Member since January 2025
Lina Gallotto is an accomplished speaker and senior executive leader who serves as an intrapreneur, growing staffing and professional services businesses from inception to mid-market. She helped these companies position themselves for successful exits, including sale to private equity.
Gallotto's expertise includes creating and executing go-to-market and turnaround strategies for sustainable growth, including brand creation and revitalization, service line extension and expansion. She has an exceptional track record of driving cultural and operational transformations.
Recently, under her leadership, Barton Associates was named the 2024 Healthcare Staffing and Recruiting Company of the Year by Healthcare Business Review. Meanwhile, she was personally named to the Staffing Industry Analysts' 2025 Staffing 100 North America list.
My inner drive is women's leadership initiatives and economic empowerment which are core to being independent in your own way and confident in who you are as a person. As a passionate learner, another primary driver is building the business, developing the team and creating sustainable growth. The right people and process are critical. Sometimes its creating the confidence and other times its building on the confidence. With these crucial steps in the forefront the people that are in the business and building the business (your team and/or your company) do so with a dedication, passion and commitment. Creating and building on the critical thinking and execution makes for excellent teams that foster growth and a winning mentality. I sometimes think of the song about the ant that couldn't move the rubber tree plant and think about how you can do more then you think you can.
This where executing on the ant that CAN move the rubber tree plant came to fruition. I started with my first job at a small $24mm founder owned business. Working at a small organization, for a founder owned business, who had lots money, took risks and a massive desire for grow! This foundation allowed me and others on the leadership team to carve out business opportunities and create strategies. We built and ran, think of building the bridge and crossing it at the same time. We knew who we were and what we wanted to be to the customer. The core leadership team strategized and built GTM strategies needed to accomplish goals. It was a very entrepreneur mindset. If there was an opportunity to pitch it to the founder, Tom, you did it and if he liked it you had a division to start and grow. For us on the leadership team, there was a bit of a Darwinian mentality, a speed to win and grow the biggest business in the company. We did everything from expanding geographic markets, creating new industry verticals finding the right technology to support the growth. It was run fast or you were in the dog house and got a boring role as punishment for not growing fast enough. This was very visible and everyone knew they had to work to grow the business to stay in their role. Fear of the dog house, which happened to everyone at least once, was a huge motivator. Working for a narcissistic founder, we all knew, and joked, that there would be bruised egos, many highs and hopefully very few lows. We were building a business that needed regular adjustments, course corrections and fixes along the way, what business doesn't! Being critical about everything was in the DNA. Never be comfortable was also in the DNA. Get comfortable with Change is a constant was one of our mantras. Our clients were startups that became large Fortune 500's to a solid base of Fortune 1000 clients that were enterprise clients in the US and many with a Global footprint, Netflix, Keurig and Genzyme Sanofi are a few examples. I would call it a marathon vs a sprint as we trained and learned how to get over hills (think Boston Marathon). When the founder sold to a public company everyone wanted to know who was this stealth company and what was the secret sauce. Discipline to who we are and our core model is what defined us. We kept that as our clear sight and the company still does today. Having courage to do the hard things was normal. It also made doing the easy things very easy!. When I left the company to start another business for the same founder, the company I left was a $3.4bb company and in the top 10 industry wide in the US. Clients included Keurig, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Lands End, SABIC, Netflix, Genzyme Sanofi, Moderna, Volkswagon, Thyssen Krup, Hydro, Philips Medical, Kona, DELL, Intel, Northwestern, Princeton and many more. Who knew this small staffing startup would become this large IT Services business. Take the leap, run the marathon, and enjoy the journey! Ask for more and look for the opportunities, then deliver! If you don't, someone else will!
Building a business at a young age, in a founder owned business, gave me the opportunity to pitch a plan and run with it. The deal was I better function and deliver as he, Tom, was the bank and wanted his ROI. His comments of "I pay for function" would both chill and motivate me. He once invited me to Moo, a very upscale restuarant in Boston. I had just started a new business that he was funding. We were one year in and he wanted to meet for lunch. So of course I said yes and drove into the city to meet him. Upon arriving, he was already seated at a table waiting for me ( I was 15 minutes early so he must have a lot to say!). The waitress puts a basket of bread on the table. I ordered a tea. He had a Coke. We talked for over two hours with no lunch. It was a "I pay for function lunch" which meant I had one year to turn a profit or he was pulling the plug. That's what I mean as a Chill and a Motivator! I turned a profit and then some. My reward was to run the entire company by taking on the other division which had flat lined. I had the opportunity to build many businesses, merge divisions, manage different cultures, build strategy and structure for scaling the business.
The first company evolved into a global operation through an acquisition. We leveraged our client base internationally and leveraged our model and our leadership team as well. The GTM strategy scaled well globally but the culture was custom to the local area. Not being aware of cultural changes was a set back. Culture is critical. Once we got that right, only then did the business start to grow and become significant percentage of the overall business.
The ability to incubate in a trial mode allowed for the entrepreneur spirit in the entire organization. Look for the opportunities and peel it back till you have a good concept that you can run with--now run with it! My dad used to say "Seek, you shall find!" I learned to seek and find.
How many times have you sat in a meeting with your peers, bosses, etc. and there was a conversation where ideas and thoughts were generated? You speak up and suggest an option, no one says anything. If anything, they look around the room as if it wasn't said and heard. You feel invisible and unsupported but don't say it again. Then, maybe 5 minutes later, one of your peers, let's call him Jack, throws out the same suggestion and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in the room says 'great idea!'. What just happened? More importantly, what is YOUR next step? How will you overcome this challenge at the table with your peers and your boss? This is what we are going to talk about today. How to own your words, your suggestions, your work, by Peeing on it!
I have had the opportunity to test this out since I first heard it from one of my peers who did in fact jump over many for the big job, including me. Watching him work taught me how I had to work and own my own everything! I have tested this out and used this over the last 8 years in business. Women need to hear this to understand ownership and why it's necessary. I have used these words as I developed my leadership team and just with women for the times they allowed someone to push into their domain. The audience, much like my team, will walk away understanding that they lose their power by not owning it. I want the attendees to feel confident enough to speak up and then some! They will feel more empowered and learn the words to use in owning their domain using a professional tone and with the right words that brings the ideas back to them. I have studied the men at the table and watched this back and forth play out. Its a game of swords at the table. If you don't have an advocate in the room, and many times you do not, you are always your own best advocate.
This where executing on the ant that CAN move the rubber tree plant came to fruition. I started with my first job at a small $24mm founder owned business. Working at a small organization, for a founder owned business, who had lots money, took risks and a massive desire for grow! This foundation allowed me and others on the leadership team to carve out business opportunities and create strategies. We built and ran, think of building the bridge and crossing it at the same time. We knew who we were and what we wanted to be to the customer. The core leadership team strategized and built GTM strategies needed to accomplish goals. It was a very entrepreneur mindset. If there was an opportunity to pitch it to the founder, Tom, you did it and if he liked it you had a division to start and grow. For us on the leadership team, there was a bit of a Darwinian mentality, a speed to win and grow the biggest business in the company. We did everything from expanding geographic markets, creating new industry verticals finding the right technology to support the growth. It was run fast or you were in the dog house and got a boring role as punishment for not growing fast enough. This was very visible and everyone knew they had to work to grow the business to stay in their role. Fear of the dog house, which happened to everyone at least once, was a huge motivator. Working for a narcissistic founder, we all knew, and joked, that there would be bruised egos, many highs and hopefully very few lows. We were building a business that needed regular adjustments, course corrections and fixes along the way, what business doesn't! Being critical about everything was in the DNA. Never be comfortable was also in the DNA. Get comfortable with Change is a constant was one of our mantras. Our clients were startups that became large Fortune 500's to a solid base of Fortune 1000 clients that were enterprise clients in the US and many with a Global footprint, Netflix, Keurig and Genzyme Sanofi are a few examples. I would call it a marathon vs a sprint as we trained and learned how to get over hills (think Boston Marathon). When the founder sold to a public company everyone wanted to know who was this stealth company and what was the secret sauce. Discipline to who we are and our core model is what defined us. We kept that as our clear sight and the company still does today. Having courage to do the hard things was normal. It also made doing the easy things very easy!. When I left the company to start another business for the same founder, the company I left was a $3.4bb company and in the top 10 industry wide in the US. Clients included Keurig, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Lands End, SABIC, Netflix, Genzyme Sanofi, Moderna, Volkswagon, Thyssen Krup, Hydro, Philips Medical, Kona, DELL, Intel, Northwestern, Princeton and many more. Who knew this small staffing startup would become this large IT Services business. Take the leap, run the marathon, and enjoy the journey! Ask for more and look for the opportunities, then deliver! If you don't, someone else will!
Building a business at a young age, in a founder owned business, gave me the opportunity to pitch a plan and run with it. The deal was I better function and deliver as he, Tom, was the bank and wanted his ROI. His comments of "I pay for function" would both chill and motivate me. He once invited me to Moo, a very upscale restuarant in Boston. I had just started a new business that he was funding. We were one year in and he wanted to meet for lunch. So of course I said yes and drove into the city to meet him. Upon arriving, he was already seated at a table waiting for me ( I was 15 minutes early so he must have a lot to say!). The waitress puts a basket of bread on the table. I ordered a tea. He had a Coke. We talked for over two hours with no lunch. It was a "I pay for function lunch" which meant I had one year to turn a profit or he was pulling the plug. That's what I mean as a Chill and a Motivator! I turned a profit and then some. My reward was to run the entire company by taking on the other division which had flat lined. I had the opportunity to build many businesses, merge divisions, manage different cultures, build strategy and structure for scaling the business.
The first company evolved into a global operation through an acquisition. We leveraged our client base internationally and leveraged our model and our leadership team as well. The GTM strategy scaled well globally but the culture was custom to the local area. Not being aware of cultural changes was a set back. Culture is critical. Once we got that right, only then did the business start to grow and become significant percentage of the overall business.
The ability to incubate in a trial mode allowed for the entrepreneur spirit in the entire organization. Look for the opportunities and peel it back till you have a good concept that you can run with--now run with it! My dad used to say "Seek, you shall find!" I learned to seek and find.
How many times have you sat in a meeting with your peers, bosses, etc. and there was a conversation where ideas and thoughts were generated? You speak up and suggest an option, no one says anything. If anything, they look around the room as if it wasn't said and heard. You feel invisible and unsupported but don't say it again. Then, maybe 5 minutes later, one of your peers, let's call him Jack, throws out the same suggestion and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in the room says 'great idea!'. What just happened? More importantly, what is YOUR next step? How will you overcome this challenge at the table with your peers and your boss? This is what we are going to talk about today. How to own your words, your suggestions, your work, by Peeing on it!
I have had the opportunity to test this out since I first heard it from one of my peers who did in fact jump over many for the big job, including me. Watching him work taught me how I had to work and own my own everything! I have tested this out and used this over the last 8 years in business. Women need to hear this to understand ownership and why it's necessary. I have used these words as I developed my leadership team and just with women for the times they allowed someone to push into their domain. The audience, much like my team, will walk away understanding that they lose their power by not owning it. I want the attendees to feel confident enough to speak up and then some! They will feel more empowered and learn the words to use in owning their domain using a professional tone and with the right words that brings the ideas back to them. I have studied the men at the table and watched this back and forth play out. Its a game of swords at the table. If you don't have an advocate in the room, and many times you do not, you are always your own best advocate.