by Amber Larkins, OOH Today
We recently published our annual list of the Top Women Driving Growth in Out-of-Home (OOH) for 2025. Today, we are highlighting Diana Stevenson, CEO of Grace Outdoor
Diana W. Stevenson is the CEO of Grace Outdoor Advertising in Columbia, SC. Their footprint covers most of South Carolina and extends into North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia. The company has experienced significant growth in recent years and plans to continue pursuing expansion in the years to come.
Grace Outdoor Advertising is a locally owned and family-operated company with four members of the next generation currently working in the business. Diana is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, home of the fighting Gamecocks. Diana is also a graduate of the Midlands Technical College Fast Trak Growth Venture, the Greenville Chamber MBA program, and The Optimal Leader Training. She is a charter member of SC Women in Leadership, a member of the Palmetto Venture Fellowship Class of 2022, and a graduate of Leadership Columbia Class of 2021.
In the Outdoor Industry, Diana is a member of the OAAA’s FOARE Board of Directors, Chairman of the OAAA’s Independent Advisory Committee, and a member of the IBO, the Independent Billboard Operators.
Diana is married to her life and business partner, Hal. They have 5 children and 5 grandchildren and live in Columbia, SC.
She first became interested in the OOH industry when she was fresh out of college and hired by Omni Outdoor. Her job was on the real estate side, leasing sites.
A Diverse Career
Throughout her career, she has received significant support from fellow operators who have been willing to share their knowledge and help her learn. She says the OOH industry is a great place to be because it is somewhat small, making it easier for people across companies to become close.
“I can pick up the phone right now and call several people who would help me with any problem I might be having. The peer support in this industry is amazing,” Diana said.
“I can pick up the phone right now and call several people who would help me with any problem I might be having. The peer support in this industry is amazing,” Diana said.
She has worked in the industry for over 25 years, and has been on all sides of things.
“I have sold, managed, hired, and now I have kind of come full circle and am back to developing,” Diana said. She made the decision because she thought it would be the best way for her to contribute to the growth of the company. They have built over 25 signs in the past three years, and so far this year they have already built or acquired eight more faces, with several more on the books, making this a big year for the company.
Sales has been very important at Grace Outdoor, especially since they are competing with the largest company in the country, which has a great deal more inventory. The company’s solution-to work smarter and harder.
“We have found that staying really involved in your community and being present in it, is a great asset when it comes to sales,” Diana said.
“We have found that staying really involved in your community and being present in it, is a great asset when it comes to sales,” Diana said.
Her most recent favorite campaign is for the University of South Carolina’s Women’s Basketball team. Last year they won the national championship. Grace Outdoor worked with Under Armour, which has an NIL deal with one of the players, MyLasia Fulwiley, a freshman from Columbia.
The successful campaign consisted of ten viral billboards went up congratulating her and the team, which went viral on social media. Steph Curry, the brand sponsoring Fulwiley, even commented on it on Instagram.
Giving Women Flexibility
Diana says the struggles for women in this industry are no more so than for other industries. She believes that having two very strong and respected women leading the OAAA for so many years has helped our industry in the evolution of women needing to struggle less, and is thankful.
“I think attitudes across the business environment have evolved and will continue to,” Diana said. “I love that I see women entering the industry with no fear and ready to work. We just need to keep it up.”
But there are still challenges that women still face in the workplace. Diana says one of them is the women themselves. She says its a proven fact that men tend to have more confidence and will take more risks in a job, probably because of testosterone.
“We need to learn to not doubt ourselves, jump in and go for it, but at the same time be prepared. We need to know our stuff and then be ready to run it down,” Diana said.
“We need to learn to not doubt ourselves, jump in and go for it, but at the same time be prepared. We need to know our stuff and then be ready to run it down,” Diana said.
She says women tend to be better prepared, and those things that make women tentative can be an asset. They take their time, do the prep, and in the end that makes women unbeatable.
She believes that diversity is important to a successful team, and the different perspectives you gain by having that diverse team lead to that success. She feels very fortunate to be in an industry where there are such great women leaders to learn from and to have as examples, and she believes they have made the industry better and stronger.
One of her favorite things about running Grace Outdoor Advertising is that she made it her mission when she became CEO to make the workplace inclusive, women-friendly, and to have a great team spirit. Twelve of their 17 employees are women, and they offer a great deal of flexibility to their employees. Grace Outdoor Advertising employees can set their own schedules, work from home, and bring their children to the office when needed. They can balance their schedules and make their families a priority in their lives. Recently one of their Account Executives came back to work after having a baby.
“She brought the baby to the office, and we all took turns holding him,” Diana said. “She was even able to go on a sales call and make the sale! Grace Outdoor is an equal opportunity employer and we love it that way.”
Better Creative for More OOH Ad Revenue
To gain a greater share of marketing ad spend, Diana says we need to prove our value and that it is starting to happen. She thinks better measurement tools can show what a great ROI you have with Outdoor, but she is really passionate about creative. Having conversations about creative and developing good creative is a key component of OOH.
If she could take over the entire OOH industry tomorrow she would change quite a few things:
- Work on better creative. Creative can be a selling point and she would be more strict on bad creative.
“Bad creative, of which I see way too much, is a lose-lose situation. The client loses as they will waste their money. They will also think OOH does not work. We lose a client,” Diana said.
2. Better measurement. OOH competes with other media and we need the ability to provide our clients with accurate measurement.
3. Get all OOH companies to cooperate. They need to work together instead of against each other.
4. Continue working to make programmatic easy and accessible to truly level the playing field for smaller companies.
As to the future of the industry, she thinks we are seeing the proliferation of screens in many different places. She also thinks that programmatic will make it easier to buy the new screens.
“I think this will continue and our industry will expand by coming up with creative places to put screens,” Diana said. “It is exciting to see all of these changes.”
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