Her Story
About Nancy
I've been at Mattel for 29 years, and I can honestly say I have one of the best positions at the company because I get to lead and influence the work that our brands do in the communities who need us most. I started with the events team and had many different titles under that team before moving over to philanthropy and the Mattel Children's Foundation in 2015. I ended up leading the foundation and philanthropy before they offered me to take on corporate events as well, which I've been doing for a little over 2 years now. As Vice President of Global Corporate Events and Global Philanthropy, I oversee over 60 people who are planners, project managers, and people who actually build sets here at Mattel. My work is a mixture of planning toy fairs, licensing events, and all kinds of shows, while also figuring out how we can intersect philanthropy into the main shows we have at Mattel. Mattel is a really big community-focused, philanthropic-based company, so cause marketing is a really big part of my world - working with our brands on product launches and how that can give back to the community. It's a full day of both sides, though during holidays and Christmas, philanthropy probably gets a little bit more of my time. I'm lucky enough to be able to lead part of a major company that is centered around community, giving back, volunteerism, and bringing out the best in not only our brands but our people.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nancy
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to dedication - not only dedication to myself and the work that I do, but dedication to my people. I think that they really feel that. It's not just me in this position, it's a whole team of people, and I really, really take that outlook. Inevitably, the leader of the group is the one that gets the sound bites and that's in front of leadership or posted in wonderful moments, but it's really a whole cohort of people that attribute to my success. And I remember that every day, and I make sure that I let them know that.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best and earliest advice that I ever received when I started at Mattel was 'use every resource.' That was a very simple suggestion from a boss way back when, and it actually has fueled my career trajectory ever since she told me that. To me, that meant reaching out to everyone within the company - if I have a question, need help, or want to learn something new, use every resource. From there, doors opened. Another really good piece of advice is if someone opens that door just a crack, make sure you go through it, because you can always make a decision to turn around, but sometimes that door will close. So for me, go through every open door that's offered.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The best advice I would give is to understand that you go into a position not thinking that you have to love every aspect of it right away - give it time. I think maybe we're at a point in time where people join a position or a job and they may have one idea about it, and it doesn't measure up quite right away. My advice would be to make it what they want it to be. To do that, you have to be bold, and you have to find those resources to kind of craft something that may not look like the career you want on the onset. Give it a moment, give it time, and actually cultivate it, and find the people that want to help you create something lasting and meaningful for you.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Transparency and authenticity are most important to me, and I bring that to both my work and my personal life. That's just the way that I've always felt most natural. I'm a leader that doesn't like to play in the weeds of maybe what people would think of traditional corporate America. I am lucky enough to be able to lead part of a major company that is centered around community, giving back, volunteerism, and bringing out the best in not only our brands but our people. To be a leader of something like that specifically, it's really just bringing a true personal, caring, empathetic feel to the work that we do. I really transparently like to share with my events team that my job is making sure that they get the best out of their career like I did. At this point in my career, almost 30 years at a company, I've learned so much that I want to make sure those of the younger generations on my team that have a whole career in front of them get the best guidance, mentorship, and transparent leader out of me so that they can have an amazing career like I have.
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