Welcome to My Next Act, Part 2

Life, lessons, and the road ahead.

(Be sure to check out Part 1 if you haven’t already) :)

I have distinct memories of being 14 years old, relatively new to the internet (I’m an ancient Millennial), researching marketing and advertising colleges.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by how stories, images, music, video and other forms of media can drastically influence human behavior. You see, I was raised by a single mom with very little options for growth in a relatively unremarkable town. I never really felt like I belonged, always had my eye on the prize, the next step, a way out.

So when my 8th-grade guidance counselor told me about a special high school program called the International Baccalaureate Program, something I would need to test in to (which is scary for a traditionally bad standardized test taker), I understood it to be a sliver of light pointing me towards options; and I imagine, as someone who knew of our circumstances, my guidance counselor probably did too.

Before I knew it, my mom and I were sitting at our small kitchen table reviewing the application, planning ahead for what it would mean to start brand new at a different high school, and talking about options for my way out, my future.

I had two options.

Apply for this extremely hard-to-get-into academic program, keep my grades up to stay in it for all 4 years of high school while working part time at a grocery store, pass all of the exit exams, and THEN I would receive a full scholarship to any public university of my choice in my state. My second option was an athletic scholarship. I was a competitive soccer player (and have recently returned to the sport after a 10 year hiatus!) with several viable options for said scholarship. However, something in me knew that athleticism was fleeting and any significant injury could rip my chances away, so we decided to try for the program.

I got in. For the first time, I saw a realistic and viable option to go to college (I would be the first on my mom’s side to do so), and this is how I landed in front of a very old PC researching marketing and advertising schools. My brain was exploding with the possibilities of a higher education, and I was instinctively drawn towards advertising, marketing and communications despite having never taken a class or knew anything about it. I loved watching shows and movies that revolved around editorial and agency life, and I reveled in the possibility that perhaps, one day, I would be able to dip my toes into this world.

Mom and I at my 8th grade graduation, excited to start the IB Program! 

On the field after a game. My brain is melting seeing that this photo is from 2000, 25 years ago. 😬

Fast forward some years later…

I did get the scholarship. I attended the University of Central Florida and double majored in Fine Arts & Interpersonal Communications with a focus on Anthropology and human behavior. My first “real” job out of college was a fully commission-based sales role at a local fashion magazine. I sold advertising space to local and national brands and walked in with a 40K IOU not long after I joined. At the tender age of 22, that was when I intrinsically understood I had a knack for sales and people.

From there, I joined Bloomingdale’s on their corporate PR team, had a slew of other roles, then life happened and I ended up accidentally becoming an entrepreneur, and the rest is history.

That was 12 years ago.

Over the past 12 years, I’ve had the whirlwind experience of building my own boutique branding agency where we worked with startups all the way to dominating brands. I also got to see entrepreneurship on a global scale through my role at the International Business Incubation Association, and of course, the work most know me for in this era — Her Brand & Co., where we’ve helped female founders get access to life-changing marketing education as the #1 marketing educational platform for women-owned businesses.

So where does that leave us now?

Welcome to my Next Act.

I’ve had a lot of irons in the fire over the past several months as I tinkered with what the next chapter in my career would look like. I knew very clearly what I was searching for based on priorities in my personal life and values I wasn’t willing to concede on professionally.

Firstly, I wanted to be integrated into an amazing team with exceptional company culture and values. I wanted to work with a leader that I genuinely clicked with, and with someone whom I trusted and deeply respected. I wanted to work adjacent to my skillsets, while also embarking on a new challenge. I wanted to be a novice again in some capacity. I wanted to have the opportunity to learn.

I wanted to remember what it was like being 22 and new again - except this time - I would have the knowledge, discipline, and expertise to really stretch myself and step into this calling on much more solid foundation.

I was open to the universe and what it had in store for me, and I trusted that my vision and values would manifest.

And manifest, they did.

After all these years, I sweetly and ironically find myself back where I started — #agencylife. I’m elated to announce that I’ve joined a marketing and communications agency located right in the heart of my local community that is woman run and led. When I met Lisa, the founder and CEO, at a random Chamber event several months back (where we literally screamed at each other sitting less than 1 foot away because the music was so loud), I never could have guessed what would come of our relationship. We clicked. The same way that Mari and I clicked when we decided to go all-in on Her Brand & Co.

I immediately recognized her business savvy and appreciated all the ways in which she’s chosen to sustainability grow her agency over the course of 18 years. She’s built a thriving agency and weathered many storms while also being a working mom, which everyone knows means a lot to me. She has been prudent about company culture, and it has become evermore present as I onboard and meet the team — all of whom are seasoned marketers, strategists, creatives, and just good humans.

I joined Full Tilt as the Head of Full Tilt Learning, a new division that will fall under my purview where I’ll have the opportunity to collect all of my previous experience having owned an agency, grown a successful learning platform, deep B2B partnerships, and everything in between, to create a thriving learning division that concentrates Full Tilt’s industry expertise into a cohesive learning platform and service offering. Not only do we have the ripe opportunity to integrate current clients into this new model, but it also serves as a true tool for differentiation for the agency as a way to grow and scale impact beyond time-bound specific service offerings.

The agency model is a hard one to crack, and I am so excited to join this team to help the agency continue to innovate and grow, while also stretching my muscles in a hodgepodge of new and familiar territory.

As I make this transition, I can’t help but to think back with immense gratitude towards my younger self.

She moved fast and she broke things, something that got her in trouble in more traditional work settings. However, those skills made her an excellent innovator, creator, builder, strategic thinker and business owner. It made her a risk taker, and it helped her to teach others how to do the same.

All these years later, I can look back and finally see the throughlines: heart, curiosity, determination, a love of learning and expanding, creativity, a sprinkle of naivety, and a belief in the not yet shaped.

This is exactly what I’ll be doing at Full Tilt; and while I may not be working directly with female founders on the day to day anymore, we have something up our sleeve that will help us empower these women in new and innovative ways. ;-)

To my younger self who didn’t know better but had a vision, we did it. We manifested our future in more ways than one, and we did a lot a good along the way. I’m so proud of us.

And there’s always more to come.

Thanks for being here,