Episode 5:

About Tracey Sibley

As Brasfield & Gorrie’s Vice President of Marketing, Tracey Sibley leads one of the nation’s largest and most respected construction industry brands. Brasfield & Gorrie provides general contracting, design-build, and construction management services for a variety of markets including healthcare, commercial, institutional, federal, municipal, industrial, infrastructure, and water treatment. With more than 25 years of experience working in marketing in the construction industry, Tracey is an expert in supporting her team in developing new, innovative, and effective marketing strategies while establishing and maintaining a strong company culture.

In this episode of AEC Marketing for Principals, hosts Katie Cash and Judy Sparks talk with Tracey about the opportunities and challenges of working in marketing at a dominant industry leader like Brasfield & Gorrie, how the company has worked to create a powerful company culture that attracts and keeps top talent, and how new innovations in technology have changed marketing, communications and team-building for the better.

What You Will Learn:

• Tracey shares her career journey as well as how hard work and networking were key to getting her foot in the door and building her career.
• Tracey discusses how her current role involves supporting her team and making herself available as a resource to them, strategizing with the executive team on new and future opportunities for growth, and maximizing the efficiency of her department.
• Tracey explains why a marketing degree is not required for new entry-level members of her team. She shares why a great culture fit is much more important than educational background.
• Tracey talks about the remarkable brand and culture that Brasfield & Gorrie has created and nurtured, and she shares why passion and enthusiasm are primary components of that culture.
• Tracey shares her thoughts on how the industry has changed with the integration of new technologies and strategies, and she shares why reading and continuing to learn are vital skills to stay current with new trends and tech.
• Tracey explains why Salesforce’s San Francisco-based Dreamforce conference is a valuable resource for learning new knowledge and a better understanding of data and content management systems.
• Tracey discusses working twelve-hour days and the need to be “always on,” and she shares her thoughts on the importance of finding a balance between hard work and self-care.
• Tracey talks about collaboration tool Slack and how it has been a significant game-changer for interoffice communications. She shares why Slack is Brasfield & Gorrie’s exclusive communication platform.
• Tracey discusses the importance of the IT department and why partnering with them has been a powerful component of the marketing team’s success, and she shares how knowledge from the IT team helps support their marketing efforts.
• Tracey talks about how she was initially the first female Vice President at Brasfield & Gorrie but now is one of seven, and she shares how providing value is the key to getting a seat at the table.

Resources:

• Tracey Sibley’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-renner-sibley-cpsm-11b5032a/

Understanding the Importance of Company Culture

This episode of AEC Marketing for Principals features a conversation between Katie Cash, Judy Sparks, and Tracey Sibley, VP of Marketing for Brasfield & Gorrie. Over the course of her 25+ years of experience in the construction industry, Tracey has developed a powerful mindset and strategies to help lead her team to success.

During this episode of the podcast, Tracey talks about why the culture at Brasfield & Gorrie has been such a powerful platform for her work, and she discusses why everyone on her team shares the same views toward hard work and team-wide support. She talks about key relationships with the company’s IT team and how strong communication throughout the company has been an important asset. She also discusses the importance of keeping up with new marketing technologies, trends, and tools in a highly competitive field.

Building Teams and the Power of Culture

Brasfield & Gorrie has an incredible reputation for attracting and retaining highly talented people, and Tracey’s marketing team is no exception. She attributes this to the company’s commitment to its culture and its employees. During our discussion, Tracey shares why she believes a good culture fit is essential when hiring new team members. As Tracey explains, the skills to succeed can be taught, but the right attitude for success has to be inherent in a new hire.

Tracey makes herself available as a source of support and information her team. She believes that the talented people on her team need the space to breathe and develop their skills, rather than being micromanaged or directed. Brasfield & Gorrie hires some of the best and brightest talent, so Tracey works to support her team in order to help them shine.

Today is a New Day

One of the ways Tracey supports her team is by encouraging their personal and professional development. She encourages them to attend conferences, listen to speakers, and develop key new skills. Tracey strongly recommends the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco as a valuable learning and networking opportunity. With so many different events on the schedule covering a wide range of topics, Tracey sees value in the conference even for companies who don’t use Salesforce as their CRM platform of choice.

Tracey also sees technology as a powerful resource and opportunity to strengthen her team and the work they do. During the conversation, she shared that Brasfield & Gorrie uses communications platform Slack as their only tool for internal communication, preferring Slack even over phone calls. Tracey said that switching to Slack has brought the entire marketing team closer together and has allowed them to celebrate their successes as a group more easily. For Tracey, a strong team is built by great internal communications.