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Always lead with value. There are so many industries where if you lead with value, you’re gonna win every time. And when I say “leading with value,” I mean sharing information that people don’t know. Be the first to help them overcome their obstacle or conflict.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bridget Brooks.

Bridget Brooks is a former Facebook employee and Founder of the digital advertising agency, Valton Co and she specializes in helping businesses connect with their clients in the digital marketing space.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

From selling the most candy bars on the softball team as a kid to selling double trucks and two-by-fours through the yellow pages, I can say that I’ve always been fond of being in sales and talking to people.

When the advertising industry evolved, so did my approach, especially when I found myself working for major corporate giants in Facebook and Groupon.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I am really shaking up the Facebook platform by being known as the Community Standards Queen.

There are so many major players in the digital realm whose methods are against community standards. I’m really shaking up that world by saying, “Hey, wait a minute — that’s going to hurt your chances and longevity on the platform. It’s time to play by the rules.”

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

One of the funniest mistakes I made when I first started was that I didn’t give omnichannel presence a second thought. I thought that I knew Facebook, that I was just going to work on Facebook and stay on Facebook when in reality, I haven’t even started growing my Instagram presence until the last six months.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I don’t know if you’d necessarily call her a mentor or really just someone I strive to be like in business, but I’d have to say, Bethany Frankel.

I’ve been watching her for years since she first started the skinny-girl margarita brand, all the way through her shape line and all the amazing things that she’s doing now.

Seeing how determined she is, how persistent she is, and how risky she is with trying new concepts and ideas inspired me deeply.

She’s someone I really try to emulate in my work.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Before we shifted into the digital age, the word ‘disruptive’ or ‘disruptor’ was never looked at as a good thing. Now, everybody wants to be a disruptor regardless of what industry they’re in.

Now, the disruptor is stopping the scroll. But it now raises the question — are you able to stop the scroll? Is your disruption done in a positive or negative format?

There’s a lot of “rogue” marketing that will stop the scroll, but it will also make that end-user think, “Do I really wanna work with this person?”

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

  1. Always lead with value. There are so many industries where if you lead with value, you’re gonna win every time. And when I say “leading with value,” I mean sharing information that people don’t know. Be the first to help them overcome their obstacle or conflict.
  2. Always look for opportunities. If there’s a place where you can help someone overcome their challenge, it’s an opportunity and you never know where that person can lead you.
  3. Stay humble and kind. Being humble will get you so much farther in any industry than being led by ego.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I’m getting ready to relaunch my BE Your Own Ads Boss online course and group coaching with a guest feature from David Cartlano, who will talk about messaging.

In addition to that, I have decided to sell my home, pack up my belongings and travel the country in an RV, speaking in on stages about Facebook ads and following the community standards.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I think one of the biggest issues my female clients are currently facing is equality in the workspace, which is something the male counterparts don’t have to face. My advice for any woman leader out there is to go for what they want in their careers and not give up. Hone in on the skills necessary to give you those opportunities, and build a team around you that excels at the skills that you don’t.

I think there are other relevant issues that are maybe not as prominent for men, like standing in their success or overcoming perfectionism, or even juggling the work-life balance.

All of these things are definitely things that women are faced with in today’s industries and every industry when they’re building their business.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

One of the books that had a significant impact on me is called EIQ 2.0 and/in Emotional Intelligence.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The movement that I would want to inspire to bring the most good around the people would be the one that my coach and mentor had taught me. It’s a movement that revolves around making more to give more.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is, “I am grateful for all things that I currently have and all things that are coming to me.”

Mindset and gratitude are such a huge part of being successful, so that’s one that I really follow.

How can our readers follow you online?

For those who’d be interested to learn more about my advocacy and what my agency stands for, you can check out my link tree, https://linktr.ee/beyourownadsboss

You can also follow me on my Facebook page,

https://www.facebook.com/youradsexpert

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Bridget Brooks On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.