Throughout history, women have proven to not only stand on their own, but to thrive in a patriarchal society. Many of the biggest leaders and powerhouses in the world are women, and they are role models to younger women everywhere. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Tami Nealy, the Senior Vice President of Communications and Talent Relations with Find Your Influence. Tami is not only a great leader, but an inspiration to other women in the influencer marketing industry. Today, 70% of Find Your Influence employees identify as women. She describes what it is like to be a leader of Find Your Influence and the challenges and rewards that come with it.
Background
Tami joined the Find Your Influence team in August 2018. Her work history spans a variety of marketing and corporate communications experiences from media relations and investor relations to crisis communication and marketing automation. She has served as a corporate spokesperson, executed large-scale sporting events and helped take an organization public on the NYSE.
Women and the Influencer Marketing Industry
Women have been at the forefront of the influencer revolution. Long before traditional social media platforms, thousands of women were blogging. The hyper-growth of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter and TikTok helped propel these original creators further forward. Tami mentions how proud she is to work for an organization co-founded by two women (Jamie Reardon Evans and Cristine Vieira) who identified the need for an all-in-one influencer marketing solution and set out to build it. In 2023, Find Your Influence celebrates ten years of helping brands create, develop, launch and scale their influencer programs.
Tami offered her appreciation for working in the industry with a mostly female staff. “Not to take away from the contributions of our male-identifying employees, the women of Find Your Influence are empowering, empathetic and energizing,” said Nealy. “They admire the contributions of women across the industry from the creators, brands, marketing and PR agencies and other female-led organizations. The commitment of women at every level in this industry to its overall success is unmatched.”
Rising Up from the Challenges
Tami’s career has been an evolution where she was once negatively impacted by her gender, when she worked in professional sports. She offers the following insight from within the world of influencer marketing, “The influencer industrial complex has such scale that women are constantly lifting one another up, sharing ideas and opportunities, all in an effort to make the industry better.”
Furthermore, Tami shared, “…one woman’s success today doesn’t take away from another’s success and I am so grateful to be part of this collaborative and uplifting community.” Not only has Tami found success, but she has learned from the obstacles within her career to continue to prove how women persevere.
Tami’s Advice
I asked Tami what advice she would give to women trying to establish themselves in their careers. “I would tell young women that beyond the work they will do, organizational culture is everything. Do you want to work for a team where most people log off at 5 and you’re left to finish your work alone until the project is complete? At Find Your Influence, if I have a project that is running long, our team always jumps in to help so we all leave together. Look for an organization that will support you and will also invest in helping you learn and grow.”
Freelance contribution especially written for Find Your Influence by Olivia Sullivan.