Her Story
About Donna
Donna Bulford is a salesperson with 20 years of experience in advertising, media sales, and ad tech, based in San Jose, California. She holds a bachelor's degree in humanities and literature as well as a master's degree, both from The New School in New York City. In her role, she focuses on maintaining high morale within her department while collaborating with clients on media strategies and measuring activity through clean data and various tools. One of her most notable achievements was being part of the team at Burst Media during its acquisition and merger, which she navigated successfully earlier in her career. She values intentionality and resists participation mystique by analyzing goals from every angle to ensure they reflect personal and professional growth. Among the career advice she has received and shares is to follow the action, keep an open mind to growth opportunities such as those in digital media, and follow intuition for better client relationships. She advises women entering sales to listen to input but activate around what feels right for their own approach rather than treating all feedback as gospel.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Donna
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of my early mentors, an old-fashioned sales pro, advised me to follow the action and not get overly attached to certain processes or forms. He also said a rising tide lifts all boats, encouraging an open mind to growth and activity, whether in broadcast media or digital, and to listen to clients and follow intuition for success and better client relationships.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
For women entering sales, listen to advice but activate around what feels right for you and your business. Take what animates you and put the rest away. Do not take every piece of advice as gospel, even from managers, as it is just their opinion and not the essence of who you are. You do what you do for your own reasons and do not have to justify it to anybody.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest opportunity is that everybody realizes they have to transform and change right now, sparked by AI, creating openness to new things, new ways of thinking, and using tools like generative AI to improve profit margins. The challenge is confusion about why to transform or what the North star is, with many ways to achieve goals using high-powered AI tools, leading to frustration and unconnected dots in the rush.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My number one value is to resist participation mystique and instead be intentional, going to the depth of matters by analyzing goals from every angle rather than following routines or preconceived ideas. In both work and personal life, take a scalpel to preconceived ideas and business or personal goals to understand why you want them and ensure they reflect who you are and the journey you are on, speaking about them with intentionality and depth even if uncomfortable.
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