Surviving In Corporate Leadership: A How-To Guide For Women
It’s not every day that I get to sit down with an uber-smart, super funny and equally nerdy badass Entreprenista. But, I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the amazing, Kelsie Skinner.
Kelsie Skinner is the Head of Marketing at Intello.
If you live in Bend, Oregon, you may know that the Pacific Northwest, and especially Bend, breeds a very special kind of career woman. And Kelsie embodies all of the best that our region brings to the table. She’s dedicated to her career. Works semi-remotely as the head of marketing for a fast-growing B2B startup out of New York. Runs, hikes, and is the queen of plants. In fact, I’ve never met someone with a greener thumb. 🌱
Anyhow, I don’t want to steal her thunder. So let’s get to know, Kelsie and what makes her the bomb-dizzle warrior woman and corporate leader that she is!
EM: How did you get started in your career?
KS: I’ll skip past the early days of Pier 1 Imports and Best Buy in high school; the real fun began when I graduated college in a recession and needed a few internship credits to round out my degree, and quickly realized that finding an internship wasn’t going to be easy.
My degree was in Communications and Advertising and I applied to intern (for free) at every major advertising agency in Portland. I’m pretty sure only one firm replied at all, and they didn’t reply until 8 months later…not the start I was planning on! 😳In the end, I did get a job at a radio group in Portland as a marketing team intern--hooray! Being an intern at a radio group, is pretty much what you would expect--a lot of handing out stickers at concerts, getting coffee, etc.
But two days into my internship the Sales Manager met me, and quickly realized I had more to offer than coffee runs and sticker handouts! I was pulled over to the dark side and accepted the newly-created role of junior sales associate. And because of my innate tenacity, I was promoted to Account Executive shortly after working in this commission-based environment.
For someone who struggles in the extroversion department, I was surprised at my unexpected success in sales, and while I continued to grow and thrive in the role, I truly hated every second of it. The team and my manager were amazing, but the sales environment wore me down. There was just too much uncertainty for me and felt a little too far out of my direct control. But the experience taught me so, so much about sales, communication, and ultimately made me a 100x better marketer, and public speaker. Without the sales role that I hated, I wouldn’t be where I am today!
EM: How has your career evolved?
KS: I desperately wanted to get out of sales and move into a role that actually utilized my degree and passion for Marketing. At the time, my boyfriend (now husband) and I wanted to move to Bend, Oregon where we’d spent a lot of time growing up. We’re outdoorsy and loved the lifestyle Bend would offer us. I was thrilled to find a job with a super brilliant book design agency as their Business Development and Project Manager. But once I was in the job, I realized that it just wasn’t a good fit. The team was small, and filled with great people, but their needs for the role ended up being very sales focused, which is exactly what I was trying to get away from. I moved over to a resort as their Revenue Analyst (random turn but was one of the most interesting jobs and taught me so much about business and data analysis.) About a year in I was asked to move into their Marketing department (finally) and expanded my role to manage marketing for a variety of areas from media buying, social media, real estate, and capital projects marketing.
Growth from here has been fast - I moved into B2B marketing for a hospitality-focused SaaS company and put my knowledge of the space and understanding of sales to good use. This is also where I got my first real management experience. My team tripled in size and became a close-knit, seriously talented bunch of folks. From there I was introduced to a startup from a good friend and joined Intello as Head of Marketing. The fit was perfect - authentic team culture with super-smart co-founders, opportunity to build the Marketing team from scratch, and lots of new challenges and ideas in a fail fast environment. We’re growing very quickly and have big plans for the coming year.
EM: If you could give your younger self 3 important tips about work life or home life what would they be?
KS: I think the best way I can share my insights with young professional women, is to echo a few key quotes I’ve heard from much smarter people throughout my life, that I think back to on the reg:
From my Dad, when a girl at school called me ‘weird:’
“That’s ok! We need weird people in the world. They’re the ones that make it interesting.”
From my Mom, when I was sharing my very critical opinion, again:
“Kelsie, you don’t always have to have something to say.”
By Torden Wall, during a merger when I was nervous about job security:
“All is good when you’re meeting your numbers. Bad things don’t happen when the data is good.”
By Michelle Marquis during an interview with me:
“Broaden your experiences as early in your career as you can. It’ll round you out and make you more valuable.”
From Jeff Robertson, my former boss, and friend, on delegation:
“Not everyone is going to do something the way you would. They’re going to do it differently and that’s powerful.”
By the traveling jingle salesman during my training on ‘how to sell radio jingles:’
“Just pose the question and shut up. The first one to speak loses.” ...Because really, if I can sell $40,000 in radio jingles I can get people on board with lots of things.
EM: What inspires you to keep going?
KS: Honestly probably a mix of a belief that anything is possible, with some competitive spirit and a (slight) fear of failure thrown in. When I’m feeling beat down there’s a lot of introspection that happens and lots of list-making. I’ve always been the type, that if I can get organized I believe I can do anything.
EM: What do you think women starting their careers need to consider or plan for?
KS: Do your research, pull some data together, and then ask for what you want. Expect that no one’s going to give you anything. And a “no” is better than a “maybe.” Whether it be following up after a job interview, asking for a promotion, or seeking that first client, keep pushing and reminding the stakeholders in charge that you’re present until you get your answer. Never settle for silence or be afraid of an answer. A “no” will at least let you move on to a new plan.
EM: Where do you want to be in 5 years?
KS: I’ve had a 5 and 10-year plan my entire life and that’s worked well. But today I’m beyond where I ever thought I would be in my career. I’m living my first dream, which was to lead an in-house marketing team. So, since I’m now thinking about the future a bit more, I can say that in 3 years I’d like to hold the CMO or CRO title and take my first startup to IPO.
When that happens, at 5 years I’ll be a permaculture master, living with my family at the base of some incredible mountains with some bees, goats and zero reliance on the grid, man.
EM: Do women in the workforce still face discrimination? How?
KS: Hell yes. Both sexism and ageism, for sure. I remember with crystal clarity the moment when as a young professional, I presented a cross-functional idea to the CEO of my then company. I was confident that my idea could help the company meet a big objective but, it was a little unconventional. The CEO promptly said “no,” and that I needed “more time on the planet.” Soon after, the exact same idea credited to an older, male peer was rolled out.
Another time when an employee on my team was on maternity leave, I shared during a senior leadership meeting what her goals and visions for herself were once she returned. Several members of the room (including another woman) said “Well, do you really think she’s coming back? Come on, a lot of women can’t handle that adjustment so it’s probably unlikely.” That actually happened three separate times in reference to different employees.
Having witnessed sexism toward new mothers in this way is sickening, and I truly believe that any time any person witnesses or experiences this type of sexist bullshit, they should speak up. To the person propagating the discrimination, and to anyone else who will listen. Speaking up is the only way to create change.
In the instance of my teammate on maternity leave, I quickly realized that this is a major issue for women that do not get enough attention.
I’ve witnessed women keeping pregnancies a secret when applying to a job, for which they’re very much qualified -- for fear that they will be passed up. I’ve seen women (and men) keep their family goals a secret for fear of discrimination or termination if their boss knew they were planning to get pregnant. Today, 78% of working moms believe they have to work harder than their peers to gain career advancement, while 41% of their peers think working moms are less dedicated to their jobs.
Let those statistics sink in. Any woman who chooses to start a family should feel supported and trusted in their job and feel comfortable enough to be honest with their manager. And if you are a manager, it’s your job to provide trust and support in return because happy and dedicated employees are what grow businesses.
EM: What are you passionate about doing when you’re NOT working?
KS: Growing food and flowers, running, biking, skiing, adventuring with our dog (shout out, Olive! XOXO) and family. My husband and I have been converting (and reconverting) a van for the last couple of years and trying to explore new places as much as possible. I’m also active in a couple of professional communities including Revenue Collective and Women in Revenue. There’s a lot of smart people out there and I’m blessed to learn from them!
EM: Is there a woman professional that inspires you above all others?
KS: My mum is number one for sure. She’s an incredible inspiration and taught me so much. Before I was born she became a mom to my brother at a pretty young age. At that time she worked multiple jobs while putting herself through college as a single mom. She’d receive a block of “government cheese” and would go down to the train yards with a friend to scrape grain out of the bottom of train cars so they could make bread.
Since the days of ‘government cheese,’ my mum’s worked her way up in her career and is now a Regional Facilities Manager for a very large commercial real estate company. She is absolutely unwilling to give up, and that drive has influenced the kind of person I am today. Oh and she also teaches painting around the country. Moms, man.
EM: What scares you the most?
KS: Getting stuck in an elevator. Also having to present something I don’t fully understand to a group. I like to be uber prepared, and I can’t stand “squishy” pitches where you’re hoping no one asks questions.
EM: How do you start your morning?
KS: By hitting snooze 3 times and then dragging myself out of bed to make tea. I live in Oregon but work remotely on NYC time so I get online around 6:30am for any morning meetings, and then get settled for the day. I usually take an early lunch around 9:00am and go for a run, or work out, or take the dog for a walk. I love the flexibility of working from home, and making my day my own!
EM: What’s your evening routine?
KS: I try to meal prep on the weekends to make evenings easier. My husband and I cook almost all of our food and the kitchen disaster is a daily struggle. So after I log off for the night there’s usually something I want to do like clean or get outdoors if I didn’t get to do so earlier in my day. Then make dinner, clean up, and then binge on Office reruns with more tea. All the tea.
EM: What’s Your Favorite Podcast?
KS: The Mission’s Marketing Trends and Radiolab. Can’t. Get. Enough.
EM: Are You Obsessed With Any Apps At The Moment?
KS: Lifesum has been a lot of fun for meal tracking. They have a Scandinavian meal plan that I’ve been using to justify to my husband that we should eat more seafood. I also use the Calm app when I travel. Rain sounds and bedtime stories about lavender fields are essential for Oregonians trying to sleep in NYC.
Kelsie, in the center, and her team at Intello.