This is an excerpt from the article: When Your Superpower is Member Development and Revenue Generation, as published by Association Adviser on October 18, 2018.
If you could have a professional superpower, what would it be? Tamela Blalock, MBA, CAE, CMP, DES considers her professional superpower to be revenue generation, but after talking with her about her experiences as an association leader, our staff at the Adviser thinks developing authentic empathy that nurtures others’ professional growth should be considered one of her superpowers, too.
Tamela is the executive director of the Section on Women’s Health (SoWH), a membership and educational organization of physical therapists whose mission is to advance global excellence in abdominal and pelvic health through education, research and social responsibility. The SoWH is a special interest affiliate of the American Physical Therapy Association that strives to expand the role of physical therapy in women’s (men’s and gender non-conforming people’s) health across their lifespan.
We talked with Tamela about how she applies a sales mindset to membership growth, revenue generation and board development. She explains why teaching high schoolers was the most terrifying but also the most refining thing she’s done in her professional life, and why experienced professionals should mentor someone who looks nothing like them. Serving a mission-driven association is the career path “I never knew I always wanted to do,” she says, because it’s the best combination of revenue generation with purpose.
Interview by Association Adviser
Association Adviser: You’ve had jobs across a spectrum of organizations: the Central Intelligence Agency, the Washington NFL Professional Team, a high school, a convention and visitors bureau and association management companies. How did these jobs prepare you for your current position with SoWH?
Tamela Blalock, MBA, CAE, CMP, DES: While my job as an operations research analyst at the CIA prepared me the most, all of these positions prepared me to be an association director in that in order to be successful in those positions, you need to be able to integrate yourself into a community and empathize with community members.
While at the CIA I worked with countries known for terrorism, but the most terrified I’ve ever been in my life was teaching high school. Outside of kindergarten, no one will disarm you of your false sense of confidence more than teenagers. I don’t know when we lose the BS meter, but it’s high when you’re a teenager! Their commitment isn’t necessarily to learn. It’s to show up and be awake. You as the teacher have to motivate them to learn, to cooperate, and to do more than just be there. If you want to learn how to genuinely connect with an audience, and practice public speaking, teach high schoolers. The responsibility to inspire will be on you.
But the CIA job probably prepared me the most for my current position because the job skills are similar. The goal at the CIA is to achieve a mission with a very specific audience and outcome. Which is what association executives do, although with associations the outcome is almost always happy and delightful. I appreciate that nuance of being an association executive!
AA: You also have a strong track record in sales – campus housing sales, hotel rooms, memberships. What are the foundational strategies and tools you use to meet your sales goals?
TB: The same strategies that I used at NAW and the CIA. The CIA is where I learned that sales is motivating people to specific outcomes. In the case of associations, the outcome is a purpose, and association members are adopting a purpose by making a making a membership purpose. I’ve translated this approach to sales no matter where I’ve worked. At NAW and now SoWH, I tell members, “I’m going to take care of your professional needs. I’m going to give you access to something you want.” I think of membership development and revenue generation as my superpower, and calibrate that superpower to the mission of my organization.
The full article is available to read here: When Your Superpower is Member Development and Revenue Generation, as published by Association Advisor on October 18, 2018.