NANCY POLEON, OWNER & FOUNDER BRANDEDU

Nancy Poleon, owner of BrandedU, helps career women in high positions to be more visible because, according to Poleon, sometimes it's lonely at the top and business needs a lot more female leadership . But if it's lonely at the top, MASTERS EXPO asks: who helped Nancy get to that top?Text: Mical Joseph
Image: Nancy Poleon

What used to keep you busy as a teenager?

"My mother did not allow me to work during my high school years. She felt that if I worked, my school work would suffer. And since my mother had no degrees at the time, my high school diploma was very important to her. Finally, during summer vacation in my senior year of high school, I was allowed to work anyway, at the Hema. I had proven that I had done my best during my education.

I was a huge Janet Jackson fan and often entered singing competitions à la the Soundmix show after school. At the time, I danced to Janet Jackson songs with my two girlfriends. I was always involved with music and also knew early on that I wanted to be in the music business later. As a 14-year-old, I went alone to Prince's concert from the Sign O' The Times Tour, as my father had managed to get one ticket. I experienced the light show, his performance and the energy ... It was amazing!

After atheneum I had several side jobs, one of which was at hotel The Grand in Amsterdam. I remember very well standing in that beautiful room at The Grand and saying to myself, 'Later I will stand here for work too'."

And then?

"As a young adult, I started studying European Business Administration. For this study, I spent six months in England and six months in the Netherlands. After graduating, I started working at ING as a Management Trainee for three months, but this position didn't suit me. At one point I saw a vacancy in the Telegraaf: the music publisher Promotone BV was looking for an administrative assistant. I got the job and we arranged all the finances for The Rolling Stones, U2 and some other artists.

The Rolling Stones' manager, Prince Rupert of Loewenstein, hosted a New Year's Eve dinner. The guest list was full of prominent people from the music industry. I was placed next to Dick Stolk, the director of the record label Virgin. I made a bold move and asked if he was still looking for people; he indicated he wasn't, but also indicated that I needed to be in Hilversum. I applied to record company BMG and was hired in the marketing department. It was really fantastic there: music sounded from every room. Gold and platinum records were hanging everywhere. It felt like home coming and I thought, 'I've arrived, here's where I'm not leaving. '

There was a reward for the person who wrote the best marketing plan for Pink's second album Missundaztood. I had the best plan and won a Bose headset; I was as proud as a peacock. My visibility was growing and I was known for my guts. Also, the international team knew that if I said we were going to sell 50,000 records, we did. At the age of 28 I became Head of International Marketing and a year after that I moved to London for BMG."

How did BrandedU come to be?

"Due to reorganization, I quit the company at one point and joined a new company where I became general manager for five years. In the fourth year I won a music award in the Netherlands and was voted Best Dutch Music Manager by colleagues from all over the country. I noticed that getting that award triggered two things in me: I was actually no longer happy at all with what I was doing, and secondly, I found out that there were many more women at the top, as I initially thought. I came to that conclusion because I was nominated for the VIVA400. Women who were in the arts, science, business et cetera came together. This gave me so much energy.

In 2011, I started working for myself. I first started by managing artists, but besides that I also advised others with their branding. I helped different industries and at the same time I was also on the team of TEDx Amsterdam Women. Every year I saw how inspiring it was to listen to the stories of successful and ambitious women.

That's actually how BrandedU came about: I wanted to start an event where women could learn very focused ways to make themselves visible, but inspired by women who have already done it."

Who was your mentor in that?

"During my career in the music business, my mentors were always men, but later in my career it was actually women who inspired me. One of my mentors was Merwyn Lyn, he was the one who gave me the job in London. Merwyn often gave me advice about the industry and we had long conversations about anything and everything. In London I had a number of women who coached me, so to speak. One of them was a lady from Australia, so when she was in Europe, I would always see her briefly to ask my questions about the business."

What is your greatest passion in your current profession?

"The reason I do what I do is that the more I deal with the subject of women's empowerment, the more I realize the need to pay attention to it. With music, there was so much excitement: the express train went on and on and there was always so much to do.

There are so many women who still feel alone at the top, and in many industries women's emancipation is still far away. This scares me, because the Netherlands is far from where it should be. Men still have higher salaries and many women are still too modest and do not have the courage to make themselves and their talents visible. My passion is to show strong women that there are many more women at the top."

What has been the biggest learning moment in your career?

"A turning point in my life was the VIVA400 moment in 2010. I always felt lonely at the top, but during that event I thought: 'here are all these cool women and here I feel sisterhood'. Many of these women have become very close friends of mine with whom I talk about entrepreneurship, goals and ambitions. We are always honest with each other and really say what does and does not work in each other's business. I have learned that such women are actually out there, but that I just had to look carefully."

What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?

"What you give attention to grows. So focus on what you do want, rather than what you don't want. In addition, I would also say to my younger self, ' Don't be so strict on yourself.' Because I was hard on myself, I was hard on others. I learned that I achieve a lot with softness and this realization moment came after years of trial and error with finally the 'end station' when I started for myself."

Have you been a wheelbarrow for anyone?

"I have been a mentor or inspiration to many. These are both women I don't know personally and women from my top-level network who call me for advice. It's mostly about how they achieve their goals. I love that they come to me and that I can come to them as well."