Her Story
About Tabitha
I've been in marketing for around 10 years, and my expertise is really about the full content strategy - helping clients go to market, whether they're trying to change their narrative, push forward a new product, or break into a new industry. This includes go-to-market strategies and oversight that spans their content program, social media, paid media, email marketing, and their website. I was drawn to communications because finding an effective way to connect people and understand the decisions they make about their everyday purchases was really exciting to me. I call myself a people-first marketer because I'm really drawn to people, and I think that you're able to really market anything when you have the right person there with the right ambition. I have a master's degree in organizational leadership, which taught me the science of not only how to manage people, but how to manage projects effectively. Marketing is a full machine, and if you're only looking at it from one point of view, you're really not going to get the full picture. About a month ago, I started a new job where I'm now a lot more in B2C marketing, working with national clients that have franchises across the United States, focusing on consistency while also being able to localize content. I also recently started being a professor at Robert Morris University, where I went to school, and it's been such a rewarding experience for me. The more that I learn in my career, the more that I get to share with my students through real examples that are only going to help them further in their careers.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tabitha
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute a lot of my success to my family, to my mom. My mom's not with us anymore, but she really just told me to be myself, go after my dreams. I was the first person in my family to go to a different college, to even move 2 hours away. Most people stayed very local, and my mom really motivated me to be who I wanted to be, and to continue to fight for that. When I was growing up and wanted to go into communications, my parents were looking at the economy and thinking I should go into business or healthcare, but my mom was just like, no, you're really great at what you do, and the way that you see the world. She told me just to go after my dreams, and to fight for them, and not to stop - just to find happiness. She told me not to compare myself to others, because you're not gonna get any better by comparing yourself. My family's support was just so great. It took some other people a little bit of time to get on board, and then finally they were like, oh, wow, you're making this name for yourself, you're doing this, you've been able to touch all of these different aspects of marketing as well.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
To women going into marketing, I would say share your ideas, and share your opinions, and never be afraid to be the loudest one in the room. We're not going to be able to create and find new ways of doing things if you're keeping it to yourself, or if maybe you feel too nervous to share your ideas. Something that I've always been motivated to do throughout my career was to speak up. I've worked with women and mentored them at the very beginning of their careers, and they would pull me aside and say, oh, I had this really great idea, and I didn't want to say it during the meeting. But no idea is a bad idea. People might have some research and be like, okay, we've tried that already - that's fine, but then you gather more information as you share your ideas more vocally. Your voice is only as strong as you make it. I'll throw it out there - people could love it, they could be like, oh, actually, I don't think that's gonna work, but that's fine, because I've already now gathered way more information, so when I bring an idea to the table the next time, it's even gonna be more pinned down.
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