Bridget Bisnette ─ next generation partner sales leader!
January 12, 2021 • 3 Minute Read
(Updated October 2022)
Bridget Bisnette
Chief Operating Officer
Rewards Cloud
(Previously─SVP of Global Partner Sales, Riverbed Technology)
Are you looking for a dynamic partner sales leader that can accelerate revenue growth, synchronize efforts across all routes to market and geographies, and lead a next generation partner evolution focused on cloud and managed services? We know one—Bridget Bisnette!
Bridget is the former SVP of Global Partner Sales at Riverbed Technology. Today she has joined the ranks of technology consultants, offering her vast go-to-market capabilities in her new organization, Bisnette GTM Consulting. Her scope includes leading a distributed team of Channel Account Managers, incentives, ease of doing business initiatives, partner digital experience and enablement programs.
Please meet this IT Wondrous Woman™, Bridget Bisnette!
Our 10 Questions for this IT Wondrous Woman.
Fun Facts
1. What’s the one thing about you that your business colleagues don’t know about you?
I went to college to become a Division 1 coach, with a degree in Physical Education. I played competitive team sports my whole life and it shaped the leader I am today.
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you flying annually?
My last flight was March 5, 2020 before the world shut down. I learned on the flight I had crossed the threshold of flying more than 1 million miles on this airline.
3. What is the most adventurous food you have eaten and what city/location did you eat it?
Hong Kong, at a day boat harbor restaurant. To this day I am not sure what it was, it had a scallop consistency, grew inside a long reed style casing, and was at least a foot long.
Your Career
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
After progressing from an individual contributor to department leader at 30 years old, I left a very high paying job because the company would not let me move from Sales Operations to Marketing. They explained I had no experience or degree in Marketing and I didn’t qualify. I found a company who gave me this opportunity. The next gave me the opportunity to move from an individual contributor to management and I stayed for 9 years. Then a recruiter called and said, “Cisco would like to speak to you about the opportunity.” I joined the company and stayed for 20 years.
The lesson is if you want something your current job can’t give you, take a risk and find a new role. I promise even if the first step doesn’t work out, you have set into motion new opportunities on the horizon.
5. Did you have a mentor in the early part of your career and, if so, what is the biggest lesson you learned from your mentor or influencer?
I learned that I was rarely successful when it was “my” idea alone. Getting sponsorship or buy-in requires collaboration with others. Seeking and integrating feedback not only makes the strategy or plan better, but you gain emotional buy-in from others.
Walking In Your Shoes
6. What is one piece of business or career advice you would give to your younger self?
You can have it all, just not all at the same time. As a working mother this advice helped me develop the ability to forgive myself, set personal and professional priorities.
7. As a leader, how do you remain a resource for people early in their careers?
I have a steady inbound demand for situational coaching with 5 kids and 14 nieces and nephews, between the ages of 27 and 37. They help me understand how their generation thinks about jobs, companies, and career expectations.
Today’s Business Environment
8. What is the most interesting project you have worked on in the last few years?
Right now, I am knee-deep learning about Customer Success, specifically the LEAR model. Understanding why the customer is increasingly demanding outcome-based solutions and how this new lifecycle relationship management model requires vendors to evolve from hardware to software or SaaS delivered solutions.
9. What skills are you currently developing or refining (in yourself) that will make you a more successful leader in the digital economy?
I am constantly learning as a leader in the IT industry and I am always up for trying new things. It’s important to be curious and never settle that it’s good enough, or you know enough. I don’t think you can progress in the IT industry without these types of attributes.
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
Partner and Customer engagements. Now that everyone is working from home (WFH) and beyond the obvious of no face-to-face meeting or events to keep up with their changing workflow, there is a struggle to “reconstruct” this business process and rebuild efficiency and productivity across their business.
