Spotlighting VP Account Management Katie Giuditta
Why do you love working with Katie?
Katie is a bar-raiser. She sets a high standard for herself and motivates her team to do the same. Her clients praise her for her critical eye and ability to consistently identifying growth areas.
—Kathryn Longhurst, SVP Account Management & Digital Retail
She’s rock solid: engaging, dependable, resourceful, ambitious, compassionate, diligent, efficient... The list goes on!
—Lauren Messer, Sr. Account Director
Katie gets things done—period. She balances a nuanced understanding of problems with keeping out of the minutia enough to recommend specific, detailed solutions rather than generic suggestions.
—Alea Redetzke, Sr. Director, Strategic Planning
What’s something Katie does better than anyone else?
Solving problems. Katie never shies away from issues; she thrives on them.
—Lauren Messer
Katie can be put into any situation and know how to navigate. She's turned around businesses, been the difference on winning pitches, and grown incremental work with clients.
—Kathryn Longhurst
Katie can survey a situation and quickly identify the underlying causes better than almost anybody I've ever worked with. She is also wildly efficient, there's never a topic that she's not prepared for.
—Alea Redetzke
How does Katie make you better at your job?
Katie has a knack for reading what’s needed in a situation and adjusting accordingly. I've seen her course correct mid-meeting and she does an excellent job articulating why, so I’ve managed to learn that skill from her!
—Sarah Kaufmann, Account Director
Katie expects the best from all her employees, and constantly looks for ways for us to improve, whether that is the quality of our presentations, our planning and strategies, or even how we think about the relevance of marketplace trends to our businesses.
—Alea Redetzke
Katie is always accessible. She multitasks with the best of them and always gets me input I need on time. This is invaluable as an employee to maximize the team’s productivity.
—Lauren Messer
How does Katie make AUC better?
Katie never settles and instead encourages people to elevate their work, even if it's just a little bit. She is also generous with her feedback and meets people where they are, showing she values them.
—Sarah Kaufmann
Katie brings life to the party! She always keeps it real, is straight to the point, and will usually dive in headfirst with (or without) you to address issues.
—Lauren Messer
From Katie
What do you love most about working in commerce?
Who doesn't love to shop? We're all shoppers and we can't forget that; we might not be the brand’s target but if we try to understand their insights and values, we can get their shoppers’ needs.
What do you take pride in about your work?
Growing my team: this will always be my number one priority. How can I help them improve? What roadblocks can I remove? What are new ways to solve problems I can help them discover? Since I returned to Advantage in 2021, I’m proud to say my teammates have grown, gotten better, reached new heights, and earned well-deserved promotions.
What professional lesson or advice do you return to time and again?
There are two pieces I think about all the time.
The first is challenge the status quo. Lisa Klauser, a former IN President, said this all the time, and it's related to everything we do. Just because we did it this way before doesn't mean we have to do it that way again. Try a new solve and if it doesn’t work, learn from it.
The other is how important it is to meet people where they are. We get further by not assuming people understand the marketplace, customers, shoppers or brand insights the same way. To me, meeting them where they are helps start from a common point and get to better results faster.
Favorite hometown hang?
I'm always up for trying anywhere new in New York. My happy place is hanging on the beach in Montauk. Ditch Plains is like a tropical vacation on a perfect summer day.
