In
Gina Dubbe
Profile
Gina graduated in 1983. She describes her pursuit of a college degree as running away from something rather than seeking a specific career. She didn’t have much support from her family because they didn’t believe that a girl needed a college degree.
Gina didn’t have a strong background because she was told not to take math classes in high school. She taught herself trigonometry and had a tough time in college. Because of her lack of family support, she needed to work two jobs to get through college. She was able to pass many of the general education classes by exam so this made taking her engineering classes more manageable.
To her the support system on campus was critical. She says she wouldn’t have been able to make it through college without the financial support and career encouragement she received.
Should her desk be with the female secretaries or the male engineers?
Gina was the first woman engineer hired in the company where she started her career. The company did not know what to do with a female engineer. Should her desk be with the female secretaries or the male engineers?
The double standard by her male colleagues actually became the turning point in her career. Gina decided to go into sales because in sales your performance was judged strictly on results, not what someone thought of you. Her career has had a sales focus ever since.
Gina thinks of herself as a translator who works between the need of a company and the product that she is selling. She admits that she isn’t very outgoing by nature. “You can have both a work personality and a private personality. I’m not that social, but what I do well is understand the needs of people.”
Gina’s career has moved toward entrepreneurial ventures. She enjoys being there at the start-up of a business and seeing the business become a reality.
The most recent company Gina was involved with was eventually sold as it reached a level of success. The company made the Fortune 500 two consecutive years. Once the final deal was done, she allocated 20% of the net assets received from the sale to her 17 employees. This amounted to 4 – 5 million dollars and made a huge difference in the lives of the young people who made the business success. “It’s my way of paying it forward” Gina says.
When Gina reflects on her undergraduate years in the IE program at WVU, she describes our program as being forward focused, committed to students’ success, and a community of kind people. Gina believes: ‘Education saved me and made me what I am. I would not be here without WVU.’
Bio
Competitively positioning companies, products and technologies is what Gina does best. With over 30 years of cross-functional expertise, her background has encompassed sales, marketing and business development arenas in tandem with solid engineering, general management, and project management qualifications.
Gina Dubbe’ is one of the founding members of Private Digital Networks, which is an information technology company which focuses on the meld of cloud computing with content delivery.
Gina Dubbe’ was the co-founder of THERA°PEARL®. THERA°PEARL® is the doctor-designed, drug-free way to relieve pain and inflammation associated with muscle strains and sprains, swelling from surgery, spa treatments and allergies, and a host of other pain-producing conditions.
The formation of TheraPearl was the realization of a need in the market enhanced with modern technology. TheraPearl is now part of the Hygenic Corporation.
In her former role as Managing Partner of Walker Ventures, Gina Dubbé was responsible for the qualification and selection of investment portfolio companies in a variety of technology areas. Gina joined the Board of Directors of Walker Ventures’ portfolio companies to provide management insight on strategic corporate and technology direction, as well as assistance in fund raising strategies.
Prior to the founding of Walker Ventures, Gina held several key sales and engineering management positions with ORACLE Corporation, Trusted Information Systems, PRC Corporation and other companies. Her responsibilities have encompassed strategic sales and marketing planning and implementation, business development, product positioning, and recruitment/development.
Gina is a Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) with a Master’s degree in Engineering from George Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from West Virginia University.
