Women in Print and Promo: Michelle Dalton, VP of Strategic Partner Development, Proforma

For the 11th year in a row, Print & Promo Marketing is proud to present its annual “Women in Print and Promo” feature. In honor of Women’s History Month — and every month — we are sharing the transformative paths these women have taken to help drive the industry forward. Find out what motivates them, where they’ve succeeded, and how companies can advance female talent. Stay tuned throughout the month for more profiles, and check out the March issue of Print & Promo Marketing for the full feature.

Michelle Dalton, vice president of strategic partner development for Proforma, Cleveland, has a long history of success both in promo and in other fields. In her profile, she talks about finding that success, overcoming barriers, and more.

Every resume tells a story, and Michelle Dalton’s includes a Titan. But this isn’t a tale of Greek mythology. Just last year, Dalton was recognized as a 2023 Gold Titan Award winner for Women in Business. In 2022, she earned Proforma’s Excellence Award. She has served in leaderships positions throughout nearly her entire career, including five years as a female executive. She has managed teams of up to 1,000 employees across multiple locations, with a responsibility of $350 million-plus in annual sales quotas.

“She has excelled in every role she’s been in,” her nominator says. Behind every accomplishment — and there are more to share — stands a fearless person, who challenges the status quo, commits to the personal development of the team, and demonstrates a high degree of emotional intelligence. For Proforma, it’s Dalton.

Dalton received a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Business Administration from UW-Oshkosh. She used her degree to find work at Convergys, an outsourcing company that had just secured contracts with Cisco and AT&T. In her sales and operations manager role at Cisco, Dalton supervised the enterprise inside sales team. She then moved into a senior client services manager role for AT&T. That’s when a recruiter reached out.

“I had worked for large tech companies up to that point in my career and thought it would be good to diversify my experience and work for a smaller company,” Dalton says. “The recruiter presented two opportunities: one at an electrical distributor and the other at a promo company. The promo company was the perfect fit.”

Prior to joining Proforma as a senior operations consultant, Dalton held several titles at AIA Corporation for 10 years — the last being vice president of customer experience. She also did a brief stint as the director of sales support for Dynamic Drinkware, a small souvenir cup manufacturer.

Dalton didn’t waste any time after signing with Proforma. She was the sole resource to its 500-plus owners, coaching individual business owners to identify process and organizational structure improvements, her nominator says. As her role expanded, Dalton broke down department silos leading to increased best-practice sharing and strategy alignment. In her current role, Dalton oversees Proforma’s supplier relations team, which manages the supplier relationships within the distributor’s preferred supplier network.

Outside of Proforma, Dalton is currently a PPEF board trustee member and represented the industry lobbying on Capitol Hill as part of the LEAD program. In addition, she is active in her community, volunteering with SCORE as a mentor to local businesses, as well as serving on the board for her city’s chamber and development group.

Dalton may not hold the power of the Titans, but she arguably has a heavy influence on the promo world.

Her Proudest Career Achievement

“After completing my bachelor’s degree at the age of 21, I set two goals: to achieve a specific compensation level by the age of 35 and to obtain a vice president title by the age of 40. Although I can struggle to stick to a diet for a week, I managed to achieve these goals 15-plus years later at the ages of 36 and 41 (exactly one year after each milestone).”

How Failure Taught Her Resiliency

“I don’t believe in failure, there is only opportunity. There are things I have executed better or worse than I intended, but with each decision and resulting outcome I learned something about myself and others. I feel like my grit and resiliency were developed less from professional experiences and more from significant losses that I experienced on a personal level. Over the course of 11 years, I experienced eight pregnancy losses before having two beautiful children. When you deal with such significant loss, it either breaks you or you dig deep and find a way to move on. Out of all that sadness I am grateful for the grit I gained.”

Her Most Significant Barrier as a Female Leader

“I have never felt like there have been significant barriers. That doesn’t mean everything has been easy or gone my way. If you focus more on the end result and where you want to eventually be, how you get there is less important.

Barriers just become part of the journey and provide you with opportunities to grow in ways you may have never expected. There will always be somebody that will limit you because of their own biases and opinions. I truly believe that we alone are the only individuals that can set limits on ourselves. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but only we can define the truth.”

How She Thinks Companies Can Attract and Retain Female Talent

“Women are strong, are successfully juggling family and demanding careers more than ever, and we are making a difference. Companies need to provide equal opportunities, fair compensation, flexibility, a nurturing culture, and roles that make women feel like they are contributing to something greater.”

Her Job Advice to Women

“Print and promo are fun industries that allow you to feel like you never work a day of your life. Embrace the hugs, soak in the camaraderie at the many shows, and build friendships that will last your lifetime.”

Her Upcoming Goals

“Personally, I am helping my daughters prepare for some key pageant competitions in June and in July, I will wrap up this year completing my life coach certification. Professionally, I will be working alongside my team to create new and grow existing supplier partnerships in order to continually evolve one of the best-in-industry preferred supplier networks.”