Digital & Dirt
00:23:22 · Ian Dallimore
You know, you were at your T Mobile ad solution, were at Brand Innovators, you had Stagwell, you know, you were at Gary Vee's and you've kind of become this iconic woman in the space. And there's a handful of people that I can with confidence say that about that are those iconic women when you see them on a webinar, when you see them walk on stage, you see a post, you stop what you're doing and you're like, this has validity. So I know that's a long winded way of bragging about you, but what what was it that helped build the culture at Vistar? Because I I believe that you were one of the main people internally that also did that. What... Is it just your personality? I know you're like probably full of fun and just love everything that you do, but what's like the heartbeat of that?
00:24:07 · Lucy Markowitz
[00:24:07] S1: Yeah. So it's like a tiny tornado in a lot of ways. As we all know, I'm limited in height, but not necessarily in voice and vocal ability. And so I think that part of it is like a little bit of shamelessness. I think being able to not be so worried about what everyone is thinking and try to go up to people, have a conversation, but not just based on nothing. I think that there's a lot of amazing people in this industry that they're not necessarily gonna come up to me. They don't know who I am, where I think there's a lot of people that I will like fan girl about. But it's also how are you gonna create those connections with people? How are you gonna follow-up on that? So when I think about how I've gotten to where I am, a lot of it is the relationship building with clients, making sure that to your point, you can't automate a relationship that you have. And there's a lot that goes back and forth over email, but there's also a lot of time that you spend in person on the phone with people. And part of that is making sure that they know as much as I could suck the air out of a room by talking. I also try and listen a lot too and understand more about the people that I wanna do business with, what their brand cares about, etcetera. And I think that builds trust of also knowing that I'm gonna make sure that things get done. Now to your point about culture, I think one, I'm surrounded by an executive team and obviously Michael, but also a lot of people that I started with at Vistar that joined, especially in the beginning. That was sort of the foundation that all of us had, which was this idea of we're gonna get stuff done. We're gonna make sure that it doesn't matter what the job is, even if it would be considered something that's like for someone more junior, like no job is beneath you.
00:25:59 · Ian Dallimore, Lucy Markowitz
[00:25:59] S0: I love that. [00:26:00] S1: And so I think that's really exemplified when I look at the teams that now I have, I would say the privilege to get to lead. I think those people embody so much of that. I would say all of the leaders at Vistar have, pardon my French. I don't know if we're allowed to curse [00:26:18] S0: on It this [00:26:20] S1: is in our DNA, this concept of just getting shit done. And I think that that means a lot, but it's also getting it done, getting it done correctly, making sure that we are tying a bow on it, getting people the information that they need both internally as well as externally explaining ourselves. But I also think we have a lot of fun. Like maybe sometimes a little bit too much fun. We show up, we like to have a good time, but we also kind of, I would say it's that work hard, play hard way about things. But it's everyone shows up from the most junior person on the team to the CEO, to the CFO. Like everyone wants to be a part of these kind of moments. And we've obviously had some really great special events that we've had, but not all of them are necessarily ones that cost a ton of money. But they're the types of things that everyone's going to remember. And they're part of what kind of bonds everyone together.
00:27:17 · Ian Dallimore
[00:27:17] S0: But I think what you're alluding to is like authenticity. And, you know, I have tons of stories of hanging out with your team. I will share, Katie and Jillian and Brittany on the LA team who I absolutely love. And they, like many others on your team, have done such an amazing job of like creating these experiences. Because look, at the end of the day, there's tons of products out there, there's tons of opportunities, but I think you said it best, like you work with people that you enjoy being around. And so I'll give a shout out to the West Coast team. And they reached out and they were like, Hey, you're coming out to LA, would you like to like partially fund, this concert? And I'm like, Absolutely. Like sounds like a blast. So as we do in the ad space, it's all about like treating the agencies brands and vendors, kind of coming together and having having this special moment. So the short story is, is what I realized is I was headed to an Usher concert, which Usher was my jam because I'm that old. And here Julian and I find ourselves amongst your team and 12 other clients are having the time of their lives as Usher roller skates onto the stage and takes his shirt off. And we realize we are literally like maybe one of 50 men and about 30,000 into its stadium just having the time of our lives. And I ran into a handful of these women in Cannes and they were like, I still remember that moment. And so that authenticity that exists, the connections that you have with clients, and it's not it's not like, hey, you bought me courtside tickets, because you guys are never just buying things and letting your clients go off. It's truly like you're creating experiences, you're creating friendships, And that's what I've noticed about you, is not that you just like to party and have a great time, but it's really just about like creating those connections and then it becomes more meaningful. And you act as like a consultive seller where it's like, Hey, I really enjoyed my time with Lucy, but also she's super sharp. Her team's super smart around data out of home, digital programmatic, the evolution into the future. Do you find your clients are more reaching out to you because of what you've paid for them to go do? Or is it more that authenticity of like, Hey, that was fun, but let's dive deeper?
00:29:32 · Lucy Markowitz
[00:29:32] S1: Yeah. I mean, when you think about just the idea of like what we have the opportunity to do in this industry with clients. I think number one, it makes it really fun, but it also I think is important to sort of pick and choose and sort of these really special moments are one, a great way to build these relationships. And two, it's a great way to celebrate big moments of kind of getting things over the line because often just as much as we're obviously advocating for programmatic, not even just programmatic, but kind of getting out of home to have its day in the light. A lot of times so our clients. And so getting some of these big campaigns over the line, this is actually a celebration for them as well because they've also had to put their necks Especially, on the I would say kind of where we're at now is like the pinnacle. We're hoping to have this be sort of this inflection point going forward. But I think that I've had the opportunity for a lot of these people that, I mean, being in this industry for now quite some time, you have people that you started with that you now kind of see where they're at. Those people, we were all starting out kind of at the bottom and you continue to grow over time. And those can be people that are your level or people that were above you now that have grown into CMO positions, are CEOs of companies, etcetera. And I think to me, I try and always pick up the phone. And if I can't answer a call, I will text someone and say, how can I help you? What do you need? I think that that goes one, it goes both ways. I think that you have to make sure that there's a giving and a taking that happens. But I also think it's caring about people and work just as much as also caring about them as human beings too. And that goes for both clients, but it also goes for your team. I mean, I think I'm extremely lucky to get to work with people that I work with every day. I think many of them are way better at what they do than if I were to do their job for them. And so I think one of the things is to always hire people in a lot of ways that are better than you or at least better at you than a lot of the things that you find that you might maybe is not your superpower, but it's someone else's. And on the client side, it's also like to be gracious.
00:31:57 · Lucy Markowitz, Ian Dallimore
I think people that are going out of their way that are continuing to choose to work with you. One, because we believe that it's a great solution that is gonna help them to run better campaigns than maybe what they were doing prior that are like really thought out and strategic in nature. But at the same time, it's also making sure that it's not just about the work and kind of going beyond that is what's going to have those like lasting relationships go further. [00:32:26] S0: Yeah. You're, they're taking a challenge, lot of your clients, because maybe digital out of home is new to them, programmatic out of home or out of home in general. So the team taking the time, the thoughtfulness, coming up with creative concepts and ideas, backing it with data, that's really taking that chance because on the other side of the fence they have this really really easy button that is buying Google, buying CTV, buying social, and you're like, hey, but this should be a part of that conversation. So so I love that mentality. So kind of evolving a little bit more with that question, Lucy, days was like, let me go a thousand miles an hour, sell as much as possible. You've now elevated into an extremely important role as SVP and GM of The US marketplace, which you guys by far dominate the space on the tech side, but also the sales side. How how have you seen your leadership style change? And as you've kind of grown into age. Yeah. I'm not aging you, I'm just career wise.