CNY EXECUTIVE: A chat with Sara Wallace of Destiny USA

In this edition, I speak with Sara Wallace, director of marketing at Destiny USA, who manages a team in public relations, social media, tourism and travel, advertising, graphics, events, and guest services. She specializes in digital marketing and public relations and creates consumer-centric social and digital-media experiences that build relationships, generate business development, foster inter-facility communication, and provide measurement for the growth of the sixth largest shopping destination in the country. Wallace is a Central New York native who lives in Eastwood with her two dogs and boyfriend.

 

JEFF: Take me through the path that led you to your current position with Destiny USA.

SARA: My career path has actually been really interesting in the sense that growing up, I always knew, or thought I knew, what my career path would be — set in stone. I had a solid 10-year plan. I went to college and decided to get a degree in Russian, which was way outside the realm of anything I ever thought I would do. That opened up many opportunities with internships with the U.S. State Department and with the government down in Washington, D.C. However, after experiencing all of that, I started to shift more into public relations and communications.

I was recruited to a PR firm, LEVICK Strategic Communications in Washington. After almost a year with that firm, I was recruited by Destiny USA. They were looking to fill a PR and social-media position. I am from the Central New York area originally and was looking to come home. I knew the region and facility well so I thought this was a great opportunity. I have now been with the company for more than three years and have been able to transition from social media and PR, to marketing team member, and now to director of marketing.

 

JEFF: Does your age or gender play a role in your leadership style?

SARA: Our general target market in shopping and in retail is a female, 25-55. So, I think I add additional perspective to what women are looking for today and can use that perspective to tailor our advertising, our programming, and marketing on site to that target demographic.

 

JEFF: Have you always been attracted to leadership roles?

SARA: Yes. I have always been a type A personality. My friends and family will tell you that growing up, I have always been very academically focused and very career focused. I’ve always known what I wanted. I love opportunities to help mentor and develop others growing in their careers, as well as learning from other people who have been in this industry for years while absorbing their insight and their knowledge to build an even stronger program.

 

JEFF: How many employees does Destiny USA have?

SARA: Technically, the facility overall has more than 5,000 employees, but when you are looking at Destiny USA specifically, it’s between 150 and 200 employees for all of our departments. Marketing has more than doubled in size over the past year. We have a wealth of information within the team we have now and have huge opportunities leading into 2015.

 

JEFF: What’s driving that growth in the marketing department? Are you seeing an ROI on that?

SARA: When we rebranded from “Carousel Mall” in 2012, it was really an opportunity to showcase a whole new kind of shopping, dining, and entertainment environment. We’ve always done really well, but we wanted to test out new items and Destiny USA has really served as that beta testing ground to try out new forms of advertising as we track the analytics associated with that effort. We’ve seen over the last two years more venues showing interest in being here on property and being in Syracuse. We’re driving more visitation from outside of Onondaga County, as well as international traffic from key markets such as Canada, China, and Brazil. Our tourism program has doubled in size. Our people are constantly on the road, driving traffic from outside of the United States, which is phenomenal because it helps build brand recognition. We have worked in partnership with the Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau to help build that brand recognition.
I think that’s partially because Bob Congel, our founder and chairman, was born and raised about two blocks from here. Destiny USA holds a special place in his heart. He has always wanted Destiny USA to be the flagship of Pyramid Management Group, so we’ve been very privileged in our opportunities as we try new tactics and see what works. We find it so valuable to measure feedback, loyalty, and analytics in terms of sales trends, market trends, and things of that nature.

 

JEFF: Tell me a little bit about Destiny USA’s culture and some of the steps that you’ve taken specifically to grow that culture.

SARA: Expectations are set high and we’ve built a team where we push each other to go above and beyond, always thinking outside the box. So no idea is off the table — ever — for this company, which I absolutely love. The environment and the culture that has grown inside of Destiny USA has been one really of growth and development, but also of learning and developing knowledge of other areas.

In some companies you see a segmented culture, where everyone has “their area” to stay within. If you are on the marketing team and you want to know more about operations or shadow operations, we encourage that because you may develop ideas for marketing by knowing more about operations, leasing, security, or whatever it may be. That fosters relationships between departments as well. We come in early. We work really hard. We are a facility that is open pretty much 24/7 and we are not the typical business that works Monday through Friday.

 

The other great part of our culture that I try to emphasize with our marketing team is that it’s very unlikely that you will do the same thing twice.     

 

JEFF: If I were to go and ask some of your teammates what your leadership style is like, how do you think that they would respond?

 

SARA: I would hope that they would say that I am very focused. If there is one word that I have heard repeatedly of how people define me, it’s “intense.” I have my nose to the grindstone all the time, thinking through new things. I am always thinking about work even when I am at home. I try to help create opportunity. I help push my colleagues to take initiative and also work independently. If someone has an idea, I want them to run with it.

 

JEFF: What is the one message that you are trying to communicate to the public at-large?

 

SARA: We want people to know that Destiny USA wants to be an asset to Central New York. We are so proud to be located within the city limits of Syracuse and also to be re-branding during a time when Syracuse is really thriving with so much opportunity. Other great developers are doing phenomenal developments in the inner harbor and beyond, which is providing us the opportunity to collaborate with other businesses based in Syracuse. We have a huge university near downtown. We have athletics. We are constantly looking for programs to partner with and find out what we can do to help drive outside tourism into the county.

 

We have long winters, but there are also lots of things to do in the winter. Destiny USA is indoors and has a lot to offer. We are fortunate to enjoy all four seasons in Central New York. Destiny USA wants to leverage all of those great opportunities and continue building partnerships so people can have a true Syracuse experience. We really want to help redefine Syracuse overall and help people realize that New York state is just not New York City. We are excited to help push that message even more.

 

JEFF: Building off that message, what do you see as the main advantage that Destiny USA has over the growing trend of consumers shopping and buying online?

 

SARA: The bricks and mortar versus online debate has always been an interesting one, especially as of late. You see many bricks and mortar stores are trying to go more digital in their marketing campaigns — whether it is on site, creating digital experiences to drive traffic, or having a stronger online presence to drive traffic back to the store. You’ll see that a lot in loyalty programs. A lot of campaigns are rooted in social media, in promotions, and sweepstakes that will drive you back to the facility. But, the one advantage that bricks and mortar has over online is the experience — the sensory experience — which I think is vital.

 

People will always want interaction and the engagement that a destination like Destiny USA can provide. You get to go into the store and feel the fabric, try it on, and have an experience with the customer-service representative. That’s above and beyond anything you can get online today. I think that sensory experience is something shopping online will never be able to provide.                        

About the author: Jeff Knauss is managing partner & president of a digital marketing firm, DigitalHyve.com, and has always been interested in hearing successful executive’s stories. He lives in Camillus with his wife Heta and son Max. For more, check out his blog at www.CnyCeo.org