Giambrone is probably best known as a vice president at Dayton Children’s Hospital and a Beavercreek City Council member. But today she has a new role: executive vice president for CBD Advisors, the business consulting firm started by former U.S. Rep. Dave Hobson and friends.
Her relationship with Dayton Children’s remains, however. Giambrone took the leap to CBD after ensuring that the hospital will be a CBD client.
Full disclosure of a Dayton Daily News connection: Her mother, Ina Edwards, worked for DDN in retail advertising, and Giambrone herself interned in sales at the paper for a time.
A native of Jamestown, she left the University of Dayton with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. A true Flyer, she says it was at UD that she found “my faith, my family and my future.”
Service to others, she said, “is not what you have to do for a living, but it’s what you do to live.”
I sat down with Giambrone, 54, at CBD’s Beavercreek offices to talk about that and more. This is edited and condensed.
Q: If there’s a common thread through your career, it may be leadership. How did you start down that path?
Giambrone: "I was the first person in my family to go to college. My mother always pushed education. She didn't get to go. She would say to me — and she built an amazing career in retail advertising sales … — 'It's not enough to be talented. You have to work hard, and you have to continuously develop your skills.'
“And so I think that’s what really drove me. The other thing I would say that really drives me is I’m a naturally curious person. Some people would say nosy. I would say naturally curious. I have really found that I like learning about new things and people, and so by building really good, solid relationships, I think it helps you move to the next thing.
“I always wanted to be in a position to affect the outcome of whatever organization I was in.”
Q: You beat cancer more than once. How did that shape you?
Giambrone: "I had cancer when I was a freshman in college. That really changed my world view in a really big way. I was a freshman, and I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease that Thanksgiving. Today, thank God, it's a cancer they can treat and cure. At that time, it really wasn't. …
“A friend of mine said I was always trying to outrun it (cancer). In a very driven way. …
“I was very fortunate that I survived and did well and stayed in school … I got sick again two years later, and had to have chemotherapy and all of that. And 17 years ago, all the treatment that I took caused breast cancer. So I’m very blessed. And grateful.
“But I think it’s why when I joined Dayton Children’s, I sort of found that place, that just sort of made me recognize that health care is a really big passion of mine. It makes you think differently about the world. It kind of led me to where I’m at today.”
Q: Why did you join CBD? How did that happen?
Giambrone: "Now I want to see what I can do. I love the hospital. But this opportunity was such that I could still do things for the hospital, and the things that I love, but then I could figure out: What more can I do to help others? …
“That’s really one of the reasons I came here. Barbara Mills and Dave Hobson, (Maj.) General (Greg) Wayt, Kevin DeWine — all these really smart people. We’re all very different. To be able to get everybody around the table to solve problems and come up with strategies for clients is so energizing … The beautiful thing is, we’re helping regional companies. So it helps the region. I’m a passionate advocate for Dayton. I don’t like it when people talk negatively about Dayton.”
Know someone who can handle Three Questions? We're looking for behind-the-scenes-but-still fascinating Miami Valley residents with something to say. Send your suggestions to tom.gnau@coxinc.com.
About the Author
