| | "I'm responsible for managing sales, systems engineering, marketing, and consulting for 400 of
Microsoft's largest corporate customers in New York City, Westchester, Fairfield County,
New Jersey, Long Island, and Upstate New York. In addition, I head up our internal employee leadership
and community involvement team for New York/New Jersey, with the mission of making Microsoft the best place
for all our customers, partners, people, and supporting communities we work and live in."
|  | | What makes Microsoft a good place for women to work?
| | "The flexibility that Microsoft offers people in terms of how we work-it's very different than
where I worked before. Previously, I had to be in the office whether it made sense or not. What's great
about Microsoft is that I can work partially from home, or leave early and work at night. No one
micromanages you. That's a big plus from my perspective."
| | | What has your career at Microsoft been like?
| | "I started out with a part-time marketing role in the field. I had two small children,
including a 3-month-old. I was able to work from home. At the time, there weren't that many of
those types of jobs around, so it was great. Then they offered me a full-time job. I still had
the flexibility to work from home. That was a huge plus, being a working mother. About five or
six years ago, my husband decided to become a stay-at-home dad, and I became a general manager,
which had more travel involved."
| | | Why have you stayed at Microsoft?
| | "The work flexibility here gives you the opportunity to be able to have a career and a
family. I have the ability to come in late, or leave at 3 o'clock because there's a school play.
Plus, culturally, it's the kind of place where there's not a huge hierarchy. For example, about two
years ago, we had some really good feedback from customers about security. I sent it by e-mail to
Steve Ballmer, and in an hour he responded and said it was a great idea. The people on the product
side also embraced it and said thank you for the great idea."
| | | How does Microsoft support the careers of the women it hires?
| | "We hold female executive roundtables because what's important is to give women exposure
to great female leaders. We also have an industry training conference where we invite all the women
to lunch and have leaders on the dais talking about their careers. In addition, I've been working
with local colleagues to get together regularly to talk about challenges and how to make this a better
work environment. From a networking standpoint, it helps to hear others share their experiences. We
encourage women to join outside organizations, like vertical-industry groups, that are good for networking."
| | | What are the negatives of being a woman in sales at Microsoft?
| | "I can't think of one, honestly. I've never felt I was a woman at Microsoft, but that I
was an employee at Microsoft. I've always felt like I could do whatever I wanted."
| | | What skills do you need to work in sales at Microsoft?
| | "Having customer experience, in terms of building relationships, is very important. As
is being comfortable communicating with senior executives. Verbal and written communication skills
are vital. You have to be able to think outside the box and be creative because we build strategies
that are crucial to our business."
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Women in Sales
