Background

Channel Futures: What got you involved on the partner side? Do you have a background working with partners?

Wendy Taccetta: I am actually 21 years into Verizon, and I like to say that’s from the last century. I actually started when we were Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile, and I’m what sometimes is referred to as a baby bell. My dad was actually a field technician for 35 years with the company. So you can say it was in my blood. But I actually started here as a temp. This was my first temp assignment ever. Someone said, “I think this this phone thing is going to go somewhere in the future, and I think you should hang around.” And I did. And it was one of the times as a 20-year-old that you’re glad you listened to someone else’s advice. So I actually spent the first 18 years of my career on the wireless side. I’m part of the legacy of wireless-wireline business. That’s how we approached the customer. And I’ve had a bunch of roles: probably half of that time in operations, half of that time in business, and I also have done some pretty large consumer jobs. I actually ran the Southeast for a while – had about 400 stores down there – and I was the market president in the Midwest.