Meet the Team | Tara Murray
This year we’re introducing a series on who makes us Benjamin Obdyke. We want to highlight the people that represent our brand every day by educating the community on what it means to Build Better.
Who is Tara Murray?
Tara is the fearless leader of Benjamin Obdyke’s marketing team, where the mustache comes to life. Tara, who came from an extensive building materials marketing background, joined the Benjamin Obdyke team in 2011 as the marketing manager of a department of one. Fast-forward 13 years later, Tara has grown and advanced through Obdyke to become the marketing director for a team of six. Her growth has evolved alongside the growth of the department and the company.
In her current role, Tara supports marketing strategy and business development, fostering strategic alliances, employee engagement, and culture-building initiatives. Tara helps provide a holistic view and approach to our overall efforts while supporting her team in the execution and development of marketing strategies. Not only does she help ensure our building professionals have the resources they need but she also helps ensure the company is growing and providing its employees with the most value.
“I have a passion for developing others, and Obdyke has allowed me to do that. Watching how other people can grow and develop within our company and industry is extremely rewarding.”
What is Her Favorite Project?
Tara is a champion of the culture, relationships, and customer experience at Benjamin Obdyke, so it’s no surprise her favorite project is Obdyke’s 150th anniversary celebration that occurred in 2018. “It was a highlight for me to design a whole year dedicated to celebrating 150 years of innovation and service to the industry.”
Tara helped facilitate and coordinate events all over the country. It was an ideal opportunity for us to spend face-to-face time with customers and employees. For a people person like Tara, there was nothing more valuable than making these connections with customers, pros, and our industry network.
The project reinforced that the sentiment you hold towards your company mirrors the sentiment your customers have towards it. Customer praise and satisfaction came to the forefront that year, and it was fulfilling for the whole organization.
Looking Toward the Future
It’s an exciting time at Benjamin Obdyke. The company is growing, picking up market share, and we’ve been investing in growing our team. As a forever optimist, Tara sees the endless opportunity for Obdyke and is focused on developing strategic plans and prioritizing our efforts. Tara and our team have been working toward ambitious goals, like doubling the company’s size.
Beyond growing our company, Tara has a goal to grow and increase the number of homes protected. At Benjamin Obdyke, we track the number of homes protected through how much product is sold. A big focus of Tara’s, and the whole organization over the next 10 years, is to bring the number of homes protected to a million. This is what we call A Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG).
Here to Help You Transform Your Craft
At Benjamin Obdyke, we strive to help you Transform Your Craft. But what does that mean?
Everyone falls on a spectrum between actively building better and aspiring to build better. For Tara, Transform Your Craft means a diverse number of things. “There are so many innovations and changes in the building industry space, from code changes to new materials, and Transform Your Craft is focused on helping pros implement what’s practical for their customers while also planning and anticipating the future. Executing your craftmanship in a way that creates the most durable and long-lasting homes.”
What She Does Outside of Obdyke
Music and travel are what fuel Tara outside of work. Tara is a music enthusiast! Would you believe she’s been to over 100 concerts in the last 20 years? That’s at least five concerts a year! Tara’s favorite bands are Rage Against the Machine and The White Stripes – classics. Both of which she’s never seen in concert, adding to the reasons why those bands stand out.
When it comes to traveling, one of Tara’s favorite places to visit is New Orleans, of course, for the music and the food. “I am a sucker for shrimp and grits.”
Tara also finds a passion in volunteering at Pennsylvanian Free Enterprise Week, a camp for high school students to get experience running a company – right in line with Tara’s passion for developing others. Tara recently joined the board to help further oversee and facilitate the programming of the next generation of professionals.
