Media Maven Gabrielle Gambrell, Hachette Book Group's Chief Communications Officer [Washday Woosah]

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I teach at Columbia University, I teach at NYU. I

(00:02):
tell my students, my mentees that in certain industries, how
you show up can dictate your success. In media and entertainment,
I'm very proud to work in media. I'm very proud
to work in entertainment. But a lot of it is
based on visuals, and that's just the fact of the
industry that a lot of people are very judgy, or
it's like, oh, you know that girl who's always dressed
really nice, are the one whose face is always done

(00:24):
and those types of things. So I think my life
being from Los Angeles, my family as well as my
career trajectory has impacted kind of how I show up
and doing the little family photos. My goal is that
my children look back. My daughter will look back at
her first birthday and say, oh, look at my family.
They all dress in peak, my favorite color for my birthday,
or you know, just having those really special moments to

(00:49):
look back to and smile.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Hey, hey va, fam I am here with a very
special guest. And I love meeting a friend before you
know too much about them. And I just had the
pleasure to get to know my guest today as a mother,
as a woman, as a friend, as a neighbor before
I realized what a big fing deal she was. And
I just want to say, welcome to Gabrielle Gambrille. She

(01:18):
is the SVP and chief Communications or chief Marketing Officer,
chief Communication, chief Communications Officer for one of the biggest
global publishing powerhouses in the world called Hashet.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
So Gabrielle, welcome to Brown Ambition.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Thank you for having me. It's so good to be
here and chat with you as a friend and as
a hash author. So I'm really excited for your book
when it comes out.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's kind of like sometimes when you get match made,
because we were sort of match made by a mutual friend.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
El.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yes, I knew from school Chris and I. We both
went to University of Georgia.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Is that right? Did you go to No?

Speaker 1 (01:56):
No, you know him from in ABJ.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
From m Abj. Okay, well, like complaining it two.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
I know he's from Maryland. I feel like maybe he
went to college in Maryland if I'm not mistaken. But
he's amazing. Chad Nelson is amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
He's so kind. I mean, that's how great he is.
Like I didn't even go to school with him, but
I feel like he was one of my school buddies. Yeah, anyway,
he knew you, he knew me, he knew we were
both young moms. We were living in Westchester, and he
just like texted one day and said, Hey, I think
you should be friends with Gabrielle. So I'm going to
connect y'all. And it actually worked out pretty it.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Didn't work out likewise. I'm honored to be your friend,
and I know I can call you. I want to
talk about money if I want to talk about how
expensive vacery is.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
You are so yeah, you're just incredibly well rounded as
a human, as a businesswoman, as a professional. I think
one of our first conversations we didn't even beat her
on the bush. We were talking about salaries at the time.
You were on Amazon, I believe, and you were embodying
all of the career strategies that I talked to about
all the time, which is like take those interviews, continue,
like keeping those relationships more, see what's going on in

(03:01):
the marketplace with your salary. So I want you to
talk about your career, but I also want to talk
about your badass origin story. Where did you build that
confidence and just the way that you approach your career
which is so head on, fearless and like a straight
shooter to the point you're going to look at opportunities,

(03:21):
You're going to do things fast and make like big decisions.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Well, thank you for saying all those kind things. I
think a huge part of who I am today and
how I navigate spaces and how I show up has
to do with the fact that I am from Los Angeles, California,
one of the greatest cities in the world, and growing
up in Los Angeles you see a lot of prosperity.
I actually come from humble beginnings, but because you're surrounded

(03:44):
by all the luxurious things and luxury I always grew
up like, how is that obtainable? If they have it,
that means I can have it too. So how do
I put myself in the position? Knowing I don't come
from a lot. I come from a highly educated family.
I'm a fourth generation graduate. I don't take that lightly
as a black woman. My great grandparents attended HBCUs because

(04:05):
they couldn't attend elsewhere, and so a lot of my
ambition comes from being from Los Angeles. And then I
will say my parents are both pretty much go getters,
They get things done, they make things happen, as well
as my godmother who raised me, my late godmother, who
my daughter is named after. So I look at my grandparents.
My grandmother black women, born in nineteen twelve, one of

(04:26):
the first black women to graduate from Smith College, went
on to get several degrees from Eastern Michigan University, Howard University.
She met my grandfather Howard University alum. He attended Howard
and medical School. So I always looked at them and
saw their accomplishments, their goals. And my grandfather went to
medical school, but yet he was a seasoned fashion designer.
He designed clothes for the Jackson Five and the Supremes

(04:49):
and Sammy Davis Junior and so many great black musicians.
So I look at a lot of the things they accomplished,
and I knew very early on that I could be
whatever my heart desired.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
That's incredible.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
I didn't know that about your great grandfather.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah, my crits, you watched the met was did he
pass that? Well?

Speaker 2 (05:07):
I don't know if you ever got to meet him.
Great grandfather.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
No, my grandfather, my grandfather. I met all your grandfathers. Yep, yep,
my dad is the youngest of five kids. So my
grandmother had my dad at fifty five zero, so my
grandparents are much older. They're no longer, of course, but
that was a work that was absolutely positively. They were like, wait, huh,
come again, I'm what. So my grandmother was born in

(05:32):
nineteen twelve, my dad's mother, and my grandfather was born
in nineteen seventeen and Augusta, Georgia, so that Georgia connection,
and so fashion has always been a huge part of
my upbringing. My parents used to hold fashion shows for
those in the Los Angeles community. My dad is the
best dressed guy I've ever seen. He thrust us up
to go to the grocery store from head to toe accessories,

(05:53):
like he cares very much about fashion. Every time he
comes in town from Los Angeles, the first thing he
does is like, let's look at your close and to
see what's going on. So all of those things really
helped to shape you know, who I am and how
I show up in the world.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Dang, I wish I had a fashion I mean, like,
I love my parents, but it was giving. We shop
at Ross dress for Less, we shop at you know sears.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Listen, we shop at Ross We love Ross, but I'm
not the most patient person. It's something that I'm working on.
It's a room for improvement for me, growth opportunity. But
my parents will find some jewels and Ross. They go
to the thrift stores. My cousin had a thrift store
at one point, so they are very patient shoppers. I
love Ross. I wish we had it in New York.

(06:33):
You know, Marshall's is buy our house. I go to
Marshall's all the time TJ Max, which is super close
to our house. But I got to work on my
patients while I'm there because I'm like, I don't say
anything and I just leave.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
But the way that you present yourself, it is something
that I admire. You will do the color coordinated family
photo shoot and I just like I saw you were
featured in Munamammy.

Speaker 3 (06:52):
How you said Munimomy.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
They did a story when it was Gigi, your daughter's
first birthday, best birthday. Yeah, you got both Jeffrey's decked
out in the pink husband is in the pink cable
net sweater.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yes, yes, color courtas points.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
How does that presentation factor into your career? How has
it factored into your career? Do you think it's something
that you use like as armor. Does it help or
is it just you know, it's just something that you've
always based on your childhood, innately cared about.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
That's a great question. I actually had a conversation recently
with someone so talking a little bit about my career.
I interned at WABC Disney ABC on a show that
was at one point Live A Regis and Kelly, which
is now Live with Kelly and markham Swallows. And from ABC,
I went to Paramount CBS. I was there for seven years,
then I went over right here at NBC Universal. I
worked for Comcast NBC and so working in television, working

(07:45):
in broadcasts, you're surrounded by beautiful, the looking people. You're
surrounded by best dressed. There was a time where I
was working at NBC and my pockets weren't like that.
But a lot of people during lunch breaks for going
to shop on Fifth Avenue and get outfits. So I
think because I've worked in careers that are kind of fancy,
if you will, or honestly, and I tell my mentees.

(08:06):
I teach at Columbia University, I teach at NYU. I
tell my students, my mentees that in certain industries, how
you show up can dictate your success in media and entertainment.
I'm very proud to work in media. I'm very proud
to work in entertainment. But a lot of it is
based on visuals, and that's just the fact of the
industry that a lot of people are very judgy or

(08:27):
it's like, oh, you know that girl who's always dressed
really nice, are the one whose face is always done
and those types of things. So I think my life
being from Los Angeles, my family as well as my
career trajectory has impacted kind of how I show up
and doing the little family photos. My goal is that
my children look back. My daughter will look back at
her first birthday and say, oh, look at my family.

(08:47):
They all dress in pink, my favorite color for my birthday,
or just having those really special moments to look back
to and smile.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
I mean, I don't know if you remember, but you're
the one who sent me the link to like this
family photographer who was doing baby newborn baby photo shoots.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, and that's.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
The only way I ever got like the beautiful family
photos of like the newborn photos of my boy, and
I wouldn't have even thought to look that person up
if it weren't for you. So I feel like being
in your presence, I am elevating my.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
You're too kind, You're too kind. Those are some beautiful
photos though, gorgeous photos. Oh and I have them forever
and yeah, very precious. All right, career, so you are
a maven.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Like if you look up that phrase in the dictionary,
but even is in there, I would see your face
and I know that you're in publishing now. But for you,
like just the communications career, that's always been the focus, right, Yeah,
can you talk about the early career moves you made
that felt really instrumental to getting you to where you
are now?

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, so I would take it all the way back
to high school. Two pivotal things happen in high school.
I attended Pacific Palisas Charter High School. So my high school,
we all know what happened in the Palisash My gosh, yeah,
very was burned. It did, it did. But I believe
on a bunch of alumni boards that there are a
lot of individuals in the community. They're working. I think
we may even be working out of the schools may

(10:07):
now be in Santa Monica for the time being, but
I feel very confident it'll be back before we know it. So,
while I was at Palisades, I've always liked English, always
liked writing. There's always that one teacher that has a
huge impact on you. My English tenth grade honors English teacher,
mister dan Zinger, was like, you're a great writer. You've
got the gift a gap. And I was like, do

(10:27):
I have to get the gap? And he's like, yeah,
your parents appropriately named you. And that kind of stuck
with me. And so in high school, eleventh grade, I
became editor in chief of the school newspaper, The Tideline.
My journalism teacher, he was over it. He was about
to graduate. He's like, listen, you're smart. You're editor in
chief of the paper. Grade the class, give everyone grades.
No way a fifteen year old. I was fifteen. I

(10:48):
graduate high school. I seventeen. I was fifteen and eleventh grade,
sixteen or seventeen senior year. A fifteen year old should
not be responsible for people's grades and how they go
to college. And I was signing articles, I was grading,
and I was in the system putting their grades in.
During that time in high school, I learned that I
loved writing. I love storytelling. I loved journalism and media,
and I also learned I loved teaching. I was in

(11:10):
front of the classroom and editing stories, as signing stories,
talking about pop culture. And so my undergraduate degree is
in broadcasting, it's in journalism. And so I actually wanted
to be on air, and then I realized I'm kind
of shy, believe it or not. And so then I
was like, Okay, I'll be a TV producer. And so
when I was working at ABC, I was working in production.
I was working in talent relations, working with the stars

(11:31):
that are coming on the show on ABC's Live Regis
and Kelly, and I was helping to produce segments. And then,
being very honest, I graduated with honors, had a three
point nine GPA, and I was making minimum wage because
typically when you start in television production, you start as
a production assistant. And at that time, in two thousand
and seven, I think it was like seven dollars an hour,

(11:53):
and seven dollars an hour is not enough to live
comfortably in New York City, not at all.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
Living at that time, what are you making?

Speaker 1 (12:01):
I was sharing. I was renting a room with roommates,
so I don't know. I was paying like seven hundred
dollars a month. I had a car, I had school loans.
I have my master's but I graduated with one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars in school loans. And so in
high school. Also so in high school, I was editor
in chief of the newspaper. I worked at a law

(12:21):
firm filing papers, and I worked at the mall. So
in high school, I also had three jobs. My entire
college career had three jobs. And right now I have
three jobs. So that's like something else too. I'm always
working all the time. And so anyways, I couldn't afford
to live. I was struggling. I was babysitting. I was
a waitress. I was working at a country club in Newrochelle,
New York. Whyika Gail country Club? And I was like,

(12:41):
I didn't go to college. You graduate with a three
point nine to be struggling, it's amazing. I'm working at
Disney ABC. What a dream. This is your dream that
you get hired after your internship. But I touched base
on one of my mentors, and I was very honest
and I said, I am financially struggling. I only make
minimum wage, and he said, come over to CBS, Come
my assistant. You'll make thirty thousand dollars a year. And girl,
I thought thirty thousand. I was like, oh my god,

(13:02):
I'm gonna make thirty thousand dollars and I would have
benefit something I didn't have working in production. So I
made the pivot from Disney ABC to CBS Corporation. Actually
I was a SES assistant a mentor just.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
To interrupt, which I know I'm gonna need to because
I know you.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
I'm gonna you know me. You get in there.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
You got me.

Speaker 3 (13:22):
Oh, let's double click on that.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
So the mentor, because that is pivotal, and I hope
people are understanding that it was a relationship. You're really
good at like building these relationships. Yes, where did you
Where did you meet that mentor? And then's yeah, how did.

Speaker 3 (13:36):
That help you?

Speaker 1 (13:37):
So senior year of college, IONI University where I'm happy
to serve on the board, Go Gills. Iona had to
meet a career mentor night and so they had different
individuals alumni who are working in the industry, and I
would above and beyond that. I went to my career
services office and I said, please give me a list
of every single alumni who work in entertainment, who work

(13:59):
in television, who work in film, will work in sports,
And it was thousands of people. I emailed each and
every person really yes. And so one of the individuals
who I emailed was at the career mentor event and
he's like, let's meet in person. I'm going to actually
be on campus, and so I met him. His name
is Martin Daily and he's from the Bronx and he

(14:21):
was executive vice president of network Sales at CBS, and
so that's who I called. And I was just very
honest and said, I'm financially struggling. I'm at Disney ABC.
He said, come over be my assistant, and so I
went over as a sales assistant. I have no desire
to work in sales. I don't like numbers. I'm a storyteller.
I was literally entering numbers and Excel all day long,

(14:43):
praying to God to get me out of it. And
so again he was my mentor and he was my boss,
and he said listen. Simultaneously, I was in college getting
my masters in sports at Entertainment pr because I realized
the TV production thing isn't going to work. Out. And
it's interesting because those I interned with, those who I
was a production assistant with, they are all executive producers.
Now I have friends with executive producers at Tamern Hall.

(15:03):
I have friends who all I worked with executive producers
at Conde nass GQ. And so they most of them
their parents helped them out financially or they had a
little bit of a cushion and help to live off
of that seven dollars an hour, which wasn't the case
for me. So while I was at CBS, my mentor said, hey,
just start meeting people. Tell them you're in grad school.

(15:25):
Start volunteering with different people at CBS. And I'm like, what, okay?
And so my goal was I went on a spree
of meeting senior executives VP R above VP SVP, EVP
and so my goal was each person you meet with,
impress them, Google them, talk about them, talk about the
career trajectory, how like, oh my gosh, she done these

(15:46):
amazing things. Tell me about yourself. I learned being from
La that everyone likes talking about themselves. Everyone wants an
opportunity to feel like a celebrity.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
I was like, you paid it on the podcast because
that's literally what I'm like, Wow, not.

Speaker 3 (15:57):
Too much on what I do the secret sauce.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah. Yeah. Everyone likes an opportunity a platform to talk
about themselves. So when I was at CBS, I went
on a road show. It was a domino effect. Everyone
I met with was really impressed. Eventually I met with
the EVP Chief Communications officer at CBS and the head
of HR who I met with prior, said I'm going
to warn you Bil Schwartz has a reputation of being

(16:20):
no nonsense. People are terrified of him. There's books written
about him, even a movie, and so she's like, come
correct when you meet with him.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
And I was like, Okay, how would you get a
meeting with him? You just email this.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
I just kept I kept no, I got a referral.
So as I started meeting with VP SVP EVP, eventually
every person it was a ripple effect. Every person was like, Hey,
I just met this young lady. Got Brielle Simpson at
the time. She's amazing, she's ambitious, she's in graduate school
to do PR. She's a sales assistant right now. She
doesn't want to be a sales assistant. Can you just

(16:51):
meet with her and I only met with these people
for five to ten minutes because very busy people are
not they don't have a bunch of time. But in
that ten minutes, I talked about how amazing their career was.
I kissed up to them a little bit, and then
they're like, Okay, here's somebody else I want you to meet.
My goal and attention of every meeting I had was
for them to introduce me to someone else senior. So

(17:11):
now I'm just making a network of senior executives within
the company. Eventually, I was referred to speak to the
head of HRD, chief human resources officer, who said, what
do you want to do? You're a sales assistant. I
was twenty one at the time, because I graduated college
at twenty years old. I was twenty one and I said,
I'm in school getting my master's in PR. I want

(17:32):
to do PR. She said, okay, I'm going to introduce
you to Gil Schwartz. So the head of HR sent
an email to the chief communications officer and said, Hey,
there's this young lady. She's super ambitious. I want you
to meet her. I know you don't have anything open
on your team, go be with her. So talk about
being emotionally intelligent and reading the room. I came in
my best suit. I was suited and booted, pinstriped suit,

(17:54):
and I had my portfolio. I had my resume, I
had writing samples from stuff I worked on in grad school.
And it was a few days after Michael Jackson died
and Gil Schwartz he had a lot of guitars in
his office. So I walked in and I said, Hi,
I'm Gabrielle, like, I'm so excited to meet you, and
I have my resume here. I know you're so busy.
I won't take up too much of your time. And

(18:15):
he says, sit down. He said, do you know Michael
Jackson was murdered? And it was just a few days later,
and I was like, I don't think Michael Jackson was murdered.
I think he died and something. He was like, it's
going to come out that Michael Jackson was murdered and
someone's going to go to jail ford and I was like, okay.
So he picks up his guitar. He starts playing like
human Nature and then I just start buying it out
a little bit, trying to hold a note. Why why

(18:37):
white guy Gil Schwartz Jewish man.

Speaker 3 (18:40):
Okay, and we're like, tell me, it's just young man nature.
Why why? Right?

Speaker 1 (18:44):
And so we're just jamming out and then at the
end of it, he's like, you want a job, right,
And I was like, I would love a job. He's like, okay, done,
And I said, do you want to look at my resume?
Do you want to look at my porfolio? He said,
are you smart? I said yes. He said will you
work hard? I said yes. He's like, okay, I'll find
a job for you. I'll make a job for you.
And that's how I came to the PR team at
CBS and I was there for seven years, worked on

(19:04):
everything from the Super Bowls, the Grammys, two and a
half men, How I met your mother, son of interests
with Taraji P. Hitson sixty minutes. So that like being
able to just read the room and vibe out with
this guy. And we later found out that Conrad Burray
went to jail for murdering Michael Jackson, which at the
time he did just do yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Careful because my like quasi adhd brain undiagnosed, I might
go down that little, that little path.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
But that was that was the thing right, But.

Speaker 3 (19:34):
Gale or Bill Gail gil Schwartz, he's.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
No longer living. He passed away a few years ago.
He's actually from Westchester. He's from New Rochelle, which named
gil gil Schwartz. Yeah. So a job was created for me,
and that's how I finally got my pivot into CBS
PR team. And I was there for seven years. And
then during that time, like just being able to take
advantage of opportunities, there was a lot of conversation about diversity,

(19:58):
equity and inclusion. And Gil called me in his office
one day. I said, Gabby, you're black. I said yes.
He said, people keep asking about diversity and stuff. You
care about that, right? I said, yes, Skill, I care
very much. He said, come up with a DEI comm
strategy and figure it out. Give us some press talk
about how we care about diversity and talk about our
diverse staff and our diverse talent. And I was like, okay,
So I did that. Led Diversity Communications came up with

(20:22):
a DEI plan, got a ton of PR hits for
the Chief Diversity Officer who's now by mentor year retired.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
Right.

Speaker 1 (20:30):
Oh yeah, so we need to be talking. We must
be talking. Two thousand and nine, twenty ten. That's right,
a long time ago. And then that caught the eye.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
Of a Comcast as the same age because.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Because I graduated college so early, we're the same age.
I'm only like a month older than.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
You, I know, but like how but I was like
figuring my shit out in two thousand and nine, trying
to get a job after college.

Speaker 3 (20:54):
Meanwhile, you're just like in the c suite, you know,
chatting with the head comms for CBS. Okay, Gabriel, I tried.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
I tried, and it worked out, and so Comcasts ABC said, hey,
we need some diversity help. Can you come over and
lead our diversity comms? So then I left went right
there to thirty Rock.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
New So you quit, yep, yep, I quit? Okay, how
did that go?

Speaker 1 (21:19):
It was interesting because I went to my boss at
the time and I said, hey, NBC reached out to me.
They slid in my DMS on LinkedIn, and they have
an opportunity to be a Director of Diversity Communications dual
reporting to their chief of Comms and their chief diversity officer.
And I think it's a great opportunity. I've worked at
Disney ABC, I've worked at CBS, and now I can

(21:40):
work at NBC. And I was like twenty six years
old at the time. And my boss said, don't do it.
You're not gonna like it over there. Stay here. What
do we need to do to make you stay? And
I said, I don't even think. I think it's more
about the opportunity to do something different. I've been here
for seven years, and I think I just want to
do something different. And he said, listen, one day, you
will have my job. Just stay here. It's gonna take

(22:02):
you twenty years. We'll have my job one day. And
I was young. I was like, I don would to
wait twenty years, Like I just would have That's not
what I've tried to do. And so we kept in contact.
I left. I went over to MBC, which is how
I know Chris Nelson. Christopher Nelson worked at NBC with me,
so that's how we met, and then I was there
for three years. I did some other things after that.

(22:22):
After that, I went to IPG FCB Global, which is
a marketing advertising agency. I reported into the Chief of
comm Chief marketing officer. It was amazing. I was twenty seven,
twenty eight thirty by the time I got there, and
I was traveling the world, going to Nice, I'm going
to can France, I'm going to can Lions Festival, Creativity,

(22:44):
direct reports around the world, after direct reports in Mumbai
and Johannesburg, South Africa. It was amazing. And then after
I left FCB, a recruiter slid in my DMS on
LinkedIn again and said, hey, I have an opportunity. I
know you're a professor and I have an academic opportunity.
And I was like, oh, I'm good. I'm traveling the
world like I'm not trying to leave. Actually be I'm

(23:06):
super happy. Have a great boss, have a great team.
And she said, listen, just give me five minutes. And
so I know your success is often dependent upon your boss.
I chatted with her for five minutes and she said, hey,
there's a very young, dynamic, powerful president of Barnard College.
She's looking for someone with media expertise because she wants
a publicist. She has a book, she wants the book pitched.

(23:28):
She wants to totally revamp how Barnard College Columbia University
is spoken about. And this is the salary for the role.
And it was a nice salary. It was a really
like parage salary who knew. So in my head I
was like, oh, okay, I'm engaged by this time. To
my now husband, I'm engaged a nice coin. I thought

(23:51):
Higher Ed like relaxing nonprofit. So I took the role,
and to my surprise, Higher Ed is a lot of
crisis comes SHS management.

Speaker 2 (24:01):
Oh, I think in this day and age, not so
much of a surprise.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Not so much of a surprise now. But in my head,
I thought, I'm dealing with entertainment, I'm dealing with actors,
I'm dealing with talent. I thought that was going to
be a walk in the park and it wasn't. So
I was there for a few years and then I
left George Floyd happened. My phone was ringing off the
hook because I have that DEI expertise that I did
at CBS, that I did at NBC. I actually made

(24:26):
the most I've ever made consulting, which is pretty amazing.
And then Amazon said, hey, what you're doing for all
this stuff and comms around George Floyd and Black Lives
Matter and stop Asian hate, come over to Amazon. And
so then I was at Amazon for three years and
then I'm now at Hashet, where I'm super duper duper happy.

(24:48):
Like you said, it's one of the world's largest book publishers.
We also have games and gifts and stationery and really
cool things like knock knock products. And it's been amazing.
I've been here nine months chief of Comms, working really
closely with our chief marketing officer, leading all branding for
the company, all social media, crisis comms issues management, public relations,

(25:10):
media relations, executive comms events. So it's been fantastic. I'm
super duper happy.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
That didn't take twenty years.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
No, it didn't. It did not take twenty years. Okay,
it did not take twenty years.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
Well, I want to take a breath for a second.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
Yeah, it's a lot.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
And at some point through there, I met you when
you were on Amazon. You don't have kids, you got married,
you bought a house. Yeah what what.

Speaker 3 (25:36):
When do you relax? How do you relax? That's a lot.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
It's a lot. It's a lot in your culture. And
I'm teaching still. So I brought my house at twenty
six years old. So I brought my house ten years
ago in Westchester, seven bedroom house, total fixer upper. You've
been to my house, so every year we've done a
project to try to step the game up. And honestly,
me buying my house wasn't me at twenty six and

(26:00):
I want to be a homeowner. It was my parents saying,
how much are you paying in New York City rent?
Why are you doing that? Like you're losing out on equity,
that's a waste of money. You need to buy a house.
My father, by the time it was twenty one, he
owned two homes, which is really interesting. And so my
dad's like, I was your age, I already owned two houses,
like you're behind, and I'm like, sir. So he helped me.

(26:22):
My dad, who's worked in real estate his whole career,
helped me come up with a strategy on how to
afford a house, how to come up with a down
payment because I didn't think I had enough, and he's like,
first time home owner, faha, you only have to put
a certain percentage down yep, yep, which is nothing compared
to typically people are coming up with twenty percent and

(26:44):
what have you. So he helped me with that, He
gave me the loan, He helped me with the entire process.
He actually flew into town and while I was working
and teaching he was looking at houses, he connected with
realatures and he's like, I got a house for you.
It's in a great area. My plans is fantastic. They'll
be great for when you get married. At the time,

(27:04):
I was only dating my husband, So it'll be great
for when you and Jeff finally get married and give
me some grandchildren. And so that. My parents did tremendously
help with the home buying process. And my dad was
integral to that because I wasn't thinking at twenty six
that I need to buy a home right now, but
with his help, I did. Yeah, and I'm grateful because

(27:26):
the going I got my house for more than less
than half rather of what is going for right now.
So it was a good thing.

Speaker 3 (27:35):
They got them cute interest rates. Yeah, let's take a
moment to be smug about it. But at least you
got really good interest ranging.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yes, Okay, still though, Yeah, you are someone who does
everything at a high level, and I want you to
talk about how you also incorporate fun and leisure and
luxury into your life, because I'm over here trying to
get to that level too, where it's like, oh, I
go on vacations like every month, every other month, like

(28:05):
we're doing a big trip like whatever. So how how
as you have been so aggressive? I mean, I don't
want to use that word in like a negative sense,
but so yeah, so driven in your career, did you
ever reach a point of burnout.

Speaker 3 (28:18):
Or or how do you avoid that?

Speaker 1 (28:21):
That's a great question. So I kind of justify I
am on a plane at least once a month. So
I'm very grateful to be on a plane once a month.
My birthday, I always go somewhere. On my birthday or
wedding anniversary, we are always on a flight. My husband's birthday,
We're always on a plane. And so I justify that
luxury because I work really hard. So it's kind of

(28:44):
like I'm teaching at Columbia, I'm teaching NYU. I have
a full time job that I love, but it's very demanding.
I'm a senior executive, I'm in the C suite, and
so for me, inserting those moments of luxury is non negotiable.
What's non negotiable is my me time. I'm going to
go to the Spa. I'm gonna go to the spa
once a month for a long time. I have jail

(29:06):
nails right now. But for a long time I had
a regular manicure because it meant that every single week
I had to get my nails done because the regular
manicure for me only last a week, and so it
was kind of like my getaway. So I am beyond
intentional about experiences. I'm intentional about breaks, mental breaks for
mental health, that fun leisure, and I'm unapologetic about that

(29:29):
because I work so hard I deserve it. I mean,
I also want to show my children the world. Both
of my children were on a plane before they were
one month old, and so they know the richness and
the benefit of travel. They know the benefit of seeing
the world, and all those things are appointed to me.

Speaker 2 (29:47):
Ooh, y'all, I hope that y'all have been stacking up
these gems that Gabrielle Gambrell has been sharing with us.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
But we're gonna take a quick break.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
We're going to pay some bills and be right back
to hear more about her incredible career story and how
she has become my shero.

Speaker 3 (30:02):
I mean talk about the.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
Mental health breaks, like, yeah, what does that look like
for you?

Speaker 3 (30:06):
And when do you know?

Speaker 2 (30:07):
Because I'm always it's like, I'm glad that we have
that phrase on mental health break. But it's also about
being so in tune with yourself that you know it's coming,
like not getting to that point of like such distress
that it's like, oh, it's an emergency, I need to
like cancel everything and check out whatever. Is that how
it shown has had those breaks come like pre planned?

(30:28):
Do you have the sense of when you're gonna need
one and then what does that actually look like for you?

Speaker 1 (30:33):
So for me, I always have something on the calendar.
Like I said, I'm on a plane at least once
a month, and so I always.

Speaker 3 (30:40):
For pleasure for work.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
Between the two. But even if I'm traveling for work,
I will find pleasure. So I will find I'm going
to go to the SPA. I'm gonna find like something
fun to do in that city. I'm going to go
for myself to check out a museum or look up
the best restaurants in that city. So and that's a
that's a luxury. I'm very grateful for that that I've

(31:04):
had roles for the book of my career that do
require travel or I'm going to go to this conference,
I'm going to go to NABJ. I go to NABJ
every single year for professional development. But I also go
to have a good time. I'm not missing that party
Friday night for n.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
It's always come on, let's go. It's always on my
birthday weekend. Okay, I don't want on my birthday.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
It is.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
It is.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, but I'm going we should talk about that offline.

Speaker 3 (31:26):
Okay, I'll talk about that.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yeah. Yeah, So I I just always have it. And
I started that pretty early in my career, once I
could afford it. I was like, Okay, I'm going to
do this, and it's always like something to look forward
to and it's it's on my calendar.

Speaker 2 (31:42):
Yeah, you're a I think we really connect on the
the way that we strategically make pivot decisions like Okay,
this is the right opportunity. I'm going to quit and
take this new opportunity. I'm going to go in that direction.
I'm going to try out the higher education. Okay, not
loving this, I'm going to pivot and go. You had
like your own business you still do, you know, have

(32:02):
your own consulting branding PR.

Speaker 3 (32:05):
What is a gift of.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
Gabrielle Is it is Gabrielle. That's it.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
I love the alliteration. Mandy Money Mandy money makers gift of.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yes, yes, it's all about that.

Speaker 2 (32:16):
Yeah, it's about the brand recognition. So talk a little
bit about was there ever a point when you were
making all these like job hops where someone questioned you
about it? I do get that question a lot, because
I love telling women to quit and pick a new opportunity.
But it's always like, well, won't that look bad? And
won't people like yeah, frown upon that or whatnot? But
it serves you so well. So did you ever encounter

(32:37):
any like friction from all.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
The time, all the time, all the time. So people
have said family, friends, loved ones, those in the industry
whom I respect, Listen, you can't do this, or once
you go to hire it, you'll never be able to
make it back to media, because why would I hire
someone that's working at Columbia University full time or working
at Barnard College full time When I can hire someone
from Fox, When I can hire someone with CBS, their

(33:01):
resume is going to be more attractive than yours. But
my response was, I'm going to be the chief communications officer,
I'm going to be the chief marketing officer in this role,
and so I intentionally found moments to still do entertainment.
So even though I was working at Barnard, Viola Davis
was our commencement speaker. I worked with Viola Davis and
her team and that was the biggest moment in one
of the biggest moments of twenty nineteen on Google. Like,

(33:24):
I always try to find ways to incorporate my passion,
which is media and entertainment. So I guess what kind
of helps me is that I'm overly confident I will
figure it out. I've done that for the majority of
my life. I went into college thinking I wanted to
be an on air reporter and a journalist. I thought
then I was going to be a TV producer. That

(33:44):
didn't work out because I couldn't live off of minimum
wage in New York City. Then okay, I'm you know,
so I always kind of made a pivot, and I'm
grateful for that. But I know that that is hard
if you don't have that confidence and that people can
be in your ear. And though people have always been
in my ear and given their opinion, their industry expertise,

(34:05):
their love as a friend, I typically do what I
want to do, and I'm grateful for having that discernment
and that courage because it does take courage.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
It's courage, but even more so it's self trust. Yeah,
I think that's something that we have in common. It's
one of the hardest things as a coach that I
struggle sometimes. I'm like, how do I teach this? And
the only way to teach it, in my experience, is
to test yourself and you have to do something that
your gut tells you to do, see how that works out,

(34:36):
and like incrementally build that trust, you know, and that
can look like for me early in my career, it
was graduating into the Great Recession in journalism no less
with like a print degree.

Speaker 3 (34:47):
I think it's like, you.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
Know, it should have been illegal to have me graduate
with like a print magazine degree in two thousand and nine.
But I was lucky enough to get a job because
I had interned and worked my ass off during college.
So I actually had a job, and my gut was like,
take a break, go travel, Like yeah. I ended up
doing an unpaid internship in Chile and and moving abroad
and it all was fine. I just and my remember

(35:09):
my little brother who's like very business avvy, very like
you know, he's like, this is dumb.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
Why are you doing this?

Speaker 2 (35:16):
But it's just it's just like follow your gut and
it is a muscle, and I just feel like it's
something that could freeze so many women up more to
take these like risks in their career if they just
shut out the noise, learned how to shut out the noise,
tune it out without letting them know, because we had
to keep those relationships, you know, yeah, help y, Yeah,

(35:39):
but tune it out and do what you want to do.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, yeah, to respectfully disagree with someone, or sometimes like
I don't even respond to people who I just oh, okay,
that's interesting. Thank you for that thought, thank you, thank
you for that. Okay. Meanwhile, I'm not taking into consideration
anything that they're saying.

Speaker 3 (35:58):
Oh I gotta I gotta pick that one up.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
It's it's interesting. I actually was talking to somebody about
that recently. My neighbor now friend. Our sons play on
the same football team, and she is a pediatric nurse practitioner,
and so she told me she was studying in college,
and she told she was undeclared, so she didn't have
a major right away. So she went to the counselor
and said, I want to be a nurse. I want

(36:20):
to work with children, and they said, listen, you're not
good at math, your science grades aren't that great. You
should just do something else. Nursing is not going to
be for you. And she literally dropped out of college
because she thought, Wow, I need to figure out, like
what it is I want to do. This college counselor,
who talks to people about the careers every day, told
me I shouldn't major in nursing and I wouldn't be successful.

(36:41):
She dropped out of college and now she is a
nurse practitioner, a pediatric nurse practitioner. She works at Columbia Medical,
and so it was somewhat of a pivot to get
back to where she always wanted to be. But sometimes
it's also those things listening in for me in high school,
I come from humble beginnings, I told the college counselor.

(37:01):
It was interesting. In high school, we had a guidance
counselor who I loved. I loved my guidance counselor. We
had a great relationship. And then we had a college
counselor who I never met before in my life, but
she was the one that had to do my college letters.
Of recommendation, and I said, I want to go to
college in New York. I'm applying to Syracuse, I'm applying
to YU, all these schools. And she said, Honey, you
can't afford to go to New York. And I said,

(37:22):
what she said, New York is one of the most
expensive places in the world. Why don't you go to
a cal state or a state university in California. It'll
be free. You do not want to go to college
in New York because you can't afford it, and haven
forbid something happens. Your family does have money to give
to you. That's just not for you. And I looked
like I was horrified because this woman who I just
met for a few minutes, talked to for a few minutes,

(37:43):
told her my dreams and aspirations. She's the one that
has to write my letters of wreck. And I'm replying
to all these colleges in New York, Saint John's University,
I applied to like every college in New York. So
I was horrified, but then I was kind of like, please,
you know, so I still applied to all these schools.
I got into every college except YU, which is my
dream school. And then full circle in YU calls me

(38:05):
one day it says, we want you to be a
faculty professor, and I'm like.

Speaker 3 (38:08):
That's oh. I love a full circle moment.

Speaker 1 (38:11):
Yes, I love a full circle moment, but that could
have been a huge pivotal like all right, well, I
guess New York is out the window because I don't
have money. When no, I still came to New York. Somehow,
my dad paid for my flight here. He said, good luck,
get a job right away. I got three jobs right away,
and I've been able to say myself, I did I did?
I have those loans and if I still have loans,

(38:33):
but if it wasn't for me taking loans, I wouldn't
be able to live in one of the greatest cities,
which I love, and all these other things. So what's
for you is for you, period, period.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
And I honestly, I don't think that counselor was wrong
to give that kind of warning. I think a lot
of people do need that warning. I think that it's
just like in the message delivery. And I think because
she didn't know you, that's what that was. That's what
become a little bit dangerous, because I think anyone who
knew you would be like, oh, but god, if anyone's
going to do it, Gabrielle's going to do it, and
she ries, you know, because clearly you did, and thank

(39:05):
god you had that confidence in yourself. But there's probably
some people who wouldn't. You know, if you don't have
that drive and that ambition and the like the merciless
will to make shit happen for yourself, maybe you don't
want to go across country and take it all is debt,
you know that, and then be kind of lost and
floundering and not have a way. But I'm worried about you,
that's the point at all. You and I have talked

(39:26):
about personal finances quite a bit, and you're very transparent
about it. But you're also extremely like savvy financially and frugal.
I mean like not frugal because you know, like, first
of all, look at you, like you know how to
it's been on yourself, right, yes, but you are like
you're very you know what you need to feel financially secure,

(39:46):
And can you talk about that for a minute. At
what point through building your career did you start learning
about or wanting to like invest, you know, start saving,
figure out how much to set aside, and how had
that evolved over the years.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
I'm gonna be honest. One of the ways I made
it in New York City is that when I was
thirteen years old, my dad said, listen, you need a
credit card. I need to explain to you the power
of a credit score. I got my first credit card
at thirteen.

Speaker 3 (40:14):
Is that Is that a thing? And I don't think
it's a feeling on his account?

Speaker 1 (40:19):
No, no, no, no, no. We lied about the year I
was born, I'll be honest. So I just made myself eighteen.
So I just upped it some years and I got
like two hundred dollars limit, right, And so my dad
told me, everything, use it more, pay it off, but
give me the money at thirteen to pay it off.
Then I started working. By the time I was fourteen fifteen,

(40:39):
I started formally working, so I would pay it off myself.
And so all that to say, I've been able to
do a lot of things having a really high credit score.
I checked my credit probably three times a day, which
is absolutely positively leave to us. Absolutely absolutely. I get
every alert, absolutely. And so when I brought my house,
my all my free time, and I brought my house

(41:01):
my credit score is like a eight thirty five and
it now doesn't typically go under an eight forty. So
I have the pristine, perfect highest you could have as
a eight fifty. And so that allowed me to generate
a lot of currency, and having a really high credit score,
it helped me to get an apartment. Like I was
in a huge high earner, but they looked at my

(41:22):
credit score and they're like, oh, we can put her
into this nice apartment in New York City. So that
was the first thing. And I've been afforded a lot
of great low interest rates, a lot of great things
by having phenomenal credit and being really into credit. And
so I will when my children are in high school age,
I'll do the same. I won't lie about the year,

(41:42):
but I'll add them to my credits so that they
can build credit and by the time they go to college,
hopefully they are responsible and take advantage of having a
good credit score. Something else is that my parents max
out your frown K soon as you start working in corporate.
So when I got over to CBS, contribute the most
you can and look at your four o one K
sporadically when you need to buy a house, can we

(42:03):
just get something from your four one K, you'd be
so surprised how much money you have in there.

Speaker 3 (42:07):
When I was at so, is that how you came
up with your down payment?

Speaker 1 (42:10):
Absolutely? Positively that is?

Speaker 3 (42:12):
And I was really, did you have to pay? So?
Then with a four one K did you have to pay?

Speaker 1 (42:17):
I did taxes on that yet I had to pay
taxes on that withdrawal, but my dad did the math
and tell me how much the taxes would be. And
I had that much money in the bank, so it
was like, oh, you already have the money to pay
it back. And I was like, oh, okay, and so
you I absolutely had a penalty. I had a penalty,
but I early withdrawal, brought it back early withdrawal, And
so there's just been a lot of strategic things. My

(42:40):
four one K, my credit score. I work additional jobs
because some of that money I don't touch. The money
I get from teaching, I don't touch it. It goes
to my children's accounts, so it goes to their five
twenty nine, it goes to their IRA, it goes to
the personal savings and checking which each one of them
have their UTMA accounts. I don't touch that money. It

(43:00):
automatically is dispersed. It comes to direct out of their
account to all of the respective places you're supposed to go.
So like, people are like, where do you work so much? Well,
that's my child's investment. And I teaching brings me so
much joy. People say, what do you do for fun?
You work so much, What do you do for fun? Well, actually,
I love teaching. I never had a black professor, not one.
And so for me being able to teach people that

(43:21):
look like me, being able to teach diverse students, it
really means so much to me. So you teach, I
teach marketing and communications at Columbia. Now both I teach
I both. Yeah, So I typically alternate one class per semester.
When I was younger, in my twenties, I taught four classes.

(43:41):
So I worked from nine to five, nine to six,
got to campus by six thirty, taught six thirty to
nine thirty every night. But in your twenties you just
have energy, yes, like you have energy and then and
then on the weekends, I'm a babysit right. That was
my third job in my twenties. So I taught, I
worked this CBS, and I babysat and then my babysitting

(44:02):
money used to be like my play money. This is
what I'll use for a flight to catch a flight somewhere.
So just always finding strategic opportunities to make money and
identifying what that money is going to do. Like I'm
not just working like this just to work. I'm working
like this to be set up for a particular future,
to set my children up for a particular future. Like
I said, I graduated college with an enormous amount of

(44:24):
school loans. God willing, my children won't have that. They
won't have that concern, and so that is a blessing
to be able to set them up in that way.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
I really feel like standing up and clapping right now.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
You do the same thing.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
You're so inter You're just it's just like, yes, I mean,
I see why we're friends.

Speaker 3 (44:43):
I see why we're friends that ever see each other,
see each other. I'm busy.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
I can see there's something with the kids or something
to teach.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
I would love to teach. Do I have to have
a master's for that.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
So I have a very few amount of friends who,
based on industry experience, the chair the department let them teach.
But nine times out of tend the desires that you
have a master's.

Speaker 3 (45:04):
No, thank you.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
I don't want to go back to school, but I
do feel like eventually I would love to teach, even
if it's like mentoring or something like that. Those adjunct
professor jobs, though they do pay pretty decent.

Speaker 1 (45:15):
They pay decent.

Speaker 3 (45:16):
I think, yeah money kids, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
The IVY leagues pay really well. Columbia University is the
IVY League, so would pay substantially more than NYU, depending
on the adowment of the university, depending on how big
and how prestigious the school is. But then I also
I'm very grateful I'll get a speaking opportunity, so I'll
be able to speak and then get a nice five
figure check that I just like put away. So there's

(45:42):
a lot of different things that come I've been able
to benefit from having that title of professor. No one
could take that away. I've been teaching at the collegiate
level since i had my masters in two thousand and nine,
so I've been a professor for quite some time now.
And so that comes with you know, Gabrielle Gambriel professor
at Columbia, professor y you that adds currency to my rates,

(46:04):
and you know, different opportunities.

Speaker 2 (46:06):
I would I want to come to one of your
classes and.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
Just like come, I can be a speaker. You can
actually teach a class if you want.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
Oh, I'd love to yeh to. You know, I still.

Speaker 1 (46:16):
Like telling on branding on podcasts and there's so many
things you can teach on.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
I really love to also just to get to well,
I know you don't see her, but brand Ambish has
a new producer intern, also named Gabrielle. He's from Syracuse,
and I just realized it is such a privilege to
get to be in that position, to give an opportunity
to someone who was in the exact same position we
were in school. So I think that's just I just
think that's wonderful.

Speaker 3 (46:40):
I want to take a moment because I want to
talk about Hashet. I want to talk about publishing.

Speaker 2 (46:44):
I want to talk about what is going on in
publishing at this time and this climate. And oh yeah,
in full disclosure, ba fam, I'm a Hashet author well.

Speaker 1 (46:53):
Soon to be.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
Yes, I am so fortunate to be working with Hashet's
imprint legacy lit with the one Kashawan Troupman that was
before Gabrielle joined Hashet. It's just so serendipitous that now
you're there. But you know, Legacy Lit is an imprint
that was created post George Floyd. You know, it was
really meant to amplify bipoc and female voices and it

(47:15):
has done that. And when they hired you, I was like, oh, well,
Hashet is not taking its eye off the ball, like
they're going to continue, you know, amplifying these these types
of stories.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
But I want to get your perspective.

Speaker 2 (47:27):
Someone in comms like, what is the landscape like right now?

Speaker 1 (47:30):
That's a great question. So some media companies, I have
friends that work at leading media companies that have some
former colleagues where their title was changed. Literally diversity used
to be in their title. Their title does not include diversity.

Speaker 3 (47:44):
Wearing that. Yes.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
Here, we hired a director of diversity just a few
months ago. I think she started three months ago at
Hashet in both the US and the UK. And this
fall in September, we're having DEI festivals. So the entire
day all employees are taken off from doing your traditional work.
You'll go in DEI workshops here from DEI experts and
their sessions, and so a full day dedicated to diversity

(48:09):
equity and inclusion. One of our business pillars is changing
the story, which is our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
So I'm very grateful to work for an organization, to
work for a company, to work for a boss that
says not on my watch. DEI is an essence a
part of what we do here, and I'm grateful. And
I'm also at a point in my career and again

(48:31):
it's a luxury and the privilege, and I've worked hard
to be here, but I'm at a point in my
career that if you're not talking to talk, or if
you're not in line with my mission and my personal
mission my personal values, is not a good fit. But
here we are really really committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.
And in the industry, a lot of more conservative industries
and not even someone you would be surprised they are

(48:53):
changing that diversity title. Their diversity departments are being cut
Actually had a girlfriend reach out to me today from
a leading media company. She just got laid off and
she mentioned something to do with DEI cutbacks. So it
is unfortunately happening in this current climate. But we're actually
doing more on the diversity front.

Speaker 2 (49:13):
Ow and I mean, I mean it's a private company, right,
hashet like or is it public?

Speaker 1 (49:18):
No, it's a publicly traded it is publicly trade.

Speaker 2 (49:21):
So that means the board also is on the board.
The board is the boards on board?

Speaker 1 (49:25):
Yeah? With that as well, the board is on board.

Speaker 3 (49:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
I mean, I'm just I'm grateful to hear that. I
think it is. It is a really terrifying time. It
also makes me scared for women of color, especially because
that's who they called on post twenty twenty to take
on these new positions. And so you hear about your
friend and others are who are being cut or a
branding and PR person. So if I'm someone who's been
in the DEI space, I mean, we were just talking

(49:50):
about that on on a group coaching call last night,
like should you go on LinkedIn and update your own
title and take out those words? And some were like
yes and some were like no. But as a branding
expert yourself, how would you be thinking about rebranding or
positioning yourself in this market if you do have a
lot of experience in DEI and you're worried about that
not being as marketable, And.

Speaker 1 (50:11):
That's a great question, that's a great question. The fact
of the matter is companies are literally being sued for
their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. They are being
sued for diversity programs, which is why from a business standpoint,
it's not what I agree with, But from a business standpoint,
it's the reason why some companies are eliminating diversity departments
diversity teams because who wants to be sued to that effect.

(50:35):
I think it's so important that those who have a
diversity expertise that they make sure their resume, their LinkedIn
shows transferable skills because facts are facts. There's not enough
diversity jobs anymore. So if you're like, hey, I just
want to do something diversity based, I only want to
work in a diversity department, you are honestly limiting. But
maybe there's an opportunity to work in people management. Maybe

(50:59):
there's an opportunity to work in human resources, Maybe there's
an opportunity to work in business development. So it's being
able to pivot and read the room and deal with
kind of the current climate. I just highly recommend that.
So if I'm looking, if I'm hiring for let's even
say like a marketing role, a lot of people that
did DEI roles have phenomenal marketing expertise? Your resumes should

(51:23):
convey that one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
And I mean it's it's almost it takes away from
the fact that it doesn't. It's not like someone in
marketing who focuses on DEI has any talent or skills
and someone who's a general you know, marketing person. Sorry, yeah,
I honestly feel like it's a good opportunity to remind
people too that you hold like if you really care
about DEI at its core, which is to increase representation

(51:48):
and inclusivity. I always felt like such a spy, like
a covert operator when I was a people manager because
I got to lead a team of thirty people one
hundred contractors. I got to decide how to spend that budget.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
An you better be.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
Damn sure I was spending among people who look like us, absolutely,
And I didn't need a DEI title to do that.
I just needed me in at leadership position. So I
think it's even more like I think it's like, all right, cool,
we're not going to get a gold star pat in
the back for labeling what we're doing, but it shouldn't
stop us from doing what we're doing.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
You agree, I agree. And when you're looking at the companies,
look at do they have a diversity report? Do they
have a corporate Social Responsibility report? You could look at
to see what their values are? Do they have employee
resource groups? Like Okay, I don't have a traditional DEI function,
but I want to be president of the Black Employee Network.
I want to be president of the whatever eer G
lgbt q I A or AA p I E er G.

(52:42):
So some companies they're losing those things, and other companies,
though they're pushing back on diversity, equity and inclusion. That
may be your way to still make an impact and
amongst that community.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
I just am really happy to know you and thank
you friend. Yeah, and we haven't even talked about them kids.
One of the most one of the toughest things you
talked about recently, was it.

Speaker 3 (53:07):
No. I think we were actually on the phone. I
forget why.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
It doesn't matter, but you were just talking about your
commute and you work so hard. You're in the office
four days a week.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
Now.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
I am more remote work. I am chigeting that good sea,
sweet money. They're like, well, we're going to see you
in the office. But they pay you for that, right,
But you are commuting and that's a long commute, and
you talk about leaving before the kids get up and
getting home after they're in bed some days, Yes, how
do you find time to reconnect with them? Like for

(53:38):
any any mom who wants to grind as hard as you,
let's just be real about the sacrifice of what that
can look like. So how do you balance or how
do you like try to reconnect with those kids when.

Speaker 3 (53:49):
You are home with them.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
Yeah, so my kids are booked. They are so booked.
My son has an activity seven days a week, seven
days a week, every single day, football, soccer, football, football
practice and football game, karate three times a week. Piano, husband, husband.

Speaker 3 (54:08):
Okay, good for him to.

Speaker 1 (54:09):
Be amazing, right, so you have he waslightful.

Speaker 2 (54:13):
I'm so, does he work from home or I know
he's like, yes, yes, transition in transition, Yeah, okay and
lucky he's married to a bad bitch.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
Oh thank you.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
But so he's yeah, he's there, mister, you know he's there.

Speaker 1 (54:26):
But even before he was in this transitional period, he
worked from home full time. So he took the kids
and he still does. He takes his kid My daughter
goes to daycare and my son goes to school. He
takes him to the school bus. My son gets home
between three thirty pm before o'clock, and my husband's there
to pick them up. Every day. My daughter has to
be picked up from daycare by six o'clock. My husband,
who is phenomenal, amazing, wonderful partner, that's that takes my daughters.

(54:48):
Now in karate, So Gigi's ballet soccer karate. So she's
booked two and so we are actually talked about this
because I was like, hey, maybe I need to hire
some help to like kind of help to drive them
or what have you. And it's figuring those things out.
But in terms of connection with the kids, the weekend
is theirs. I'm taking my daughter to ballet, non negotiable.
I joined, I told you this. I joined the dance

(55:10):
studio that she goes to. So like trying to do
some physical something and so I do a zoomba class.
I bring her with me. She's there, she'll try to
one two with me and then so we're doing it
on the home telling me yes, yes, I'm like, well,
how the hell's got me? Saturday nine am?

Speaker 3 (55:26):
Saturday nine am, Oh yeah, a black.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
Owned a black owned studio drinks studio in Westchester, so
ballet is hers. Then after that, I take my son
to karate in the morning. My husband takes them to
football Sunday's football games. I'm at my son's football game.
I won't miss it. So those I try my best.
My children get the weekend, and then when I get home,
if I get home at eight o'clock, my children are

(55:49):
still up because their schedule is non existent. Something I
got to work on. I'm reading the Bedtime story.

Speaker 2 (55:55):
Oh I'm still but I just in that moment of
you saying that I feel seen somehow. My baby is
a night owl now homeboys on in bettel ten.

Speaker 3 (56:03):
I'm like, yeah, but that sounds about writing. He's like watching.

Speaker 2 (56:06):
Dateline, like let's going that sounds about right, and my
five year old, it's like it's eight thirty. I'm ready
to go to my chamber chambers. Yeah, yeah, so I
really feel seen in that moment. Sorry, keep going.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
Yeah, so I just try to make time. My kids
will wait until I get home so Mommy can give
them a bath or like little things like come on,
let's brush our teeth together. How was your day? What's
going on at school? What are you doing? Let mommy
check your homework, even though they already Jeffrey already did
his homework with his dad. Can mommy check it? Can
mom mey see what you're working on in school? So
I try my best to insert themselves and then certain

(56:39):
things like my son one day recently, he was walking
around with the luggage, pulling the luggage. I'm my mom
and I'm going away for business. I'm my mom and
I'm traveling for business. And I'm like, is it shade
or is this?

Speaker 3 (56:51):
Like?

Speaker 1 (56:51):
Is this okay? I try? Yeah, I try. I try
to make intentional time with them. I really do.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
Yeah. And do you and your husband sort of have
an understanding or like a I mean, he knew he
was marrying married, right, you know what I'm saying. So
I think and so to my husband, and I think,
to a certain extent, it's like I am exactly who
I was ten years ago, but now we hading kids
in the mix, So you need to step it up,
mister dad.

Speaker 3 (57:18):
So true.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
My husband came home yesterday early because he knew I was.

Speaker 3 (57:22):
A little frustrated by the state of the.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
Affairs of my house and sweeping, mopping, picking the kids up.
I was like, Okay, great, this is what we need
to see.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Yeah, because I work also, difference makes such a difference,
makes such a difference. So he knew. You know, we've
been married for seven years, together for seventeen years, so
we always knew. He was with me, CBS and everywhere
after that, so he knew what he knew what the
deal was. And my husband when I talk about like ooh,
we should get some help, or maybe I should have

(57:52):
my husband's like it's my kids. I could take my
kids to their stuff, or like he his greatest joy
in life is being a father, and so I'm grateful
for that because he never ever even flinks twice. It's like, okay,
but I have to tell him. I have to tell
him what's on the calendar, because he doesn't check the
calendar every morning. I say, Okay, Jeffrey has karate at
this time, Gigi has karate at this time. Jeffrey has

(58:13):
this whatever activity. But he's pretty phenomenal in that. And
then you know, like he knows like his birthday is
coming up in June. He's like, oh, I got my
list of whe we're going for my birthday, And so
you know it's I'm like, okay, whatever you want to do,
we're there. I already took off of work. We will
go away for your birthday like we do every year,
and it'll be a great time. So that's also important.
Like balancing work, balancing kids, but balancing that marriage relationship

(58:37):
non negotiable. Me and my husband have date night non negotiable.

Speaker 3 (58:41):
You do how often do you?

Speaker 2 (58:42):
Guys?

Speaker 1 (58:42):
We do once a week, once a week. That's amazing.

Speaker 3 (58:45):
I got no excused to.

Speaker 2 (58:46):
Not be having date nights other than like we just
like hanging out with the kids.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
Yeah, that's fun for you guys. My husband is like,
can we have no kids for a second.

Speaker 2 (58:54):
Well he is like yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.

Speaker 3 (58:57):
That's very true.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
Yeah yeah, all right right, Well, I just want to
be you when I grow up.

Speaker 1 (59:01):
I guess no, no, I look up to you. I
tell you that all the time. I always tell you
I'm in all of you. And let's talk about finances.
Let's talk about some stock. And you know, we were
talking about you check your stuff and I'm like, big,
I need to check my stuff a little.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
Oh yeah about your equity.

Speaker 2 (59:15):
You got to diversify that, that is I know your equity.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
I need to. I need to. I have a three
four on one case because of the different companies I
worked on, and at one point my advisor was like
leave it there and this, so I got to check
it out. I got to like, you know.

Speaker 3 (59:29):
Where they're all at.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
I know where it's at, I know.

Speaker 3 (59:32):
Where it's well.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
I'm always here when you want to chat about that
with all your free time.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
Thank gabriel Cabrell.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
Thanks so much for joining me on Grown Ambition and
being such a great example of what a driven, unapologetic
badass woman in twenty twenty five, a mom, an executive,
but someone who still pours back into themselves and their community.

Speaker 3 (59:52):
So it's just an honor to know you.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
Thanks so thank you, thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
All right, ba fam, go check out Gabrielle everywhere your
gift of Gabrielle on I g will put the YEP,
We'll put the link in our show notes where you
can connect with her as well as Hashet and find
out more about Legacy Lit and all the great projects
that Gabrielle is doing, all the great press she's getting
everyone excellent, anything else you want to leave us.

Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
With, no just check out hashepbooks dot Com has shut
us on all handles and Gift of gab my handle.
I'm on all platforms.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
Wonderful, all right, PA Fan until next time, Bye bye

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Host

Mandi Woodruff-Santos

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

24/7 News: The Latest

Crime Junkie

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Media Maven Gabrielle Gambrell, Hachette Book Group's Chief Communications Officer [Washday Woosah]