In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re launching W.I.L.D. Leadership, W.I.L.D. Success—a special highlight series showcasing the leadership behind Women in Leadership at DIRECTV (W.I.L.D.). This week, we’re featuring Kimberly Twiggs, Associate Vice President of Market Development at DIRECTV and a founding board member of W.I.L.D., to discuss the program’s impact, growth and mission.
Can you share the story of how W.I.L.D. was founded?
Kim Twiggs: W.I.L.D. has developed very organically. It started as an external-facing initiative to drive thought leadership. We began to sponsor events, not just on hotel technology and entertainment trends, but also advocating for the advancement of women in leadership roles in hospitality. It led to conferences like AHLA ForWard and McKnight’s Senior Living Women of Distinction Event. And then, the word started to spread inside of DIRECTV for BUSINESS. By October 2023, we announced the formation of W.I.L.D. officially. We put out a sign-up sheet to join and had over 30 new women and men sign up to join W.I.L.D. that day.
Today, we’ve grown to over 100 members. It all goes back to those early days, with the external focus on advocacy to help elevate and support women, and we knew we wanted to bring that inside the company as well.
What impact have you seen W.I.L.D. have on the people at DIRECTV?
KT: We’ve created an opportunity for women to connect on issues that are important to us and use each other as a sounding board to feel seen and validated. W.I.L.D. itself has also given exposure to members of the group who might not have had direct interaction with each other.
It’s also given women opportunities on our governing board to take on a leadership role, where maybe the role they have at DIRECTV isn’t necessarily a leadership one managing people or initiatives. They’re now stepping up and taking on a leadership role for the projects and initiatives we’re doing. It’s been a great growth opportunity for a lot of people.
Can you share a success story that highlights W.I.L.D.’s impact?
KT: We took a risk last year at DIRECTV Revolution, which is DIRECTV’s dealer conference. We did two mornings of breakfast meetings at the event. The turnout was incredible. We passed out business cards telling our dealer network & vendors where to meet and learn more about W.I.L.D., and they did.
The real magic that happened that morning was that we didn’t have an agenda. We weren’t giving a hard sell on joining. It was an opportunity for women to sit down and talk. The conversations that happened that day were beautiful.
Women, by nature, open up. They connect. And when one reaches out, another is there to hold their hand. Right there in the middle of Revolution, women were connecting with women who they had just met.
Some women who attended said, “This is the best part of Revolution for me this year.” These little table talks gave them the opportunity to really connect. I think that’s the magic of W.I.L.D. – it is creating a container for women to talk about the things that are most important to us.
What are your hopes for the future of W.I.L.D.?
KT: I want it to continue to grow. Everything that has happened with W.I.L.D. has been a result of these women who have come together to form our governing board. I want us to continue to be a leading voice in the hospitality space and other commercial businesses that we support, like bars, restaurants and our National Accounts business. I want it to continue to be that leader both inside and outside the company.
What advice would you give to women looking to grow in their careers?
KT: The two things that have been most important to me:
One, there is nothing more important in your success as a leader than the relationships that you formed around you.
The second thing is that you need to be the best you you can be because everybody else is already taken.
I thought I needed to be like others in order to be successful, but being me contributed to more success, and more people allowing me to lead them.
My goal as a mentor and as a sponsor for women is to encourage them as early as possible in their careers to lean into being their truest, most authentic selves as leaders. And the earlier they can do that, the earlier you build your confidence.
How can allies and leadership better support women in the workplace?
KT: It’s our responsibility to bring women and men into the room where it happens – where decisions are made. We need to expose our people more to the critical meetings and decisions and what’s expected of us as leaders.
Women are students of the game. We learn by example. We grow our confidence by participating. We grow our confidence by being in those rooms.
Mentoring is great. We hear about mentoring a lot. But even more important is sponsorship. To me, it is one of the most important things we can do to support women and men, in their growth as leaders in the workplace.
Stay tuned for the next installment of our W.I.L.D. Leadership, W.I.L.D. Success series, where we will continue highlighting the incredible women of DIRECTV. Don’t miss the inspiring stories to come!
