In This Dame and Age | Women's History Month Contribution Blog
This Women’s History Month, we want to continue highlighting the stories and voices of powerful female marketing leaders. Our Women in Marketing series and our virtual women’s community “In this Dame and Age” provide a space for marketing women to network and share their journeys.
Read advice and stories from powerful female thought leaders from Hiscox, Georgia Oak Partners, and Northwest Pump in this Women’s Contribution Blog.
“Women empowering other women is one of the best ways for us to keep the momentum moving in a positive direction so that more women are put in leadership roles.”
MEET THE LEADERS:
Q1 | What inspired you to pursue a career in marketing?
Stearns: When I was a senior in high school, my home economics teacher asked the class to start thinking about what we wanted to do after high school. At the time, I had no idea and planned to figure it out after my freshman year of college. She quickly told me that even though I would take my core academics classes freshman year, it would be beneficial for me to start getting involved with groups related to my major on campus. She and I looked into some majors that were good in communication skills, design, attention to detail, and copywriting. She felt that marketing was the perfect fit for me, so I began to pursue it. Once I started to take my core classes and learn more, I quickly realized she was spot on. I thoroughly enjoyed my core classes and the topics we were learning. It's never too early to start looking into a career path and getting involved!
Sutton: At the risk of dating myself, I grew up watching the TV show “Bewitched.” I didn’t really want to be the main character, Samantha, even though she could twitch her nose and do magic. Instead, I wanted to be her husband, Darren, who worked at an advertising agency! He was always bringing his boss, Mr. Tate, home for dinner and having to come up with a new slogan for a client’s product (which, inevitably, Samantha would come up with at the last minute). My goal since childhood was to work at an ad agency, and I actually did for more decades than I’d like to admit, even owning a digital agency for nearly 15 years.
Q2 | Are there specific challenges you have faced as a woman in marketing and how did you overcome them?
Stearns: There are always a lot of challenges when it comes to being a woman in the workplace. I do, however, feel that those challenges are getting better as time goes on. Being heard and not being talked over has always been a pain point for me. The best thing that I have learned is how to effectively voice my opinion in meetings rather than talking just to be heard. I ensure that I have valuable input to add to conversations and make sure I have done my research, so I feel prepared when I speak on things.
Sutton: There have been specific challenges that I’ve faced as a woman in the workplace, not specifically from being in marketing, which tends to be quite female-friendly. It was worse early in my career, with male bosses either disregarding me, failing to include me, or even making passes at me. It’s much better now, although unfortunately, there are still some men who treat women differently. When it happens now, it’s more subtle, typically more microaggressions than anything too blatant. I wouldn’t say I’ve overcome the challenges of being a woman in business (does any woman ever overcome it?), but age does have its advantages. I’m much more confident and outspoken now. I stand up for myself and will professionally call out bad behavior, which not everyone appreciates, but at least I’m being true to myself. I will say that I get great joy out of being in a community of women marketers - we all go further (and have more fun along the way) when we’re supporting each other.
Q3 | Who is someone that helped you on your current path to becoming a marketing leader?
Stearns: In my second job out of college, I had two female directors who were the most influential people in my career. Both of them did not let anyone walk all over our team, and they always spoke up for me. I never felt like my voice or concerns were not heard when it came to them or our work. They gave me the confidence to stand up for myself, but also the tools to be the best marketer I could be. Women empowering other women is one of the best ways for us to keep the momentum moving in a positive direction so that more women are put in leadership roles.
Sutton: So many people have helped me along the way, and I hope I have helped at least as many young leaders! But I have to call out Rena Kilgannon in particular. Early in my career, right after I had gotten fired by a misogynist (one of those who didn’t appreciate my outspokenness), she hired me and I worked for her for nine years. Rena was a mentor and friend, and she provided me with a safe space. I learned so much from her - not only about advertising and marketing, but about how to be a boss and run a business. Those were lessons I relied on heavily when I eventually launched my own agency, Big Drum (fka Prominent Placement). Rena was so supportive, and even became my first client!
Q4 | What advice would you give to the next generation of women marketers?
Kelly: Speak up. Your voice matters, so continue to be curious and ask questions. Too many times in my early career I’d sit back and let others ask questions that were also in my head. I learned quickly that unless you speak up and become a part of the conversation, you can easily be overlooked.
Stearns: Don’t be afraid to be bold in your thoughts and ideas, but know it's also okay to fail and learn from your mistakes. Women tend to be much harder on themselves and hold themselves to a higher standard because historically we have had to so that we are on the same playing field as men. Treat yourself like everyone else and know that you are allowed to be just as vocal or direct in your thoughts even if they are not always right. You are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them
Sutton: Marketing continues to get more complex, requiring so many different skills and approaches. My advice would be to really get to know yourself. Understand which parts of marketing you enjoy the most and are best at. Is it writing and content, creative and design, analytics and data, or understanding the psychology of your target customer? Lean into whatever marketing niche is the best fit for you, but at the same time, don’t get too siloed. Continue to learn and adapt, and try to at least have a working knowledge of all the other pieces of the puzzle. And keep your network up! Knowing others in marketing as well as related fields is critical for future networking, career searching, or business development purposes.
Q5 | What were pivotal moments in your career that contributed to your success?
Stearns: In my first year as a Director, I came into an industry that is very male dominated, so I always felt a little out of sorts and like I did not fit in with the rest of the management group. As the person in charge of the e-commerce team, I noticed some outliers that were causing certain areas of the process to lose money. At first, I was afraid to speak up, because it was going to highlight the flaws of a high power person in the company who I just started working with. I began to do extensive research to make sure that the reporting I was pulling was correct. I presented it to my boss and asked him how he wanted to handle the situation. He looked at me and said, “What do you think?” That moment I realized I could either stuff this information down because I was afraid to make ruffles in the company with someone who was very well connected, or, I could present my findings in a professional way and help the company save money, even if it meant hurting his pride. I quickly put together a presentation with my findings and found time to present it to my boss. Needless to say, he was not happy after my presentation. It pointed out his flaws and missteps when he launched the overall e-commerce side of our business. However, in the end, he ended up accepting my ideas and letting me run the team without him. This was pivotal for me because I did not back down and stay silent. Sometimes it’s easier to stay quiet but not always what is best for you, your team, or the company overall. Making sure that women in my company are heard is one thing that I strive for and continue to push for my team so they feel validated and heard.
Sutton: Starting my own agency was the most pivotal moment in my career. I actually didn’t intend to start an agency. I learned how to do search engine optimization when I worked for Rena Kilgannon, and I loved it! Back then, it was much easier to do. I spent a little time optimizing all of our clients’ websites, and I wanted more! At the same time, I had 3 and 5-year-old daughters at home. After a lot of thinking and debating, I quit my job and started working for myself doing SEO (and later, paid search and conversion rate optimization). I naively thought that owning my own business would allow me to work less and make more money. The more money came quickly, but of course, I worked much more. However, it was on my own terms and I could make my own schedule, which was wonderful as a working mom. I originally thought of myself as a freelancer, but my agency grew despite itself until I had a dozen employees, seven figures of revenue, and cool office space on the Westside. I can’t even put into words how much the experience of owning and growing a business taught me. I am truly a different person than I had been before - much more confident, with such a wide variety of skills and experience. Not to mention a much larger network. It wasn’t easy, but I have no regrets.
Q6 | What emerging marketing trend excites you?
Kelly: My team's biggest focus in 2023 is to do more with less. Meaning, how can we squeeze the life out of the dollars we have by growing organically and creating brand awareness? Therefore, I’m not sure you can still put this in the bucket of “trends” but our focus this year is in three areas:
Influencer marketing
Short-form video content
Social with a focus on growing our TikTok account
Stearns: There are a lot of things I am excited about, especially in the digital marketing space. The biggest is the progression of SEO and how to improve your rankings online.
My team works very hard to improve our Google Search rankings, and everyone has become a much more thoughtful and strategic copywriter and we continue to learn and grow in that skill set.
Sutton: Marketing and sales continue to converge, which I applaud. I handled sales when I owned Big Drum, so I’ve done both. They really are inextricable, and I’m glad to see that the former dividing line between marketing and sales is becoming more of a gray area. I don’t know how marketers can create messaging if they’re not side-by-side with sales, hearing what actual customers want.
I’m also excited about how technology is allowing us to target people more precisely. Recently, my partner developed plantar fasciitis in his feet. Immediately, I started seeing digital ads for plantar fasciitis remedies. I know that privacy concerns are legitimate, and yes, sometimes this can be creepy. But I’d much rather see relevant ads like this - and I did make some purchases from them - than totally random or irrelevant ads that offer me no value.
Q7 | Do you have a favorite ad that is about women's empowerment?
Kelly: Over the years, there have been so many great ads that captured women’s empowerment. I think so many of us would agree that one that got a lot of press was State Street Bank’s Fearless Girl in 2017, which initially was created to ignite a conversation about the importance of gender diversity in corporate leadership. Of the companies that were identified at that time for not having females on the board, almost 50% now have a woman director.
Additionally, I really liked the Dove Real Beauty and Always #LikeAGirl campaigns that they’ve done over the years. Both brought out the insecurities so many women and girls feel but turned it around as a way to help build self-confidence. Of course, I’d be remiss if I did not include one of my Hiscox company ads we did in 2018 in honor of International Women’s Day. We ran a full-page ad in the NY Times, called “Women vs. the glass ceiling”. The ad was produced by Gyro, our agency at the time, and kicked off the next iteration of our I’mpossible® campaign which celebrated the courageous spirit and strength of female business owners and executives.
Stearns: I love the GoldieBlox ad that advocates for young girls to go into STEM careers that are historically male-dominated. It really shapes the way we should look at young girls. We should treat them with the same respect as boys so that they are encouraged to go into high power jobs in the future.
Key Takeaways
Don’t be afraid to speak up and speak your mind.
Empower other women, no matter your seniority in your role.
Hone in on your marketing niche, while staying abreast of the broader marketing picture.
If you’re a leader, advocate for the women (and men) on your team.
To celebrate women in the marketing profession and to continue highlighting them throughout Women’s History Month, we asked women marketing leaders to contribute to our Women in Marketing Series detailing their personal triumphs, tribulations, and advice about working in the marketing industry. Part 13 features leaders from Nationwide, NAPA, Neogen Corporation, and Pratt Industries, Inc.