Stephanie DeSanto loves a challenge and isn’t afraid of stretching her professional wings into unchartered territory. And her employer, Brother International, was happy to oblige her.
After nearly eight years in sales development, managing inside sales, DeSanto enthusiastically embraced her new role as senior partner program development manager, spearheading the implementation of PATH (Partner Authorized Total Hub), a portal that enables Brother Authorized Gold Partners to avail themselves of the OEM’s support programs. The job enabled DeSanto to connect with a different set of Brother team members while developing various new skill sets.
Learning falls into the wheelhouse for DeSanto, who garnered an MBA from Strayer University in 2013. She’s excited about the challenge, and the first portal—launched to serve the BMG printer division—is only the beginning, with more slated for the various Brother divisions.
“I love being able to stay in touch with our partners, being able to interact and understand what we need to do to continue to make them successful,” said DeSanto, a 2021 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “The people I work with have created a great support system. Being able to help partners and work with a great company that truly values you and wants everybody to be successful is very fulfilling.”
DeSanto has lived in the imaging world since high school, having worked for Boise Office Solutions (OfficeMax) for six years through high school and college (she was a sales supervisor her final two years there). After a nearly four-year stint with WebApps in business development, she jumped at the opportunity to join Brother, which at the time was forming a new inside sales team in support of resellers.
She thrives on converting input from resellers in a way that can facilitate their success. “It’s about letting them know we’re listening, we hear them and want to help them attain their goals,” she said. “You have to be very organized and methodical, detail-oriented to keep all these moving pieces together.”
DeSanto has a valuable advocate in her manager Michelle Hartman, whose compassion and understanding are balanced with accountability and conversations geared toward producing success. “She does a great job at making sure everyone’s being in control of their professional lives and ensuring that they’re growing the way they want to,” she said of Hartman.
Growing Project
Working on and rolling out the portal during the pandemic didn’t deter DeSanto and the team, which relied heavily on collaboration throughout the development process. It is an ongoing initiative, with new modules being added to increase partner engagement and deliver in those areas that will benefit Brother’s resellers—all in the name of proliferating successful outcomes.
“There’s so much more we need to implement and launch,” she said. “It’s going to be rewarding in the end, because some of the items we’re going to be offering to our partners are new to Brother. It requires more research and making sure the modules we’re going to be delivering are addressing the partners’ needs and wants.” A devout animal lover, DeSanto parlayed her childhood experiences with her family’s boxer dogs into a passion for volunteering with the New Jersey Boxer Rescue. The Kean University grad has a fiancé, Nick, with whom she’s dated since high school. They have an English bulldog named Medina. Her other interests include relaxing, reading and going “anyplace where there’s a beach.”
