Celebrating Women's Leadership: Insights from the female leaders at GCommerce Solutions

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March 21, 2025 by

GCommerce Solutions is a digital marketing agency specializing in driving direct bookings for hotels and resorts. GCommere is committed to fostering diversity and promoting women's leadership within our organization. Our commitment is reflected in our initiatives to empower women in leadership roles, ensuring equal opportunities for growth and contribution.

Women's History Month is a crucial time to celebrate the remarkable achievements and contributions of women in business, including their innovation, leadership, and resilience. It serves as a platform to recognize the pivotal roles women play in shaping industries like hospitality and digital marketing, inspiring future generations to break barriers and achieve their fullest potential.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, we want you to hear from some GCommerce leaders.

Each leader of the GCommerce team will be answering the following questions:

  • What are some challenges you believe are unique to women in leadership roles within the digital marketing industry?
  • Can you share strategies or personal experiences that have helped you overcome these challenges and thrive in your leadership role?
  • What are some of the most significant achievements and milestones you've reached at GCommerce Solutions?
  • What practical advice would you offer to women who aspire to take on leadership roles in digital marketing?

Meet the female leaders of GCommerce Solutions 

Click on the links below to see what each leader had to say.

Lindley Cotton, President

Lindley Cotton, President

"You don’t have to know everything. Try to approach every situation with curiosity and an open mind. Many women struggle with imposter syndrome (myself included), and you just have to remember that being a leader isn’t about being all-knowing. You should be actively seeking out opportunities to grow and learn every day, which will help you become a more emphatic and well-rounded leader in the future.

Also, seek out mentors. I’ve had several over the years all of which helped me grow different skill sets. A lot of times, you naturally find mentors, but don’t be afraid to speak up and ask someone to help coach you if you know they have expertise in an area that you’re looking to grow."

Read more here
Lisa McGivney, Vice President of Marketing

Lisa McGivney, Vice President of Marketing

"Take on challenges you don’t think you’re ready for or know how to do. Trust in yourself that you have the ability to figure it out and work hard to achieve it. In the words of Phish, it’s “time to put your wingsuit on.”

Once you realize everyone is out here just “winging it” you’ll realize you’re more qualified and deserving than you think. Then, once you get there - remember to advocate for yourself and others along the way."

Read more here
Kara Lange, Vice President of Business Development

Kara Lange, Vice President of Business Development

"Transitioning from an individual contributor to a leadership role can be challenging, but my biggest advice is to seek out opportunities beyond your core responsibilities. Volunteer for projects, take initiative in cross-functional collaboration and develop a strategic mindset beyond your day-to-day role.

Finding a mentor is also invaluable—whether it’s your boss or another senior leader, learning from someone who has navigated leadership can provide critical insights."

Read more here
Erin Fischer, Director of Marketing

Erin Fischer, Director of Marketing

"Dream big and vocalize those dreams to anyone who will listen, and then dive in head first. I say all the time that you don’t know what you’re capable of until you are put into the position to do something big. Take any negative or difficult situation and turn it into an opportunity to prove yourself and grow. Be a team player, but speak up for yourself and others.

Challenge everything, but also understand that it’s okay to sit back and give yourself a break too. Find your community and the people who are going to support you."

Read more here
Abby Rosenberger, Director of Account Services

Abby Rosenberger, Director of Account Services

"Pursue your passion rather than simply chasing a paycheck. True success comes from doing work that excites and motivates you every day. When you are genuinely passionate about what you do, that enthusiasm becomes evident in your creativity, decision-making, and leadership. It fuels your drive to continuously learn, innovate, and push boundaries.

Passion not only leads to personal fulfillment but also inspires those around you, helping to shape a meaningful and impactful career. When you love what you do, success naturally follows."

Read more here

Women's History Month serves as a vital reminder to celebrate these achievements while continuing the push for gender equality in the workplace. It is a time to honor the contributions of women who are shaping industries, breaking barriers, and inspiring positive change.

As we reflect on these stories, let’s reaffirm our commitment to supporting and uplifting women in leadership. Their voices, ideas, and expertise are crucial in shaping the future of digital marketing and beyond. Together, we can foster an environment where every woman has the opportunity to thrive and lead.

2024 Equity & Advocacy Team Impact Report

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January 22, 2025 by

In 2022, GCommerce produced a company survey to gather team member insights on
its Cultural Pillars. While the primary goal was to evaluate which pillars needed to be
updated in a post-pandemic world, GCommerce also found that many team members
requested more education and discussion around Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Survey respondents were proud of the company efforts towards a more equitable workplace,
but they wanted those efforts to be more formal and institutional. In response,
GCommerce decided to incorporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion into its foundational
"Cultural Pillars."

The company didn't stop there. Formalizing DEI as a culture pillar was an important first
step, but GCommerce was looking to make an impact, both within the company and the
community.

And that is how the Equity & Advocacy Team was formed.

At the onset, the team drafted a charter to guide the goals, strategies and desired
outcomes of the group. Now, the company presents a recap of the work that has been
done and the outcomes it has generated over the past year.

View our 2024 Equity & Advocacy Team impact report here.

[E-Book] Promoting DEI in the Workplace

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April 16, 2024 by

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) covers a variety of topics and tactics related to the fair treatment of all people. In the workplace, this means creating a space where all employees feel safe and welcome.

More and more businesses are starting to implement DEI programs, but there’s no real standard, given the broadness of the topic. Some programs are designed to support underrepresented social groups, some to compile employee resources, and others to signify a progressive company culture. Because of this variation, it can be hard to decide which strategies will work best for your business.

Learn our tips and strategy for promoting DEI in the workplace, in our full E-Book, here.

Celebrating Womanhood: GCommerce Traditions

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March 18, 2024 by

Womanhood is an incredibly diverse experience, with each culture and each family having a unique approach to the journey. From quinceañeras and bat mitzvahs to Sweet 16 parties and menstruation celebrations, people from across the globe celebrate womanhood in all kinds of ways. 

And GCommerce is no exception! Each member of our team comes from a different background and has a unique experience with the concept of womanhood. Here are some of the GCommerce team’s cultural and family traditions for celebrating womanhood.

Alex Scharpf

In our family, we don’t really celebrate “womanhood” any differently than “adulthood” more broadly. However, we do have some minor traditions for “motherhood.” 

The entire extended family always comes together for Mother’s Day, and we make sure to write the name of every mother on a cake. (Though when your family is as big as mine is, it’s definitely a challenge!)

Once you’ve had your first child, you also get upgraded perks at family events. Your Christmas check is larger, you get to sit on the chairs that don’t fold up on you, and you get first dibs on holiday meals. None of these perks apply to the fathers in our family, so it’s really interesting that we specifically celebrate the moms.

Jael Dugdale

I come from a non-traditional family, so we don’t necessarily have a “tradition” to celebrate womanhood. However, what I am doing is passing on my experiences and the spirit of exploration and resilience to my daughter. As she begins to chart her own path, I'll be there for her through the twists and turns of life, cheering her on and empowering her to go after her dreams.

Jaylene Van Lin

Womanhood is a journey passed from my grandmother, through my mother, to me – a story of strength and growth. It starts with my grandmother being raised in the confines of a traditional household. She went on to enter a controlling and abusive marriage, a narrative that dictated her entire life.

But my grandmother always held onto hope for her daughter. She made sure my mother knew her worth, laying the foundation for a different life. While my mother still takes on many domestic duties that she feels obligated to do, her experience of womanhood is a world apart from my grandmother's. Sure, she still cooks my dad dinner every…single…night…but overall, she's treated with respect.

Maybe you know where the story is going now. Yes, my mother also wanted a better life for her daughter – me. Now, as I embrace my independence, I celebrate womanhood each day. I'm grateful for the sacrifices of the women before me, which have given me the freedom to define womanhood my own way. 

Kaylin Long

In my experience growing up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there hasn’t been any explicit celebration to acknowledge womanhood. But at certain age milestones, people in the religious community would begin to apply different gender roles to you.

At 12 years old, we become a “young woman” and begin attending a class at church that is only with other girls. At 16 years old, we are then encouraged to go on group dates (without steady dating). At 18 years old, “young women” become full-fledged women and move on to a different class, still segregated by gender, called “relief society.” At 18, we’re also expected to begin courting someone seriously with the intention of getting married. Once you’ve gotten married, you’re expected to begin having children and are expected to have as many as you and your spouse can physically support.

Kenyon Cotton

As a father of two daughters, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. In our household, I don’t like assigning gender roles to hobbies and interests. Our main focus is simply trying to build character and resilience, and instill moral values. 

The result is two girls who are fully enabled to explore all facets of the human experience: sports, both organized and extreme; science, mostly in the form of bugs, animals, mud, and exploration; glamour and fashion; being a leader, a follower, or somewhere in between; being a hero and a protector and knowing how to ask for help when they need it. Both transcendence and immanence. 

As I see it, one of our most important jobs as parents is to ensure that they understand that the full spectrum of possibilities is available to them as they work on figuring out how to find fulfillment and happiness, and how to provide value to the world. 

Lisa McGivney

We don’t have any family traditions that I can recall, but I’m excited to start a new one this year! I’ll be going skiing with my daughter for International Women’s Day.

Sharing Traditions

Every woman is unique, so individual traditions of womanhood are equally special. Talk to your coworkers and friends, and see what their own experiences have been. You might learn something new!

2023 DEI Impact Report

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March 18, 2024 by

In 2022 GCommerce produced a company survey to gather team member insights on its current Cultural Pillars. While the primary goal was to evaluate which pillars needed to be updated in a post-pandemic world, GCommerce also found that many team members requested more education and discussion around Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

And that is how the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Study Group was formed.

Now, over a year after establishing the study group, the company presents a recap of the work that has been done and the outcomes it has generated.

View our 2023 DEI Study Group Impact report here.

DEI Origins at GCommerce

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February 13, 2024 by

GCommerce has charted its own path of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).  Equity was always a central building block of the famed company culture (recipient of Best Place to Work in 2019 by Outside Magazine).  However, a fateful series of conversations in 2022 started us down a path of deliberate intention and focus.  In the process, the company has become more introspective and more articulate about our beliefs.  We’ve developed a process that ensures Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are as much an aspiration as a practice, a process that insists we continue to make progress in pursuit of that goal never achieved.  

It started with a conversation.  The Founder of GCommerce, Scott van Hartesvelt, had just read the seminal and controversial Harvard Business Review (HBR) study titled “Why Diversity Programs Fail.”  In it, the authors make a compelling case that the ways in which corporate America has addressed DEI have not only failed to produce positive results they have actually reinforced negative behaviors.  He shared some of the findings with two colleagues, Alex Scharpf and Lindley Cotton, who were both better educated on the subject.  The ensuing discussion made it clear that there were both moral and business imperatives to be thoughtful about DEI and that GCommerce was well-positioned to break the mold highlighted in the HBR article.  A larger group of employees from across the company was quickly empaneled to jumpstart the initiative.

GCommerce DEI Charter

After lots of deliberation, a formal charter took shape with 4 key components.  The charter became the organizing document for both the company itself as well as the company’s “DEI Study Group”, a group of volunteers from across all departments interested in helping GCommerce further the DEI mission through new programming and education.

GCOMMERCE DEI TRUE NORTH

To ensure our compass is always pointed towards equity, we established four guiding principles:

  1. Leadership from GCommerce is required.  We chose to be thoughtful and progressive to achieve our moral and business goals.
  2. Forced participation and assimilation with DEI initiatives create animosity instead of growth and understanding.  Therefore, we aimed to avoid this whenever possible, instead favoring more integrated efforts.
  3. Recruiting, education, job training, and mentoring are the tops of the spear when it comes to making meaningful progress.  As such, they would help organize and instruct our overall DEI initiatives.
  4. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion do not create just a moral imperative but also a business one.  Companies that embrace diversity and equity perform measurably better in all facets of their business.

GOLDEN RULES

Per the Harvard Business Review study, people with varying perspectives on DEI topics often feel alienated by the tenor of discussions, further entrenching their beliefs and robbing others of hearing their perspectives.  To combat this, Alex Scharpf authored our “Golden Rules” to maintain civil, effective conversations within the company moving forward.

  1. All Perspectives Deserve Respect - Inclusivity is not a set of hard-and-fast rules but rather an ongoing discussion.  Very few things are “right” and “wrong” in every single context, and everyone deserves a chance to be heard.
  2. No One Knows Everything - Everyone comes from different backgrounds, with a different level of exposure to various issues.  There’s no shame in not knowing something - inclusion is a constant state of learning and we’re all learning together. 
  3. Everyone Makes Mistakes - Inclusion is a continuous process, and it takes time for a person to adapt to changes.  No one is perfect, and mistakes are just that - mistakes.  Use them as an educational opportunity, but don’t dwell on them.

STUDY GROUP GOALS

The goals of the DEI Study Group, as established at its onset, guide the group to this day:

  1. Bring awareness and education internally for GCommerce, while providing a safe space for conversation.
  2. Widen individual knowledge and understanding of DEI.
  3. Make GCommerce an inclusive company that others will be drawn to.
  4. Support and encourage other colleagues to be their true selves.
  5. Assist clients with better representation in marketing.
  6. Become a model for other companies to eventually emulate.

DEI MISSION STATEMENT

Finally, the charter articulated a formal DEI mission statement.

GCommerce is dedicated to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion as both a moral and business imperative.

Our team members are the company’s most valuable asset.  The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities, and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture but our reputation and the company’s achievement.  To that end, we not only embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion, we seek it out to strengthen our company.

We embrace and encourage our employees’ differences in age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, religion, sexual orientation, and other identity characteristics that make our employees unique.

DEI Study Group - Executing GCommerce’s DEI Charter

GCommerce is invested in making our DEI practices present and vibrant in the ongoing operations of the business.  The group is open to participation from all corners of the company, with meetings held every other week and frequently attended by executives, managers, and team members from every department.  The group’s work primarily focuses on the four areas of Recruiting, Education, Training, and Mentorship but remains largely self-determined while working in the spirit of the company mission and pillars.

Highlights - Two Years In

We are proud of the work the company has accomplished over the last two years.  We are equally proud of the system: the process that we’ve established to ensure the work continues in perpetuity.  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are no longer just things we promote but rather who we are and what we aspire to be.  

Highlights from the first two years include:

  • Invested over $200,00 in service hours to the development and management of our DEI initiative.
  • Researched and delivered eight robust all-company education sessions.
  • Provided resources for self-education on DEI topics.
  • Created spaces for company-wide discussions to take place.
  • Updated and improved recruiting and hiring practices, including consideration for better representation, social and neurodiversity sensitivity in interviews, and recruiting methodology.
  • Evaluated daily accessibility at GCommerce, from website navigation and branding to internal meeting policies and ADA options.
  • Conducted frequent sentiment surveys of the entire company for directional guidance.
  • Reviewed and modified client marketing recommendations to encourage better representation in the marketing we deploy.
  • Developed public-facing content related to DEI, to extend our education outside of the company.

What’s Next

GCommerce is not, nor will it ever be a finished product.  It’s a company of individuals, each of whom contributes to the GCommerce story in their own way during their time with the company.   Our consistency lies in our mission and our vision.  

Looking at the immediate future, we are excited to be rolling out a more formal mentorship program, giving team members from across the company exposure to those with whom they may not normally engage.  We are thinking hard about how to be more intentional with our recruiting practices because the most succinct way to ensure diversity and representation is by living these core values as a company.  We are doubling down on engagement and education for team members, especially those who have recently joined the organization and weren’t there for the genesis of this grand project.  We are learning. We are growing.  Most importantly, we are listening with humility. 

Keep Reading

International Women's Month

Celebrating Women's Leadership: Insights from the female leaders at GCommerce Solutions

2024 Equity & Advocacy Team Impact Report

[E-Book] Promoting DEI in the Workplace

Get More Insights