Lily Commander steps into her new role as President of AMA Charlotte with deep gratitude and a bold vision for the year ahead. In this welcome message, she reflects on the legacy of past leaders, shares her excitement for a dynamic new board, and outlines a powerful roadmap for connection, growth, and community within Charlotte’s vibrant marketing scene.
Tammy Tufty, AMA Charlotte President
Successful organizations like AMA Charlotte are powered by deeply committed people working shoulder-to-shoulder, behind the scenes to keep them alive. As the Chapter launches its new programming year, I had the pleasure of talking with Tammy Tufty, the new President, about who she is and what she is looking forward to as the chapter is focused on reconnecting with our marketing community after a few challenging pandemic years.
Q: WHAT’S YOUR STORY AS A MEMBER OF AMA CHARLOTTE?
This is my 4th year on the Board of the AMA Charlotte Chapter. I served as VP of Communications for two years before starting our Leadership track.
I got involved with AMA Charlotte several years ago by attending several events. I had let my networking lapse and sought connections with other marketing professionals. So, I attended more events, got to know some amazing people, took the leap and joined the board. It’s been one of the best moves I’ve ever made.
I’ve had the opportunity to work and learn alongside some of the best marketing professionals in Charlotte. Plus, by volunteering, I’ve stretched my capabilities and seen new professional possibilities I hadn’t considered before.
“I moved into my current role at Dell Technologies last year and was able to leverage relationships I’ve built through AMA as part of my interviewing process. The relationships I’ve built over the past few years have been invaluable. ”
~Tammy Tufty, AMA Charlotte President
Q: WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR THE CHAPTER DURING YOUR TERM?
The pandemic impacted our ability to deliver on our vision to be that go-to knowledge source for marketing and sales professionals in the Queen City. I’m excited to bring back a full slate of diverse, in-person events that help our marketing community face their challenges and opportunities head-on in this crazy, ever-changing field.
Q: WHY TAKE ON THE EXTRA WORK?
I love this group of people. They’re passionate, dedicated, and fun to be around. I want to support them and create an environment where they can continue to grow, personally and professionally.
And that helps me grow. It’s also a great way to expand my leadership skills and I’m sure a whole host of other skills that I haven’t even considered.
Finally, I love connecting with people in the Charlotte marketing community. It makes me happy to help others out. Whether it’s introductions, brainstorming or collaborating on events with fellow associations.
The AMA Charlotte team interviewed Banks Wilson, founder and President of Charlotte based marketing firm Union in our ongoing series with marketing leaders.
The agency is consistently ranked as one of the largest marketing employers in town. They are hiring! In fact, with a slate of new client engagements, there are twelve current openings to kickstart 2021.
Account Manager / Supervisor
Delivery Manager
Social Media Supervisor
Social Media Specialist
Paid Social Strategist
Paid Search Specialist
Programmatic Media Specialist
Email Marketing & CRM Specialist
Full Stack Developer
Front-End Developer
Back-End .NET Developer
UX Designer & Information Architect (UX/IA)
See comments for a breakdown of topics by timestamp.
0:16 Susan Wallace - Introduction to VP, Membership
0:38 Olivia Vaughn-Flam - Introduction to VP, Career Development
1:14 Banks Wilson - Introduction Founder and President @ Union.co
1:59 Bank's Career Background
3:08 Bank's Path to Entrepreneurship
4:25 Is Charlotte a destination for marketing professionals?
5:50 Advice for students seeking to pursue a career in marketing
7:14 Evolution of Union.co
12:50 Department Structure of Union.co
13:05 Service Line Specific Roles 1
4:24 Tips for staying relevant
16:08 Identifying Talent
17:03 Union is hiring!
18:30: Work culture at Union
19:35 Agency's Core Values
20:11 Details about a few open roles
20:17 Banks: {Delivery Manager Details}
20:59 Banks: {Paid Social + Programmatic Experience}
21:42 Banks {Social Media Lead}
22:27 Interviewing Tips
23:32 AMACharlotte.com Careers Page
24:18 Networking in Charlotte
25:28 Why work at Union.co?
Special thanks to our American Marketing Association - Charlotte Chapter board colleagues Susan R. Wallace, MBA and Olivia Vaughn-Flam for co-hosting with Wes Ninh Nguyen.
Did you know Premier Inc., a healthcare technology company, is one of the largest employers here in Charlotte, NC; with headquarters in the Ballantyne Corporate Park (South Charlotte Area)? Premier Inc. is a healthcare improvement company uniting an alliance of approximately 4,100 U.S. hospitals and health systems and more than 200,000 providers and organizations.
The Premier Inc. marketing team is led by Kaycee Kalpin, VP, Strategic Marketing, who has served on their marketing team for over 7 years. In this epsiode, board members Tammy Tufty, Olivia Vaughn-Flam and Wes Nguyen discuss all facets of marketing, such as the martech stack, agile marketing, team culture and much more.
Listen to this interview to learn the following:
0:26 Explanation of our Executive Interview Series
2:24 Kaycee describers her role leading 30+ Marketing Team Members
3:45 Journey to becoming VP @ Premier Inc.
7:05 Power of Networking (Hint: This is why AMA-Charlotte is here to serve you)
8:40 Why marketing talent should consider working at Premier Inc.?
10:57 Benefits of Agile Marketing (CC: Stacey Ackerman)
12:50 Marketing Technology Stack
14:40 Value of Data and Tools (ie. Salesforce)
16:40 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives
18:05 Culture of Premier's Healthcare Marketing Team
21:05 Top 3 Career Advice for Marketers
22:20 Kaycee's shoutout for AMA-Charlotte and benefits of staying hungry to learn from the local marketing community
24:28 Power of Community
25:35 Active Open Roles At Premier Inc.
28:55 Calling All Marketo Experts (Are you Marketo Certified?)
31:05 Characteristics of a strong marketing candidate
34:15 Interviewing advice
