A lot has to click in order for a career to grow in a certain direction. Business needs have to align with the timing of a desired move. Managers must prompt the type of introspective conversations that help individuals figure out where they want to go.
Or, as Sarah Cascone of Bluecore described it: “Understanding our wants and needs and finding that alignment within the organization is important.”
Cascone has certainly found a fit in her nearly seven years at the company — which provides martech solutions such as email campaigns and website services for retail brands — rising from events marketing manager to vice president of marketing. Leadership played a big part, she said. “I’ve had a variety of leaders throughout the years who were supportive in pushing the boundaries of my skill set and how I could grow,” Cascone said.
Sometimes, growth isn’t advancing with a preexisting team, but helping shape something new entirely. For example, when Caroline Thompson first arrived at Bluecore as a customer success manager, no team existed to handle client onboarding. Over time, though, it broke off from customer success and provided Thompson the opportunity to implement and drive its growth as a separate function. Now, she’s leading that team as director of customer onboarding and services.
“The main facilitator has been my boss, Kim Surko, helping me grow through my path and figure out what was needed,” Thompson said, referring to Bluecore’s current senior vice president of customer success and services.
Director of New Business Sales and Business Development June Schaufus noted that it’s important to consider direct reports’ larger professional goals when thinking about the future of both the company and employees.
“At the end of the day, Bluecore doesn’t make up employees’ whole identity. As employees, your mission is to help the company grow. But each company can only grow if their people are clear about what they want to achieve individually,” Schaufus said. “How we move toward the same goal, while each feeling fulfilled in our own roles, is a soft skill I want to grow.”
Recently chatting with Built In NYC, the three leaders unpacked the reciprocal nature of their roles at Bluecore: Growing as they lead their respective teams through what’s next while concurrently fostering growth at the individual level.
Caroline and Sarah, when you’ve spoken up in the past about where you wanted to take your career, how has Bluecore recognized that desire?
Thompson: My boss would ask me why I wanted to grow and what that meant for me. We’d work together on a plan to get me to that next level. She would be very clear about what I need to work on in order to get to the next level, helping me get there and giving me the opportunities to do the things that I need to work on while also making sure it made sense for the organization as a whole.
Cascone: I definitely echo that on that collaborative approach. Bluecore wants to offer every opportunity they can to our people within the realm of what also makes sense for the business. For my team, we delineate between both the hard functional skills, and the soft behavioral skills necessary to grow. We’re not only becoming functional experts in our craft, but we’re also learning how to be people managers.
Understanding our wants and needs and finding that alignment within the organization is important.”
Conversely, how do you help your team members grow?
Thompson: When you’re so involved in the day-to-day of a customer, it’s very hard to step back and let your team do the work while you manage them. Mostly, I use my general experience, feel out what people need and just listen. Then I communicate that back to my boss and we work together to formulate growth paths for people based on what they’re looking for.
Schaufus: Coaching doesn’t happen overnight. It’s about consistency. You have to chart out a long-term path. You have to prioritize your non-negotiables throughout the week, month and quarter and get to a point where you're able to look back and see your growth. I’ve had people in the past say, “It’s hard to celebrate the wins if I don’t see where I’ve come from.” Also, as a leader, the more I give, the more I learn in return.
Cascone: There’s a balance between how much you need to be involved and knowing when to step back and let them do things and learn. At what point do you let go of the wheel and let them try and learn for themselves? As a manager that can be challenging. I think that — especially for women in tech — it is really how you build confidence and competency. Us empowering them to do that is the best thing we can do.
Leveling up the leaders
How do you think Bluecore fosters a culture of support and empowerment for women in tech?
Schaufus: It starts from the top. The heads of finance, marketing and customer success are strong female leaders. It’s a very balanced leadership team with a wide diversity of thought. When you raise ideas, they don’t get lost in the fray, because people at the top want to listen. In my interview, our CFO Michelle McComb emphasized this value that ideas can come from anywhere. As a leadership team, our job really is around facilitating those ideas and prioritizing what makes the most sense for the company.
Cascone: Our culture is pretty transparent and empowering. It creates a partnership, no matter who you are or what your background is. We’re all in it together and we all want to succeed. It’s evident in the smallest meetings, town halls and company kickoffs — everyone’s rooting each other on, and it’s authentic. Our co-founders made that an important part of our culture from the start. They recruited and grew the team that way, too.
Thompson: We’re going to disagree in conversations. That happens in life. But there’s never a time where leaders aren’t listening. Everyone’s point is heard. It helps when trying to foster a culture of openness.
Resources at Bluecore
Lastly, what’s ahead for you and potential Bluecore newcomers?
Thompson: Bluecore started as a company focused on triggered emails. Now, we’re a complete email service provider. There are a lot of things that previously weren’t a priority because just a few customers were doing it. Now, I have to level up my entire team and build out an additional group to help support all of this.
We want new perspectives and new ideas from people who are joining, like June. We’re not trying to keep on with the status quo. We want to be disruptive and change things. Having a voice is really well-received here.
Schaufus: Because our suite has really evolved over the last eight years, we need to be in front of the top stakeholders within the organizations that we’re reaching out to because we actually have a solution that impacts their bottom line. I want our sales team to really believe that. The people, the unique solution we have and the huge opportunity ahead of us is such a winning combination. I can only imagine where we’re going to be in the next couple of years.
Cascone: We need to be known as the critical piece of your tech stack that helps you succeed in retail. That will be a big shift for my team and pulling the organization around that broader message so that we’re living and breathing that brand every day.
I’ve lived so many lifetimes at Bluecore. We’re about to live so many more. Anyone who’s looking to learn and grow and have a team behind you that cares about you being a rock star, let’s go.
