What it takes to show up
The panelists wrapped up by discussing challenges they’ve faced and the lessons they learned. For Robert “Gronk” Gronkowski, 4X Super Bowl champion, sports broadcaster, and entrepreneur, one lesson came early in his career: talent alone isn’t enough without the preparation to back it up.
“It doesn’t matter how talented you are in the NFL,” he shared. “If you don’t know the playbook, you’re not going to play.”
The lesson applies to marketers, too, who need a clear strategy to turn ideas and capabilities into results.
Walden shared an experience that offered a different perspective on what it takes to succeed, particularly when circumstances threaten the trust you’ve worked to build. At one of her first jobs, a cash-strapped startup, the CFO gambled away the media budget for a client who had followed her there out of trust. Instead of giving up, she took out a second mortgage on her house, paid for the media, and launched her own agency the next day with the client in tow.
“It’s really important that you show up, and when people put their trust in you, that you be there for them,” she concluded.
