Her Story
About Gayle
I've always been on the creative side, starting as a junior copywriter at an ad agency. One thing led to another and I moved to CBS Toys where I transitioned into management as assistant to the creative director. From there I went to International Playtex doing sales promotions and then to Bally Bras as Vice President of Fashion Merchandising. In 1989 I started my own business, All Colors Screen Printing LLC, handling marketing and sales while my partner did the artwork. We began with souvenir t-shirts sold in Manhattan shops and grew into the airport market nationwide.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Gayle
01What do you attribute your success to?
I wanted to prove to the world that I and other women were capable of building something from the ground up and managing all different levels of employees with all different kinds of backgrounds and do it successfully.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Keep a balance in my life. That can be very hard to do but I think it's extremely important and throughout my career I always looked for things beyond my day-to-day activities at the office and in the factory to keep me balanced.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Learn everything you can about the manufacturing because that's not something we as women growing up really were exposed to. If you step back and step away from your desk sometime in the manufacturing area of a business there is just so much to learn about the creativity involved but also the discipline that's required.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Finding good people and being able to keep them. It's extremely important to build an awareness of not only what your piece of the job is responsible for but also to be aware of what your coworkers are involved in and what their needs are.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
In my work the most important things to me are helping the next generation of business people who come to work for me see their worth and recognize opportunities that come their way and find a way to take advantage of those opportunities but not leave my company. Mentoring young creative capable business people is extremely important.
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