Life and Work with Britni Gallello

Today we’d like to introduce you to Britni Gallello.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Britni. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I knew I wanted to go into marketing from the time I was a freshman in high school. There was something glamorous and exciting about the creative process that drew me right in. I ended up at Arizona State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the WP Carey School of Business.

I had a professor in college that told me what I have always learned and known to be true — it’s not always about what you know, but who. I took that advice and applied to as many internships as possible. I landed two of them during my senior year at ASU; one with the Phoenix Suns, and one with KTAR Sports Radio. I learned so much during the four-mount internships. At KTAR, I had the most badass mentor, Holly. Much of what I learned on how to be a strong woman in business I still believe I learned from her. She taught me confidence, and to speak up when I know I have something valuable to say.

After graduation, I was offered a full-time position with the Phoenix Suns, where I stayed working as a Sales/Marketing Associate for over three years. It was hard work, a lot of fun, but ultimately I decided that a long career in sports where we work 70 hours a week during the season (for very very little pay) was not what I wanted.

From there, I had the pleasure of working with some incredibly brilliant digital marketing teams at Yodle, Sitewire, BIG YAM, Alliance Residential, and Magnetry. My roles at each company varied, but one thing that I continued to grow was my leadership experience and my passion for data and digital marketing. I look back on my first years of management at Sitewire and cringe at the conversations I had with my team (sorry, Sam!). The leader I was then, after having worked for sports organizations and feeling like I had to bulldoze through anything to get support, was not reflective of the leader I wanted to be.

Today, I have the pleasure of leading two teams as the Senior Director of Performance Marketing at Tallwave. Tallwave is a happy mix of digital marketing agency and consulting firm. There, I lead our Media and Content teams, and we’re striving to stay competitive and strong in our market every day. While I’ve only worked at Tallwave for a year, I am incredibly proud of the team I have built there. We’ve even won a few awards this year for our hard work, and my team even nominated me (and I won! What?) for the Arizona Interactive Marketing Association’s Person of the Year Award.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Of course, it hasn’t been easy! Funny story; my first job after working at the Phoenix Suns was at Yodle. Mind you, I was one of maybe four women at the Suns in an entire sales department (30+?). There was a way I felt like I had to speak to my co-workers at the Suns which, while there, proved to be effective. It was a little brash and direct, but it worked for me and earned me some respect. Walking into Yodle, a team of mostly women, and then ultimately having a position where I trained others, I was still using the same communication style. Turns out, I was making people miserable. I’ll never forget this day: my manager at the time (thank you for this – Rhiannon), pulled me into a conference room and just said: “I don’t know how else to tell you this, but you’re a bitch”. That shook me to my core. I cried, felt terrible, and had no idea my teammates felt this way. I apologized and quickly learned that the male-dominated sports industry had hardened me a bit more than I realized.

While working at Sitewire, we participated in a team “communications” training that we called “Colors training”. What we learned was how each person had a different style of learning and communicating, and that as peers and managers, it was up to us to figure out how to communicate with them in the best way. If someone had a more empathetic, emotion-based personality; I spoke to them in a way that would resonate. If someone was analytical and straight to the point, I spoke with them in that way. It was a critical learning point for me, and I still use much of that information today,

Lately, my struggles have been less about how to manage and learn about my teams, and more about how to stand out in a leadership position. I tend to be one of the younger leaders where I’ve worked over the past few years, and also the minority on a team of men. Many of them supported me along the way, but several of them forget that they need to not just be an inward supporter of women in leadership, but an outward advocate.

My advice to young women starting their careers is this: Don’t let anyone tell you that your emotions are wrong, or that they don’t understand them. Know that there is value in being real – no matter what that is. Also, care about people. Not in a way where you feel like you have to ask them all the details of their personal lives, but if they’re going through something, support them. Have their backs.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Right now, I am the Senior Director of Performance Marketing at Tallwave. My two teams (media and content) focus on different but similar things. We are both focused on finding ways of getting the right information in front of the right consumer at the right time, and presenting it in a way that resonates. Our media team focuses mostly on digital media buying, and our content team focuses on content strategy, writing, and SEO.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
Yes! I’m just going to list them out for you:

Books: Fierce Conversations, How to win friends and influence people, Who moved my cheese? Seven habits of highly effective people, The subtle art of not giving a f*ck.

Podcasts: Battle tactics for your sexist workplace, HBR women at work, Savvy Psychologist.

Contact Info:

• Email: britni@gallello.com
• Twitter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/britnigallello/

Image Credit:
David Gallello

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