As Commercial Integrator continues our #AVLivingLegends series, we induct Penny Sitler, former director of marketing, Draper, among the esteemed ranks.
Prior to retirement, Sitler led a growing in-house agency serving the marketing and communication needs of Draper, Inc. where the team helped define and communicate the Draper brand. She also supervised the fulfillment department and managed trademark and copyright intellectual property.
Alongside her role at Draper, Sitler served as the chair of the AVIXA Women’s Council during its first three years, where she championed and supported women across the AV industry.
In this interview, Sitler shares her journey at Draper from being the only marketing employee to building and leading an entire marketing department. She also underscores the importance of ensuring brand integrity of the company as well as of one’s own self.
Read on to learn more about Penny Sitler, our latest inductee! You can also check out our hub page for past honorees in the #AVLivingLegends series.
Interview with Penny Sitler
Commercial Integrator: What motivated you to join the commercial AV industry?
Penny Sitler: As a young marketing professional, I sought the right company to begin my career. I found Draper, Inc., the company where I wanted to work, and then I found that it was part of a great industry.
CI: What kept you motivated and engaged in the decades that followed?
Sitler: I truly came to Draper — and to the industry — expecting to stay a few years and then seek the next opportunity. And that opportunity did arise after about five years. I was offered a nice raise to relocate and join another company, which also happened to be in the AV industry.
On considering the offer, I got cold feet. My prospective employer wanted me to cancel my honeymoon (already paid for) to conduct an agency search. In the end, I declined. Within a year, the company had closed the facility where I had interviewed, and most of the employees (including the marketing team) lost their jobs.
Watching that process, I found a new perspective on the values and culture at Draper. And I became deeply invested in the company’s success.
As the company grew, I learned new markets and products. Diversification meant that our marketing was never trapped in a box. Further, the business of marketing has completely changed over the past 40-plus years. I’ve always been learning, and I have never been bored!
CI: Reflect on your role as both a mentee early in your career and as a mentor later in your career. Who helped shape the trajectory of your professional life? How have you tried to help shape others’ careers?
Sitler: I have to give credit to John Pidgeon. He shaped Draper marketing, brought me on board and was my boss for 40 years (including college internships). My first real marketing assignment, as an undergraduate intern, was new product research for what later became the Draper FlexShade commercial shade line. It was really hard to collect good information before the internet!
At the beginning of my career, I was the only marketing employee. As the marketing department grew, I became its manager and built a team. Early on, I had some tough experiences with conflict in my team. I worked hard to become a stronger manager and build team relationships.
I am very proud of the in-house team we assembled over the years. With low turnover and great skills, they have time to develop a deep understanding of the markets and products, and they produce great work.
In my last year at Draper, I had the opportunity to restructure the department for the future. It was a great exercise, and I’m happy to have helped select and launch the three leaders who manage the department now: director of marketing Mike Feeney, and team leaders Amy Bradway and Josh Shopp. Among the three of them, they have more Draper experience than I have!
CI: What has been your greatest professional accomplishment?
Sitler: There are two: One at Draper, and one in the industry.
In 2015, we began a deep dive into the Draper brand. We invited feedback from stakeholders, both in-house and outside. Their input helped us identify the mismatch between the brand image and the company. Our in-house creative team partnered with a consultant to completely rebuild the brand — not just the logo but also the messaging, the tools and the story.
The new look was unveiled at InfoComm 2017. It worked so well that, over the next few years, our customers and contacts looked at what we had done, and they told us the brand story, without prompting. Nothing could have made me prouder.
In the industry, I’m very happy to have had the opportunity to serve as the chair of the AVIXA Women’s Council during its first three years. Women in this industry had the need and desire to do more; the industry needed more skilled and knowledgeable employees. Our council was able to help empower women to rise to the challenge of leadership, build their networks and stay in the industry. It was a big win/win!
The Council continues to have great leadership, and women are also finding other avenues to growth in the AV industry. I wish them all well!
CI: What has been your biggest professional regret?
Sitler: No regrets! I retired last summer, and I’m enjoying retirement. But I’m also happy to keep in touch with my industry friends! Look me up on LinkedIn if you would like to reconnect! I haven’t made any business trips lately, but I do travel to compete in Scrabble tournaments and to visit my daughter in Minnesota!
CI: What’s the best advice or pearl of wisdom you either received during your career or came to realize on your own?
Sitler: My work has been focused on building a brand, and particularly on brand integrity. The brand, the company and the culture must all be aligned to achieve success. It’s the job of the whole company — not just the marketing department. So, it’s your job, too. The work you do to maintain your integrity and build the integrity of your company’s brand will not be wasted.
Would you like to nominate a peer or colleague — or perhaps yourself! — to be featured in this #AVLivingLegends series? If so, just email Dan Ferrisi, group editor, commercial and security, Emerald.
