Brooke Cunningham ─ delivering a next generation digital experience to engage a global partner community…
March 8, 2021 • 3 Minute Read
Brooke Cunningham
Area VP, Global Partner Marketing & Experience
Splunk
Are you looking for a person who is responsible for marketing to, with and through a global partner ecosystem, as well as delivering the next generation digital experience to engage the partner community? We know the person—Brooke Cunningham!
Brooke is the Area Vice President of Global Partner Marketing & Experience at Splunk. She is responsible for marketing to, with, and through Splunk's extensive partner ecosystem, as well as delivering the next generation digital experience to engage the partner community. In the past four and a half years at Splunk, Brooke built Splunk's partner marketing, operations and partner program functions. Her entire career has focused on enabling partner businesses and building alliances and channel programs that drive business growth with a broad range of global partners.
Please meet this IT Wondrous Woman™, Brooke Cunningham!
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?
Probably my extensive love of Spanish music! It’s my go-to music in the car or at the gym. The reason it may be a surprise to my colleagues is I don’t speak Spanish (though I’m using the music to help me learn!)
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you flying annually?
While it varied in terms of the miles covered, I can put it this way: I was usually traveling two to three weeks of each month, and was fortunate enough to be traveling all around the world given my role is global. I have been to 59 countries to date and COVID put a pause on expanding that list!
3. What is the most adventurous food you have eaten and what city/location did you eat it?
This is a tough one as there’s been many over the years of travel. I had some interesting insect type delicacies in Cambodia. I also have a memory of trying guinea pig in Peru. I will usually try to sample local fare as part of my travels, though some I may not go back for seconds!
Your Career
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
Success: A success from my time at Splunk was leading a cross functional team to a very fast assessment and implementation of a wide scale IT project to modernize our partner experience. We did it in record time, it was a true feat of team work and delivered extensive value for partners and Splunk in very short order. I’m still so proud of everything the team was able to accomplish and it’s the foundation for what we use to deliver our partner experience today.
Failure: A failure that has shaped my career and leadership journey was a career move to a company that did not live up to values and its promise. It was a very tough lesson but I gained a lot of perspective, grit and perseverance from it and it taught me valuable things about what was important to me as a leader in terms of culture and corporate values.
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 am fortunate to have had mentors early in my career:
The first mentor helped me grow my career from an intern through to my first full time role in a software company.
When I was moving up in seniority, this next mentor invited me to shadow her on some extensive international travels, where I got to see the inner-workings of her senior executive responsibilities. It was very inspiring, insightful and reinforced my own career ambitions to get to the senior executive level.
Mentoring is something I try to pay forward by spending time with the next generation of young leaders, particularly women!
Walking In Your Shoes
6. What is one piece of business or career advice you would give to your younger self?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. I know this is a classic piece of advice, but it rings true for me. Early in my career, I recall overthinking (or, over stressing!) on scenarios that now, I would not put so much concern or worry towards.
7. As a leader, how do you remain a resource for people early in their careers?
I started my career in software and tech thanks to an internship. I’m a big fan of intern programs given that was what got me my start. My team is currently recruiting three interns for this coming summer. I spend 1-1 time with our interns and early career starters, try to keep that virtual open door to be a resource for them.
Today’s Business Environment
8. What is the most interesting project you have worked on in the last few years?
While not a specific project per se, pivoting every element of our marketing plan and programs last year during COVID was a pretty major challenge and I’m so proud of how our entire team leaned in and embraced the change. For example, our Global Partner Summit (GPS) was scheduled for late March and we had just a few weeks time to pivot the entire program into a digital/online experience and content. Through all of our creative digital retooling, we engaged more of our partners in 2020 than ever before, plus contributed more leads, pipeline and bookings from our partner marketing campaigns.
9. What skills are you currently developing or refining (in yourself) that will make you a more successful leader in the digital economy?
Currently I’m focused on developing my own skills to continue to grow my career and achieve the more senior levels, with the ambition to reach the C-level.
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
The shift to the Cloud accelerated even faster last year than the industry projected. We are moving fast to adapt and adjust to support our partners to enable the customer journey model in a Cloud world!
