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Welcome to the Women of HubSpot, a podcast celebrating the voices shaping marketing, technology, and the ever-evolving HubSpot ecosystem. Hosted by George B. Thomas from Sidekick Strategies. Each episode brings you the stories, strategies, and superpowers of the women driving this industry forward. It's their time. It's their mic. This… is Women of HubSpot.
Welcome to the Women of HubSpot podcast, the show that celebrates the voices shaping marketing, technology, and the ever evolving HubSpot ecosystem. Hosted by George B. Thomas from Sidekick Strategies. Each episode brings you the stories, strategies, and superpowers of the women driving this industry forward. It's their time.
Intro:It's their mic. This is Women of HubSpot.
George B. Thomas:Alright, ladies and gentlemen. It's your boy, George b Thomas, and we are back with another episode of the Women of HubSpot podcast. I'm excited, one, because we do have a woman of HubSpot here. If it was just me, that would be a really weird episode. But I'm also excited because we get to continue this journey.
George B. Thomas:Listen. If it's your first episode, here's the deal. It's the Super Bowl. I'm sitting there with my family, and my daughter starts to talk about how the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback has an all women team. And I see her face light up, and I see her excitement.
George B. Thomas:And all of sudden, I get this urge to do a LinkedIn post of like, hey. If you know a woman who works in or with HubSpot, let's shine a light on them. There was no strategy. I was just emotionally moved by how moved my daughter was, and the post blew up. And I looked at my daughters.
George B. Thomas:They looked at me, and we we gotta do something with this. And so this style of interview or content air quotes, if you wanna call it, was created. And so today, I'm here with Brandy Crompton. Brandy, first of all, how the heck are doing today?
Brandy Crompton:I'm doing great. It's a nice sunny day here, so I can't complain. How are you doing?
George B. Thomas:I'm doing great too. Better because you're here and we're gonna have a great conversation. Sunny day, first of all, where are we at that it's sunny?
Brandy Crompton:So it's funny you mentioned the Eagles. I'm in the greater Philadelphia area. So about forty minutes outside of Philly.
George B. Thomas:There you go. I love it. I love it. And so just real quick before we get into the heart of the conversation that people are listening into, kind of maybe explain who you are, what you do, where you do it to give them some context.
Brandy Crompton:Yeah. Definitely. So, yeah, for folks who don't know me, I'm Brandy. I've been at HubSpot for eleven years this past June. So long time HubSpotter.
Brandy Crompton:I basically started there right out of college. Was in Boston for a long time, but after the pandemic kind of been staying remote, allowed me to travel back home. So now I work remotely in the Philadelphia area with my family, live close to family. So it's great. So, yeah, and I focus specifically in our ecosystem product group.
Brandy Crompton:I'm the group product manager for our strategic integrations team. So I manage seven PMs who all work on HubSpot built integrations, and I've built a extensibility for our partners and developers. And yeah. Yeah. That's the the quick hits.
George B. Thomas:I love it. That's the quick hits. So if my math is right, eleven years at HubSpot, does that mean you've had two sabbaticals?
Brandy Crompton:I've had two sabbaticals. Yes. I just I'm coming back for my second one.
George B. Thomas:Nice. I love it. I I so love that that's a feature at HubSpot, for the humans of HubSpot. Okay. So Brandy, let's go ahead and jump into this.
George B. Thomas:If we could go back in time, you know, like, I don't know, we have the technology, which we may in the future, who knows? If we could go back in time and meet young Brandy Crompton, just starting out, one, what would we see? And two, what would she be most surprised about where you are now?
Brandy Crompton:So, yeah. So growing up, I'm actually from a pretty big family. I'm one of five, and I'm a middle child, which I have just always used as a very positive swing. I know middle children sometimes get different definitions or names for things, but no, I've always thrived at being a middle child. Would say I focused on being independent, trying new things, and, yeah, always, I think, been pretty outgoing.
Brandy Crompton:But yeah. No. I, yeah. As I mentioned, grew up with a big family, then went, you know, to school for Boston, and I really didn't know what to do. I or what I was going to do, I played field hockey for a very long time.
Brandy Crompton:So I actually played field hockey in college. I went to Bentley University, and that was one of the biggest pulls to the school and taking me there. And it's a business school in the Boston area. And so from there, tech was becoming pretty hot. I was looking into marketing.
Brandy Crompton:And then it was like, oh, might as well do computer information systems. But I really didn't know what I was gonna do. I really wanted to play sports, and that was definitely something I really, really loved, but knew wouldn't have maybe a further career after college, unfortunately. So then, yeah, I was kind of thinking about what would be next. And Bentley does a phenomenal job of, like, meeting companies in the Boston area, making mentors, thinking about what you want to do, especially like right at freshman year.
Brandy Crompton:So that's where then I discovered I started getting internships in the area and looking more into marketing and computer information systems. And that's kind of where HubSpot was like a no brainer. Started initially on our support team. But just to go back to, like, your initial question was, yeah, I I really had no idea what I was going to do. I was very determined to be a student athlete, and I think Brandy today would be pretty amazed that I lead a product team of seven, and our ecosystem team has just grown insane amount in my eleven years here and HubSpot as a company in general has grown a crazy amount.
Brandy Crompton:And the fact that I still be at HubSpot, but it's all been just an awesome opportunity and something that yeah. I mean, I even am still very impressed that of where I am today, but, yeah.
George B. Thomas:Yeah. As you should be. I mean, I entered the ecosystem in 2012 and the amount of people that I've seen come and go loved and then lost, if you will. And so the fact that I if I do my math right, it seems like 2013 is when you probably started at HubSpot.
Brandy Crompton:So it's 2014.
George B. Thomas:2014. See, my math was wrong. That's why I do interviews. That's not why I do math. So 2014 is when you started HubSpot.
George B. Thomas:You've had two sabbaticals, a sports fanatic. The thing I like too at the beginning is always willing to try new things. You slip that in there as the middle child, which by the way, if you're listening to this, I smiled as soon as Brandy said middle child because I have four children, which I kind of have two middle children. There are things that can be true and not true about that whole kind of middle child thing. But I love that trying new things.
George B. Thomas:I love the sports, the field hockey, the I don't know what I want to do, but let's figure it out along the way mindset that I heard as you were telling that story. You should be proud of where you're at and what you're doing. So it's been a journey to get from there to here. So Brandy, I'm super curious, like who are some of your biggest inspirations or mentors along the way, either in college, before that, or even during your eleven years at HubSpot so far?
Brandy Crompton:Well, yeah, as I said, with Bentley being, a very, I would say, prominent business school, you know, it's it's not an Ivy League, but it still has, like, incredible statistics on just getting graduates, college or jobs right out of college. And as I mentioned, like, I really didn't know what I wanted to do, but I think having that, like, business background was incredibly helpful. And just all the friends and people I met there as well, like, went on to also have very ambitious careers. So I think that was very helpful to me realizing, oh, I should do this. I should get an internship.
Brandy Crompton:I should start thinking about this. I might not be a finance major working at the big four, but I think I could still figure out, you know, a career path there. And, yes, I mean, had ton of friends, teammates that all had, like, really great, fabulous careers and still do. And I think that was something that, right, I didn't know if I wanted necessarily, but was something that I think really helped me in the beginning to just, like, start figuring it out, start working hard, start learning and putting yourself out there. And then from there, you have my time at Bentley.
Brandy Crompton:So basically after I graduated, I was at HubSpot and I've been at HubSpot since. So people in the day used to say like, you've done the HubSpot MBA program because I've been here for so long and started. So I started originally on our support team, and then I was one of the second members on our dedicated support team, which was a new team. The company started to really give high MRR customers and folks that had deep integrations and needed more technical support, that personalized go to person instead of always having to reach out. So leaning back to the just jumping on things and taking opportunities, you'll notice that's a kind of big theme at my time at HubSpot.
Brandy Crompton:So started there, and from there, had, like, a great mentor and folks there, who were very technical, which I think I knew quickly. I loved that. Like, I loved the aspect of, like, troubleshooting, figuring out what's going on, figuring out, like, the technical solution. I only had a minor in computer information systems, that's where just like all the folks around me, I'd say is really, you know, the the champions of of my career because I learned so much from just like my colleagues at HubSpot and getting their advice on, like, what I should do next or if I should take any courses or just taking the time to just learn more about technical solutions there. Yeah.
Brandy Crompton:Because then from there went on to, be a technical consultant. And then from there, a lot of my friends and folks who started in support also went on to the product team. So there were a lot of kind of early friends that I had made from the technical support team in the beginning that then I had as mentors to then figure out how I could move into product, what that would look like, what I would need to do. And so, yeah, so just a ton of friends there and mentors there. I don't know if you want me to name a few.
Brandy Crompton:Happy to name a few.
George B. Thomas:Was gonna say, is there like one or two or two or three that stand above the crowd where you're like, these people had a significant impact on something I was doing or something I felt or something I believe.
Brandy Crompton:Yeah, no, definitely. So I'll say first, shout out to Rob Ainsley. He was the one who was on the led the technical support team or sorry, the dedicated support team back in the day. I believe he's still at HubSpot doing same stuff. There's, like, really focused on figuring out technical solutions for our customers.
Brandy Crompton:He was so just, I think, like, patient and so customer focused and just really knowing the platform and figuring out how to solve for customers. So he was incredibly helpful in my career. And then also definitely Kevin Walsh. He, is a long time PM at HubSpot. Not there anymore, unfortunately, but he was definitely an incredible mentor, for me, especially when I moved into product.
Brandy Crompton:And, you know, just product, you're working more with leaders in the company and figuring out what are the big bets and how to also just strive and be successful as a PM. And he was just such an incredible mentor. He had such a great career at HubSpot, too. But I think just also being a woman, it's also great to have men mentors too, just for thinking outside of the box or things that I wouldn't necessarily think of. And yes, those would be a couple to name that, yeah, I think just when I look back and think about my time that have been just super helpful to kind of, I guess, moving my creative mind that I have today.
George B. Thomas:I love that very much because you'll see, like, as we do this conversation that we're having, there's gonna be kind of some valley questions, but we'll get to some peak questions. And one of the questions we're gonna get to is this idea of like networking for females, but is it just networking in general? And I love that you leaned in like, hey, even having male mentors to to think about the things that I wouldn't think about, which by the way, I love having female mentors because it helps me think about the things that I wouldn't think about or females that are in my life that are empowered and successful. And so I think that having this mix is a beautiful thing as we move forward. But now, Brandy, it's time to move.
George B. Thomas:We're gonna move into what I call some of the valley questions so that we can get to the the peak here in a hot minute. But let's talk about hurdles and biases because I'm curious if there's been any hurdles or biases that you've had to overcome in your career. And if so, how did you navigate them in those moments and times?
Brandy Crompton:Yeah, as I mentioned, like definitely in the early stages of my career, I definitely feel like I had nothing to lose. So with any new opportunities and such that came up, I'm very glad I jumped on them just to like I do think that's something I would give anyone advice that if an opportunity does come up and it's in the beginning of your career, why not? You know what else? And if anything, you'll just learn more or figure out what to do next. So I'm definitely very grateful for just kind of jumping on those opportunities.
Brandy Crompton:I think that's been really helpful. And then I think when you switch into product, I think one of the great things about product, but also the really hard things about product is that undetermined what should you do? You don't have all the answers. One of the biggest things I said when switching from or just with folks I've mentored, from switching from a service role to product is, you know, when I was on, you know, support teams or consulting teams, you're surrounded by everyone else who's doing the exact same job as you. But then when you switch into product, everything is really you're flipped on its head.
Brandy Crompton:And you are now working with all these different roles. And as a PM, I don't have the perfect analogy for this, but the one I always go back to is we are maybe the owner of the football team. We're not necessarily the players on the field. We're not the designers designing the jerseys. We're not the engineers doing that, but we are kind of in the background, you know, making everything move and bringing in all the right people and make sure everything can keep moving along.
Brandy Crompton:And that was something that I was like, oh, this is very different when I switched over. What's hard, too, is that you're not sitting with all the other PMs. So you are in that state alone a little bit of being like, am I doing the right things? Is this the right stuff? Am I doing the right things there?
Brandy Crompton:And at my time at HubSpot, as I mentioned, I think because I've been there so long, it was really nice that I had a lot of folks that had switched over to PM as well and been on a similar path as me. So that was just really helpful just to get that validation of, oh, is this correct? Are you doing the same thing? Is this right? Or I don't know if it's wrong.
Brandy Crompton:Because, yeah, because as a product manager, you know, you can lean so much on the product, but then you've got to also focus on the company initiatives. You got to make sure you're doing the right things. But then when things go wrong, you know, you need to make sure you have the answers and figure out what you're doing next. But, yeah, no, I think, that was definitely a time that was like, okay. Is this right?
Brandy Crompton:Is this wrong? I don't know. This is also just a role that I was so excited to finally be a part of and finally be having like a very like be able to really big impact for the customers that I had helped from the support side for so long that, you know, it just was nerve wracking because it's like oh now I'm finally a PM I'm doing the PM things oh my goodness you know being worried about that failure but that's where having I think some other folks that you know is really helpful but that's definitely a tricky part where all of sudden everyone is looking at you and you're the one that kind of is the decision maker. You gotta be confident in what you're doing. I would say also on the other side is, I've reported to a lot of VPs at HubSpot, and that is something too that is tough.
Brandy Crompton:But I guess in my perspective, I always used it also as like a great advantage to like learn from folks, to ask them questions. But that's where I think having those mentors was just super important to have that knit of colleagues that were the same level as me to get feedback on just because, you know, VPs have all these other things going on and they're asking you questions, you're not sure why. And as you're kind of figuring out what your flow is as a PM and doing things and getting those, you know, wins under your belt, it's hard when you don't have, I would say, maybe managers that are, you know, solely solely focused on managing, I guess. But, yeah, I guess I guess those would be a couple of of things.
George B. Thomas:Yeah, I love that. No, there's a couple of things that I want to pull out of there that were interesting to me. Actually, was all interesting. But when you said I was finally on the product side and could make an impact to the things that I heard heard when I was on the service side is so inspiring to me because it's like, hey, I had all this time to listen and now I have all this time to execute. Also, do love your analogy of like the owner of the sports team because it's your job when you don't know, when you're second guessing, when you're trying to go through this journey of taking a product from maybe good to great or, man, we gotta make this one from scratch, whatever it may be.
George B. Thomas:The idea of being able to put the right people in the right seats and you're almost the person's like, here's the designers I need. Here's the, you know, product people. Here's the quarterback I need. Here's the running back. And so to have that, but then also I heard multiple times of like leaning on the relationships that I've built along the way to be like, hey, I'm second guessing.
George B. Thomas:So let me talk to somebody else. Are they second guessing too? And so I just love all of that. I think there's a lot that people could learn from your answer there. So let's continue on down this journey.
George B. Thomas:Have you ever faced a moment, Brandy, where you felt underestimated or maybe even overlooked or out of place? By the way, this could be pre HubSpot, This could be HubSpot, or it could just be life in general, by the way. It could be in this industry, whatever. And if so, how did you handle that kind of being underestimated or overlooked or that feeling of out of being out of place?
Brandy Crompton:I'm always big on learning from my experiences and trying to get answers to figure out the why more. So I think it goes back to my athlete mentality of, like, what can I do better? I always gotta improve. I gotta fix the shot. You know?
Brandy Crompton:How can I do that? And so yeah, so like, one example is, yeah, when I originally applied to be in product, I didn't get it. And that was something that I felt like, Oh, like, I'm such a longtime HubSpotter. Like, I have all this great knowledge. I have all this technical knowledge.
Brandy Crompton:I've seen these other people do it. Like, what is going on? You know, maybe I didn't know enough people or I didn't know the right people, you know? And I think there's so much that you can do to overthink it or just get up, you know, get lost in your mind that I just have found it's really helpful to them, like, just really go back, hear what folks say, and just lean into that feedback. Like, I might think I'm better because of X, Y, and Z, but if they think I need to prove on, you know d and y it's like okay then let's do that.
Brandy Crompton:I will do that. I will go back and I will you know I will really focus in on those things you want me to work on and then use that to come back and say like hey these were my gaps that you mentioned. I've now improved in these four ways and now I feel like, you know, I can achieve that. So that's something I've always done versus trying to fight it, just really leaning into the feedback or the reasons why, especially from folks that, you know, definitely I look up to. But and you know I think I think it's I think it's valid and also I think if something's still not working there's gonna be another path and maybe there's a reason why you didn't get it so that's I think some things I've always leaned on in my career of like okay do I really need to do this?
Brandy Crompton:Should I do this? Or do the people around me feel like this is good? Or I think yes I definitely should do this? Because I think there were two times in my career as well that if I was I guess, yeah, not thought of or wasn't picked that sometimes then I was like, well, wait a second. Like, I'm doing this, this, and this, and this is great.
Brandy Crompton:Like because then it's like, okay. Wait. Am I being an advocate of myself for it? Like, oh, if I need to do this, and I think that is fine. So it's a good, I think, fact checker.
Brandy Crompton:But, yeah, I would say, like most of the time when that's happened for me, I've used that as a way to just like really lean into what the feedback is versus maybe fighting it or, making up excuses or just saying, hey, if I deserve this more, it's no it's instead, what is the things that you think I could do better? And I will then double down and lean into that and improve on that. And then hopefully, it will then work out at the end. It's just the, I guess, the mentality I have around that.
George B. Thomas:I love that mentality. This idea of one, I heard possible paths. Like maybe a closed door is actually an open door for where you're supposed to be. I really love the idea of, like, being a power listener and embracing the feedback, dissecting the feedback, making changes based on the feedback. I I'm always transported when everybody talks about feedback.
George B. Thomas:I think it was 2013, 2014, Brian Howling said feedback is the breakfast of champions, right? It, like people just grabbed onto that during that inbound session that they did. And I think it's so true that if you can listen and if you can change, if you can pivot, and transition into places that you need to and it not be an excuse, it not be a stopping point, but a starting point for where you're going, think that's super powerful. I love that so much. Okay, we're getting to the bottom of the valley and then we're start to go up to the peak of the mountain.
George B. Thomas:Brandy, have you ever experienced a significant failure or setback in life? And then if so, like what did you learn from that?
Brandy Crompton:Yeah, the biggest one that comes to mind I would say is, yeah, so when I was a field hockey player in college, I ended my freshman career with getting a lot of playtime. Things were looking good for going into next season. I was really excited. And then actually the next year at preseason, I got injured, like right in the beginning at preseason. I was basically out and was concussed, which at the time there were a lot of protocol changes for concussions and stuff, which is totally valid.
Brandy Crompton:So that really put me out. And I was hit in the face, so I had to adjust with wearing a mask at one point and then making concuss and then taking the mask off. And it was just this whole ordeal. Totally, I think, just shifted my play and my confidence. I think what's really tough is as a college player, you only really have four years.
Brandy Crompton:Like, yes, you can redshirt and stuff, but I'd already started playing. So I would say that is just a big thing I can think of that was just such a bummer after all this hard work I'd put into. And I was doing so well coming into it from jumping from just high school to the collegiate experience. And I think that was something where I'd really think through like, okay, do I still wanna do this even if like now there's new freshmen coming in and, you know, they take your spots or they get more time? And yeah, I think it just really kinda leaned into then, you know, I gotta always now keep proving myself, and I'm still now, like, earning it all back with then, like, new people coming in every other year and just deciding, like, dude, I still wanna play.
Brandy Crompton:And, yeah, and that's a way I did stay. And I played my whole four years, but I do think that's something that really shifted that experience for me. But that was something that, I guess, yeah, just kind of didn't didn't slow me down and I still wanted to stay. But definitely, I think mentally, that's a hard shift of like, oh, this is how it's gonna be. I'm gonna be one of the best.
Brandy Crompton:This is gonna be great. I'm gonna be a star. And then making it so that every year I then just still had to like try your hardest every single time. Like your spot wasn't always there for you due to that setback I'd had, I'd say.
George B. Thomas:Yeah, I love that so much. I mean, listen, the context of story is around field hockey, right, in sports. But let's just be honest, if you took that out of it and you just looked at life in general, you kinda gotta wake up every day and earn your spot. Gotta earn it back as you said. And I I love this idea of just like, you go out there, you you leave it all on the field, you do the best you can do, and you wake up the next day, the next week, the next month, and you get back on the field and you try it again.
George B. Thomas:And I think when you're talking about working at HubSpot, that makes a superpower because it's always changing. There's always new things. You've always got to kind of earn it back and learn more and keep going. So I love how that ties into who you are and what you do now, the lessons learned from that. Okay.
George B. Thomas:As a female who has been on a great journey, who's worked for HubSpot for eleven years, who's sports minded, has, you know, been mentored to and is being a mentor to others on a daily basis. When you hear the word empowerment, what does empowerment mean to you? And how do you pass that to others in your field or in your department or just in your life in general, this empowerment?
Brandy Crompton:Yeah. I'll say definitely early in my career as a product manager, had this click moment where I was like, oh, I'm doing it. Like, I'm I'm actually doing it. And the reason why I I felt that was when because, right, I had all this customer experience. I knew so much about the product.
Brandy Crompton:And then to your point, and that's why, you know, people are coming in and out every day. So I was then working with all these, you know, designers and engineers that weren't really at HubSpot. And there were so many things that I was like, no. We can't do this because, like, I know what this is bad. Like, customers want this.
Brandy Crompton:Like, I've heard it so many times. And finally, all of sudden, I remember I was in this meeting and one of my designers was, selling my vision or it just had finally, like, I think connected with her. And that was something that I was like, oh, okay. One, I must not be crazy. Like, she sees it too.
Brandy Crompton:And she, I could tell, was very excited and motivated to then motivate these other product teams to care about it, the engineers to care about it. And so if I had to, I guess, yeah, define that, like, I just I definitely feel like it all leans to, like, giving others confidence to move forward and complete their job and feel like it's valued and they're helping and they're doing something that makes them proud. Yeah. So I I think that's some of the key moments I think of. And then I think I've had numerous things, situations or things like that throughout my career where then I've seen, you know, that either the people I manage or other folks I work with or mentor, you know, be successful or have that, you know, big win for them or the light shine.
Brandy Crompton:Yeah, I guess that's how I would say I would do it. But it's definitely more of, I think, a feeling and emotion than really something you can define.
George B. Thomas:No, I love the idea of feeling and emotion. I love the words you said too, moving them forward, like giving them the belief to kind of move forward and even use the word light in there, which I love kind of shining the light. So now that we've kind of heard, you know, your thoughts on empowerment, I'm super curious. Can you share a moment in your career where you felt especially empowered or proud of something that you have achieved?
Brandy Crompton:Yeah. Would say a couple of things. This is, yeah. Just one thing I worked on for a lot a couple of years, which is not, I would say, the most, like, glamorous thing, but I just knew it was something so painful for customers was, so I'm in, you know, the integration space and we have to connect with all these other platforms. And at the time when I switched over to product, you know, I I just think we we had a lot of integrations, but just there was so much more we could do.
Brandy Crompton:And there was a lot with, like, errors and stuff that customer you know, we were always at the top of the support cases because customers thought things were broken or they didn't know how it worked. So when I spent like two plus years working on redoing our Salesforce, errors for our integration, and that was something that I feel like gave me so much joy because I feel like with the amount of customers and stuff that we met with and learned from. And, I'll never forget this one admin said to me, like, I'm an admin and, like, I want to champion HubSpot. So instead of just, like, seeing something's wrong and everything stopped and it's hidden within settings, if you actually let me know, I can then be proactive and do something about it and still make, you know, you guys look like a champion, even if it's something's broken and still wrong. But at least if I'm notified at the right time, I can export and import and keep the day moving, I guess.
Brandy Crompton:And that was, like, such a big thing that we leaned into when we redid errors was that, like, communicating what was going on, more information, taking errors and making it more digestible so that folks could actually understand what the heck was going on. And yeah, so that, that was a big one that, you know, I'd say folks would be like, oh, how would you get errors, whatever. But errors are just, there was, so much things that were being misinterpreted because people thought, like, our platform was just bad and broken, where a lot of those errors were like, no, this is how you set up both systems to work and communicate, and we're actually following those rules. But it's definitely confusing to you to why and what is going on. So yeah that as like, I don't know, as non flashier that I just know that was something that was so core to folks that needed to have these systems communicate and keep working together and keep jobs moving and things like that.
Brandy Crompton:So that, I think, was definitely a really big win that just really stands out. But I mean, yeah, we've had so many. The ecosystem team has grown from, you know, I was on a team with only like two other PMs, and now we have multiple product groups. We have seven PMs that I work with for specifically on integrations. So it's just been amazing to see that grow because we have seen so many other companies be so successful with their platform and ecosystem.
Brandy Crompton:And that's something that I do think has taken a lot to shine the purpose and reason and why it's so great to have partners and things care about HubSpot and build on HubSpot and extend HubSpot. And I think especially now in this next wave of technology, it's going to be even more important for these systems to speak to each other. And we're going to really need to make sure that our platform can speak to it because I think we're going to see a lot more customers picking multiple systems and expect them to work together versus going all in one, which is funny. It's like taking me back to, like, the beginning days of HubSpot. Yeah.
Brandy Crompton:Deja vu. But I think we're, though, a lot more well prepared, and we know a lot more. But, yeah, that that would be, I'd say, couple of, couple of examples are big wins.
George B. Thomas:Yeah. I love it. I'll never forget when, I started here in HubSpot instead of all in one, all on one. And and I just knew everything was changing at that point in time. The mindset is where the mindset goes.
George B. Thomas:I love though too that I've got to tell you, it doesn't have to be flashy to be amazing. I'll just say thank you to you and whatever team worked on the errors because any place in HubSpot, especially in a place where it's like Salesforce, HubSpot integration, which I've had the privilege or pain. I don't know which one I want to use to help people through that process. Any place you can remove confusion and help people set things up properly and also then get notified when they're not so your words can keep moving through the day is amazing. So congratulations.
George B. Thomas:And I think that's a great moment where you could feel empowered because the number of humans that you're helping through that is astronomical, just if you look at the numbers of that. Okay, so let's keep moving forward on this conversation we're having. Brandy, if you could change one thing about how women are supported in this industry that we're in, you had a magic wand. What's the one thing that you would change?
Brandy Crompton:What would I change? Yeah. I mean, like, obviously at my time at HubSpot, I've worked on a lot of teams where I've been the only girl and worked with a lot of engineering designers and folks. But I think what is great is that we have really seen that change over time. Right now, I have, like, a full leadership triad where we're all women, which is great.
Brandy Crompton:I don't know what changed because, as I said earlier, there's so much I've learned. I think the biggest thing, though, has been to just ask questions. Sometimes I always am like oh I'm asking too many questions or I'm talking too much but it just never hurts and I think that's the biggest like learning opportunity that I've learned of like some of my male counterparts or things and I'm like oh why are you like, what are you doing? Why are you asking that? And then I see their, you know, perspective, and I'm like, oh, okay.
Brandy Crompton:I should use that next time when I'm dealing with this. I see what you're doing. So I think I do think that's important. I I also do think having really strong managers is important. Like, as I said, I've reported to a lot of VPs that I think I've navigated my own way.
Brandy Crompton:But I think now being a manager, and I have a couple of women on my team, that it is just really important, I think, to have that manager and to have that touch points and really just make sure that they can ask the questions or also be super transparent. I will say, like, the VP managers I've had in my time at HubSpot, I think, have always been incredibly transparent. And that's something that I'm like, okay, the company's going this way. We should do that or, and it was like a light bulb moment. But I think not always folks know, like, oh, because you said that, should do this or, well, wait.
Brandy Crompton:How do I tie that? Or are you sure I could do that? And I think just giving making sure that everyone does have like that strong manager to, you know, you, be your cheerleader, or just give you some some push or guardrails of like, hey, this is the direction you should go and why, I think just is really, really important. And you know not even just for women but probably just I would say for for everyone but I do think that is something that I think I've seen folks like bail in the past when it's like they're not sure what to do they're not they're then missing that opportunity or missing that moment to shine or, you know, to your point, staying up with tech and now you just kind of miss that moment because you didn't do that. And that's where I just think having that manager really support you or ask questions or learn or connect you with the right people is very helpful and I think the job of the manager and that's something that I think you know is really important for folks and I guess you could say yeah it could be more helpful for for women as well because I've seen people once you get that little push of confidence or things like that it's like they're good they're perfect you know they're great all they just needed was that you know double checking but I do think sometimes it's like missed opportunities like that that then all of sudden folks aren't sure and they you know maybe go in different direction.
Brandy Crompton:So yeah, I would probably say that. I mean, there could be numerous of things. I remember, you know, when I first joined product, there was a lot of talk of we were doing a lot of stuff externally with other companies and things to help women in tech, that were coming maybe out of college and stuff. And it's like, we should do more in HubSpot. Like, do we have the events, like, for our own product team that we do things?
Brandy Crompton:And I kicked off this ladies who lunch event. And we started then meeting quarterly where we would have a lunch. And then next quarter we would do a breakfast. And then the other quarter we would do, I think like drinks and apps. What was great is that one, you've just got to meet all the women of product because at the time there weren't a crazy amount.
Brandy Crompton:So it was just like, okay, great. You're now just meeting more folks. And it was also great because it was like all different times of the day. So maybe a lot of people that had kids could make it more in the morning and then other folks, know, maybe younger crowd in the afternoon. But it was just great to kind of change it up.
Brandy Crompton:And I think just like little things like that of having space to make the connections and ask questions and have a conversation is something that's just so valued and should really be there. I struggle with like putting in really, really strict things in place because I feel like that takes away sometimes from that creativity. But yeah, I think that would be something it's just still like leaning on that making those connections. I think this product is moving so quickly that it's just good to have those touch bases or those yeah, being able to touch base and meet other folks as well just to learn like, you also have this problem or what do you learn from that? I would say maybe that would be my magic wand.
George B. Thomas:Yeah. Love that magic wand moment. There's actually a lot in there. I would say it's maybe a rewind point to be honest with you, rewind and listen out again because a couple of things that I wanna pull out of there. One, you talked about kind of building a community of humans that you can and and by the way, this is a theme that has gone from the sports to HubSpot and into this question as well as, like, building that community around you, the flexibility for them to show up when they can show up as that community.
George B. Thomas:Also, I love that you were talking about kind of giving the push or challenge, but also with those words, you use the word support along the way. And at the very beginning of our magic moment, something that I I love and I believe in deeply is the power to ask questions and the space to enable people to have the power to ask those questions. Because if we ask questions, it will get us to magic places. If we just sit there and accept what's happening, sometimes that just doesn't end the way that we think it's going to or the way that it could. And especially when we're talking about HubSpot and product, the power of questions, the power of listening themes that have kind of gone through this conversation so far are so important.
George B. Thomas:So important.
Brandy Crompton:Now One thing quick just to add to that. When I switched over into product, you know, right, like the, my gosh, should I really be here? I don't know. But to the point of leading questions was that I made a point for every team meeting or product AMA we had was to ask at least one question. And most of the time, I'd be like, oh, I totally regret asking that question, or oh, that was stupid.
Brandy Crompton:But I would say that's something that then over time it just became a muscle. And I think that is a really good to your point, like if because also with Zoom and everything remotely, no one asks questions, no one talks. And I will say like, even if you don't feel like it's that great of a question, I do think that's such a good muscle to especially if you're starting your career just to get your voice out there, have people make eye contact with you, you know, you get your name known, you know, that's just really there's so many building blocks there. And then over time, like, I don't even think when I have a question, like, I'm just always asking questions. But I do think that's been something that in the beginning of my career, I really remember being just, like, terrified and I hated that I asked the question.
Brandy Crompton:But now, as like, we just said today like I I do that so freely and I don't even think about it, but I think that is something that's good for folks to think about that if there's new people or leaders in the room try to always at least just get one question in to just practice that muscle.
George B. Thomas:Yeah. I love that. Practice the muscle of asking the question. So listeners, viewers, today, find one space where you usually wouldn't love and ask that question. Okay.
George B. Thomas:This next one is gonna be fun because you're in product, Brandy. And I feel like it's like asking a parent who their favorite child is, which probably is a question that should never be asked. But this is called the Women of HubSpot podcast. So I have to ask one question about HubSpot because, you know, you should. Are there any particular tools, strategies, or trends in HubSpot that excites you right now?
Brandy Crompton:Yeah. I mean, I think there's so much excitement going on at HubSpot right now. I mean, hubs I mean, one of my favorite things that I always tell folks that I love working at HubSpot, especially in product, is one we, like, still are always so customer focused and, going back to that being nervous of, like, oh, am I doing the right things? And what if I mess up or launch the wrong thing? That's been something that I've, like, really loved at HubSpot was that regardless if you launch totally the wrong thing, as long as you get the customer feedback and know what to do next, that's alright.
Brandy Crompton:Like, learned, and we said everyone I thought everyone wanted a blue button. Turns out they want green. We're now gonna give them the green button. It's like, okay. Good.
Brandy Crompton:Good. Good. So and that's that's been so great. I think that's something that HubSpot is still, you know, completely downing, double downing on. It's just, leaning into, like, how are customers thinking about AI?
Brandy Crompton:Do they even know about AI? The biggest thing I take away is that customers just wanna be able to do their job, and they wanna be able to do it, you know, fast and well and efficiently. And I do think AI can really help us take so much so much of those tedious problems and move them quicker. So, yeah, so I think there's a lot that we're looking into there, just trying to really think out of box and just the HubSpot way of doing things, you know, bigger and better with that customer focus. Now I'm, like, blanking on your initial question of what excites me at HubSpot.
Brandy Crompton:Yeah. I I I guess I'm just, like, really excited as well to see what happens in the next couple months because every day, honestly, I feel like something new is coming, or just a new idea or a new thought of way to solve things, you know, completely out of box for our customers. Just look at, like, the us integrating with OpenAI, you know, last month, and that's you know, who knows what will happen there? Customers interacting with business software through ChatGPT is just mind blowing. But I look at it too.
Brandy Crompton:Maybe that actually can help a lot of my integration problems that, you know, setting up integrations is very tedious, takes a lot of steps. But, you know, I think our platform though has just so much greatness with our automation. I mean, I've always said like our automation tool, I just think is like the backbone of HubSpot and can do so many cool things. And I'm a very platform thinking person. So at this moving quickly, I'm like, okay.
Brandy Crompton:I get why we're moving quickly on these things, but now let's take what we've learned and now get our bigger bang for our buck by building out some platform solution that then can really solve a lot of problems. So, yeah, I hope we really lean into that because I think there's a lot that we can do there, especially for integrations, for just data, to automate business processes. So, yeah, I'm not sure if I fully answered your question.
George B. Thomas:Yeah. No. No. I about
Brandy Crompton:a bunch of different things.
George B. Thomas:I think you did. I think it was great. And there was even kind of like a a life nugget in there where you you talked about learning a lesson versus, like, classifying it as failure. Right? Oh, oh, they they wanted the green button.
George B. Thomas:We gave them a blue one. That's alright. Lesson learned. And and I think there's power to that. And I think that's part of why HubSpot can be so fast and flexible, by the way.
George B. Thomas:Because the let's just be honest. At the time that we're recording this interview, I'm getting back from a week's vacation. I also record the customer platform podcast where we meet every morning, five days a week, and we talk about HubSpot updates. And when I got back this morning for an episode that I, well, let's just say the week of vacation, and then it was the week of rest. Right?
George B. Thomas:So it had almost been, like, two weeks. 47 updates. Yeah. 47 updates that HubSpot And had so I was like, okay. Well, time to, like, get caught up.
George B. Thomas:But that's because lessons were being learned and things were being updated and things were being released. And I just love that about the ecosystem. Brandy, let's keep moving on here. We're almost done, by the way. We're starting to crest up the mountaintop of questions here.
George B. Thomas:How important has it been for you? Which, by the way, as we've been con conversating, I feel like I already know the answer to this, but I can't wait to ask the question. How important is it for you for networking with other females or maybe even just networking in general, but for sure on the female side of it too. So the other women of HubSpot or outside of HubSpot who are watching or listening to this, how important is that? And are there any strategies that you use to kind of build connections along the way?
Brandy Crompton:I would say, yeah, like, definitely I so many folks, especially like HubSpotters. Like, meet a lot with other HubSpotters in other departments, especially ones that are interested in product, just to chat with them, hear about Gru, hearing about their product switch. Like I said, there's just so many things that I think are that you just don't might not know about and might not sure what to do or like, oh, should I really reach out to that product lead to get their advice? And it's like, yes. Just do it.
Brandy Crompton:Go. So when folks reach out to me, I I would say mostly always, like, just take take the meeting, take the coffee chat, always always take it. You know? Why not? That's that's and that's such just, like, built into HubSpot's culture.
Brandy Crompton:It's like a no brainer. And like I said, like, it's it's paying it forward. I had done that a ton with folks when I wanted to get career advice or think about the next best thing. I'm even still doing that. I randomly reach out to, other leaders and stuff just to get their advice on things.
Brandy Crompton:And so, yeah, so I always try to have those meetings, give them advice, help them out, especially when they're looking to either join or apply to other roles within the company. I've also had a lot of folks on LinkedIn reach out, especially in college that are like, oh, I want a product career path. It's so crazy though, because when I was in product, I was in college, the product management role, I think wasn't even really a role or it was like starting to be one, where now they actually have like courses and sessions on project management. But anyway, but I actually really love taking a lot of those meetings with folks just because they're just so excited. They're super ambitious.
Brandy Crompton:We did also at HubSpot, a full, like, APM intern program. And, oh my gosh, all these folks had so much experience, and it was just it was just wild to see. But, yeah, so sorry. I would say definitely always taking the meeting, the call to help out. And that's why I lean into just like always ask because the worst, the worst someone could just say is no.
Brandy Crompton:Why is, you know, you're not, but yeah, always try to take that just because I know it can be really helpful to folks, especially just navigating the career and getting the advice. And if there's anything I can do to help to kind of give, you know, that little extra push or things I've learned, especially just from some of the men mentors I've had in my life too. I'm like, oh yeah, no, like I did this and it was totally fine like don't be worried just because you're a woman that you can't do that like definitely still do it. You know just handle everything graciously and being respectful and you know it's always you know never can hurt then to jump an opportunity or reach out to someone. So yeah, just constantly mentoring, always trying to help out.
Brandy Crompton:And that's a big thing to just the whole like putting forward like all the PMs that come into HubSpot that I manage. I always make sure there's a ton of mentoring communities, programs that we have set up, but I try to also, like, find them someone else, like either a long term HubSpot or things like that or, you know, whatever it might be, just to always make sure that everyone has those extra touch bases because I think the more people you check with and get advice from just the better you can feel about the decisions you're making moving things forward. I
George B. Thomas:love that so much. You used one of my magic words helpful and you used it multiple times in that part of the conversation, by the way, which I love because for since what, 2013, 2014, I've been ending most of my videos with don't forget to be a happy, helpful, humble human and do some happy HubSpotting along the way. And this idea of being helpful, of being the mentor, but really the thing that was screaming at the front of my cranium was the serendipity of the call. You never know if you're going to learn something, if you're going to teach something, or if it's going to be like a relationship that is kindred for a long time, but just you said, Why not? Like, take the call, why not?
George B. Thomas:And so if you're listening to us watching this and that's not baked in your culture, in the company that you're working in, maybe it's time to make a move on that where it's the serendipity of the call and it's how can we be helpful or how can we ask for the help that we need to move forward. Love it. Love it. Love it. Okay.
George B. Thomas:Brandy, what has been the most rewarding aspect of your career?
Brandy Crompton:I mean, there's definitely been so many moments. I I I think what's really just exciting is, as I said, like, just how everything has just, like, continued to grow and expand and and solve so many customer problems and solve them in, like, newer ways that, as I said, like your did bigger bank for your butt bias, moving to be more platform, making more of those connections. And the acquisitions we've done have, drastically helped things. Rewarding, though. I mean, I will say just being manager has been, I think, super fulfilling.
Brandy Crompton:There was a time where I guess I when I joined product, there were so many superstars. There were so many people that came from support just like me. We know the customer in and out or just like crushing things, solving customer problems. And then there's this worry that sometimes when superstars become managers that they're just still superstarring and they're not really supporting their managers. And I guess good and bad, I've always had the problem if I manage too much stuff.
Brandy Crompton:I have so many integrations and so many problems and so much going on that basically anytime I got someone to manage, it was like, okay, I got this whole great area for you. Let me give you my two thoughts of like what I've learned and things like that. But now it's your choice to let you do what you think you wanted, what should be done with it. And I've just seen just so many of my PMs just like really lean into that, put their own spin on things to solve the problems differently. And I think also too, with being at HubSpot for so long, I just really feel like I can point my PMs in the right direction, have them talk to the right people or like the right platform team.
Brandy Crompton:So they're not just doing something that needs to be thrown away or that something's already been done. And that I think has been just like such a, just a great moment from just like being at HubSpot so long to then solving customer problems I never thought I would to now actually like really helping folks that are, you know, just superstars themselves. And then me being able to add just like all that historical concept content and, you know, other things that have been really helpful to me and see them take that and then thrive with that and just having them do, you know, really successful with their leaders. Yeah, guess it's like a proud, proud mom. I recently had a kid, so I'm just so proud mom moment, just like all my team.
Brandy Crompton:But, yeah, no, I think that's just been just a really great, evolution of, I think, just my whole product or, I guess, my whole career experience that I've had. And, yeah, I think it's just really great to see. And as I said, like, I had I had no idea when I was starting at HubSpot what I would be doing today. And yeah, I think it's just been really, really great to not full circle, but I would say just to your point, passing it forward, moving it on, and then seeing others be successful. Said to me like, oh, you should always like hire people that could take your job.
Brandy Crompton:And I am like, oh, I do love that. Like, I mean, I don't want them to take my job. I still love my job, but I love the idea that like I have, you know, what I think has grown this great team, hired awesome people that I do think are superstars. And I'm like, oh yeah, they could totally still, you know, crush it on HubSpot even if I wasn't here. You know?
Brandy Crompton:So I think that's just been really great to kind of like continue that legacy on in some kind of way and that customer vision and hope and everything that they've wanted and see it continue, so.
George B. Thomas:Legacy along the way and customer vision. So let's lean into that a little bit, not the piece that I just said, but your actual answer, because I'm super curious of like, what advice would you give to other women who might wanna choose this career path that you've chosen?
Brandy Crompton:I mean, the PM role is scrappy. I hope AI can figure out some great tools to really help with it. But the PM role is definitely, I would say, a scrappy role. That's something that I do. Like even when I hire folks, like really always look for go getters, people that are really okay with things, you know being undefined and figuring how you move forward with it and you know being okay with trying putting your neck out there to see what sticks what works and then being able to back it up and communicate the why and I would say that might not be for everybody.
Brandy Crompton:I don't know if it's specific, you know, it doesn't need, I think, to specifically be like men or women. It's just like, hey, here are character characteristics that are helpful to being a good PM, at least in my takeaways of it. And, you know, it just depends. It's like, okay, is this really what you wanna do? Or do you wanna roll there?
Brandy Crompton:Or maybe like things are a little more straightforward or things like that. It all depends on how you wanna grow and how you wanna step out. But I mean, I've seen people who've come in and they've been shy and then they just kind of come out of their shell and now they're like, okay, I get it. I got it. I got to get these like product life cycle stages under my belt and now I feel better.
Brandy Crompton:So yeah, never hurts to try, but I do think, and that's where I think it comes into just like the experience and the mentor and that community you build. Cause to one of my points earlier, that's been something where it's like, am I doing the right thing? Oh, this feels messy or this is taking really long, but I really think we need to do this because of what my engineers are saying or things like that. And I just need to properly communicate that to leadership so they know what we're doing and they don't think that I'm like, you know, just doing the wrong thing. But, but yes, I mean, I think that's definitely, you know, big advice that I give folks is like, I remember when I wanted to join, someone was like, oh, you want to be a PM?
Brandy Crompton:Like, the HubSpot PMs are always just running around from conference room to conference room, being crazy there. And I was like, oh, yeah, I definitely want to do that. I think I'm ready. Like, probably my athlete mentality to me, but I think that is part of it, knowing what the role is. But also everything I just said about the role, that's not on the product description when you go to apply of like, Oh, living in kind of the product fundamentals and things changing, software changing, keeping up with that.
Brandy Crompton:But, yeah, so I think like really knowing what the role is and being like, with that. You know, if it's not okay, then, you know, there's plenty other great careers out there or like UX or, you know, customer success or things like that that are still so much solving for the customer. The ad product is definitely fast paced, and you gotta move quickly and take bets sometimes on things that who knows how they'll do. And you know, might not be for everybody, which I think is fine. But I think it's just knowing and understanding, maybe having a good perspective before jumping right in and then being like, oh, this is not what I set up for.
Brandy Crompton:But as I said, that goes back to like having good managers and mentors and things like that. But I think right when you don't have that I think that's what can hurt.
George B. Thomas:Good so so good so we're we're cresting the mountaintop we got three, last questions and so you've reached this destination you've been on a great journey eleven years two sabbaticals, a bunch of mentors, a bunch of product changes, things that you've like, been empowered to do. You've reached this point. Brandy, what are your long term goals from here?
Brandy Crompton:I will say it's hard to long term plan right now in this world of AI and tech changing. So, yeah, no, I mean, I say that in, like, it's a really exciting time in tech. It's crazy just to see all the different technologies that are, you know, evolving, all the new ones that are changing. I love that. I'm really excited about it.
Brandy Crompton:I'm very curious to see where everything goes. So I mean, I'm I will say ever since I got to product, it was something that I I didn't necessarily always be like, oh, I gotta be here. I gotta be SPM by this or a GPM by that. It's it's just kinda evolved that way, I'll say. And just by, like, taking opportunities and leaning into feedback and stuff that I got from mentors and managers, I think pushed me on career.
Brandy Crompton:And I still very much have that mentality. Right now, I'm like, I gotta manage my people. I gotta solve for our customer, and I gotta keep helping the HubSpot company, you know, grow. And there's so much to do that that really is just like my main focus. I just wanna keep solving for the customer, you know, having HubSpot stay up to speed with all these AI changes.
Brandy Crompton:So whatever that means next to my career, that's great. I'm excited. I'll take it on, whatever that means. But, yeah, just continuing to keep working hard and keep growing my team and building out our ecosystem is really just where I see my main goals right now. I just want to keep doing that.
Brandy Crompton:That's probably from my support back in the day. I'm like, there's still so many problems to solve. I'm not done. I have so many more problems to solve. So that's where I just still very much am, like, focused on that, which is, yeah, probably not the exact answer you were looking for.
George B. Thomas:No. It's no. Hey.
Brandy Crompton:Please. Keep working hard and solving on it. And, you know, I do think having career goals and everything is definitely really, really important. But I think just right now, and I just I yeah. Because I never thought I would be a group product manager.
Brandy Crompton:So I still I'm just like, oh, I'm still just navigating, growing my team, keeping them happy. So I'm still just very much, like, I guess, living in the moment, you could say.
George B. Thomas:Yeah. No. I it's good to live in the moment. And they're your long term goals. And by the way, when it's like, hey, I wanna be able to grow and I wanna be able to keep helping and I I wanna be able to, you know, focus on customer.
George B. Thomas:I think those are great long term goals Yeah. By the way. Okay. Brandy, what's a surprising or little known fact about you that people might not expect?
Brandy Crompton:So I well, one, like, fun fact about me, which I always say, which are probably a lot of people do know about me, but I my favorite color is yellow, which is, like, really a core thing of me. I know it probably sounds silly, but I I loved it my whole life. And I think that's where I'm just always staying very optimistic. And positive is something, like, I've really carried throughout my whole career. So that goes very nicely with the the color yellow.
Brandy Crompton:I think on the flip side of that, I do feel like I'm very you know, get stuff done. I I very much, like, I like to come in, get my Zooms. What are the takeaways? What can we do? How can we, you know, solve this problem?
Brandy Crompton:I don't like to dwell. I like to fix. And I think that's something where for me, you know, just optimistic, super happy all the time, I am also sometimes very much like, all right, let's go. Let's figure it out. Let's move it forward.
Brandy Crompton:So yeah, stay on the flip side of that. Am very like that I feel like, yeah, maybe sometimes can be a can be a surprise, but I just I think time is time is sacred. If we can, you know, move things forward and get stuff done, especially with helping folks, I do really have that mentality when it comes to work. I'll say.
George B. Thomas:I love that so, so, so much. You gave us the yin and the yang, the heads and the tails of it. But I'll tell you a life nugget that I think you just dropped when you said, I don't like the dwell. I like the fix. Listeners and viewers, I wish there were more humans that would dwell less and fix more.
George B. Thomas:And I could be talking about HubSpot, or I could just be talking about life right now. Anyway, Brandy, finish this sentence for me. Success to me means blank.
Brandy Crompton:I'll go back to one of these slogans. Darmesh said it used to be on the HubSpot wall. It actually probably still is, but we got, like, postcards of this when we started at HubSpot back in the day. But yeah, it's a quote from him that says, Success is making those who supported you look brilliant. And I love that so much.
Brandy Crompton:I think that's so great of the people that believed in you in the past, that them supporting me and my success is all because of them. So I do still love that quote. I think it's something I think about all the time, especially just when I think about my own career because I think I'd be nothing with like I said, I no plans to do this. But I think it all worked because of the great connections and friends I made, especially at HubSpot and the folks that believed in me and mentored me or took a chance on me. And I worked so hard to not let them down.
Brandy Crompton:So I think that's definitely the quote that I always think of when I think of success.