Women in Digital October 2022
On October 12th, we hosted our semiannual Women in Digital Panel. This year returning moderator Morgan Pressel, LPGA Tour Professional Golfer and NBC/Golf Channel Analyst, facilitated convivial conversation among female leaders including:
- Anne Fiorito, Director, Global Partner Marketing, Adobe
- Blair McCracken, Digital Marketing Operations Leader, CVS/Caremark
- Kristen Elliott, Digital Product Owner, Corporate Strategy & Development, Nationwide
- Shivani Srivastava, AVP, Marketing Technology, Humana
With the intention of these discussions being to have leaders share insights, career tips, and anything that may encourage one another, the conversation started with panelists sharing what they do when their workday ends. Answers ranged from coming home and spending time with kids and setting them up for a good night’s rest, to dog walking adventures, to stepping outside of ‘at home’ offices and finding peace. When we think of leaders of large successful corporations, sometimes superhero capes are associated with their accomplishments. It was refreshing to open the panel with some real-life transparency and visibility into the day to day of these superhero moms- of persons and of K9s.
Conversation flowed into discussing the advent of email, the importance of change management, touchless experiences for products and services, and how the business landscape has adapted after the pandemic.
Take a Chance
By far, the most insightful sharing on career came from the question: ‘What is the single most influential action you took in order to achieve the professional position you have now?’
Blair McCracken, first in the hot seat, shared that it was hard to come up with one thing. For her, it was not one single event, like a move or promotion, but learning and constant curiosity. This inquisitiveness for systems, tools, and new businesses fueled education and asking questions, taking various classes, and consuming helpful information. These activities kept her close to toolsets, which help her support her teams more effectively and fueled her passion for knowledge, which has kept her rolling on a path of passion. Her exploration of different industries and topics has allowed her to be incredibly relatable to her teams. She then emphasized the importance of relationship building for the purpose of genuinely connecting with others. Honest curiosity in not only knowledge but also people.
Anne Fiorito started by sharing some advice she received early in her career from a VP. He advised her to not be afraid to move laterally and learn. This knowledge would build a strong foundation that she could then leverage when she moved up and interacted with various teams that she now had the vocabulary and experience to relate to. She also noted being a problem solver and anticipator of needs empowered her to move business forward, develop her own leadership footing, and helped gain the respect and confidence of other leaders.
Building on Anne and Blair’s sentiments of the difficulty in just choosing one thing, Shivani Srivastava encouraged people to take a chance on themselves. She took a chance on herself coming from India despite the challenges of having an accent and being a young woman in tech. She encouraged people to come with a growth mindset and go the extra mile by pushing the boundaries of their comfort levels.
But if I had to pick one thing I would say, take a chance on yourself! I took a chance on me. I came from India as a young adult. I had an accent. I was a girl. I was in technology. I was young. There were lots of things that could have led me to be afraid and not take a chance, but I did. -Shivani Srivastava
Kristen Elliott closed with bringing everything full circle for the group. She shared that the most pivotal perspective she assumed throughout her career was being open to pivoting and exploring opportunities that you did not think were there for you originally or may have thought you were not fit for. Through the help of mentors and some personal advocating, she was able access her larger skillset and apply it to the technology industry.
In summary, building a strong foundation, taking chances, listening to wise counsel, and being able to advocate for ourselves are all things we can do to encourage our careers. We can then pour into others as we are undoubtedly more successful when we are able to elevate those around us.
For more from these panelists and to hear a bit on what they are watching, reading, and binging you can watch the panel on demand! A huge thank you to all our panelists and Lynn Brading for this wonderful event.
We hope to see you at our next panel session which will be this coming April at Adobe Summit 2023!
Women in Digital: Giving Back
Your attendance of the October 2022 edition of Women in Digital resulted in the donation of $2000 split between Pink Ribbon Girls and the Morgan Pressel Foundation. We appreciate your support in the prevention and fight of Breast Cancer. You can still donate to Pink Ribbon Girls and the Morgan Pressel Foundation today!
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