Sam Gillstrom, 32, is a travel account manager at experience design company Maritz Global Events. She’s based in Denver.
My career journey:
I studied hospitality management at Mizzou (the University of Missouri) and had an internship with Maritz while in college. When I walked across the stage to graduate, my teacher and mentor said, “You are going to work at Maritz someday.”
But I went on to get a job at the catering company Butler’s Pantry in St. Louis—where I’m originally from—for the next three years, and I learned the ins and outs of events. I then applied and got a job at Maritz, assuming the role of meeting event manager. I held that position for about six years before I got promoted to travel account manager about one year ago.
My greatest career accomplishment:
My answer is a little cheesy, but it’s true. Although I have planned and executed some amazing events and have been fortunate enough to win several awards throughout my career, I think the thing that I will look back most fondly on is being a part of the most magical team ever. I was lucky enough to be a part of an account team where the internal Maritz team, plus our clients, were some of the best people I have ever worked with, and helped make me the worker and human that I am today. Through them, I have developed my planning skills; become more proactive; actively sought process improvements; felt lifted by all of the support, mentorship, and learning; and laughed and shared meaningful moments.
The co-workers on my team who advocate for me have become real-life friends, which means the world to me. Through these people I have had great programs, traveled, been promoted, won awards, and more.
Gillstrom has planned 67 corporate events during her time at Maritz, and has helped manage and support more than $60 million across six clients in just one fiscal year.Photo: Dean Stevenson, Stevenson’s Studio LLC Photography
What inspires me:
Kick-a** women! And my family—my mom, sister, and grandma—who taught me how to be a good person, stay true to my core values, and be myself.
Also my mentors—like Kate Walsh—who taught me what a good leader is by leading by example. They showed me that there is great strength in lifting others up and seeing others succeed.
I’m also inspired by musicians—I love artists who put out strong, positive messages in the world. I think Beyoncé and Lizzo are great examples of this. Singing along to their positive messages is basically saying these affirmations to myself.
In addition, movement. I feel inspired and refreshed after I get my body moving. I work out almost every morning and love to move with a variety of activities, like strength training and dancing.
A time I averted a complete event disaster:
COVID was obviously stressful for so many reasons. A couple of big stressors in the events industry were loss of staff and pivoting to something that a lot of people didn’t have expertise in: digital events. So in a team of five, I was one out of only two people who kept their jobs to support clients during the pandemic. Our workload was heavy, and we were learning how to do digital events, which we hadn’t done before. I went through a DES (digital event strategist) fast-track program to learn the ins and outs of digital events—on top of my client-facing workload. I was also managing new supplier partners who supported us during this time.
During one of our event builds, our web producer got COVID, so I actually stepped in and was building the actual digital event. This was an all-hands-on-deck situation, and it was my job to successfully execute.
It was very stressful because we also had so many forms of communication so that we could successfully execute remotely, like Teams, Slack, and text messaging. However, I managed stress professionally by keeping a close eye on my to-do list, prioritizing what needs to be done first, taking it one step and day at a time, documenting everything to keep all parties on track, and learning a lot of lessons.
I later called my mom and sister for venting sessions!
Gillstrom interned with Maritz Global Events while in college at the University of Missouri and recalled a full-circle moment when a teacher and mentor told her, “You are going to work at Maritz someday," during graduation.Photo: Dean Stevenson, Stevenson’s Studio LLC Photography
Some impressive stats I’m responsible for:
I planned 67 full-service corporate events with Maritz Global Events—the largest of which welcomed 7,806 attendees with the help of 114 staff.
In the latest fiscal year, I helped manage and support $60 million in revenue between six clients.
What’s next for me:
I would love to eventually move up to be a director of an account team where my passions of organization and process improvement, client relationships, and mentoring are all rolled up into one!
My ideal day OOO:
No alarm, sunshine or the beach, a good book, a fun activity, time with friends and family, and good food with a glass of wine.
BizBash's 2023 40 Under 40 list is sponsored by VDA, a Massachusetts-based experiential marketing and event design agency that specializes in custom live, hybrid, and virtual experiences designed to drive business growth through client collaboration and creative thinking.
