Nathalie Daum is truly a woman who wows – and you’ll find out why in this Women Who Wow profile.
Nathalie is the Director of Marketing and Business Development at Dickinson Wright PLLC, a law firm with more than 475 attorneys in 19 offices across the U.S. and Canada.
Nathalie is responsible for strategic business development and marketing for all offices, along with developing and implementing focused client relations initiatives. She brings over 20 years of professional services marketing experience and perspective to her role, almost all of which have been in legal marketing.
Nathalie received her bachelor’s degree from University of Illinois, Chicago campus. She served as the 2004 president of the national Legal Marketing Association (LMA), chair or member of multiple International Committees, and served as 2010 and 2014 president of LMA’s Southwest Chapter. Nathalie was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame in 2020.
What do you love most about what you do?
I love working with incredibly intelligent people, and the wide variety of goals/tasks in my days and weeks. It is never boring!
Do you have a mentor?
I have several mentors! Each have taught me invaluable lessons that I use every day, in my professional and personal life. That said – and though I have significant experience (read: age) in this industry – I am always looking for new learning opportunities, and have been blessed to have learned from many younger professionals. I believe that if I’m not growing and learning, I am setting myself up to fail.
What is the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Set expectations proactively, and then make sure you meet them. Often, we don’t get a deadline from requestors. Instead of asking them for a deadline, I recommend that you give them a suggested delivery date. Often times they will agree and that means you can give yourself the appropriate amount of time to complete the project. Giving a date that allows you a day or two of cushion is also helpful. Then, make sure you meet that delivery date. Your reputation, and the reputation of the entire department, depends on it.
What advice would you give to women in your field?
In our industry, a lot is said about finding a ‘seat at the table.’ The advice I give on this topic is two-fold:
1) Make sure you know what is happening at that table. Are they discussing strategy, having circular conversations, discussing menus? If they are not really discussing strategy, it may not be a ‘seat’ that you want.
2) If they are discussing/setting strategy, my philosophy is to invite yourself to the table; don’t wait for an invite. Determine a topic or two that you can present/advise them on which is a key component of one of their goals. Being relevant (and frankly, getting to the point quickly) are what will get you, and keep you, in that seat.
What is a surprising/fun fact about you?
I love to ride up in the mountains on one of my sport motorcycles. I own two: a Kawasaki Ninja Z100, named the Green Dragon and a Kawasaki Ninja 650R, named Ninja Girl.
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