How long have you worked for Brightspot? What brought you here?
I’ve worked here for just over two years. I started in January 2023. What brought me here originally was our previous CMO — she was a longtime mentor of mine and, at the time, was looking for a head of revenue marketing. As I went through the interview process, I already knew I’d be working for a strong leader, but I was also so impressed by the people I got to meet. It was clear that the team here genuinely cares about each other’s success, and it was amazing to see how much Brightspot walks the walk when it comes to our mission work. I could tell that working here would mean being part of something bigger and more meaningful.
You were recently promoted to Vice President, Marketing, to oversee all of Brightspot’s marketing efforts. As you step into this role, what is your short-term and long-term vision of the impact that marketing can have at Brightspot?
It’s such an exciting time to be stepping into this role. I’d say marketing has a direct line to impacting Brightspot’s brand awareness and revenue growth. In the short term, I’m focused on structuring the team in the most optimized way possible to ensure our upcoming events, campaigns and web initiatives are successful. We have some new faces on the team, in addition to me stepping into this role, so I want to make sure everyone is aligned on our go-forward path.
Looking ahead, I’m focused on maturing our go-to-market function so we can elevate the Brightspot name more than ever before. That includes working closely with our new Chief Revenue Officer, Warren Schuman, to ensure sales and marketing are aligned in how we grow and serve our customer base. It also means collaborating across departments — product, services and customer success — to ensure a successful launch of the newest version of Brightspot. I can’t share too much just yet, but consider this a teaser for some exciting new features and functionality coming later this year.
What inspired you to become a marketing professional?
I viewed marketing as a career that would let me use both my right and left brain. I love being creative, but I also love a good Excel spreadsheet and being in the data. Really, being in marketing is like constantly solving puzzles. You’re using data to identify issues and opportunity areas, then you’re implementing creative ways to then solve those issues. I knew that there would never really be a dull moment in marketing, and nearly 15 years later, that’s definitely proven to be true.
In your experience, what makes a great marketer and why?
I’d say a great marketer is someone who can develop a strong strategy based on the information at hand, then use data to measure success and keep optimizing from there. It’s important to value progress over perfection. One of the things I tell my team is that it’s not a bad thing to fail — it’s a bad thing to fail and not know why.
I know “failure” can sound like a strong word, but in marketing, we don’t have all the answers. We have to constantly test new theories and tactics, and expecting all of them to be winners is just unrealistic. The key is to keep iterating and learning, and not get discouraged when something doesn’t go as planned. That’s really what makes a great marketer: a willingness to learn and grow from both your wins and your losses.
What is the best piece of professional advice you’ve received in your career and how has it helped you?
One of the most helpful pieces of advice I received was when I stepped into a leadership role for the first time. The advice was that you don’t need to be an expert in everything, and hiring for your gaps makes the entire team stronger. Of course, it’s important to “know enough to be dangerous,” as they say, but true leadership comes from empowering your team to be the experts in their own disciplines. This builds trust, fosters career growth and creates a well-balanced, high-performing team.
Besides the people, what is your favorite part about working at Brightspot?
This one’s easy — it’s definitely our mission work. As I mentioned before, working at Brightspot means being part of something bigger. For example, we have one of our Customer Advisory Board (CAB) events coming up this April in Austin, Texas. At the end of the CAB programming, we’ll host a mission event that benefits students at a local Title I school. We’ll be volunteering alongside fellow Brightspotters and some of our customers. It’s exciting because we get to show some new team members and clients why this mission work is so important to us as a business, and what it means to stay consistently involved in our local communities.
What are your favorite activities or hobbies to do outside of the office?
I like to spend as much time as possible outside. My husband and I have a camper van that we’re obsessed with traveling in, so we spend a lot of time seeking out cool campsites where we can fly-fish, explore and hike with our dogs.
I understand that you live in Colorado, what do you like most about living there?
I love being close to the mountains and so close to some of the most beautiful nature in the country. I would say my job is pretty mentally demanding so being able to step right outside my front door and ground myself in nature is something that I absolutely love about living in Colorado.
What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it?
The last book I read was Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins. It’s not necessarily a fun book, but it’s one that I recommend. It basically provides a framework for how to prioritize net fulfillment in your life. Financial literacy is super important to me, so I always keep books like this in my rotation.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Italy is super high on my list right now. I’m dying to do one of the hut-to-hut hikes in the Dolomites, and then of course follow up with eating amazing food all over the country.
