She Advocates, Delegates, and Delivers: Leadership Lessons From the Frontline

Leadership, for Dannielle Do, isn’t about owning the spotlight; it’s about creating clarity, trust, and momentum for the people around her. As Senior Manager of Frontline Marketing for Rentals at Zillow, she leads by advocating for her team, adapting to the humans with whom she remotely collaborates, and delivering results with a deeply people-first approach that’s shaped as much by relationships and the company’s asynchronously collaborative culture as it is by strategy and execution.

That mindset has guided her path at Zillow from the very beginning. Brought on in 2018 as an independent contractor, Dannielle wasn’t just filling a role. She was helping validate an idea. The frontline marketing function itself was a proof of concept, designed to bridge sales and marketing in service of a growing Rentals business. What started as an experiment quickly became a cornerstone of how Zillow supports its frontline teams today. Flash forward, and she plays a pivotal role across sales, marketing, operations, events, content, and more.

“I fell in love with the people, the culture, and the exciting challenge of working in Rentals to build and grow an emerging line of business at Zillow,” she says, adding that she converted to full-time after several months and has been with the company ever since. “Now, we have frontline marketing roles scaled across all major lines of business at Zillow. I’ve seen the business grow exponentially in that time span and am fortunate to have built an incredible team of driven, exceptional marketers who are committed to driving business impact through our frontline sales teams.”

Dannielle and her team are tasked with enabling Zillow’s sales teams and business partners on all elements of its product portfolio, value propositions, marketing claims, and talk tracks. They also help shape and ultimately create the various collateral that those teams use to engage with business partners and close sales.

“[My work] requires a high degree of agility; my days involve constant context switching,” she explains. “I might go from creative campaign planning with Media Marketing straight into a tactical productivity discussion with Sales. Because every team has unique motivators, success comes down to understanding who is involved. I make sure to find common ground, adapting my communication style to speak their language while effectively advocating for my team’s point of view.”

Fortunately, she’s surrounded by an influential ecosystem of strong, confident women who have helped her become a stronger leader and advocate for her team.

“Being championed by [these women]—and seeing them lead authentically—gave me the confidence to step into my own leadership style,” she explains. “The support community I’ve built here is irreplaceable; it’s truly a 'Better Together' environment. Knowing that success is shared and that we view failure as a collective opportunity to learn empowers me to lead boldly.”

Between her powerful team and a whole lot of coffee, Dannielle is able to keep grounded and steer the ship. It helps that she enjoys the fast-paced nature and complexity of her work, as well, which excites her to log on each day.

The advice she shared with us might resonate with emerging leaders or anyone stepping into cross-functional roles.

I took a break after my sophomore year in college, during which I made a name for myself in restaurant management, eventually joining the corporate team to launch new franchise store locations in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. I was running the gamut—producing large-scale grand openings, developing pricing strategies, and building training programs from scratch. It hit every box for me: events, sales strategy, and mentoring people. I reinvested what I earned into going back to school to finish my business degree. That’s when I took one marketing class, and it clicked. I realized the work I had fallen in love with had a name, and I haven't looked back.

For the reader: Career paths don’t have to be linear. Sometimes you’re already doing the work before you know what to call it.

My perspective has evolved from focusing on execution mechanics to clarity of direction. I’ve learned that my value lies in holding the "big picture"—helping the team see the forest for the trees, so we are always steering toward the right North Star and ensuring we are prioritizing accordingly.

Equally important is the realization that you set the tone. You have to remember you’re dealing with humans, not commodities. People thrive when they feel empowered and supported, so my focus is on creating the environment where that can happen.

For the reader: Strong leadership is less about doing everything and more about setting direction, tone, and trust.

We are a small but mighty team that acts as a force multiplier for the entire Rentals Sales organization, covering both Multifamily and Single Family across all markets.

We drive the field activation for the company's most critical initiatives, ranging from marquee external partnerships to our flagship industry event and new product rollouts. My lean team of strategists also supports roughly 300 sales pros across all market tiers, ensuring consistent messaging from SMB to Enterprise.

Ultimately, our job is to take the high-level vision—complex value propositions, new product features, and marketing claims—and translate them into a language that resonates with our B2B audience.

We aren't just creating content; we are shaping the narrative that our sales team takes to market. Whether it’s equipping them for a major industry event or training them on a new product launch, our goal is to ensure they have the resources to drive velocity. We ensure the message is clear and consistent, so our frontline teams can focus on what they do best: building relationships and closing deals.

Equally important is the intelligence we gather. Because we work so closely with the frontline, we collect real-time feedback from the market and feed that back to our partners in Product and Marketing, using those insights to shape the strategy for tomorrow. For example, our sales execution strategy has equipped the team to drive record double-digit growth in active multifamily properties last year.

For the reader: The most impactful teams sit at the intersection of strategy, execution, and real-world insight.

I’ve attended conferences, professional skill-building workshops, and networking events, all funded and supported by Zillow. In-house, I regularly use coaching programs to develop my skills as a leader, where I work through real-life scenarios.

For the reader: Continuous learning—and having an employer who invests in it—can accelerate leadership growth.

I am incredibly passionate about people leadership and intentional about being “human-first.” I invest time in getting to know my team—understanding what motivates them and building a foundation of deep trust. This allows me to hold a high bar because they know I believe in their capability.

I actively create a safe space for healthy dialogue and disagreement, because diversity of thought is how we get the best results. Ultimately, I consider it an honor to lead; my job is to help them succeed as the best version of themselves, not just a carbon copy of how I would do it.

For the reader: Human-first leadership builds trust, accountability, and ultimately, better outcomes.

It’s hard to pinpoint just one moment. I’d say it's been a series of meaningful moments. However, one specific memory stands out from a previous role. On my last day, I received a card from the spouse of one of my direct reports. She wrote that beyond the impact I’d had on her partner, she had observed from a distance how I led the broader group, and she wanted me to know how deeply respected I was as a strong leader. Realizing that my leadership resonated beyond the four walls of the daily grind was incredibly powerful. I still have that card.

For the reader: The true impact of leadership is often felt far beyond immediate results or recognition.

I’ve learned that effective advocacy requires asserting our point of view and clearly articulating what the team needs to succeed. My approach is to "turn on the lights" regarding blockers or capacity constraints—laying out the options and trade-offs so leadership can make informed decisions on what to prioritize.

I also protect my team’s focus by acting as a filter. I ensure that conflicting feedback or pushback is grounded in strategy and data, rather than subjective preferences, so the team isn't churning on work that doesn't move the needle.

For the reader: Advocacy is about clarity, surfacing trade-offs so the right priorities can win.

I love growing future leaders. I believe in demystifying the role by leading by example, and being open about the challenges and failures, not just the wins. Within my team, I use strategic delegation as a mentorship tool. I actively look for high-visibility opportunities, whether it’s a complex project or a leadership program, that enable women on my team to flex their skills, make decisions, and build the confidence to lead. Outside of my immediate team, I focus on sponsorship—championing women across the organization to help them build the confidence to step up.

For the reader: Leadership development happens through trust, visibility, and sponsorship, not just advice.

At Zillow, our mission is to make home a reality for more and more people. Home shoppers, particularly the millions of renters who choose Zillow as their preferred source for rentals, trust our brand to find what meets their needs. To meet those demands, we need a robust offering of inventory.

To achieve this, we need to continue to drive partner trust that Zillow is the best source for multifamily marketers to successfully fill their vacancies. It’s a flywheel.

My team’s role is to fuel that momentum. We capture attention and build trust through memorable, value-driven messaging, empowering our sales team to be best-in-class, while in market and throughout the sales cycle. By directly supporting our revenue drivers, we grow the business and, in turn, better serve the renter.

For the reader: Customer trust is built when strategy, messaging, and frontline execution work together.

First, you have to genuinely like the work, because that passion is what fuels the hustle required. But beyond hard work, you have to be your own biggest advocate. In high-visibility roles, you can't wait for permission. You have to be bold enough to state your needs and share your perspective. Trust that you belong in the room, and build a network of allies who remind you of that.

For the reader: Confidence, self-advocacy, and community are essential for thriving in complex leadership roles.