Interview with Kristy DelMuto, LLR Partners
For this year’s International Women’s Day, our team at Slice is proud to celebrate women across the marketing and communications industry through an interview series.
This interview is with Kristy DelMuto, the Vice President of Strategic Marketing at LLR Partners. Read our full interview series here.
How do you define your leadership?
To me, leadership is about modeling behaviors. I’ve always believed in actions speaking for themselves, so I would hope others see my leadership as demonstrating the behaviors that will enable them to grow into leaders, too, such as honesty and transparency, admitting what you don’t know, thinking about the big picture, and tactfully handling tough situations. As a woman leader, I’d add demonstrating to other women confidence to own my seat at the table and a commitment to helping elevate other women around me.
How has your leadership changed in the past year?
While the operational changes and challenges brought on by remote work in the past year had to be managed thoughtfully, as a leader I found the greatest change to be the heightened importance of focusing on mental health and wellbeing. Like most leaders, I wasn’t prepared or trained for that. We all had to figure it out along the way – testing out ways to effectively check in on one another, share ideas for coping with feelings like stress and isolation, and, as leaders, demonstrate through words and actions that every emotion and experience is O.K. There was, and still is, no perfect model for a leader in this situation. But I’ve found that being your authentic self through the highs and the lows, and reinforcing that we’re all doing the best we can, helps others through this difficult time.
Can you share a story that demonstrates a key learning for you in your leadership journey?
When I started my first job right out of college, I was innocent enough to expect the work environment I walked into on Day 1 to never change. Within 6 months, the boss I loved left, clients I liked were lost, I found myself in charge of other clients I didn’t understand, and I faced a host of other confusing business shifts. It was trial by fire, but it taught me right away to realize that people come and go, work environments are always evolving, and I should see these changes as opportunities to step up to plate. It propelled me into leadership roles with clients that, years later, led to my job at LLR Partners and set me on a path to seeing how I can lead at all stages of my career.
Who do you follow on social media that you would recommend to other women leaders?
Locally, Veronica McKee is always sharing wonderful ideas for marketers and in support of other women.
Thank you to Kristy for taking part in our interview series. And be sure to read the entire series!
