offline will be its key differentiator and help drive up sales for brands. When interviewing for her job at Google in 2003, Cooper says she took heart from Sheryl Sandberg’s advice, passed on to her by former CEO Eric Schmidt when she interviewed at the company: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat, just get on.” She says the advice has stuck with her and those two factors – the size of the opportunity and the calibre of the people at the company – have guided all her career decisions ever since. “Working with inspiring leaders early in my career helped me understand the importance of building a sense  of ownership, trust and autonomy.” Cooper joined Pinterest in 2015 after five years at Facebook and has been tasked with driving growth. “As we grow Pinterest internationally, we’re working on building awareness for the billions of ideas people can discover. Balancing thoughtful scaling while moving quickly is a challenge that I’m truly enjoying.”