CEO of Visit Napa Valley wins North Bay Influential Women Awards
Linsey Gallagher is a 2022 winner of North Bay Business Journal’s Influential Women Awards. Here’s her story.
Gallagher joined Visit Napa Valley in 2019 after serving 10 years as vice president, International Marketing for the California Wine Institute. She gained wine industry experience at E. & J. Gallo Winery, and prior to that she worked at NBC’s Today Show and General Electric’s GE Capital Services.
Gallagher earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont and an MBA degree from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
What advice would you give to a young woman entering your profession or the work world today?
Trust your stuff; work hard; be nice; have courage to walk through the doors that open for you; find role models along the way.
What have you learned about your leadership and how will it change the way you lead going forward?
I have reached the phase in my career where nurturing, mentoring, developing and supporting others is the priority. I am acutely aware of how important it is as I progress and move ahead that I turn around and extend a hand to those in the wings, making their way up. Helping them along and setting them up to success will be my legacy from this point forward.
What are you most proud of regarding the achievements of your organization, your work and/or your community activities?
Regardless of the challenge in front of us (shutdowns, wildfires, the unknown), the Visit Napa Valley team has never lost sight of our role in supporting our hospitality partners and contributing to our local community. Being able to effectively pivot and proactively play a role in our economic recovery has been incredibly rewarding.
I’m proud the way our community came together to prioritize health and safety, expand al fresco dining and tasting experiences, and turn challenges into positives.
Today, Napa Valley has won back more than our fair share of visitors, and our hospitality industry is restoring its revenue contributions to the community, which makes me confident about our future, whatever it may hold.
