Siobhan Marks, President Elect

What do you do as Chair of the President Elect of the Milwaukee Chapter?
My role this year is a new one (for me). In the capacity of President Elect, I provide support to James Wolter, our current President and assist the various committees on the BMA-Milwaukee board. Up until this year, most of my energies have been focused on the BMA Bell Awards. I started six years ago serving on the committee and then went onto Chair the Bell Awards for the last three years. In transitioning the Bell Awards over to new leadership this year, I am also serving in an advisory role for that committee as well.

How long have you been a member of BMA?
I attended my first meeting back in the mid-1990's and then a career shift took me away from B2B and plunged me into the world of healthcare marketing. After a few years had gone by, I realized I'd become out of touch with B2B best practices and even though my job was still very focused on healthcare marketing, I started attending BMA meetings to help bridge the gap. In 2005, I became a member and joined the Bell Awards committee.

Tell us about your background in marketing.
I've pretty much done it all. I started my career fresh out of art school working as a graphic designer. In 1984, I was one of the first to be handed a Macintosh computer and told to figure it out. There weren't classes offered anywhere - the technology was too new. In about six months, I'd mastered it well enough to talk the creative director into giving it a shot on some Snap-on® packaging that was underway in the agency. Turned out the Macintosh was more efficient and saved money, so it was full speed ahead and a turning point for my career. Eventually, I took a position managing the creative services team in a large insurance company and with that, went back to school to pursue a BA in Communications. In time, I was running my own business and at one point, had four employees coming to my home everyday to work. No longer a creative, I was a business manager, account executive and marketing director. After moving into professional space, doubling our staff and another few years of profitable growth, an advertising agency from Los Angeles purchased my design firm. From that point on, I focused on managing the Milwaukee office for them and leading the agency's largest account which at the time, was healthcare. In 2006, I went back into business for myself and have been doing that ever since. Today, I oversee marketing for three global manufacturing firms and recently started a business initiative that provides marketing services to Indian Country businesses and organizations.

What is the most valuable part of your BMA membership?
There's no doubt about it.... it's the people - my BMA colleagues - who keep me engaged and it's those relationships that I value the most. Along with that are terrific networking opportunities and numerous ways to remain current on the ever changing world of B2B marketing. Through BMA, I keep up on trends in marketing, best practices and learn about exciting new technologies that shape the marketing landscape. BMA has proved to be an invaluable resource for me professionally and has helped my career grow.

What do you do when you're not busy being President Elect?
Clearly, there are not enough hours in my day. I am a single mother of two teenage sons who keep me on my toes at all times! I am also passionate about the volunteer work that I do in the Native American community which take me to many cultural events locally and around the country. My hobbies are photography, cooking and watching old films. I hope to rekindle a few others that I somehow lost along the way... sewing, working out and painting.