Brooks McCorcle has endeavoured to build an open and dynamic environment in the suburbs of Dallas, where AT&T Partner Solutions is based – alongside one of the AT&T Foundry high-technology labs. “We’ve tried to make it resemble a Silicon Valley start-up,” says McCorcle. “Everything to build a solution is here, including the IT team, the pricing team and production, and my CFO.”
The unit dates back to when AT&T asked her to set up a new business model, with companies reselling AT&T services.
McCorcle is known throughout the industry for her advocacy of diversity and gender equality. “Having men and women work together in an innovative environment produces the best results.”
She works hard in the community. “My number-one drive is education, helping to turn children into productive adults.” She’s mentoring a local high-school student, who wants to become the first in her family to go to college. She’s a big supporter of Dallas Public Library: “I was chair of the friends and now I’m on the advisory board. There’s a lot of dynamic energy in a library – kids doing homework, adults searching for jobs,” says McCorcle. “These are great ways to support the community but they are also good for AT&T – they help us get our future leaders.”
The wholesale business of AT&T Partner Solutions “spans the world”, says McCorcle. “We are able to pick up best practices and share them. We have a few geeks in the office. We work in pods, with no walls and lots of white boards. Everyone has a voice and it’s all one level playing field.”
Her role as president? “I set the direction, the expectations, then I advocate and get resources.” The open environment is something she’s promoting across the company as it moves from a hardware-based operator into the software world.
“But my typical day begins and ends with my family,” she says. “We have our two-year-old grand-daughter living with us. I have three sons, all grown up.” One is just about to graduate, which is why she’ll be missing this year’s ITW.
