Don’t Pause, Lean In

In this episode, Nabeel Mahmood and Philip Koblence are joined by Mary Stanhope, Chief Commercial Officer of Unitas Global and founder of iMarket2. Mary spent the last 25 years working for start-ups and global enterprises refining the best practices to understand what customers want, to craft clear messaging and winning stories that engage buyers, and to grow businesses and product lines to the next level. After exploring her passions in the art industry, Mary found herself in the digital infrastructure world. Phillip inquires how Mary ended up in her current position, “I was always very curious about technology and helping people figure out how to use technology. And so I am always passionate about my customers.” Mary has a lot of experience in the product development cycle, so Phillip asks what companies do wrong and how they can improve, “A lot of times the biggest thing is doing what you think someone wants, versus asking someone what they want or need. There’s a lot of listening and a lot of asking that needs to go on.” The Nomad Futurist team wants to know how Mary went about navigating a typically male-dominated industry as a female, “I never paused, I always leaned in. And there comes a certain point when you realize, ‘hey, I’m going to be me.’ ” Nabeel asks Mary what’s the next big thing she is looking to do or is inspired by, “I've been spending a lot of time recently on the operating side really thinking about how to help customers use and consume, and not just fix a problem, but change what they're doing. So, I guess what's next for me is asking a lot of questions and beginning to solve that problem.” Nabeel leaves Mary with one last question: what would you tell your younger self? “Lean in more, and lean in faster. Sometimes being the only woman in a room I would sit back, watch, listen and wait. I would tell young Mary don't wait as long. Jump into the conversation - Nothing bad is going to happen and it's all going to be okay.”