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Current Occupation: Vice President / General Manager of Field Sales & Operations – Michigan/Indiana Region, T-Mobile USA

Favorite website: Pulse, C-Net, Wall Street Journal

Favorite read: #1: Good to Great; #2: What Customers Really Want

Recent read: The Help

2012′s ultimate goal: Get oldest Son off to college in the fall & celebrate 19happy years of marriage!

Quote Governing Your Mission or a Quote that Inspires You: Essential Piece: Isn’t it a wonderful thing that we’re all different? Each of us has strengths and skills to share. And when we link our individual strengths together, we’re invincible. Can’t imagine us without you.

Twitter handle: @tmobile

Brigette Jackson, an executive at T-Mobile, is the subject of this next installment of Behind The Click.  More specifically, she’s the Vice President and General Manager for the Michigan and Indiana Region of T-Mobile. I had an opportunity to connect with  this fellow digital power player to learn more about her position.  What follows will both inspire and encourage you, no matter what industry you currently work.  Fasten your seatbelts!

LdC:  So it seems that a lot of  your foundation is due in large part to your education. What was it like attending Michigan State?

BJ: My college career was an enjoyable experience. I grew up, learned a lot and met many people with diverse backgrounds.  A lot of the people I met are still my friends today.

LdC:  Are you an active alum?

BJ: Yes, I stay informed and attend homecoming.  I also participate in activities through the MSU chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, which I was a member of at MSU.

LdC:  Did you express an early interest in the convergence of tech and customer growth or did you “fall into” it?

BJ: I graduated with a Bachelor of Science with an emphasis in Management. I have always been in sales jobs throughout my career.  Working in sales management, I was introduced to technology and saw the rapid growth and innovation first hand.  That’s what led me to my current position at T-Mobile.

LdC: What is a typical day like for you?

BJ: I conduct sales meetings with my team, attend strategy meetings where we plan business strategies and tactics to retain customers and grow the business, review sales reports, visit stores and our business sales clients and meet customers.

LdC:  What is the biggest challenge of your day?

BJ: Continuing to grow sales and market share within the Region.

LdC:  What advice can you give to women looking to get into telecommunications at an executive level?

B: Be ready for this fast-paced, innovative business.  You need to make sure you are knowledgeable about all of the ever-changing technologies, stay ahead of the competitors and be able to make quick decisions.

LdC: What advice can you give to women with projects who are looking to create strategic alliances with T-Mobile?

BJ: Pull customer demographics, make sure the demographics mirror the area of the product you are targeting and do a business case to ensure the return on investment is healthy.  Take as many business partners that relate to or support the project as you can throughout the process.

LdC:  How do you balance work and family life?

BJ: Careful long & short-term planning to make sure I don’t miss any important engagements.  I absolutely live by my Outlook Calendar to stay organized and I plan far ahead.

LdC: What’s your biggest dream for your position/department at T-Mobile this year?

BJ: At the end of the year, I would like to have a profitable business that has achieved all targets and have grown our customer base and increased our market share.

Thanks for reading!  Keep up with tech events and more at my site www.ldcoleman.com while we prepare the next profile.  Get the latest in digital news and more by following me on Twitter @mediaempress

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(Huffington Post) — The future was now. And the revolution has been Tweeted. The mainstream print industry is under a digital assault, so what’s to become of Black publications?  ”There’s no such thing as real-time, there’s only the millisecond,” states Munson Steed, publisher of Rolling Out, a national urban weekly. “Everything else is history. When you read the weeklies and the monthlies, you’ve already heard, saw, and received it on Twitter. And a lot of people don’t want to say that.”  A lot of people don’t want to recognize that African-American publications are at a crossroads either.  Recently, the Columbia College Association of Black Journalists presented a dynamic panel of print media professionals to dialogue with Columbia journalism students about the current and future state of Black media.

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(Wall Street Journal) — An onslaught of digital technologies has laid waste to traditional media. The new year will bring a clearer picture of what will emerge from the rubble.  Online games that piggyback off social networks are thriving. Publishers are increasingly chipper about the profit potential for digital books, newspapers and magazines, one example of how the historic rivalry between media and tech companies, while still intense, may be softening. Some sectors, like television, may have their toughest days ahead of them. There, a digital tide is rising as new ways to watch TV over the Internet begin to push aside traditional habits. How will TV networks and cable companies make up for the cash they will lose if viewers “cut the cord” and look for shows on the Web?

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(Fast Company) — The enmity between blogging and traditional media is still alive and well, however, and it seems that while blogging is indeed getting more professional, that message hasn’t spread throughout all of the marketing and PR industries: 64% of bloggers noted they are treated “less professionally” by “brand representatives” than typically for traditional media representatives.  And here’s a measure of how staple journalistic practices aren’t necessarily being lost in the new medium (a common statement trotted out by folk irked at the decline of the print industry): 59% of bloggers who knew about the FTC ruling on “brand endorsements” said it hadn’t had any effect on their blogging activities, and 42% of all bloggers said they wrote about brands they both love and hate.

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(CNN) — There is very little evidence, if any, that Sarah Palin hates teachers, or that Andrew Breitbart is a racist. Yet a recent flood of viral stories propagated by internet journalists allegedly catch prominent conservatives red-handed in acts of hate.

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(Black Web 2.o) — Over the last few weeks, we’ve posted video on the site showcasing discussions with different people on how the NAACP can maintain its relevancy with the next generation. From President Benjamin Jealous to Color of Change Founder James Rucker it was agreed that new media must be implemented into their organization’s branding strategy. To that end, the NAACP has gone back to the drawing board and revised their new media strategy, starting with a site redesign.

(Black Web 2.o) — Over the last few weeks, we’ve posted video on the site showcasing discussions with different people on how the NAACP can maintain its relevancy with the next generation. From President Benjamin Jealous to Color of Change Founder James Rucker it was agreed that new media must be implemented into their organization’s branding strategy. To that end, the NAACP has gone back to the drawing board and revised their new media strategy, starting with a site redesign.

(Mediaweek.com) — TV moguls once looked askance at new media, warily eyeballing digital like an unwanted vampire that snuck into the party with the catering. As much as the networks still aren’t sold on the core business proposition of anytime/anywhere distribution, there are signs they’re becoming more tolerant of third-party players. Speaking on Wednesday morning’s opening session at The Cable Show in Los Angeles, CBS Corp president and CEO Les Moovnes said there is “a mutual respect” between tech and content, adding that the broadcaster is willing to experiment with non-traditional distribution platforms “if the economic model fits what we do.”

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