For the past year I have worked as the Marketing Director for three brands under one roof. While being solely tasked with managing and executing all marketing responsibilities, I was also the only person in the creative/graphic design department. Despite being overextended with both my marketing and design responsibilities for three brands, and also having minimal support in terms of an experienced sales team, I was able to have an impact.

I quickly established which brand of the three had the most potential for growth in terms of sales and revenue and put a bigger share of my time and the resources available into growing that brand. At the end of my first year, we had seen a 146% growth in direct to consumer sales and more than double the website traffic we experienced the year before with that brand. The brand recognition and cultural I was able to develop also started to translate into wholesale and distributor sales towards the end of my first year, aided by the hiring of a new sales manager (there was no sales manager before).

My responsibilities included the design and generation of all marketing and sales assets, conception and implementation of promotional campaigns, social media management/content creation, management of athlete endorsements and team/ambassador relations, creation and management of a strict marketing budget, facilitation of co-branded collaborations, negotiation and execution of event sponsorships, execution of on-site marketing activations, and establishing brand culture/identity that was severely lacking prior to me coming on board. It was a lot of responsibilities for one person to handle with no other support, but feel as though I rose to the challenge and left with a plethora of valuable work experience.

I was prepped for this role from my prior experience establishing and running my own surfboard fin company. The lack of personnel and resources I had available when starting this company led to me being forced to figure out creative solutions to allow the company to grow and succeed. I learned how to effectively wear a bunch of different hats and prioritize my time and the companies needs, while learning the ins and out of every aspect of a functioning business. By the end of my time running the company (sadly Covid interfered with a crucial overseas production run that ultimately led to the company’s demise), I had created a brand with global recognition that generated sales and distributer interest in every surf rich region on the planet. I also had top surfing professionals proud to endorse the products which were allowing them to perform at the highest levels of competition and free-surfing. Growing this brand from scratch was one of the most difficult but most rewarding experiences I could have ever gone through and has now prepared me to take on new challenges in my career and to become a valuable asset to any team or company I have the pleasure of joining.