Profile: Swati Gandhi

By John Heys

First Published: December 2007

Personal Data

Date of birth: May 8, 1973.

Grew up in: South Brunswick, N.J.

Personal: Married, Neeraj; daughter, Shivani, 4.

Hobbies/Diversions: Event planning, traveling.

Education: 1994, B.B.A, marketing, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Career: 1994-99, circulation marketing analyst, budget coordinator, collection/resale department manager, circulation sales representative, Dow Jones & Co., South Brunswick, N.J., and Riverside, Calif.; 1999-2004, circulation sales representative, education account manager, The New York Times, Houston and Pittsburgh; 2004-present, single-copy sales circulation manager, national account executive, national sales manager, deputy director of corporate sales, Dow Jones & Co., Pittsburgh.

Connections: The Wall Street Journal, 500 Grant St., Ste. 2750, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15237, (412) 877-4927, swati.gandhi@dowjones.com

For proof of Swati Gandhi's people skills, you could talk to the various corporate customers and retailers she has worked with during her career at Dow Jones & Co. Or, ask the couples she helped marry when she operated a part-time wedding-planning business in the late-1990s that specialized in multicultural ceremonies.

"I'm known for bringing people together," says Gandhi, 34, a deputy director of corporate sales for Dow Jones in Pittsburgh, where she is responsible for maintaining and growing a portfolio of more than $13 million in print and online subscription sales for The Wall Street Journal.

In preparation for the Journal's new Weekend Edition in 2005, Gandhi coordinated a retail expansion strategy with the company's single-copy operations that added 2,500 new retail locations—a 14 percent increase—and helped the new edition exceed its launch goals by 10,000 copies. Highlighting the attractive demographics of Journal readers—a typical subscriber has a $200,000-plus household income, the company says—and how this audience could benefit retailers helped secure the new partnerships, Gandhi says.

"People appreciate her knowledge of the business and how our business can help their business," says Andrew Yost, vice president of strategic and group circulation for The Wall Street Journal.

To a similar end, Gandhi was part of the team that developed the company's corporate mentoring program, which began in February 2007. Designed to help organizations broaden the business knowledge of their young professionals, the program provides print and online versions of the Journal, industry insider e-mail alerts and other features to help businesses educate and evaluate their younger hires. Gandhi leads the sales effort marketing the program.

Five Questions
 

1. What's the most challenging aspect of your job?

Charles Darwin said: "It's not the strongest species that survives nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change." My challenge, specifically this year, has been managing change. Weathering mergers, bucking trends and entertaining new media platforms keep me on my toes, just the way I like it. Be ready, willing and able to accept change. If you can't, then go to the back of the line.

2. What's the most rewarding part of your job?

I get to work with incredibly talented people toward achieving a common set of business goals. I am very fortunate to be a part of a stellar organization that isn't political and is incredibly focused on winning in the marketplace. Oh, and the 401(k) plan rocks!

3. In what ways do you think your current position will change over the next five years?

I have already witnessed how this role will transform over time. We'll continue to evolve from managing and selling a traditional print product to delivering rich, filtered, targeted content via the "e-zone" to an increasingly diversified audience. Along with this comes increased pressure to provide such content that is the most reliable, credible source of news. As we know, this generation is on the go, demanding and quite unforgiving. It will be our job to continue to cater to these demands and to get it right the first time.

4. What's the best career advice anyone ever gave you?

I've been blessed with several caring mentors who have given me feedback and advice when I didn't ask for it and didn't care for it. Looking back, I am where I am because of them. Their words of wisdom, harsh at times, have guided much of how I have approached challenges as well as opportunities. Four powerful messages I have been taught are:

• Think and act as if there is no box.
• Optimize your bandwidth.
• Master the silent pause.
• Don't cc everyone and their mother.

5. What three things would you change about the newspaper industry?

1. Question everything. Never assume that the current methodology is the most effective and sensible one.
2. Increase investment in the operational infrastructure. It's unacceptable to lose a sale due to "system constraints." Wouldn't it be nice to hear newspaper industry and "cutting-edge technology" in the same sentence?
3. Be more open to forming winning partnerships. We have something to offer but not the ability to offer everything. Joining forces will arm us with more power.