37 Inspiring Lessons for your Career, 5 at a Time (Part 2)
Tribe Building
At Setup, networking runs through the veins of the organization. For the past year, Setup CEO and Founder, Joe Koufman, has highlighted some of the lessons he has learned from people in his network.
The following lessons are centered around building, maintaining, and shaping one’s “tribe.” According to Seth Godin, tribes are “founded on shared ideas and values. Tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change.”
5 Inspiring Lessons for your Career
Build tribes that help ourselves + others thrive | Jacqui Chew
Since 1997, Jacqui Chew has worked within the Atlanta technology ecosystem, helping build and grow startups. For over ten years, she served as a startup catalyst for marketing, sales, and technology for the ATDC helping countless tech startups get off the ground and gain scale. In addition to her ATDC work, Jacqui runs a consulting practice - iFusion. Jacqui also served as SVP, Marketing for Avertium.
In her "spare time", Jacqui has been the licensee and organizer of TEDxPeachtree and now TEDxAtlanta.
Jacqui has built a strong community around herself for her "day and night" jobs. We should all build tribes around ourselves that help us and others thrive.
Balance + focus...Nurture relationships | Jeff Hilimire
Jeff Hilimire has been a friend, boss, colleague, client, and mentor for me. We first met in 2000, but got to know each other better in 2004 when Spunlogic was running the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AIMA) website and I joined the board. I went on to work for Jeff for six years at Engauge before we sold to Publicis Groupe in 2013.
Jeff is an inspiration to anyone who knows him. He is laser-focused on spending his time with his family, doing good in the world (48in48 and Ripples of Hope), and running a stellar, principle-based agency (Dragon Army).
He also wrote The 5-Day Turnaround designed to help people working in larger companies act more like entrepreneurs -
Show a genuine interest in others | Scot Safon
I am excited to highlight Scot Safon. He has had a really spectacular career as one of the most brilliant marketers I know with stints as Head of Marketing at MotorTrend Group, CMO for UPtv, EVP/CMO at the The Weather Channel, EVP/CMO at CNN, and SVP of Turner (now WarnerMedia).
The thing I really love about Scot is that he always shows a genuine interest in others - particularly people who have interesting perspectives on marketing. Scot loves to talk shop and always adds value to the conversation.
Value employees + customers and address issues head-on | Ben Chestnut
Ben Chestnut co-founded Rocket Science Group as a marketing agency in 2000 mostly serving large corporate clients. In 2007 they decided to give away their services clients to other agencies and focus on the Mailchimp business.
Today, Mailchimp is valued at over $4 billion and boasts around 1,000 employees.
The thing I most respect about Ben is his ability to remain grounded and empathize with his employees and customers as his business has scaled. Culture and corporate citizenship are incredibly important to Ben and his team.
Also, I recently got to ask Ben what his superpower was, and he said it was his ability to "put the turd on the table" - meaning that he was willing to bring up challenging issues with his team openly and in a straight forward fashion.
Build your tribe of supporters | Joe’s Network
I often tell new college graduates that throughout their career they should accumulate skills and people. I am very fortunate to have surrounded myself with some of the best people. I maintain friendships that date back from childhood through my time founding and running Setup in early 2014 to the present.
To honor my tribe and to inspire others to appreciate those who paved the way for their success, I wrote a blog. “Form Your Tribe of Supporters” highlights those who have impacted me, and provides tips to others on how to foster and manage their tribe.
Read more - Form Your Tribe of Supporters
Because of the people in the Setup tribe, we have been able to do great things, including connecting established brands and marketing agencies to make a difference. We have helped brand-side marketers at world-renowned companies with hundreds of thousands of employees as well as smaller, less flashy brands identify new agencies to bring their marketing visions to life. Bringing people together is the foundation of who Setup is and what we do.
Who is in your tribe? Make sure you:
Let your tribe know their impact and value
Contribute reciprocally
Pay it forward
Navigating the marketing industry often leads professionals to stick to either the Agency or Brand side, potentially limiting their growth opportunities. In our series, we delve into the experiences of marketers who have made the jump from one side to the other. Building on our previous exploration of transitioning from Client to Agency-side marketing, this time we interviewed Allison Turner, who has transitioned from Agency roles to becoming the Marketing Copy Manager at Floor & Decor on the Client side.
This journey highlights how working on both sides can enhance a marketer's skills and adaptability, making them more equipped to handle diverse tasks and challenges.