Leaders of Change: Whitney Gibson

WHITNEY GIBSON is a partner and leader of the nationally recognized Vorys eControl. He and the firm’s team have developed cutting-edge, yet cost-effective, solutions to help brands control their sales in the age of Amazon. Whitney also is chair of the firm’s technology and intellectual property group. Whitney was instrumental in the creation of the firm’s three-step program designed to help brands control online sales, eliminate channel conflict and protect brand value.

He has led more than 300 brands through the development of end-to-end strategies. He has helped craft new and innovative foundational steps necessary to make enforcement efforts effective. 

Why did you choose to pursue eCommerce in your career? During my career, I saw a lot of businesses that were in need of help as eCommerce grew. They didn’t have control of their online sales as marketplaces disrupted their business models. I gained experience with eCommerce and learned everything I could to become knowledgeable on the subject. I ultimately wanted to help businesses and became passionate about it. By creating cutting-edge strategies, our team has helped brands gain control of their online sales.

What is your biggest strength, and how have you used it for your success in eCommerce? Creativity. I like to work with our team to develop novel solutions for businesses to help them control their online sales and improve their brand value.

What is the weirdest skill or talent to come in handy in your eCommerce experience? I love talking to people. I enjoy meeting new people and learning from them. This helps me understand the problems people are facing in their business operations. 

How have you most successfully influenced change within your organization (or with your clients)? We have focused on the problems that businesses need solved when it comes to controlling their sales online. I also have been able to add levers to pull when we’ve needed to do so. We’ve not been confined to the typical law firm structure; we have been able to integrate other areas like investigations and technology into the firm to create a fully comprehensive solution for brands.

What was your most “valuable” career failure, and why? Probably instances where I’ve spent time or resources on things that don’t really relate to making our core service better. 

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior or habit has most improved your life? Spending more time with my kids. It gives me better balance as opposed to working all the time.

What are you learning right now? I’m learning about different business strategies in order to better help businesses control their sales internationally. 

What are the 1-3 songs that would make up your career soundtrack today?

• Takin’ Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive

What are the 1-3 books you’ve gifted the most or that have greatly influenced your life, and why?

• Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead and Kevin Maney: This book helped me understand the importance of creating your own business category, which is what we’ve done with Vorys eControl.
• Massive Action Equals Massive Results by Sunil Saxena MD: This book has shown me why it’s so important to constantly keep moving and not settle.
• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins: This book has helped me focus on what I am best at and how to get better slowly over time as opposed to trying to master everything at once.

If you could have a gigantic billboard for the world to see with anything on it, what would it say, and why?

Winning today isn’t about beating the competition at the old game. It’s about inventing a whole new game - defining the market category, developing it, and dominating it over time.

– Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets

What are the worst recommendations or advice you have heard related to eCommerce? The worst thing I’ve heard is that businesses think that their sales problems on Amazon are just going to go away. They’re not.

What advice would you give to a future leader of change about to enter business, or specifically the eCommerce field? I would focus on how you can add value in a unique way and think about how you can get better every day. 

What specific, industry-related change do you believe will happen that few others seem to see? I think law firms, business consultants and technologists will all work together more to provide multi-disciplinary services and solutions for companies. I think there is going to be less separation between all three entities and more collaboration to help businesses succeed.

What is the last thing you bought online, and why? The last thing I bought online was a soccer ball for my kids.

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Leaders of Change is a weekly interview series featuring select industry pioneers who are driving the evolution of commerce, the consumer and everything in between. If you would like to recommend a Leader of Change for consideration, please reach out to me on LinkedIn.