Christine is currently a Senior Vice President of Marketing at OMNIA Partners, where she manages a team of 18 people working with companies such as Home Depot, Cintas, Office Depot, and FedEx to develop strategic marketing plans and implement those plans in the markets OMNIA Partners serves.

Extracurriculars

When she’s not working her marketing magic, Christine loves trying new food and cooking. She’s been part of a cooking group for 15 years that gets together each month to cook new recipes together (once taking a trip to Paris). Not one for watching TV, she reads 2-3 books at a time from different genres or heads out to listen to live music. She’s been married to her husband, Jack, for 26 years and has a son in the Navy and a daughter who studying Speech Pathology at Towson.

Why we love Christine

Christine is a leader, through and through. She sets an example for others to follow with her own behavior and works hard to make sure members of her team understand where they’re headed, their role in getting there, and that they have what’s needed to be successful. She cares about each and every one. This became especially evident when the pandemic hit in 2020 and took extra steps to keep her team connected, productive, and mentally as well as physically healthy.

Q&A with Christine

How did you get into marketing?
My career in marketing got its start when I was in high school. I happened to sit next to a girl in homeroom who was taking a Marketing class and she had her class book sitting on her desk so I asked her what Marketing was. I was hooked! I took the Marketing class the next semester and never looked back. I received my Marketing degree from Marymount University in Arlington, VA. I love the combination of creativity, analytics and technology and bringing that all together in a way that helps companies reach their brand and sales goals. We measure as much as we can and it’s very gratifying to see how our work drives results. That one fortunate moment in high school has led to a career that I’ve now been in for more than 30 years…and have loved!

What inspires you and keeps you going?
What I’ve always loved about my career is the constant change. It’s so exciting to start a new project or initiative. And when I look back on my career, the marketing industry has changed significantly as technology, the internet, social media, etc. become bigger players in what we do. I’m constantly learning and we continually test new ideas which all keep me highly engaged. The other more recent goal that keeps me motivated – retirement!! We are now empty nesters and starting to think about our next stage of life. Actually, retire really isn’t the right word. We are starting to plan what a second career might be and just do something for total fun. Preferably the job and where we are living is on a tropical beach. My husband and I are calling this Gilbert’s 2.0 and while it’s many years away, it’s just fun to be at that stage in life where we can start dreaming about it.

Cowork Frederick members tend to be status-quo disrupters, a little renegade, a little unconventional. How does that apply to you?
LOL! I am not a rebel! I thrive on plans, order, structure and schedules. A trip to the Container Store to find new tools for organizing is a perfect way to spend a Saturday.

Which of the guiding values defined by Cowork Frederick members speaks to you?
EXCELLENCE. I’ve always focused on doing the best job I can do. I love coming into a position or project and identifying ways to make it better and then pulling in the needed resources to make it happen. Seeing the results of these efforts is very satisfying. I’m self-taught on many aspects of my job (particularly technology solutions) and that always came from wanting to be able to help drive the business forward.

Why Cowork Frederick?
My company is located in Franklin, TN, but we had an office in Gaithersburg, MD. The staff located in this office was declining so they decided to close this space at the end of 2019. I had never worked from home on a regular basis and was not looking forward to it! I find the office environment energizing. I travel to TN every other week and, on my weeks at home, I now pop into the Cowork for one or two days for that “office” feeling. I just prefer to work with other people around! Cowork has definitely helped my transition to a fulltime home office.

Any tips to share?
In my current role, I have many people early in their careers or this is their first job out of college. I find that I’m often in a coaching role with the team on topics that are related to job satisfaction. So, here are the things that I’ve learned throughout my career that I share with me team, but they are important regardless of where you are in your career.

• There are times when B+ is okay. Sometimes we get so focused on perfection that the ROI on the effort doesn’t support the outcome. Go for A+ but recognize a B+ project when you see it. That’s still above average and significantly reduces the stress levels.
• Identify what you can change and what you can’t. If you can change it, figure out a plan to move forward. If you can’t change it, you have two paths – acceptance or tough decisions. If it’s a deal breaker for you, maybe you need to think through your next steps. If it’s not a deal breaker, accept it and move on. Don’t continue to dwell on things you can’t change.
• Change is good! It helps you identify what you enjoy and what you don’t, what is important to you and what isn’t. Embrace it and learn from it!
• Recognize the importance of friends at work. Don’t discount how much this impacts your happiness on the job.