Amber French

I would say two things. One is meditation. My meditation practice is paramount in my life because it combs through the chaos from the day and brings focus, mental clarity, and calm to every aspect of my life; parenting, work, marriage, passion projects, community volunteering, and friendships. It helps me put my best foot forward when I have a clear and de-cluttered mind. Secondly, I would say co-workers and colleagues who had enthusiastic faith in me. It's so important not only to be heard, but for someone to take a chance on you because they believe in your ideas. There have been cross-functional team members, especially where I work now, that were supportive and encouraging regarding my creative ideas, and because of that trust in the vision, innovative projects came to fruition. I'll be eternally grateful to those teammates. I saw that more at Proximo than in any other role I've had. It's a game changer when people embrace out-of-the-box thinking and take risks. That's what successful marketing is about- capturing the attention of the consumer in a new and different way. It's not just in a vacuum or in a bubble that these ideas make it into a store or account. The only way any good idea can grow and take shape is when other people acknowledge and push those ideas forward. None of us can succeed alone. It kind of makes you wonder how many good ideas die because the organic and collaborative creative process is stifled in some way. I'm fortunate that my respective Brand teams don't hold tightly onto the creative reins so to speak. This attitude gives oxygen to innovative thinking so it can breathe and thrive.

The best career advice I've received is that you don't have to respond in the moment. You can sit with the decision, carve out next steps, and get back to that person the next day. That's a challenge for me, because I'm naturally wanting to get back to people quickly. My positions have always been heavily deadline-oriented, so I have to work very quickly, and it's a knee-jerk reaction often to want to quickly respond. Sitting a little while and chewing on a decision is best. Because I'm a fast starter, I often want to hit the ground running without anything fully baked, and some people have to remind me to slow down a little bit, it's not a crime for people to have to wait a day or two.

I would say expand the job description before anyone gives you permission to. I've consistently been handed more responsibility in every role of my career. I've almost never been handed more responsibility and given the title to match that increased workload. Choosing to do that work anyway, and put my best foot forward each time, means I just kind of learned to define my own measure of success. I didn't have to wait for other people to give me those things, like the title or the promotion. I just do my best work, and that speaks for itself.

One of the biggest challenges in my field is measuring the ROI on our display pieces. We work so hard on these beautiful displays that are show-stopping and impactful in-store, but it can be difficult to gauge the lift nationally. To capture the data from each individual store has proven to be a tricky task. That's something that I think, in the future, could be a huge asset to the Point-of-Sale strategy and decision-making process.

In terms of challenges more broadly, the beverage alcohol industry is hitting some hurdles right now. But that's life right? There's always bumps in life, and we get through it. When stuff gets tough, you work hard, you keep a positive attitude, and it somehow finds a way of working out. That's always been my mantra. Everything always works out.

I would say integrity is a big one for me, especially in this line of work. It's important that my internal stakeholders trust me with their requests and projects to source the right vendor for the job. On the flipside, I want my vendors to know that if they come to me with a proprietary idea or concept, they will then get the project if their idea wins. I sincerely value the client-vendor relationship. At the end of the day, our professional relationships have a significant impact on the trajectory our career.