What would your career look like if you knew you couldn’t fail? 20 Great Answers with Dorota Martinez, Head of Marketing at Tech Data ANZ

Dorota Martinez (00:01):

My parents, for some reason, they always thought I will make it work somehow, whatever I would be doing, whether it’s school or whether it’s uni or anything in between, that I would always be successful. So, they kind of, from the very young age, helped me grow that self-confidence that I never thought that I may fail at something. I’ll always would think I’ll be successful. So that’s definitely a good tip also for parents when they raise their kids to always help them to think about the possibilities rather what they will not achieve.

Barrie Seppings (00:39):

Welcome back to Plugged In, Switched On, where we pull you into the conversations that matter in B2B tech marketing. I am your host, Berrie Seppings, and the quote you just heard was from Dorota Martinez. She is the head of marketing for ANZ for Tech Data, which is a 25,000 person, 6.2 billion in revenue, global technology distributor. More from Dorota in just a moment. If you are new to the podcast, welcome. Hello, come on in, let me show you around. We do three things here at Plugged In, Switched On. Firstly, we get some of the most interesting people in B2B tech marketing to come on and tell us how and why they do what they do. Secondly, we also do some special episodes that take a deep dive into some of the core skills and techniques that a marketer needs to have a handle on. We pull them apart and see how they’ve evolved over time. You can learn a lot from those episodes.

(01:37):

We’ve got ABM, we’ve got partner marketing, we’ve got production. Just check and look at our archive and see what’s there for you. And finally, we also do some episodes, we pull back the curtain on how these teams and these leaders and including us here at Splendid, manage teams, manage work life balance, the tools, the techniques, and the leadership skills you need to run hybrid and remote teams in this world of work. However, we don’t try and do all of those three things at once in every episode. We do like to focus here at Plugged In, Switched On, and today’s focus episode is our interview. We run our 20 questions. It is the same 20 questions every episode, but invariably, we get 20 really different and interesting answers. Let’s hear from Dorota Martinez. She’s the head of marketing ANZ for Tech Data. And we kicked off with our very first question, the elevator pitch. Dorota what is Tech Data selling and why do your clients pay good money for it?

Dorota Martinez (02:39):

Tech Data, a TD SYNNEX company, is the largest IT distributor in the world. So, we are the link between technology vendors and partners in the IT channel. We exist to bring value to partners and vendors, and it’s so much more than just transactions. We empower our partners and vendors to accelerate their business by providing sales, marketing, technical support as well as platform logistics solutions and everything in between that you need as an IT partner and vendor to be successful in today’s market. So, we work with vendors such as AWS, Microsoft, Checkpoint, F5, IBM, Red Hat to name a few, but we have around 40 vendors in our portfolio here in ANZ.

Barrie Seppings (03:30):

Question number two, did you grow up dreaming of being head of marketing? Did you think you were going to be in marketing and/or technology? What did Dorota in high school think she was going to do?

Dorota Martinez (03:39):

So when I was younger, let’s look back 10 years old, I wanted to be a classical musician. I played piano and flute for 10 years and I really loved that. But as I came to my teenage years, I realized that probably that’s not going to give me too many options for the future, only as much as you can do playing instruments, so work in orchestra and so on. So I realized, it needs to be something different. So when I was around 18 years old and I had to make my decision what I wanted to do, I just simply, as funny as it may sound, I just closed my eyes and thought, where would I like to be in 10 or 20 years? What would make me happy?

(04:25):

And then I saw room full of people, press conference and me leading all that and I thought, “Yes, this is what I want to do and this is why I went to uni, study media communication PR. Then I did my MBA. And maybe because of that also that it was really my decision rather than asking people around what they think I should be doing with my life. I made that decision based on what I felt I wanted to do. 16 years and counting, I’m still in marketing and I’m still enjoying it. So I would always recommend to somebody to really think about what they would like to do rather than listening to other people what they should be doing.

Barrie Seppings (05:06):

I mean, that’s impressive at 18-years-old to have a little bit of a clear vision. And did you think you were going to get into technology or at first, it was just marketing and what drew you to technology?

Dorota Martinez (05:16):

It was just marketing, didn’t think about what sector that would be. I just really wanted to do that sort of working with people sort of job in the commercial space. So when I was 18, I actually moved to UK to study at university. So at that time, I didn’t speak English and I actually didn’t have any money either. So my parents were like, “Okay, look, we only have 500 pounds we can give to you which is, let’s say, a $1000 dollars, so this is all we can help you. If you want to do it, do it, but you just need to make it work.” So I did it and I learned the language while being at uni. The beginning was a little bit hard because obviously, I couldn’t understand anything. But as soon as I started learning the language, I started having some successes and I would work night shifts in warehouses and all that because that’s the only type of job I could get.

(06:13):

During the day, I would study at university, but at the end of the day, I managed to finish uni with Student of the Year Award, which was also a nice wrap up of the university. But going back to the question, I didn’t think whether it will be technology or any other sector. So when I worked in UK, the first years, manufacturing and distribution of physical products made sense for me. But when I moved here to Australia, I realized, “Oh, hold on, there’s actually not too much of it, not too much of manufacturing or anything like that.” So I actually need to switch the industry. So what I was thinking about was either tech or finance, those two sectors I was considering if I wanted to make it successful in Australia. So I decided to get into tech.

Barrie Seppings (07:06):

That’s a remarkable story. Your parents must be, must have been proud of that achievement to give you 500 pounds and then you come back a Student of the Year, a new language. That’s a remarkable story.

Dorota Martinez (07:17):

Yeah, I mean I think it also came, I guess, from the upbringing that my parents, for some reason they always thought I’ll make it work somehow, whatever I would be doing, whether it’s school or whether it’s uni or anything in between, that I would always be successful. So they kind of, from the very young age, helped me grow that self-confidence, that I never thought that I may fail at something. I’ll always would think I’ll be successful. So that’s definitely a good tip also for parents when they raise their kids to always help them to think about the possibilities rather what they will not achieve.

Barrie Seppings (07:59):

Question number three is, I do this for free. Which part of the job that you have now that you just naturally enjoy that you find yourself spending more time on? And then part two of the question is, who do you think has the worst job in marketing and technology, the job that you don’t want to do?

Dorota Martinez (08:16):

Sure. For me, it would be working with people in any capacity. This is what I enjoy the most. It doesn’t feel like a job. I love it. I love talking to people, helping people and everything in between, what involves people. And in distribution, it’s super critical because as you mentioned before, it’s a bit like a matchmaking and you work with so many teams, you work with vendors, partners, tech data people here internally in the region, but also maybe in APAC and globally, you really need to have people skills to be successful in this job. So I really like it. And of course, leading the team requires some good people skills.

(08:58):

So that’s on what I enjoy. And what I don’t enjoy is admin, paperwork and anything that is repetitive and a little bit boring, but I guess most people would be like that as well. But for a company of our size, which is 62 billion globally, we really need to be the top-notch where it comes to compliance when it comes to doing the right thing, where it comes to documenting everything. So it just comes with the job. It’s maybe not something I love doing, but it’s something that I will always prioritize and ensure it’s done right by the company, by our vendors, by our partners, and by the industry standards.

Barrie Seppings (09:41):

Question number four, control, alt, delete. What is the one career move or that moment that you wish you could go back and undo? Perhaps it was a moment where you realized, “Oh, I’m learning a lesson here.”

Dorota Martinez (09:52):

I wouldn’t change anything because I feel like every experience is part of who we are and shapes us into something. But of course, there are some lessons learned and some situations been better than others. So since I worked in many countries, UK, the Netherlands, Poland, now Australia, lots of organizations, lots of different people. So I’ve seen how people work differently. And there was one company where I worked and it had toxic culture and I actually had toxic manager. And at the time, it was first time when I was in such culture, so I actually couldn’t find myself, “Oh, how do I make this work?” Because I was not used to this sort of environment. So what I’ve learned over time during this experience and also later when I left, that when you are in a toxic culture, sooner you leave, it’s for the best, it’s for yourself, for your family, and for your future.

(10:55):

So definitely now, if I go for interview, I would always ask culture related questions. What the culture like? What’s your management style, if I talk to manager? How people collaborate, all those questions are so important and sometimes they get overlooked but then arrive at the workplace and realize, “Oh, this is so much different that I envisioned.” It’s just, can break your career at that company. I definitely would recommend anyone to do their homework before they start new job because salaries and other perks, it’s not everything. It’s the culture that it’s really can make you happy or make you very unhappy in a company.

Barrie Seppings (11:48):

Question five, shout out. Who have you learned the most from in your career, even if it was what you shouldn’t do or perhaps you’ve had a great mentor. Do you want to talk about who’s been a great leader for you?

Dorota Martinez (12:02):

The other side of the coin, because I think this is where the lessons are learned in a tough way, but I think this is what we remember the most. So when I worked at that workplace that was toxic, I had a toxic manager who was a micromanager, didn’t have great people skills and really impacted, at the time, my self-confidence. But what I really realized by that lesson and working with that person was that, if I ever get an opportunity to be people’s leader, I’ll do everything the opposite, what this person did. So this really set my mindset to where I want to be because I experienced the thing that I don’t want anyone to experience. So that really impacted how I carry myself today, what sort of leader I am because I want people I work with, achieve the best they can and your manager can really make the workplace for you or break it.

Barrie Seppings (13:05):

Question six, the only constant is marketing cliches. So on the podcast, we talk about technology and we’re in technology businesses and perhaps now it feels like it’s moving faster, but it’s always moving really fast and yet, humans really don’t like change. How do you keep yourself leaning into change? How do you cope with the rate of change or are you excited by the constant change?

Dorota Martinez (13:29):

I actually perform better in environments that offer that constant change. And I get really bored in the workplace where things are stable when every week is the same, when job is similar. Every year, I really thrive when job is different, every year, every quarter when challenges are different. So for me, also looking at my background, living in different countries, working in different companies, different industries, for me, that’s kind of natural sort of way of being. But how to adapt and why, I think it’s not optional for any company or for anyone because things are moving so fast. So if you don’t adapt, you just left behind. And there are just so many new companies being created, many ideas, especially with AI. So if you don’t embrace the change, then you’ll be left behind and you will not be successful.

Barrie Seppings (14:30):

Question seven, here’s to your health. Given that there’s all this change and you said you’ve moved here, you’ve moved there, it takes a lot of energy to do that. How do you keep yourself healthy and balanced between life and work? Do you have routines? Do you have hobbies and sports? What’s your secret?

Dorota Martinez (14:49):

I enjoy nature. So every time when I work from home in the morning 7:00 AM, I go for a walk to the beach and I really enjoy that. I take time to look around, appreciate how lucky we are, this beautiful country, everything it offers. And I also listen to podcasts during the walk, so I kind of use half of the time to learn something new, maybe clear my headspace, come up with some ideas for the day, whereas the other half of the walk, I will appreciate, look around. So that’s sort of weekday routine. And in terms of the holidays and time away, I would say when I choose my holidays, I always go for something with nature as well. Something that will offer me walks, whether it’s beach or it’s mountains or lakes, whatever that may be, I really disconnect and enjoy being outside.

Barrie Seppings (15:53):

And what’s your favorite place that you’ve been to recently on your travels for nature?

Dorota Martinez (15:58):

My best place ever for nature is Iceland.

Dorota Martinez (16:03):

It’s so beautiful. I love everything about it, dramatic landscape, how raw it is that you drive every 10 minutes you have different views. So one moment you will have waterfalls, 10 minutes later you’re going to have volcano, 10 minutes later you’re going to have mountains, then sea, everything. So it’s just so beautiful. It’s a little bit cold, but it’s so worth it. So that’s my favorite.

Barrie Seppings (16:34):

Question eight, unique snowflakes. Every market or industry or territory likes to think they’re a little bit unique and you’ve worked in lots of different countries, so you’ve probably got a good perspective on this. Do you think there is a territory or a sector or a part of your audience that you really do have to treat a little bit special or are they kind of all the same?

Dorota Martinez (16:55):

Public sector, especially government, it’s very complex. They’re a long sales cycles, there are lots of stakeholders involved in decision. It takes forever to make any changes or arrive to a conclusion. Also, decisions are driven by policies and greater good, but this is because there is a lot at stake and it’s people who are at stake. It’s their future, their families and their health that is at stake. So definitely, that’s a different sector to any other sector. And also, transparency is very unique. So public servants are constantly on the spot. So even if they do everything perfectly in the job, but do something in their private life, they may hear about it in press very soon.

(17:44):

So it’s that kind of requirement for people who do the right things, not only at work but also outside. So I would say this is really different to any other sector. And another thing is using AI, it’s definitely more restricted. So for example, in government you can’t just put AI on everything to make decisions or make suggestions because people are involved and those situation are so complex. So you really need human there to verify information and ensure that’s there is the best outcome for people involved, especially many of those people are vulnerable. So it’s important to have that human component to it.

Barrie Seppings (18:30):

Question nine, green with envy. So you studied marketing, you’ve been in marketing, you’ve moved through the industries. Do you have a favorite campaign? Is there something out there that you go, “Wow, that’s good, I wish I’d done that?”

Dorota Martinez (18:41):

Absolutely. And there is one that’s been actually launched 20 years ago and it’s Dove Real Beauty campaign. I’m not sure if you remember when it was launched, but it really challenged traditional beauty standards and started a global conversation about self-esteem and authenticity. So it really celebrated real people and diversity. So where it came from was the research that said only 2% of women thought they were beautiful. So that, I think, it’s a really quite shocking number because probably, if you ask men how many of them think that they are handsome, probably it would be a little bit more than 2%. But I think it’s because of the media influence and how women are shown on TV that they feel that they need to look in certain way or behave in certain way.

(19:38):

So there is so much work to be done. So this campaign was not only about selling the product, which of course it is as well, but it was also about shifting mindsets, empowerment and starting really much needed cultural dialogue. And actually, there was another research that Dove published on the website. It was conducted in 2024. The research says that two in five women would give up a year of their life to achieve their beauty ideals and how much you can do with year of your life. And some people are willing to sacrifice that to achieve their beauty standards. So it also shows that there is still lots of work to be done. And I really like this campaign and what they do to help drive change.

Barrie Seppings (20:28):

Question 10, that really gets my goat. Dorota, what’s the one thing in this industry that’s gone on for too long and when you’re in charge, you’re going to fix it?

Dorota Martinez (20:40):

Recently I attended amazing awards, WIICTA Awards, those awards recognize women in IT channel. And when I arrived there, I saw 500 women and I thought to myself, “Oh, where all those women come from?” Because normally, when I go to even big events, I can see probably 90% of guys and maybe here and there, women. So having more women, it’s something I would like to change. And having sit at the table in the boardroom, definitely I would like to change that, rather than maybe working more in the background. So that’s one thing I would like to change.

(21:26):

And I don’t think we’ve done enough so far. And actually, what this made me realize attending that event is that there is much more work to be done because if we need to come to awards to celebrate women and their achievements and amazing work they do, why isn’t it normal? We are not celebrating guys for doing amazing jobs and they are doing amazing jobs. Amazing jobs shouldn’t be matter of gender or needs special recognition. It should be something normal, no matter where you’re from, no matter whether you’re female or male. If you are doing good job, you can get the shout-out, but those awards are specifically for women, which really recognize great work they do, but it also shows that that there is still much more work to be done.

Barrie Seppings (22:20):

Question 11, truth serum. What’s the one question you’d ask your agency if you knew that they had to tell you the truth?

Dorota Martinez (22:29):

The question would be, what don’t you feel comfortable telling us about our brand or approach?

Barrie Seppings (22:35):

Oh, really? You want more truth from your agency? You want some hard questions?

Dorota Martinez (22:39):

Absolutely. So what are our blind spots in our strategy, gaps, how we position or even internal gaps that aren’t obvious from within the company? Because those are really insights where the biggest opportunities or risks lie. And at Tech Data, we have an amazing team of marketing people who’ve got lots of ideas, bring great campaigns to life. So really from agency, we need that additional value to look at us and think, okay, maybe you’re going wrong here or there or maybe we should think about this or about that and challenge us. So for us, agency isn’t just somebody who executes on ideas, it’s somebody who is our partner and we build together. So I think that honest conversation is part of any good relationship.

Barrie Seppings (23:40):

And why do you think it’s hard for agencies to do that? Why do they do that so infrequently?

Dorota Martinez (23:47):

I think they have ideas and they have the approach and point of view, but I think sometimes they don’t want to lose a client or maybe they don’t want a relationship to be impacted. So maybe sometimes they rather go with a client suggestion or maybe they can be busy, short-staffed. So, they want to go with easier solutions just to get the campaign out of the way and move on.

Barrie Seppings (24:15):

Question 12, better together. You spoke earlier about collaborating and your teams. Talk to us about how you make those decisions about when you need to collaborate with people, particularly people that you’re leading, and when you need to step back and let them do their own thing. Is that something that you have a system for or it’s a case-by-case basis for working that out?

Dorota Martinez (24:36):

It’s about the balance. It depends on the size and strategic importance of the project and activity. It depends if someone has the right skills and experience, and if there is a clear alignment on objectives. So if those are met, then I let somebody just to do their own thing. I stay available, of course, when they need something, but I’m big on empowerment. So my approach is, I hire really talented people, people who actually can take my job. So when I have interview with somebody, I say, okay, can this person year two, five, whenever the time comes, whatever that may be, can take my job or have ambition to take it? And if the answer is yes, that’s a step closer to get the job. So it can be a little bit counterintuitive for some people, especially if they have some insecurities thinking, oh, maybe they’ll be better than me. But for me, it’s the opposite.

(25:40):

I want to embrace those people, give them space and tools to be the best version of themselves. And if they can be, then I keep supporting them on the way. So I’m really big on empowerment and letting people to do their best jobs, but if situation is complex, there are high stakes and maybe person is new, then probably I would be more involved. And maybe it’s not just me, but probably wider business, maybe some people from sales department, from technical and whoever may be required. I think what’s important to understand, it’s not about the person, it’s about the outcome we’re trying to achieve, and it’s not personal. If we need people on the team that have some certain skills, then we’ll get that. And it’s not a matter of pride, it’s just to get the best outcome for Tech Data, but best outcome for the vendor, best outcome for partner.

Barrie Seppings (26:46):

Question 13, change your mind. What’s a long-held belief about marketing, perhaps from your university days, things that you were taught as theory and now that you’ve been out there, you’ve been in so many markets, different companies, different countries, what have you had to change your mind about?

Dorota Martinez (27:03):

It would be, more is better. More noise means better results. More messaging means more leads. So now, how I see it is the actually more targeted approach, personalized approach is better and enables to get a measurable impact.

Dorota Martinez (27:27):

So it’s not just about being loud, it’s about being thoughtful, strategic and authentic.

Barrie Seppings (27:34):

Yeah, I work with some very big brands that, I mean, they just get busy. They want to feel like they’re always doing something, and you have to convince them, stay focused. You don’t have to do more things. Keep it a little bit more consistent and a bit clearer. It’s kind of hard to do. And to your point earlier, it’s hard when they’re giving you budgets like, “Here’s some budgets, do some more stuff.” No agency is going to say no to more budgets to do more stuff. And that’s probably part of that truth that you’re talking about, is the agency saying don’t do extra things even though it would be revenue. That’s a hard conversation to have.

Dorota Martinez (28:12):

Absolutely. And being more targeted, you can also measure outcomes better because let’s say, if you pray and spray your message somewhere, then how can you see what actually impact was made? Whereas where you do lots of maybe more targeted activities, then you can see, okay, this activity actually created the outcomes or didn’t create outcomes, so we should do more of this activity, less of that. So with smaller activities, more targeted, personalized, you can actually measure what works and what doesn’t.

Barrie Seppings (28:50):

Question 14, put your money where your mouth is. In terms of that effectiveness and that ROI, thinking about the last six or 12 months, which tactics or approaches are you pulling back from, you’re doing less of because they’re not working as much? And what have you seen that’s been a little bit more successful for you at Tech Data?

Dorota Martinez (29:09):

So overall, any campaigns that are targeted, personalized and we can measure, are always preferred. But specifically, tactics, I would say events working for us because event create a space where vendors, partners, Tech Data can connect and have more meaningful conversations. So those are the ones that we invest the most into as far as marketing tactics. And the ones that probably we don’t do much is advertising, especially if it’s not advertising, we can clearly measure. Of course, I understand it’s important for brand awareness and that sort of things, but if I have budget that I need to prioritize, probably advertising will be secondary to targeted campaigns.

Barrie Seppings (30:03):

Question 15, overhyped and underrated. What’s under the radar or even maybe an old-fashioned idea, something that’s underrated that doesn’t really get the love that it deserves?

Dorota Martinez (30:14):

It’s customer onboarding. It’s so easy for companies to kind of move forward once they have a customer locked in. So it takes a lot of effort for companies to get customer, whether it’s marketing, sales, technical and so on. But once the customer kind of signs the contract, many companies kind of forget about them and move on to the next new customer. But customer onboarding is so important. It can increase satisfaction, retention and advocacy and it increases really product adoption and builds loyalty. And it’s more valuable than probably any marketing campaign, but yet it really gets the same strategic focus and innovation and energy as any other tactics.

Barrie Seppings (31:08):

Question 16 is the supermodel question. Many years ago, supermodel, Linda Evangelista once said that she would not get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day and we obviously need to update that for inflation. Dorota, how much does it cost to get you out of bed and why do you get up every morning and keep doing what you’re doing?

Dorota Martinez (31:28):

For me, it’s about creating impact. So whether I’m solving a problem or helping somebody to progress their career or whether I’m working with vendor or partner is about the impact that an activity or time that I put into this activity can create. So probably if I feel that the activity won’t create impact, I will be much less interested in getting engaged into that activity. So that’s one thing. Another thing is progress. So seeing ideas take shape, campaigns turn into results is another thing that motivates me. Progress and impact, those things that really drive my motivation. Yes.

Barrie Seppings (32:13):

Question 18, home alone. Cast your mind back to the pandemic and lockdown. What was that experience like for you and how has it changed the way you work now? Have you just gone back to completely reset or have things changed for you?

Dorota Martinez (32:26):

It was an interesting experience for sure, not just for me, but from everybody. I wouldn’t say it was too bad. I kind of liked parts of it, but it was also because I didn’t get COVID and my family and friends were, well, we were not impacted by it. So it’s easier to say it was not too bad when it really didn’t impact your health. But of course, I can see the side of story of people who had COVID and maybe until now they have some health issues because of that. But what I’ve learned from it is that I can work from home or from anywhere. Before COVID, I never worked a day remotely. So now COVID, today we’re working from office. Tomorrow, everyone needs to work from home and now I have laptop in front of me and I’m supposed to work at home. I don’t have space to work from home, so I needed to create that.

Barrie Seppings (33:30):

Question 19-

Barrie Seppings (33:33):

… all of me. Lots of businesses say they want their staff to bring their whole self to work. They want their staff to embrace their life and find work-life balance. Talk to us first about Tech Data. What’s the culture like there, because you mentioned before culture is really important? Has the promise lived up to the reality for you?

Dorota Martinez (33:52):

It has. So when I came for job interview at Tech Data, I actually had two other offers already. So I was quite happy about it and it’s, I know, great position to be in, but when I came to interview, I didn’t feel desperate, that this is the only one opportunity I have. So I came to interview super relaxed, I was being honest, I was being authentic. I discussed what I would like to do if I get this role, how I would see things progressing. I asked lots of questions and we had really good conversation about it. And it turned out that the company liked the way I was, so I didn’t have to change myself to please anyone because I’m good as I am. So definitely the good tip here is when you go for a job interview, just be yourself because then you get into a job and then you need to be somebody who you’re not and then that causes lots of issues and you don’t really enjoy the job.

(34:59):

So, I’m definitely myself at work and the company also encouraging that for people to be themselves. And when I was about to start this job, I spoke to a colleague of mine who works in a bank and this person got massive team and the advice I was given was to keep my personality to myself and keep work separate. But for me, that was never an option. I just can’t do that. I like to be authentic. This is who I am and being respectful and everything, but I just can’t separate today I’m like this and tomorrow or different environment, I’m totally different person. It’s not something that I would like to do or feels right to me.

Barrie Seppings (35:45):

Question 20 is secret weapon. Dorota, do you have a secret weapon for your life and your career? And if you do, will you tell me what it is?

Dorota Martinez (35:54):

I have two. The first one is understanding people’s skills so I can quickly see what people’s strengths are, what they enjoy, what they don’t like, because that’s also equally important, what people don’t like. And I can quickly see, okay, so this person I have, let’s say, five people or 10 people on the team. So this person really enjoys digital side of marketing. So I’m going to put them also on some digital projects, whether this person actually really likes CRM and then another person really likes video. So I kind of, through understanding people who they are, what really motivates them, I can really allocate those people into the projects where they thrive. And what it gives is people actually do their best job because if people do something that they enjoy rather than just doing it because they have to, they provide better results. And it’s win-win both for the company as well as individuals involved. So that’s one.

(37:00):

And second one, I genuinely care about people. So I want to learn about them, see what motivates them, what challenges they have, and try to understand bigger picture. And actually when you do that, it really improves relationships, collaboration, and trust. And whether it’s just colleagues or it’s partners or vendors, having that care, it’s really fundamental and it makes people want to work with you. And it’s really important to take time to listen and to understand what motivates people. And because the relationships are not just transactional, it’s not just what’s written in the contract, it’s so much more. And when you create that experience for people, when they know that you’ve got their back, they will definitely give their best work. And when people feel supported and seen, they will do their best work. And sometimes caring can be seen as soft, but I think it’s quite the opposite, is the fundamental in creating thriving workplaces and helping other people to be the best version of the self. So this is something that really motivates me and I really put lots of effort into learning about our people and genuinely caring about them as well.

Barrie Seppings (38:25):

Well, that was 20 questions. The interview game we play here with all of our guests on the Plugged In, Switched On podcast. Those answers were from Dorota Martinez. She’s the head of marketing for ANZ for Tech Data. They’re a global tech distributor, work with some of the biggest vendors and brands around the world. Before I let Dorota go though, I asked her what movie she would take with her to watch on a desert island. Here’s what she had to say.

Dorota Martinez (38:54):

That’s an interesting question because I actually don’t watch TV and for many years, let’s say like 10 years, I even didn’t have TV. So it’s not somewhere where I put my time and my husband, when he watches some TV series or whatever that may be, sometimes I watch it, but I actually don’t watch it. I will do something on my phone or talk to somebody. So actually, I would not go with any movie.

Barrie Seppings (39:23):

Probably our first guest that doesn’t want to watch any movies on a desert island. You do have to admire that. Before we unplug for this episode, I just want to give you a quick update from Splendid Group. We are the pure play B2B technology agency where I work and where we make this particular podcast. But when I say where there really is nowhere, we are a completely distributed virtual global agency. We allow people to do their best work from wherever they want to make their best work. If that sounds like something you’d like to do and you’re looking for a change in your marketing or agency career, you should come on over to splendidgroup.com, have a little look around and get in touch. We are hiring at the moment.

(40:04):

If you’d like to have a conversation, we’d like to be on the other end of it. Thank you. I have been and continue to be Barrie Seppings. I am the executive creative director here at Splendid Group. You’ve been listening to the Plugged In Switched On podcast. We publish every month. It is a podcast about the conversations that matter in B2B tech marketing. Hit subscribe in the podcast distributor of your choice and you will hear us again automatically next month. Thank you for having us in your ears. Plugged In, Switched On is generated by Splendid Group. Thanks to our executive producers, Ruth Holt and Anna Isabelle Canta.