Investing in Strong Leaders: The Impact of Core Values and Diversity, with SSC Director of Corporate Marketing, Tracie Clayton

One of our new Core Values at SureSwift is an action – Stretch. Living out this value means being ready to engage in new challenges, seize opportunities, and embrace risk and change as an opportunity to learn and grow.  

In today’s interview, we’ll hear from SureSwift’s Director of Corporate Marketing, Tracie Clayton, about how her recent endeavors at SureSwift have helped her to embrace the Stretch value. Along with her role as part of the corporate team, Clayton recently stepped into a transitional leadership position with LeadDyno to provide extra support to the team during the transition of the new LeadDyno General Manager. 

Clayton details how these new challenges brought out the best in her and helped her to grow as a leader. She’ll also share insights into how SureSwift selects leaders, both by promoting from within and by finding talent that aligns with the company’s culture and values.

Let’s get started. 

Hi Tracie, thanks for meeting with us. Can you tell us a little about your background and what led you to join SureSwift? 

My career spans multiple industries within the public, private, and non-profit sectors. For the 10 years leading up to my work with SureSwift, I primarily took on contract roles, worked in start-ups, and managed my own consulting business. I most enjoy the steep learning curve that requires problem-solving in bite-sized pieces, which is why I’ve always specialized in six-month to one-year contracts that focus on projects like strategic marketing campaigns and brand development or refreshes. 

I was brought to SureSwift by our COO, John Austin, with whom I had the pleasure of working five years ago. He offered me an introduction to the executive team at SSC, which ultimately led to a contract role consulting as a marketing and brand strategist. Our initial agreement was half-time with one portfolio company, but we quickly transitioned to full-time across three businesses. 

The structure at SureSwift—where corporate supports semi-autonomous business units—requires consultants to engage deeply with their assigned tasks rather than just handling a small portion of the work. To excel here, you have to fully understand both product and business model. 

Since you spent so many years happily working as a consultant, what was it about your position at SureSwift that made you decide to leave the independent contractor life behind?

There were two key factors that led me to transition from contract work to a full-time position at the company. With SureSwift, I felt a strong sense of trust for myself and for the people I was working with, who carried themselves with such integrity and accountability. It wasn’t hard for me to see myself in a full-time position within this company culture.

The other part was that my role at SureSwift really fit my work preferences. As an independent contractor, I most enjoyed the role of coordinating a team of experts. I often acted as conductor, project manager, or budget holder, subcontracting to a group of subject-matter experts. At SureSwift, I found myself performing this role with both the portfolio businesses and on the corporate end. And simultaneously, I was never pigeonholed into one position, so the day-to-day of it was always an exciting challenge. 

I was brought on in December 2023, and then in January, my role shifted from Director of Marketing to Director of Corporate Marketing, and I began providing marketing guidance to each of our marketers and consulting to our portfolio businesses through office hours and Guilds. This past April, I also took on a transitional leadership position with LeadDyno as we began the process of finding the best candidate for General Manager, which I’m pleased to say has been found.  

As SureSwift’s Director of Corporate Marketing, you’ve collaborated with all the portfolio business leaders, giving you a unique window into what makes a strong leader at SureSwift. What characteristics do you believe are shared by the portfolio business leaders that uniquely qualify them for leadership roles within the company?

I love the quiet confidence people exhibit here. There is a genuine humility, to the extent that people are sometimes even reluctant to identify as subject-matter experts in specific areas. People are so passionate about doing good work. They have high expectations for themselves, and they believe in the work that they're doing –  it's not just a job. 

What I also consistently see is a deep level of mutual respect, accompanied by a strong desire to continue learning. The leaders at SureSwift prioritize fostering strong relationships and ensuring everyone is well taken care of.

They uphold a high standard in developing their skills to align with business needs. With the level of reporting required on a monthly basis, they have to maintain an acute level of accountability. It leaves no room for people to get lackadaisical or to put things into cruise control. Instead, it requires a high amount of proactivity and adaptability. 

How do SureSwift's recently updated Core Values influence the selection process for new leaders?

From a hiring perspective, we embed values-based questions into the interview process, but we also look to see if there are candidates who bring those values to light without being prompted – qualities like being Data-Driven and Customer-Centric. We want to see evidence of teamwork, integrity, accountability, and a commitment to shared success through their experiences and responses, which would be an embodiment of the Win Together value. It’s not social corporate responsibility as a task that can be checked off a list, but rather they should genuinely reflect our Core Values in their actions and beliefs. 

Can you tell us about how SureSwift conducts internal succession planning across all the portfolio businesses?

 It stands out to us when people are high-performers who already demonstrate their capacity for leadership in the way they support others. We pay attention when people demonstrate skills that align them with leadership positions, even if they don’t yet recognize it themselves. Recently, there was one employee who had done several years of great work as a product manager, so we asked him if he would be interested in moving into another product. He gave a resounding yes and was then promoted into a position as both general manager and product manager. 

Promoting from within can be a double-edged sword, though. Our company is fairly small when you consider that we represent 15 different products. If we do want to move someone to another role, we have to weigh the pros and cons of how that might impact the team they’d be leaving. We dealt with a similar situation with another employee who had a natural aptitude for marketing, and it looked like they might fit a new corporate marketing position. However, she was so invaluable to her team in her current position that we realized it would be a step backward for her to move into a different position. It’s necessary to understand the nuances of hiring from within versus bringing on a new candidate before you offer any position. 

Along with being SSC Director of Marketing, you’ve had the opportunity to wear a number of different leadership hats within the organization. What qualities does it take to successfully jump into different leadership roles within the company?

There has to be a willingness at the outset to take on the challenge and step into a role that will stretch you. Stretch is another Core Value – it’s that important of a quality here. When I was asked to support the leadership role at LeadDyno, I wasn't an expert in affiliate marketing. But I knew I could use my finance, marketing, and management background, along with the fact that I’m a bit of a compulsive learner, and count on the LeadDyno team for support to handle the tasks ahead.

There has to be a solid enough foundation when it comes to your level of business acumen and interpersonal skills to be capable of jumping into multiple leadership roles and thriving. You have to operate at a level of humility where you aren’t afraid to put up your hand and ask for help. And you have to give a ton of respect to the people you’re working with to earn their respect in turn. When I joined LeadDyno, I saw how the previous leader had built such an amazing team, and that made a world of difference for us.

How did the current LeadDyno team impact your time as a transitional leader for the business? 

What I experienced at LeadDyno was a team of professional, respectful, and highly skilled individuals. Their dedication and supportive attitude made my transition as interim GM much smoother. If I had encountered resistance or uncooperative team members, it would have been much harder. The LeadDyno team was exceptional in their willingness to help me get up to speed, and they've become not just colleagues but trusted cohorts. When I told them I would only be there for another six to eight weeks, they were genuinely sad to see me go. 

I believe the exceptional culture at LeadDyno stems in part from the previous leader, as well as from a strong relationship with the corporate team. I know I’ll be able to act as a stronger leader in my role at Corporate thanks to the lessons I’ve learned from my time working on LeadDyno. The team's happiness, hard work, and passion reflect the impact of continuity of leadership.

What unexpected qualities have you developed through your leadership experiences within the organization?

When I was asked to jump into a transitional leadership role with LeadDyno, I felt somewhat hesitant at the outset. I’ve managed teams and been responsible for large groups before. I'm confident in my skills as a marketer. But I can’t say I would’ve put up my hand and said, “why don’t I do it?” when the opportunity first came up to take on a business of such magnitude. I don’t think I saw it in myself as quickly as the people who chose me for the position did. 

What surprised me the most was that, instead of feeling cautious, I felt confident enough to dive in headfirst. This was entirely due to the incredible support from the LeadDyno team and our corporate team. I’m grateful that it gave me the ability to see how the experiences I’ve had up until now combined to give me the tools I needed to take on the challenge alongside a great team like the one at LeadDyno.

I felt honored to be sought out for the position, and I feel in my time with LeadDyno, I was also able to make a difference as part of the team. I’ll be supporting them for another month while we transition our new General Manager, Emily Mathison, onto the team, and I’m excited to see what’s to come for them.

For a candidate looking to join the team at SureSwift in a leadership capacity, what would you say are the most important factors they should consider and demonstrate to align with the company’s values and goals?

Authenticity plays an important role here. Are they applying for a job at SureSwift or just applying for a job? When they show up authentically interested in SureSwift, because they’ve done their homework and they know about the company – our people, products, Core Values – that makes me sit up and pay attention. The people who work here hold themselves to a high standard. You need to show up with the same level of expectation and accountability for yourself as well. 

We don’t want someone to arrive with an AI-crafted resume that ticks all the boxes for a Director of Marketing position. Having a diversified background and skill set stands out more to us. Which other industries have you worked in? Where have you volunteered? Did you take a year off from your career for some kind of specialized work? You might be surprised about which experiences can influence your candidacy. 

Don’t give us the cookie cutter version of yourself. Show us how you bring color to your position. And most importantly, show us that you belong in an environment that’s highly relationship-focused, because that's essential to working in our remote environment. 

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Thanks for joining us for this conversation with our Director of Corporate Marketing, Tracie Clayton. We hope you’ve enjoyed this window into how SureSwift finds and cultivates strong leaders that bring out the best in our portfolio business teams. 

If you’d like to learn more about joining our global, remote-first, people-centered company, head to our Careers page to see the remote SaaS job opportunities that are currently available.