Jenna Stanley at the beach with a sunset in the background
By Julie Johnson | August 29, 2022

Women Who Wow: Jenna Stanley is Proof That “It Never Hurts to Ask” for What You Want in Life (Especially at Work)

In second grade, she thought she wanted to be a lawyer. In college, she studied economics and psychology. Today, she runs a multi-million-dollar Services and Customer Success business for a Fortune 1000 company. Find out why she veered in so many different directions (and how her big moves paid off).

Jenna Stanley doesn’t want to run a marathon, open a restaurant, or do anything else that people often have on their bucket lists. She just wants to keep learning and stretching herself in her current role to build more adjacencies that help customers push past their limitations. She knows that when she is successful – whether she’s trying to turn around a multi-million-dollar business or build a strong services program – her colleagues and customers will benefit, as will their customers.

Fortunately, Jenna is a natural problem-solver and connector, which helps her consistently achieve her goals. She’s also a risk-taker, albeit one who has learned to build in contingencies. In fact, Jenna’s willingness to ask for what she wants – to reach outside her comfort zone – is what has landed her where she is today, running (and continuing to grow) an important business unit for Zebra. 

I invited her to join me on the latest episode of “Women Who Wow” because we can all learn a lot from her past experiences, her current best practices and the way she approaches the future. Plus, I just think it’s interesting how she got into the Services business considering this isn’t something you can go to school to study. There is no such thing as a “Services” degree. 

So, tune into our conversation now to find out what makes Jenna tick as a person and the one thing she wishes everyone would do more: 

Women Who Wow: Jenna Stanley

You’ll also hear:

  • How Jenna is opening new feedback loops within Zebra to drive greater success for customers.

  • What she has learned in the past from failure and why she looks for other people who can keep moving forward after failures.

  • What it takes to succeed in a services-oriented career – and what you should do if you want to follow in her footsteps.

  • The one career move she wishes she would have made earlier.

  • Why she believes that company culture is becoming more critical than ever.

  • What Jenna wants to do in the future – and what she never wants to do.

  • Why she gets back out on the road when she needs to recharge her batteries. 

  • Why she enjoys reading everything from leadership books (for good life advice) to Wired (for innovation insights) and fast-paced fiction novels from Tom Clancy and John Grisham (to relax).

TUNE IN NOW

In Case You Missed It...

The first episode of Women Who Wow with guest Jane Dennis is available for replay here:

Worried You Lack the Experience or Expertise to Get into Sales or Start Down a New Career Path? Take It from a Luddite Turned High Tech Sales Leader: People Buy People

Topics
Inside Zebra Nation, Podcast,
Julie Johnson
Julie Johnson

Julie Johnson has been a global technology business leader for almost 30 years, creating growth and value in product lines and new market segments for the consumer electronics, enterprise, and Fintech/payment markets.  She has combined an awareness of customer needs and technology proficiency with passion and recognized leadership, delivering growth in highly competitive markets.

Currently, as Vice President & General Manager of Zebra Technologies’ $2.1B Mobile Computing business, Julie creates and delivers Android and Windows hardware, software, and cloud-based SaaS solutions to retail, field mobility, warehouse, healthcare, and government channels globally, providing visibility and intelligent collaboration across enterprise employees.  She is developing robotics automation, computer vision and augmented reality solutions for warehouse, retail, and field mobility customers.

Julie has a successful track record of creating innovative product solutions that meet customer needs, prevailing over tough competitors. As Corporate Vice President of Product Management at Google, she led the Droid Android mobile phone product line, winning exclusive, volume-based contracts with Verizon Wireless to provide their entire Droid product line, competing against leading Asian competitors.   As Corporate Vice President of Product Management at Lenovo, Julie owned a global P&L of up to $5B, surpassing Samsung’s market share in South America, launching a new line of devices to meet market needs and launching the first device with an unbreakable display, winning top smartphone in 2012 Consumer’s Report.  Julie spent 9 years of her career at Motorola in manufacturing operations, running factories in a fast-growth, rapidly changing technology environment, understanding the need to vastly lower operating costs while maintaining flexibility and investing for future enablers.

As Director, Julie currently serves on the board of Lumentum (NASDAQ: LITE), a global leader in optical communications and 3D sensing for facial recognition, and Superconductor Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:  SCON), a technology leader in the provision of high temperature superconducting materials and related technologies.  Julie’s strategic insight, experience in global product, technology, and commercialization, and pragmatic execution skills have had positive impact in Lumentum’s development of their 3D sensing market and the development of STI’s superconducting wire business to date.

Her distinctive expertise is in market segment expansion and product line growth, helping companies develop market strategies, create product solution roadmaps, and prioritize M&A vs. organic investments.  Having worked in every global market, she understands the financial conflict between differing market needs and diverse product lines.  She is a passionate, collaborative team player who strives to create value.

Julie earned a Master of Science in Business Administration degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Science Degree in Materials Science & Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  She has a Bachelor degree in Math and Physics from Albion College.