Spotlight: Sara Wallace
I think of Butler/Till as a media planning company. What does that mean and how do you describe your role there?
Media is such an interesting term…it makes a lot of people think of print ads or the ads they see on Facebook. As part of the Account Team, it’s our responsibility to tell our clients and our partners what we can really bring to the table. It’s not just that we can buy this print ad or that digital ad for you – it’s using media to spread the right message in the right places at the right time and making smart decisions in the future based on the insights we gain.
Butler/Till has a reputation as a great place to work. What do you think is the secret sauce?
The reason why I came here was the culture. I knew I wanted to be around good people, who are highly motivated and want to make the organization stronger. Part of why Butler/Till is like that is because the interview process focuses on how candidates will add the the culture. Once we're on board, we're an employee-owned company, so everything we do directly affects the business, no matter your title. The leadership here does a great job talking about that and attributing every achievement to their entire team.
You’ve volunteered (a ton) with us both as a representative of Butler/Till and as an individual. What made you want to become so involved?
At Butler/Till one of our principles is to step up and not out. It doesn’t just apply to our internal work here, it speaks to reaching out and investing in the Rochester community as well. One way I do that is by participating in projects with Causewave. When moved here in 2015, I wanted to get more involved because I’m not originally from Rochester. I needed to learn more about this community and understand what Rochester is so I was asked to consider the board position. Originally it was to get a better feel for everything, but now it’s become something that just feels good to be a part of.
The media landscape is always changing. How do you keep up?
I was recently out on maternity leave for 12 weeks. On my first day back at work, I sat in on a conference call. After about 20 minutes I got up and walked out. I was so overwhelmed about how much had changed in just 12 weeks. Audiences shifted and the information you can pull from platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn had changed. You can never sit back...keeping up is a constant project. What helps, is that on every team here, we have designated experts who dedicate time monitoring new trends and act as resources to catch the rest of us up. I also subscribe to a boatload of newsletters and spend 15 minutes in the morning to skim them.
Anything else going on in your life right now you want to share?
I had a baby girl four months ago, so that’s definitely the biggest thing going on in my life right now. It has completely changed me in a lot of ways I didn’t expect. There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and having a girl in particular has made me think about what kind of woman I want my daughter to become and what I can do to lead by example. I have a real opportunity to stay involved, get more involved, and then be able to get my daughter involved too. I want her to learn about giving back and staying true to her beliefs and accepting of others.