Inspirational Woman June 2016: Marlene Williamson

Marlene Williamson is the Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Watermark, an executive leadership organization focused on the value of gender diversity to drive economic growth in business.  Previously Marlene was Chief Marketing Officer of a number of technology companies including Alfresco, BigMachines (sold to Oracle) and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (sold to Western Digital).

Prior to joining Hitachi, Marlene was vice president of global marketing for Ericsson.  She has held vice president of marketing roles at Symantec, IBM, Polycom and Acer.  Earlier in her career, she led global consumer marketing at Apple.

She has been named Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association, Partner of the Year by Yahoo, Innovator of the Year by Google, Outstanding Female Executive in Silicon Valley by the YWCA, a Woman of Influence in Silicon Valley by the San Jose Business Journal and a Woman Who Has Made Her Mark by Watermark.

She is a board advisor for a mobile messaging technology company, BadDonkey Social and for ContentXLerator, a technology system which enables the submission of video, audio, written and image content via a single page on a website.  Marlene is a former board member of the CMO Council and the Association for Corporate Growth.

She is certified in corporate governance from Harvard, is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Executive Marketing Program, holds an MBA from DePaul University and is a frequent international speaker on gender diversity and high tech marketing issues.

Get to know this phenomenal woman more by reading her full interview below!

1) Your background in leadership and technology led you to Watermark. Why do you think your experiences led you to your position as CEO at an NGO?

My career was as a High Tech Cmo for both startups and public companies.  As a go to market and digital strategist, I can help increase watermark’s brand awareness, solidify our positioning in the market, and focus on increasing membership value.

2) You specifically focused on global marketing for technology to consumers and industries – who is it tougher to market technology to – consumer vs industries?

That’s a tough answer.  Consumer marketing is often very generic.  You have to really find a unique positioning to rise above the noise of your competition.  Enterprise marketing is often unique—-you may have the only solution in the market—but you often need to build a market to drive demand.  They both have their rewards and challenges.

3) You have spent considerable time in powerful positions at big companies – Apple, Hitachi,  – what drew you to market technology vs another business industry being your academic background is an MBA?

We all have choices about how we want to spend our lives and develop our careers.  I chose to focus on marketing products and services that bring value to people’s lives.  While I am not an engineer, I love how the technology market moves fast and constantly develops products and services that make our lives better and makes the world a better place.

4) Now, we see tech entrepreneurs popping up around the world with greater innovative ideas due to dynamic platforms that allow us to learn more information and connect quicker – is this a fad or do you see the role of tech entrepreneurs growing stronger?

It is not a fad.  This will continue.  It is always an exciting time to watch entrepreneurs.  Watermark holds innovation and entrepreneur conferences each year which we believe help foster creative thinking, creating cultures of innovation and designing entrepreneurial environments not only for the classic entrepreneur but for larger public companies looking to stay innovative.

5) Many women are now taking risks to take a stab at becoming tech and social tech entrepreneurs by using technology to fulfill their missions. Do you feel a strong tech background is necessary to lead in this field today or are authentic missions the sweet spot?

I don’t feel a strong tech background is necessary if you want to create and leads a social enterprise.  However, it certainly doesn’t hurt.  Ideally you’d have an affinity for it.  I think you can hire the tech skills that you lack.  Social entreprenuerism is a hot market.  There is a great deal of interest.

6) What sets Watermark apart from other women leadership organizations?

Watermark’s mission is to increase the number of women in leadership positions.  We do that through advocating for women’s issues, increasing their leadership skills through workshops and building their network with other professionals.  Our membership spans all industries and all levels.  We have senior executives as well as emerging executives on their way up along with entrepreneurs.  We also support girls leadership programs so we are paying it forward for the next generation.  We believe the tapestry of professionals that you meet at watermark events help expand your network and horizons for future opportunities.

7) You have experienced leadership in a male dominated industry, when did your gender help or hurt you in your professional experiences?

Like many women, I was always the only woman in the room.  My thoughts and opinions were dismissed, even though the same thought was expressed by a man who was lauded.  I knew I was the token female.  It is especially difficult in the tech industry when your colleagues are often engineers who are comfortable seeing the world as black and white.  I never have and expressed the voice of the customer.

8) What would you tell your younger self about working in a male dominated industry?

Speak up.  Some people talk to think and others think to talk.  Men often do the former.  Make sure you find a patron—not just a mentor.  There is a difference.  A patron speaks for you and on your behalf when you are not in the room.

9) Have we come a long way in providing opportunities for women in high level positions compared to 30 years ago?

Yes we have. It is great to see.  But we have a long way to do.  It is slow.  I see more men with millenial daughters seeing how diversity of thought in business is good for the bottom line.

10) What are the three top reasons for women not succeeding in high level corporate positions today?

People always like to surround themselves with folks like them.  It is human nature.  Leaders need to be held accountable to increase diversity with their own mbo’s.  Woman must lean in as sheryl sandberg said.  She also said, find the right partner.  I agree.  If you want a partner in your life, make sure they will support you.  I would have never had the career I did without the support of my husband.

11) As a country what can we do as far as legislation to make women in leadership positions commonplace?

I know some people don’t like quotas.  However, unless it is mandated, sometimes change will not happen.  Europeans have seen change with their boards because a quota is mandated.

12) Lastly, who was your role model/mentor in your professional development and what advice would you give to any woman who is intimidated by her own possibility of success?

I am the first person in my family to achieve a college education.  My mother was a housewife who should have had a career.  She had the personality that was much more conducive to business than my father.  Yet working outside of the home was rare for women her age.  I would suggest taking more risks.  It is easy to say and hard to do when you have a mortgage and college tuition to pay.  However, due to lack of self esteem, I took jobs that I should not have just because i needed a paycheck.  Save your money so that you can say good bye to that job that isn’t right for you.  You will never regret it.