Tillie Pinson: Creating Opportunity Through Support
“I don’t care much for the spotlight, but thrive in creating opportunity.” – Tillie Pinson
One of the most revealing interviews for our Company Culture blog has been our surprising exchange with Success Team Leader Tillie Pinson. Articulate, positive and always approachable, the VitalStorm veteran, who has been with the company since its early days, is not someone comfortable in the spotlight. This might come as a surprise to most everyone at the company as her confident demeanor suggests a personality at ease in any business situation. But her firm, straightforward work personae belies a staff member far more at ease behind the scenes; offering solid support and oversight to her team of client liaisons.
An avid soccer player, Tillie finds her strength “in the middle,” setting up her teammates for a shot at the goal. “I don’t care so much for the spotlight,” she shared, “but thrive in creating opportunity.” This busy team player, who has witnessed incredible growth in her five years at the company, enjoys the process of problem solving, brainstorming and innovating within her department. We spoke with the humble Team Leader about her beginnings with the company – and her role in its evolution from an SEM-focused business to a full service digital marketing agency.
You have been with the company longer than most of the employees on staff. Can you speak about how you became involved with VitalStorm?
Long story short, years ago I crossed paths with Milestone – one of our longtime clients. I started out as a part-time nanny for the owner’s kids and part-time office staff. I did odd jobs around the office at Milestone and eventually found a part-time gig in their security division. Around the same time, I had connected with Josh and Jeff and took them up on a part-time job Lead Qualifying. VitalStorm was in its very beginning stages. Josh and Jeff shared the client load and I was their data support.
My plate was full, with every nursing prerequisite complete, I was trying to decide between pursuing a second degree in nursing or working for VitalStorm. In the end, I was far too excited to see where VitalStorm was headed and knew I wanted to be a part of whatever was headed our way. Nursing would always be there, but I knew it was rare to be a part of something as special as what Josh and Jeff had started. Year after year, I am blown away with what we accomplish and feel beyond blessed to be a part of such a wonderfully talented team.
As the Success Team Leader, how do you navigate working directly with clients and overseeing the Success Team.
Everyone wants the same thing in the end; a marketing strategy that serves our client in the best way possible. We have a brilliant team that is passionate about what they do. What’s unique about our role is that we are not the experts in the account nor the mastermind behind the design/functionality/content. To me, this is what makes the job so much fun. We are always learning something thing new and each day there is a new challenge. As a team of Client Relationship Managers, we are here to serve our team and or clients. Neither one can be done successfully on its own.
More recently, especially as we have started to represent the Web Development Team and Social Media Team, I am learning that the best thing I can do is work with our Team Leaders to develop resources to better equip our team. The better educated we are the more proactive we can be for our clients. The more proactive we are with our work, the stronger our relationships are with our clients, which leads to continued trust from our team and continued success for the future of VitalStorm.
How does the Success Team work with the other departments?
The Success Team is a unique department in that we get to work closely with almost every team. This is one my favorite parts of the job. Our role is to be the voice of our team. We are here to educate our clients, be a valuable resource in their marketing strategy. In order to do this effectively we lean heavily on every department here at VitalStorm. Our job would not be possible without the strategic insight and support provided by the PPC Team, Creative Team, LQ Team, and Feedback Team. They all play a very crucial role in going above and beyond to do what is best for our clients. There is the adage, “You learn something new every day.” This could not be more true for the Success Team. We consider ourselves to be an extension of each department and do our best to represent them well.
Your department is one of the fastest growing in the company. What are the immediate expansion plans for the year?
The Success Team has, in the past, primarily been here as a resource to our PPC clients. We have recently taken on external communication for the Web Development Team and the Social Media Team. This will continue to be a work in process as we become more familiar with the ins and outs of each of these products. Since the start of the Success Team our goals have been to increase the number of times we proactively reach out to our clients, improve communication channels, and educate them about products, strategy, and, most importantly, the results. Continued goals for this year involve growing our team to where continued outreach to our clients is possible. As a long-term goal, I would like for our team to host/organize webinars, educating our clients on recent changes in the digital marketing world (Google products, etc.).
You spent some time crafting your answers for this interview. You clearly care about making the right statement regarding your work.
I’ll be honest, I have been a bit nervous to answer these questions. I have always been a bit shy and reserved. I am grateful that many of the challenges I face at VitalStorm have really forced me to break out of this shell. The idea of public speaking was enough to give me nightmares, but as my role has changed here at VitalStorm I had to put my best foot forward and give it what I’ve got. Some days I am more successful than others. That is one of my favorite things about being a part of the growth here at VitalStorm; each chapter I find myself looking back surprised and proud of what we have accomplished. It’s pretty incredible to think just a little over five years ago we had 10 brands that we managed and now we have over 200. What’s even more remarkable is that in those five short years we have gone from only offering SEM (PPC) to a full service digital marketing agency.
If you would like more information on what Tillie and her Success Team can do for your business, call us today at 877-311-5695.