Valerie Glenn Rose/Glenn Group

OF ALL THE PROBLEMS A COMPANY’S CEO COULD HAVE, Valerie Glenn may have the most enviable. “I have so many dedicated people on my team, sometimes I have to kick them out,” she laughs. “I have to remind them to go home.”

What inspires the team at the Rose/Glenn Group, a fullservice marketing agency, to exhibit such drive? Just roam the halls of the downtown business, and the employees all seem to echo the same sentiment.

“She drives us to succeed,” says Lynette Doege, accounting manager, referring to Glenn’s leadership. “She’s an amazing leader and has such a spirit about her. She encourages us to push ourselves and be the best we can be. And she also gives us the tools to accomplish our goals.” Glenn joined the agency, which was started by father Phil Rose, in 1989. Since then, a mere handful of employees has exploded into dozens, and the roster of clients continues to grow. Shelves of crystal-clear acrylic reflect the industry’s accolades. But perhaps in spite of the endless awards, what could become a stodgy atmosphere instead is punctuated by the occasional appearance of Chili — a skinny dog, shaking with excitement, pink tongue lapping at the air — or an occasional baby escorted around the office by one of the agency’s employees. They’re all welcome at Rose/Glenn.

COMMUNITY MINDED

“It’s all about balance,” Glenn says. “I have high expectations to do great work here. But I don’t have to tell my team to do great work — they just do it.” They do it in comfort, even those with newborns. Glenn says she got the idea to create a “baby office” — a make-shift nursery complete with crib, changing table and rocking chair — from a fellow female CEO. That concept of “ideas” is reflected in so many aspects of the business. Even the agency’s slogan, “Ideas that mean business,” falls appropriately under the philosophical umbrella.

“She is so open minded and welcomes ideas from everyone,” says Debbi Wessner, Glenn’s executive assistant and most senior employee at almost 10 years. “Then she implements those ideas in such a way that benefits us and the entire community.”

Evidence of such community-minded spirit is everywhere. Literally. Just pass by any City of Reno vehicle, any Citifare bus, any Q&D Construction car, and passersby are exposed to the local embrace of the “We Love This Place!” campaign, first initiated by Glenn in 1999. “Frankly, we thought this campaign might last a year, maybe two,” Glenn says. “And now here we are trying to brainstorm the next iteration of the campaign, which will be unveiled at the next WIN dinner (in May).”

Sales savvy

Her entrepreneurial spirit, she notes, has been derived from years of working in sales and from some good oldfashioned intuition. “I thrived on the thrill of making a sale — still do,” she says. “I’m not classically trained in business, but I do believe I intuitively have some good business sense. But I guess I’ve never really looked back and never really worried about what was to come, which can be a scary proposition.”

Scary, perhaps — but effective for Glenn. “I have been a technician, if you will, in the advertising business,” she says. “I started out doing everything — I was account executive, media buyer, business development. I now have to discipline myself to stay out of the day-to-day and concentrate on my role as a strategic planner, as a relationship builder, as conducting the business of a business. I take being an employer very seriously.”

But the bottom line for Glenn may well be her passion for the business, her appreciation for her team and her admiration of those who have come before her and set the stage for her success.

“My mom (Merle Rose) has been involved in this business all along, and I don’t think I fully appreciated until recent years how very smart she is — how ahead of her time she was in thinking about this business,” Glenn says. And of her father, the company’s founder, she notes her respect for his tough decisions. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t know if I would have had the guts to start a business,” she says. “But I’m so glad he did.”

Judges comments: “Valerie has continued to excel at what she does best. She hasn’t let anything slide and continues to create innovative ideas year after year.”