For all her success, Suzanne Sullivan, executive VP for ad sales at Fox, says that being in sales was a bit of an accident.
“I’m the introvert in my family, so it’s funny I’m the one who ended up in sales,” Sullivan said. “I know how to fake being an extrovert really well, but it’s not my natural comfort zone.”
Growing up in Saddle River, New Jersey, she wanted to be an architect or Katie Couric. Her mother talked her out of being an architect, claiming she wasn’t good at math. To get into TV news, she did internships with NBC News and a local cable access channel in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she attended College of the Holy Cross. When she graduated, she sent resumes to stations up and down the Eastern seaboard, but got no nibbles.
“So I responded to an ad for a sales assistant job at CBS,” Sullivan recalled. She didn’t know anything about advertising. “I figured I’d get my foot in the door at CBS and who knows where it might take me. And here’s where it took me 30 years later.”
An Energetic Learner
She moved over to the agency side at BBDO and OMD. “You hire people for enthusiasm, passion and energy, because you can teach them everything else,” Steve Grubbs, former OMD U.S. CEO, said. “And you know, Suzanne certainly fit the bill. Over time, you realized she’s just one of the most trustworthy and honest people that you come across.”
Sullivan left the agency for ESPN, but returned. When she became a mother, she left for four years. At that time, it was unusual for women to come back to work after a break that long. “She’s the only person who left that I hired back, not once but twice,” Grubbs said. “Looking back on those days, I don’t know how these young women did it. It was just asking a lot.”
Eventually the sales bug bit again, and Sullivan moved to Fox, first with Twentieth Television, then with Fox Broadcasting. Toby Byrne, who later became president of sales at Fox, hired her. Years earlier Byrne was Sullivan’s assistant at BBDO. “Suzanne wasn’t thrilled with my performance and was talking to her boss about potentially firing me,” Byrne recalled. “Needless to say, I turned it around quickly and we have been friends ever since. I was fortunate enough to hire her at Fox and it was fun to joke about how she wanted to run me out of the business.”
I figured I’d get my foot in the door at CBS and who knows where it might take me. And here’s where it took me 30 years later.”
— Suzanne Sullivan
Sullivan’s agency background helped her relate to buyers. ”She has exceptionally high integrity, and integrity in our business is critical,” said John Muszynski, U.S. chairman of Publicis Media’s PMX. “With her, I know that I can trust that the person on the other side of the desk actually wants to help my clients’ business. Not just their business.”
Sullivan said she’s proud of partnerships with clients like integrating AT&T into American Idol, creating an award-winning game show for Pepsi Wild Cherry and bringing Amazon into the sitcom Call Me Kat.
Muszynski also praised her skill at the lost art of market reading. “We don’t agree on things all the time,” he said. “But the negotiation is really pretty simple because we both study the marketplace and we both understand the dynamics of the marketplace.”
As much as she works for her clients, she delivers for Fox.
“Suzanne works tirelessly and collaboratively to create opportunities that consistently position Fox Entertainment as the most client-focused and creatively innovative media company,” Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade said.
An Honest Broker
Sullivan was already at Fox when Marianne Gambelli arrived from NBC to head ad sales, first at Fox News Media and then for all of Fox Corp. The two had an immediate connection, Gambelli said.
When the new Fox was formed after The Walt Disney Co.’s 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the ad-sales department needed to be reorganized. “I didn’t really know everybody, so I relied on Suzanne for everything from who are the right people to what is the right structure and how do we go to market,” Gambelli said. “I would never do anything without consulting with her first. I rely on her for her trust and her honesty. Even when I don’t want an honest answer, I get an honest answer. She has all the historical knowledge, but she’s not afraid to innovate and move forward.”
Issues like integrating Fox’s streaming service Tubi keep her sharp. “It keeps us thinking differently,” Sullivan said. “I can’t imagine if I were still doing the same thing that I was doing 30 years ago.”
Sullivan also proudly serves as co-chair of Fox’s diversity and inclusion council. Away from work, she used to spend a lot of time at ice rinks while her kids played hockey. Her son has been an emergency goalie for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. She recently started playing pickleball, so watch out. ▪️
