Meet Kimberley Gardiner, former Senior VP of Marketing, Volkswagen

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In this episode, you’ll meet Kimberley Gardiner, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Volkswagen. She truly is a model in leading authentically with confidence, caring, and understanding.

You’ll learn how her twin passions for marketing and the environment propelled her into a career in automotive, and how her many experiences and her love for variety helped her become a true change agent. She talks about her game plan for effecting change within Volkswagen, including removing silos and “thinking small” to achieve big things. She discusses marketing the automotive industry to a new generation, and how important it is to understand their needs.

02:47 – Kimberley’s story

03:38 – Falling in love with marketing, and the environment

04:57 – Job opportunity at Toyota, marketing for Prius

06:56 – Using experiences in and outside of automotive to be an agent for change

08:05 – Why Volkswagen?

11:51 – Understanding other’s perspectives to effect change

14:36 – Breaking down silos and “thinking small”

17:24 – Marketing a career in automotive to a new generation

21:18 – Starting at VW

22:16 – Getting to know the team, and coming up with a plan

25:58 – What authentic leadership means to Kimberley

33:53 – Advice to a leader wanting to embrace authenticity

36:36 – Embracing failure

40:24 – What Gravitas means to Kimberley

41:27 – How Kimberley starts her day

50:22 – Advice to her 25-year-old self