Commercial Integrator March 2022 - 21

COVER STORY
Standing Out
In an industry of which women make up
only a fraction, it is easy to feel singled out.
For many, it is oſt en daunting. Sansivero,
vice president of marketing and corporate
communications at AtlasIED, recalls,
" In 2005, at my fi rst InfoComm, I looked
around and I didn't see anybody who
looked like me. It was all men walking
around in jeans and a T-shirt. So, I thought
to myself, 'Who do I talk to and who is
going to sympathize with me?' " She continues,
" However, little by little, that began
to change. I was soon introduced to other
powerful, infl uential and supportive women
in the industry. "
Alvarado-Miranda, CEO at BAM! Marketing
& PR Agency, had a similar experience.
" When I was at my first InfoComm a
couple of years back, I realized that I was
one of the few women there, " she recalls.
" Although I met great people like Cory
Schaeffer, we didn't want this to be the
only time we [women] met. That's when
we decided to create the AVIXA Women's
Council in California, so we could meet
other women. "
Torruella, global services manager
at Verrex, has been in the tech industry
since 1998 and now works in the services
sector. She underscores what, in fact,
she believes is the value of standing out.
She highlights a sales meeting at her first
company during which a team member
brought to her attention that she was the
only woman there. Although she didn't
notice it at first, Torruella says she liked
the odds because no one ever forgot her.
She continues, " From that day onwards,
I stopped worrying about blending in or
listening to technical people who tried to
assert their technical acumen onto me. "
For Hendley, business development
rep at Audinate, there were initial worries
that " standing out " could be a codeword
for tokenism. She explains, " It shouldn't
be [that], because there is a Black person
at InfoComm, we have to go talk to her.
I want to be accepted in the industry for
me [as a professional] and not just the
different layers of diversity. "
Ultimately, however, Hendley and the
other interviewees feel that, by standing
out, they paradoxically have helped to
bring women together. Moreover, they
came to understand that, apart from
being acknowledged and respected as
women, they also wanted their peers to
recognize their sterling qualifications.
Realizing Our Full Potential
Among the many questions that CI poses,
perhaps the most important is inquiring
about each interviewee's biggest accomplishments.
Sansivero responds, " I think a
lot of women have a hard time answering
that! " She says that her biggest accomplishments
have been establishing relationships
between diff erent people in the
industry and, ultimately, leading a team of
her own. " I see that as a journey for myself
of learning how to bring out the best in
people and making them feel appreciated
for the work they do, " Sansivero adds.
Torruella cosigns the importance of
building relationships, and she chalks it
up to women's strength as communicators
and multitaskers. She remarks, " If this
industry stands a chance, it needs to incorporate
that networking and multitasking into
its workforce. It needs to give us our credit
'Don't just use us for
the conversations
- include us in the
conversations.'
- Alesia Hendley,
multimedia journalist and
business development
rep at Audinate
(L-R): Megan A. Dutta, Cory Schaeff er,
Susan Wilhite, Brandy AlvaradoMiranda,
Gina Sansivero and
Tammy Fuqua at InfoComm 2021.
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MARCH 2022 Commercial Integrator
21
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Commercial Integrator March 2022

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