diversity of that white population?”
to really understand that it was
Polish, we might make the mistake
of simply focusing on the Hispanic
piece because that really pops in
the numbers. That’s why it’s so
important to get so granular, down
to the store level, as to what the
diversity of the market looks like.
VISCONTI Do you think you have better market share than your competitors because of this?
GIBBONS We’re growing our market
share in diverse segments better
than our competitors are. Ultimately,
it’s going to help us overtake those
who are ahead of us currently as it
relates to total market share in New
Jersey. At the end of the day, this is
what their strategy is all about. It’s
about winning against our competition and building business.
Tips for
Success
VISCONTI You’ve had a lot of board
experience and done a lot of philanthropic work. I know how personally engaged you are with this.
Has that helped you with business?
Why are you doing all this?
GIBBONS First, I should share that I
did grow up in a household where
my father modeled that behavior.
He thought it was really important
to give back to others. So I saw him
do that, and I always aspired to do
the same myself.
The second piece of it is: I used
it as a business-development tool.
Early on in my career when I was a
relationship manager, I would ask
certain significant centers of influ-
ence, “How do I get to know the
people in Bergen County?” “How
do I get to know the people here?”
And they advised me of certain
boards that had certain people I
wanted to meet. So I was able to
marry the two: my strong desire to
make a difference coupled with my
desire to make relationships with
people who were going to help me
from a business perspective.
VISCONTI You have an MBA. You
went to the Stern School at NYU
and you’re an undergraduate from
Rutgers. Do you have career suggestions for younger women?
GIBBONS It’s important to do your
best every day. I think that you
need to set very high goals, set high
standards, and excel every day,
especially as it relates to people
and caring about people, because I
happen to be one of those individuals who thinks you can set the bar
really high. And engage in an environment where you have a win-win
scenario.
And that even comes to engaging in conflict. Sometimes you have
to have tough conversations with
people, but if you do it with care
and with a desire to maintain that
person’s integrity, I think you can
do the tough things.
The last piece of advice I would
add is to really continually learn
Watch the video interview at
www.DiversityInc.com/gibbons
from those people around you.
Whatever your discipline is, make
sure that you’re up to date on the
most current things that are occurring in your discipline. Never stop
learning.
VISCONTI This clearly can’t be a
part-time job for you. You’ve got
to juggle a lot of things in a family.
What advice can you give to other
women, and other men, in terms
of work/life balance and how you
manage all of that?
GIBBONS It doesn’t happen without
a support system. My husband
doesn’t work. As my career was
taking off, he started to back off
of what he was doing, and Luke, I
don’t have young children at home,
but I am the primary caregiver for
my mom, and we do have other
family members that we support,
so there’s no way that I’m going
to work all the hours that I’m
working and be able to accomplish
everything I wanted to accomplish
if my husband’s schedule was just
like mine.
Now if he did go down that path
and he had a high-powered career
as well, we would have to figure out
support in a different way … It takes
a very proactive thought process
around what does the support
network need to look like, whether
it’s hired help, family members and
friends—you need to have a game
plan. This is my game plan. You need
to have a game plan around that. I
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