Career Growth Advice from Alyssa Maschi, Customer Advocacy Leader at Lenovo | Career Tips for Women in Technology

2B Bolder Podcast – Episode 133
Featuring Alyssa Maschi

Episode Title: #133 Building a Successful Customer Advocacy Program: Alyssa Maschi's Journey at Lenovo

Host: Mary Killelea
Guest: Alyssa Maschi


Mary Killelea (Host): Hi there, my name is Mary Killelea. Welcome to the 2B Bolder podcast, providing career insights for the next generation of women in business and tech. 2B Bolder was created out of my love for technology and marketing, my desire to bring together like-minded women, and my hope to be a great role model and source of inspiration for my two girls and other young women like you. Encouraging you guys to show up and to be bolder and to know that anything you guys dream of, it's totally possible. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation.

Hey there. Ever wonder what it really takes to scale a customer advocacy program across a global enterprise? Well, on this episode of the 2B Bolder podcast, I'm joined by Alyssa Maschi. She is the head of the customer reference center excellence over at Lenovo. Alyssa's career is a great example of what's possible when you combine curiosity, clarity, and commitment to growth. She's built and scaled global customer programs, led high performing teams, and brought storytelling to life in ways that directly support sales and marketing efforts around the world. Elizabeth, it is so great to have you here. It's fun to reconnect. I know our worlds crossed previously and another time. So, great to have you here.

Alyssa Maschi (Guest): Yes, thank you. I'm really excited to be here.

Mary Killelea: Okay, so let's start at the beginning. When you were a little girl, did you imagine you would be making customer stories and running a huge global program for a big tech company?

Alyssa Maschi: Absolutely not. I don't even remember what I wanted to do as a kid. I was so enthralled with sports and, you know, I was playing everything from soccer, I was in gymnastics, I was in dance, like that was my world. Like, never really thought about a future career. But when I was in college, I got into nonprofits. That was a world that was so interesting and so fulfilling and, you know, I thought that was my end- all be all. It was, you know, the greatest internship, the first jobs I've ever had. Then you know fast forward you know 10 plus years of customer references at Lenovo in technology would never have guessed this right. I've taken a complete 180 from where I started my career.

Mary Killelea: I think that's great because you show women that there's not just one path that you have to take.

Alyssa Maschi: No, I mean I'm a huge proponent of soft skills. Like it's honestly what's taken me through really not just professional experiences but educational experiences, you know, networks, relationships, right? It's those soft skills that help you translate from one stage in life to the next. So yeah.

Mary Killelea: Yeah. You know, I think that's great because I think there are a lot of people currently who are pivoting or looking at, you know, maybe their initial job path that they went down wasn't quite what they thought it would be. So, they are looking at how I transition into new roles? And so, you're really saying you kind of leverage your soft skills and your adaptability.

Alyssa Maschi: Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, my pit stop between nonprofits and doing customer references, I actually did channel marketing at a software as a service agency.

Mary Killelea: Okay.

Alyssa Maschi: That was my first entryway into tech. That was the biggest transition, right? Because going from nonprofits, doing fundraising, events, volunteers, you know, doing organizing that whole world. Getting into channel marketing. I was like, "A, what is the channel?" Geo is like a me foreign world to me. And but what got me, you know, in the door was, you know, like I just said, those soft skills like I had really honed in on my ability to communicate. I had honed in on my ability to, you know, work with donors. So, working with donors translates nicely to working with customers. I had done a little bit of marketing right doing events and so advising with channel marketing you know obviously there was a learning curve but I had the base there and so making that transition to tech through you know channel marketing was a huge step but that learning curve was is the foundation of what I've built my career in technology on right and then from there going into customer marketing customer reference marketing I had never done customer reference marketing. To be honest, I had to Google it when I saw the job, right?

Mary Killela: I love your transparency. I love it.

Alyssa Maschi: You know, but it's true, right?

Mary Killelea: Yeah.

Alyssa Maschi: Even when I had applied, I was like, I've never done this before, but I know what you're looking to do, and this is how I can do it, and this is what my experience, you know, will lend itself to be successful in this role. And you know, honestly, they took a chance on me, right? You see somebody that is applying that has customer marketing or customer reference experience over somebody who doesn't, right? It's a leap, but you know, you really have to be confident in your abilities and hone in on those soft skills to say, you know, I can do this and I'm the right person for the job for X, Y, and Z reasons.

Mary Killelea: That's so inspiring. I love that. So walk us through your role and kind of a day in life if there are you know two that repeat itself.

Alyssa Maschi: Yeah. Well I think when I first started right so when I first started in Lenovo I was tasked with creating a customer reference program for just one of the single business units. They saw the need was there and they were like but you have to go build it right make it happen. So my first you know couple years in this customer reference realm within Lenovo it was setting the foundation for the program right you know how are we going to engage with the customers how are we going to get to the customers you know if we're going to get to the customers through the sellers how do we engage the sellers and then when we engage them where do they go how do we need to enable them how do we communicate with them right so a lot of my first few years you know with this program was very operational was very strategic. It still is today but in a very different manner, right? It was really setting the basis of what this program could and should be. And then it was working with the sellers trying to identify potential customers who would be part of our program. So it was a lot of heavy lifting. Then when we worked towards building that program within a single business group and expanding it as a center of excellence to the entire organization, my position kind of shifted. So I wasn't and still am not super involved in the dayto-day of identifying customers and you know recruiting customers and talking one-on-one with sellers. My position now is I think of it more in line with business development, right? How do we take what we have and make it bigger and how do we expand our influence within the rest of the organization? How do I grow and build more channels of internal advocacy? How do I get the support of leadership? How do I get more money? You know, like that is where my focus is and trying to take what we're doing and make it part of just the fabric of Lenovo and that's that's my ultimate goal.

Mary Killelea: And I think it was so good for you to break down kind of the behind the scenes because you hear customers stories and you do not know all of the SLA like just cording or identifying cording and then execution. There's a lot behind the scenes. So another thing that I think is great about Lenovo is they're investing in putting and shining the light on their customers. Why do you think more companies don't do this?

Alyssa Maschi: I don't know.

Mary Killelea: Yeah.

Alyssa Maschi: I honestly don't know. And it baffles me when they don't because if you the way I like to think about it is like, right, you go shopping. You're going to buy something on Amazon. You look at the stars, you look at the reviews, you know, you read the reviews, right? If one has 3.5 and the other has 4.9, right? You have had enough people advocating for that product, the likelihood you're going to buy it is much higher because you have those. Now, B2C is a little bit different from B2B, but the concept is still there, right? You need enough people to say, "I found success with this company or with this product or even just the relationship that I have with the individual that is representing the product or the company, you know, it goes a long way." And I don't know why companies don't do it because it's just the most organic way to build trust within your brand.

Mary Killelea: If a woman is out there listening in a marketing organization or in sales or or in something and she sees an opportunity within her organization to present and advocate for this and maybe build a position for her to elevate in her leadership, any advice on how to go in armed with a win?

Alyssa Maschi: Yeah, like so for my example, right, when we went from just one business group to a COE, I don't think that really would have been possible within Lenovo because it's such a massive organization. I don't think that would have been possible if I hadn't had my VP of marketing for my business group as my advocate. I don't think it would have happened. She was so passionate about what we had built and she was so proud of what we had built that she was using her position in the company to help advocate for the program. For me personally, I mean, she was probably one of the biggest supporters I've ever had in my career. She knew what it was worth and she definitely, you know, allowed us to have a space on that stage. And so it was that relationship I built with her. It was, you know, just and that was just like an organic relationship that we built too, right? Because she was my VP the whole time I was building the program. So we had a lot of collaboration. She had a lot of input. She had a lot of feedback. She also had a lot of praise too. So the relationship built itself over time, but she was naturally the right person to give us that stage to be able to pitch it to our CMO and ultimately get her buy in to invest in it and say, "Yep, this is something that I want for the entire organization and here's a check." Not literally, but you know, she was able to fund, you know, what we had requested. So I think the the biggest key is if you're if you're looking to make a big step whether it's in your career or it's for a program within your organization you know unfortunately politics does have a place within corporate America it's reality it's often times not fair but kind of have to learn to to play the game right and having the right people support you and believe in you and what you're doing is essential for success. I hate to say it, but it's true.

Mary Killelea: Yeah. No, and I think it's fantastic that you had someone in a leadership role who saw something in you and advocated for you. I think the other thing that I think was beautiful in what you said is it was organic. Like it wasn't forced. I'm sure she saw you know your hard work and you know I've been in a company where you know it was very clear who was managing up versus doing the work and it's always wonderful when I hear stories when you know hard work is getting rewarded and recognized.

Alyssa Maschi: Right yeah there's a delicate balance there too, right? The piece versus being the individual contributor and you know that role that I had when I first started Lenovo was equal parts of that right because I was the only one in the company doing this job so I had to learn to manage up but I also had to execute too. So it was a great position to give me that experience in both those worlds.

Mary Killelea: So another thing to tap into while we're on this topic is I know when you're in corporate especially tech when you're moving fast you have to build the plane or fly the plane as you're building the plane and you know here you were tasked to do this daunting endeavor. What allowed you to be adaptable and drive forward with confidence? What do you encourage or how do you encourage women to take what you were able to do to help them navigate those difficult times? You know, when you don't have a clear direction on what to do, but you're tasked to do something that's challenging.

Alyssa Maschi: Yeah. I mean, I still face it today, right? You know that that VP has since left the company, right? So, I've had some turbulent times trying to, you know, find those other advocates for the program. You know, we do have them. But, I think the best way to navigate that when you do feel a sense of uncertainty is looking back on your goals, right? So, for our program, right, we have a strategic direction. We have four pillars and we've set our goals, we set our objectives, we set our tactics, right? And our strategy on how we're going to execute that. And on those days where I just feel lost or I'm like, I don't have the leadership, I don't have the guidance, I don't know what I'm doing, I always revert back to that and say, this is my leader. Like this one page template here is what I need to be following. And don't get me wrong, you know, it's still challenging, but at least it gives me a little bit more clarity on where I need to be putting more or less of my focus. But the other part is too, like when you don't have clarity, like I find myself instinctually trying to grow my network within the company. Because if I'm not getting direction from my leadership, I need to find the direction in other parts of the organization. It takes longer, right? Because you don't have somebody saying, "Hey, go there and talk to that person." It's me being like, "Oh, that's an interesting team. There might be some correlation here." And it's just kind of like, you know, trying to find those teams that have similar priorities that could leverage the work or the content or the services that you offer. So, it's yeah, just going back and finding your north star and then also trying to continue to be curious and inquisitive and and finding others who may help shed some light on what that direction should be.

Mary Killelea: I love that. Can you reflect back on your career and give an example of when you made a bold move or took a bold risk?

Alyssa Maschi: I mean, I think the COE was a bold risk. I mean, I definitely had a cushion, right? Because I had that executive to support me. It was a bold move in the sense where I had to go to our CMO. It was me presenting. It wasn't my VP. She just introduced me, right? So, it was bold. It was nerve-wracking. It was great. It paid off, right? And you know, it's something that I look back on very fondly and be like, "Oh my god, I can't believe that was three years ago." Time just flies.

Mary Killelea: Is there anything that you do to kind of psych yourself up or build your confidence in preparation of giving a big presentation?

Alyssa Maschi: Oh gosh. I've had to do a lot of them recently and even some in person in front of our executives and honestly I just kind of tell myself that I know what I'm doing. Be confident in your knowledge and your abilities and just be natural. Right? There's no secret sauce. It's more or less just building my confidence to know that, you know, I got here for a reason and trust in that.

Mary Killelea: I love that. On this show, I love to talk about personal branding. It's kind of one of those things that I think is being more emphasized today than it has been probably in the past and and especially, you know, utilizing LinkedIn, etc. What have you done around building your own personal brand and has it been something intentional that you've you've done?

Alyssa Maschi: No. Well, so it's really funny. After our first take on this, right, when power went out, I had a meeting with one of my one of the girls on my team and I said, "Oh, yeah. I was doing a podcast with an old colleague from from Intel and she's like oh look at you building your personal brand and I was like that's so funny that was a question that I was preparing to answer and my initial response before I talked to her was no I am not building my I don't think about it right but your key word there in the way you asked it was are you intentionally or unintentionally and I think you know thinking back on her reaction and you know or her response and my initial reaction of how I was preparing for this question. It's definitely unintentional. I'm not big on LinkedIn and that's more just I'm not big on social media to begin with. I don't. I'm not in the world that's comfortable sharing my successes. It just doesn't come naturally to me. I don't tend to do that on LinkedIn. But I think unintentionally I do that more or less in person, right? Or within the organization that I'm working in. And I do that by kind of like relationships and building my network internally. And lucky for me, my position spans the entire organization and I touch pretty much every corner of the organization. So it naturally lends itself to have me automatically build that network and build the relationships. But yeah, it's definitely unintentional, but it's something that I think I need to be better about doing more externally.

Mary Killelea: But I think you're demonstrating the fact that, you know, it doesn't all have to be like, oh, I want to get out there and be an influencer or whatever. It is literally living on the reputation of your work. There you go. and letting your personality come across and the warmth that you have through relationship building. I mean, that is building your personal brand. If you say you're going to do something and you follow up and do it, you know, people can count on you. So, I think people have to understand that personal brand building does come in different flavors.

Alyssa Maschi: Absolutely.

Mary Killelea: What advice do you have for women or you know listeners who are trying to get or position themselves for a promotion but they're not sure how to advocate for themselves and they may not have other advocates. So what are the little sprinkles of goodness that they can demonstrate or how can they do that?

Alyssa Maschi: Actually somebody one of my colleagues inquire about this with me a few weeks ago and and I'm not sure if this is the same in every organization but at least when you know it comes to Lenovo the way that our our positions are structured are through band level so it's like Band eight is a manager, band nine is senior manager, right? And you work your way up. And the best way for, you know, us to advocate internally is to look at how they define each band or each level specific to your area of the organization. So if I wanted to go from band 8 to band nine, I'd go to marketing, band 8, band 9. I'd see the differences. I would look to where I'm looking to go and literally print it out and highlight everything that you're doing. Right? So, have an understanding of what that promotion is and are you already doing it? Cuz more than likely you are, right? If you feel as if you're qualified for a promotion, it's because you're probably already exhibiting those tasks, those responsibilities and essentially that role. So, it's understanding what the roles and responsibilities are for that promotion level and clearly articulating what it is you're doing to already place you in that band or that level that you're trying to get the promotion to because then it's hard to to argue,

Mary Killelea: Right?

Alyssa Maschi: They can't really mute it, right? Because you can say, "I'm literally doing this.”

Mary Killelea: Right.

Alyssa Maschi: And it's proof, It's proof.

Mary Killelea: Right? What if and I'm not saying that this is true in your organization, but what advice would you have for someone who like meets with their manager regularly and let's just say they cancel frequently or or they say, "Let's not really worry about writing out like a promotional road map because you're just doing great. Just keep on doing what you're doing." and they don't give feedback. Any thoughts there?

Alyssa Maschi: Frustrating, right?I think I would push harder and say, "Give me concrete steps I need to take to be a candidate for a promotion. Get it in writing." You know, if you can't meet with them one on one, that's probably not their preferred method of communication. and they're probably buried in their email or that or maybe it's just a ping right on your internal chat tool. It's asking for very explicit steps that you can take that would put you in a position for a promotion.

Mary Killelea: I love that.

Alyssa Maschi: Because what you might think are the steps may be very different from how they would consider it.

Mary Killelea: Well, and I like what you said about it might not be their method of communication. So taking it from a different angle, making sure that you're I mean maybe they are better on email. So I think that's such good advice. Okay, so you obviously are very good at networking and building relationships because of the nature of your business and how you work across the organization. Advice on networking and building relationships.

Alyssa Maschi: Don't be afraid to reach out to people that you may think are out of the realm or too high up in the organization to pay you any sort of mind. Right? If there's a VP that you saw on a presentation or they were on a customer call, whatever it might be, and you were impressed, send them a note. Don't be afraid. Like I think mentorships are a huge part of understanding not just your business but understanding how you can navigate your own career based on their own experiences. And so don't be afraid to reach out to those that are much higher level than you are. Then once you do get there ask a lot of questions. A lot of questions. Because whenever I'm, you know, talking to somebody who I may be mentoring, the ones that are inquisitive and spend most of the time being curious, diving deeper into my answers with another question. Like those are the ones that kind of stick with me and I know that they're invested in how to be better.

Mary Killelea: I love that. So, what would you say? I think you said you've been at Lenovo for 10 years. Is that

Alyssa Maschi: Oh, no. Now I'm going on six, but I'm sorry. In tech 10.

Mary Killelea: Okay, since being in tech for 10 years, reflecting back on that, what do you think has been your biggest career growth? I don't want to say a moment, but like where you just said, "Okay, like you're either in a groove or you had that recognition or you What was that in your head where you said, "Okay, I feel good about where I am.

Alyssa Maschi: I think it was most recently, I received the Lenovo corporate culture award for this most recent fiscal year. I was the only one in North America that received the award. Yeah,

Mary Killelea: Congratulations!

Alyssa Maschi: Thank you. Yeah, I think that was definitely a moment of you know you had spoken to this earlier those uncertainties where you're like I don't know what I'm doing. Do I have the right leadership? Am I going in the right direction? Right. Spend so much of your time second-guessing your decisions and second-guessing you know your next step that when you are seen for the work that you do the team that you built and what your team is able to execute and bring to the entire organization it was like we aren't invisible they do know we're here and they they see value. I mean, we're a small but mighty team, right? Yeah, I think that was probably the most humbling moment I've had at Lenovo where I am good at what I do.

Mary Killelea: Oh, wow. That's beautiful to hear. I love that. All right, last question. What does to be bolder mean to you?

Alyssa Maschi: To be bolder really means to be curious. I think in every stage of my career, I applied to jobs that I was curious about. It wasn't a natural opportunity obviously because I've switched careers or you know areas of expertise quite frequently but the curiosity of what could be is I think a huge factor that can play into the trajectory of your career.

Mary Killelea: Fantastic. I love that. That's kind of been my approach too. It's been awesome to reconnect with you. Thank you for coming on and sharing your wisdom, expertise, and just your story and building your personal brand.

Alyssa Maschi: Thank you so much, Mary, for having me and love catching up with you.

Mary Killelea: Thanks for listening to the episode today. It was really fun chatting with my guest. If you like our show, please like it and share it with your friends. If you want to learn what we're up to, please go check out our website at 2bbolder.com. That's the number 2 little bbolder.com.