Her Story
About Gabrielle
I'm a Director of Product Management at NCR Voyix, where we make restaurant and retail software and hardware, though I focus mostly on software. I work on the platform layer, which includes the APIs and data infrastructure that sits underneath all of the tools people actually log in and use. It's sort of like the engine that powers it all, and it also powers partners like DoorDash and Uber Eats to use the same systems that our restaurant customers use. I started my career in a rotational program at Nielsen, and one of those rotations was in product management, so I just kind of fell in love with it there. I did some time at that company, then spent some time at a startup in Canada, and then found my way to NCR Voyix after that. I grew up in Dayton and went to UD because they had this student-run business concept with nine different businesses on campus, all run by students from the CEO to the people behind the coffee bar. I learned business and leadership and rose through that experience, hired and fired people before I even graduated. That's actually how I got the connection who got me the referral at the rotational program I joined at Nielsen originally, so that was kind of the precipice of my career.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Gabrielle
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it's a little bit of my nature. I've always gotten a lot of utility out of the output of my brain, if that makes sense. I naturally want to exercise those brain muscles. I like to learn things that are hard and complicated, and I ultimately like to be useful to the people or the world around me. When I'm doing those things professionally, it's a good mix. I think I'm a better mom and a better partner for having that challenging career balance, mentally, on top of just the day-to-day learning that offers. I value that sort of reward, and that feeling, and that growth, and being around other smart, driven people to achieve hard things. It's really not like I have a desire at this time to be a CEO one day or have these large ambitions. It's just that I enjoy the day-to-day of that challenge and the balance it offers me to be a better, more well-rounded person.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The only person that can decide that you can't is you. You know, hearing anybody say that you're not qualified, or questioning your abilities, maybe because of who you are, your background, or your age - the only person that can really decide if you are capable is you. They might be able to decide if you get the opportunity in that moment, but they didn't determine that you were actually incapable, just because they didn't decide to pick you. Letting yourself be the owner of that kind of lets you be the owner of your career.
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