Pro AV Power 20: position 3

Today is the final day of the 2020 AV Technology Awards Week, and we’ll be counting down the top three positions on the Pro AV Power 20 over the next couple of hours. The coveted #1 spot on the list will also receive the Pro AV Power 20 award for Most Influential Person of the Year.

The Power 20 celebrates the most influential individuals in our marketplace who are demonstrating leadership in areas such as innovation, market influence, commercial/business performance, contribution to good causes, education, professional development, diversity and inclusion, and general industry betterment.

Everyone at Installation and Future would like to congratulate all those nominated for this prestigious list, and for all those involved in helping to identify and recognise this marvelous roll call of influential industry leaders.

Without further ado, we can announce that in third place on our Power 20 rankings list is:

Sarah Joyce, chief global officer, AVIXA

As AVIXA chief global officer, Sarah Joyce oversees all of AVIXA’s operations and activities outside of North America, including member services, education and certification delivery, standards adoption, government relations, and eight trade shows in Europe (Integrated Systems Europe and Integrated Systems Russia), Asia (InfoComm China, InfoComm Southeast Asia and InfoComm India) Integrate Australia in Association with AVIXA and CEDIA, and Latin America (InfoComm Brazil and InfoComm Mexico).

In addition, she leads three international teams and sits on the boards of Integrated Systems Events, InfoCommAsia Pte Ltd, and TecnoMultimedia InfoComm, as well as the AVIXA regional operating units. Joyce celebrated her first year with AVIXA in May 2020 following nearly 12 years at Electrosonic Ltd, most recently as managing director for EMEA. 

Joyce has worked in the AV industry for more than 20 years in sales, strategic marketing, and executive leadership positions. She served on the AVIXA board of directors from 2013 to 2015, organised the inaugural Women of InfoComm Network Breakfast at Integrated Systems Europe in 2015, and helped establish the successful AVIXA Women’s Council, which now supports more than 40 groups around the world.

Quickfire Q&A 

Who’s had the greatest influence on your career?
I’m going to mention two very personal and professional relationships which inspired me, rather than a particular business leader. Professionally it would be the person I worked with at the very outset: Noel Edmonds, whose innovation and creativity inspired us to establish the Video Meeting Company and started my AV career. I would not want to be anywhere else. As a woman, a very early influencer was a fabulous woman named Susan Toner who was my boss when I worked for the Probation Service. She inspired me to do and be anything I wanted and not hold back. Thirty years on, I have not forgotten her influence.

Who did/do you look up to as a role model professionally?
Can I say my boss? Dave Labuskes knows that when he interviewed me, my consideration about his tenure as CEO was equally as important to me as the opportunity of taking on this role and what I could bring to it. 

How do you measure success?
The success of those around me. The motivation and innovation in my teams. Clarity of communication and delivery. Seeing their growth and leadership influence the teams around them. Now it is the rapid response to significant challenges around the world to support members and build our industry back up again. 

What’s your biggest professional regret?
I genuinely do not have regrets. In life, things happen. Sometimes you influence them and sometimes you do not. They always happen for a reason. Every knock back has taught me something and better things have followed. That does not mean I do not get upset or angry though! 

If you were a teenager today, what profession would you go into?
If I knew about this industry, I would have targeted my education toward it earlier. Particularly now. It has given me a life, experiences, people I call friends around the world and opportunities to serve that I could not have imagined as a teenager, and I have a vivid imagination!