New Pure Storage VP Hope Galley: ‘Let’s Have Some Fun And Make Some Money’

“My commitment to partners is I’m going to listen first and foremost to them,” said Galley. “I want to make sure I understand their business. Because this is a shift for me, going outside of networking. So I want to make sure that I'm hearing what they need and how it ties into their overall business. And then mostly let's have some fun and make some money.”

New Pure Storage Vice President of Americas Partner Sales Hope Galley, well-known for using her high-energy channel commitment to drive sales growth, said she is ready to help the storage provider’s partners have some fun and make some money.

“My commitment to partners is I’m going to listen first and foremost to them,” said Galley, who left AI networking provider Juniper Networks to join Pure Storage, in an interview with CRN on her second day on the job. “I want to make sure I understand their business. Because this is a shift for me, going outside of networking. So I want to make sure that I'm hearing what they need and how it ties into their overall business. And then mostly let's have some fun and make some money.”

Galley said it is the partner passion for Pure Storage and the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s exuberant culture that led her to make the move from being vice president of Americas channel sales for Juniper Networks to Pure Storage.

Some time ago, Galley, who worked with Pure Storage CEO Charles Giancarlo when they were both at Cisco, recalls pinging Giancarlo with a picture from a partner office filled with bright orange Pure Storage shirts. “It was nothing but pure joy,” she said. “There has got to be some of that as we move forward.”

Galley said she is fired up by the “energy” at Pure as the storage provider continues to drive sales growth, finishing its fiscal year Feb. 2 with 12 percent sales growth, surpassing the $3 billion sales mark at $3.51 billion.

“The energy of Pure as a company and where it is at in its maturation as a growth company is extremely exciting for me,” said the 30-year channel veteran. “But the biggest thing is they are so partner-first and partner-centric. I have seen them and admired them over the years being in the industry, and it is just really great to be a part of the team now. I will tell you having talked to the partners about making the change and having conversations with them, the partners love Pure.”

In her first 100 days on the job, Galley said she is committed to going on a “listening tour” to find out what Pure is doing well, what it is not doing well and how that can be fixed.

In addition, Galley said, she wants to make sure partners understand the company’s new partner program and its commitment to partner profitability.

“We are all focused on partner profitability, partner execution and how we can support their businesses and their initiatives as we go forward,” she said.

Here is more of Galley’s conversation with CRN.

Why did you make the move to Pure Storage?

The energy of Pure as a company and where it's at in its maturation as a growth company is extremely exciting for me. But the biggest thing is they are so partner-first and partner-centric. I’ve seen them and admired them over the years being in the industry, and it’s just really great to be a part of the team now.

I will tell you having talked to the partners as I was looking at making the change and having conversations with them, the partners love Pure. That is what I am most excited about in the first 100 days, learning from the partners, figuring out what we’re doing well, what we’re not doing well, and how do we fix it?

So I’ll be on a listening tour and just making sure they understand our new partner program and that we’re all focused on partner profitability, partner execution and really how we can support their business and their initiatives as we go forward.

What do you see as the biggest opportunity to drive partner growth at Pure Storage?

The biggest thing for me that makes Pure unique in the marketplace is [Pure Storage co-founder and Chief Visionary Officer John] ‘Coz’ [Colgrove] still being here as co-founder driving innovation that continues to come out. So many tech companies from that period [when Pure was founded in] 2009 to 2025, when you look at their technology it has started to get stale as they got older. When you look at Pure, the technology and the opportunity has only gotten bigger—whether it is flash or what we are doing with managed services and our managed offers— it is right in line with where partners want to go.

How big is the AI opportunity for Pure Storage?

The thing that we’ve learned over time in the industry is not everything’s going to go to the cloud, not everything’s going to be on-premises. It’s going to be a combination of all of it.

If you look at AI and the investments that Pure has made in AI, and the partnerships that we’ve made, whether it’s with Nvidia or with others, we’re going to continue to innovate in that area. That’s why it is so important to have the leadership we have in place at Pure. They are focused on AI and AI first, similar to, quite honestly, where I came from and what drew me in the first place to Juniper. It’s all about the innovation. Here having an active co-founder makes a huge difference for the company as does Charlie [Giancarlo’s] commitment to our growth plan from $3 billion to $5 billion and then to $10 billion. And then you look at our customer [satisfaction scores] led by [Pure Storage Chief Customer Experience Officer] Joe Pinto, it is pretty amazing.

As you looked at the opportunity, what most impressed you about Pure?

Innovation was No. 1. Partner enthusiasm was right up there. Honestly, I wasn’t proactively looking for a role. Partners came to me and said, ‘Pure is looking for a channel leader. You should talk to them.’

I had talked to other folks in the industry, but partner enthusiasm was a big thing because all of us manufacturers are trying to figure out how do we get more share and more attention of the partners. In this case, the partners were pulling me along, cheerleading for Pure. I also knew from being around the folks that work at Pure just the passion for the company.

I am a very energetic person so I think my personality will fit in well here. I love the color orange so that adds to it! Who doesn’t love orange? I’ve got the orange earrings already! But it was really partner enthusiasm that drove me here.

So you are hitting the ground running. When did you start and what was your message to the channel team?

I started yesterday and I’m in the New York office today. Day one was setting up.

I’m getting out in New York as quickly as possible, meeting with a lot of partners here in the Metro area. I’m also getting into the strategies meetings here as we look at how we are going to grow our commercial line of business, our enterprise line of business, public sector and so forth. I’m starting to get integrated into that.

I sent a message out to my team on Monday, and it was all about how we have an opportunity here to really seize what’s happening around AI, what’s happening around storage, what’s happening around data center growth. But it is really all about the people. I want to make Pure a destination as the best place for the team and their careers. I want people here to say, ‘This is the best job I have ever had and the best company I have ever worked for’ and be enthusiastic about being here not just today but for the next 10 years.

So is this a carpe diem—seize the day—moment for Pure Storage?

I believe that strongly.

Look at what we're doing and the recognition we've gotten from the Magic Quadrant through Gartner [11 times a leader and five times highest in execution and furthest in vision] and the work we are doing with our engineering team and the commitment that we are making to our engineering teams. Also just the simplicity of the Pure offer and what it delivers to the customer is really unique. I think what we found coming out of COVID is simplicity matters. Quickness to market and quickness to innovation matter. Pure has all those things to seize on to get from the $3 billion to $5 billion to $10 billion.

What was the feedback you got from partners on ease of doing business when you were looking at making the move to Pure?

The Pure model has remained simple. There is a complexity in a lot of the vendor programs in general. You always hear that it takes an army to manage some of these vendor programs or to even understand what the pricing is. The Pure model has remained simple.

This year we launched a new partner program. It is all around partner profitability, so giving even more to the partners to be profitable. We are looking as we continue throughout the year at how do we help them be more successful and have more people certified.

So we rolled out today our new portal designed to make it easier to do business with us. You are going to see more of that as we go through this year and next year working with our commercial line-of-business team.

What is your commitment to partners regarding ease of doing business with Pure Storage?

We’re going to continue drive the ease of doing business and then begin to provide them with even additional digital tools to be successful. I want to make sure we don’t lose that ease of doing business as we continue to grow. I think some companies lose that as you look at the evolution of tech companies. At the forefront for us is partner first, partner profitability and ease of doing business. Those are three big pillars.

What is your commitment to partners as you take the job and move the channel initiative forward?

Most partners know me. They know when I come into something, I try and change it for the better. And that comes from joint feedback not just from what we’re trying to accomplish at Pure, which is market growth.

My commitment to partners is I’m going to listen first and foremost to them. I want to make sure I understand their business. Because this is a shift for me, going outside of networking. So I want to make sure that I’m hearing what they need and how it ties into their overall business. And then mostly let’s have some fun and make some money.

There are a lot of transitions going on right now with partners as they look at the evolution of the channel and the AI revolution. What is your practical advice to partners?

The word ‘partner’ is so important. It’s got to be a partnership. I think the partners need to really evaluate what are they getting from the partnership, and what are they giving to the partnership, and is it the right place for their business today?

Some of us hold on to relationships too long and some of us too early. This is really a time for the partner community to evaluate the relationships they have and see which ones are helping them meet their goals and expectations, and which ones are taking away from that?

I think there are a lot of manufacturers changing their profitability with their programs across the industry. I think that is going to give companies an opportunity to really look at what’s working and what’s not working. I think they’re going to see that Pure works. That is really exciting for us.

Some partners believe some vendors don’t fully appreciate partner profitability. Is that a difference with Pure Storage?

We’re going to continue to be partner-first. We’re going to continue to make sure from the sales reps all the way up through the chain that partners are set for success. We are not going to get away from that. We are going to really lean into it and we are going to lean into it not only from a sales perspective but with our technical teams and so forth. It’s an exciting time to be at Pure and it’s an exciting time to be a Pure partner. If you’re not a Pure partner, come aboard. Call me. We want you all.