This is the third post in our Meet the Women of the Dell Partner Program series, which provides insight into what drives the inspiring women of the Dell channel. Missed the first posts? Get to know Joyce Mullen (President, Global Channel, OEM & IoT, Dell) and Cheryl Cook (Senior Vice President of Global Channel Marketing, Dell) now.
What is your current role/area of responsibility, and how long have you worked with the channel partner community?
I’ve worked within the channel for more than 11 years. In my current role, I am responsible for enabling partners and distributors through marketing investment and education to grow profitability.
What are your goals for your company’s channel business over the next year?
Dell is dedicated to helping partners and customers through their digital transformation. We’ve all seen entire industries change and the challenge to “Uber or Be Uber-ed” is real. In marketing, the digital landscape is critical. People research technology and make informed buying decisions online. I am laser-focused on helping our partners grow, find new customers and better serve existing customers. I am committed to positioning Dell as a leader in digital marketing transformation and will continue to invest in creating rich content and tools. I will continue to listen and gather feedback from our partners.
Outside of your family, please name a woman you admire and why?
There are many wonderful female philanthropists from our technology industry that I admire. These women are humble, grateful, and have giving hearts. Philanthropists such as Susan Dell and Priscilla Chan embody these traits. Susan Dell, founder and board chair of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, has granted over $1B for health and urban education for children. The foundation jumped in after the unprecedented 2017 Texas floods, launching a Rebuild Texas Fund, raising over $100M for recovery efforts. Priscilla Chan, co-founder of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pledged 99% of their Facebook stock to making the world a better place.
What advice would you give to other women in the industry? Or men?
Always operate with the upmost integrity. Communicate directly and honestly with those around you. Be open to new opportunities. Don’t be afraid to build new skills or to fail. Seek out mentors in all types of people both leaders as well as peers. And have fun along the way. Every business is ultimately in the people business, so stay close to your customers.
Please share some words to live by that have helped you throughout your career.
Prioritize what is important to you and keep those commitments. Between a full-time job, mother of two, wife and active community member, there is not a lot of downtime. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but sometimes family commitments must come first and at other times work commitments come first. That is my philosophy with my team as well and I give them as much flexibility as possible to find their balance. I believe in ‘work hard, play hard’ and ‘You CAN have it all, just not at the same time.’
What do you do for fun outside of Dell?
I love being with family and friends and am lucky to have a lot of family in Austin. I love to travel and while I have been to 27 countries have a long bucket list! And I love to hear of others travels and eager to learn so please share them with me. I just travelled with 24 family members to the Pacific Northwest. I enjoy working out, snow skiing and boating, but living in Austin do a lot more boating than snow skiing. You can find me on the lake in the summer with my dog who loves tubing. I like watching my daughter’s dance and ride horses and like many with kids my second job is a chauffeur. I enjoy volunteering with my daughters within Generation Serve & National Charity League. I served on the Board of the non-profit Generation Serve so if you are in Austin and have younger kids looking for family volunteer opportunities it is the perfect fit!
