Marketing Messenger Vol. 4 Alumni Spotlight
Alumni Spotlight: Alyssa Herbert
Ben: Hi Alyssa Herbert! So I wanna start off with a tough question here… what is you favorite snow activity?
Alyssa: I used to ski all the time as as a kid. In the last couple of years, I’ve picked it back up again, so definitely skiing
Ben: Ok, ok, I’ve never tried it myself, but I hear people can get pretty injured skiing. Is that true?
A: Yeah, it can be a little intimidating at first.
B: Yeah I can imagine. Ok, so what pushed you toward applying for the marketing program at Western?
A: When I was in high school, I was apart of DECA. I Was DECA president and took a couple of marketing classes at my high school as well. I kinda just found a passion for it. It was something that I felt really clicked for me, compared to a lot of other subjects. I loved seeing how consumers think, which is what ultimately led me to marketing. When I arrived at Western, I knew right off the bat that marketing is what I wanted to do. Once I got to campus and looked at all the classes that were offered and looked more closely into the program itself, I knew for sure that's what I wanted to do.
B: Great, that's really awesome. So what part exactly of marketing was especially attractive to you?
A: Yeah, I didn’t really know what specifically what I wanted to do right away. The high school classes I took where very broad. Marketing has so much to it. I did know that I loved the idea of branding and how to present that brand to the world and how to affect peoples perception of a brand. Also, the minds of consumers really interested me, and why we buy the things we buy — and how marketing affects that. So thats what I was definitely interested in, but I didn’t really know what I do with my interests. Once I got into the marketing program, I learned so much about all the possibilities that you can do with marketing. So that really made me love it like a thousand times more, knowing that I could do so many different things, and if I didn’t like something, I could go into something else.
B: Ok, so you where talking about Branding and Consumer behavior before, was that what you think impacted you most when you where thinking about what classes to take at Western?
A: Oh yeah, definitely, I took branding with Tej and absolutely loved it! It was really fun to take some of the campaigns that I had learned about in high school and to go so much more indepth; it was really cool. Like that Coke vs. Pepsi campaign. Taking branding really helped me find more passion for marketing. And Cat's People and Money course I loved, diving deeper into consumer behavior and our irrational brains and why we do the things we do. It's fun to put all the pieces together and see how it all works.
B: Ok, that's great! And the marketing industry is starting to change quite a bit right? Do you think that these classes that you took a few years ago are still important and relevant?
A: Oh yeah, 100%. I think that everything you learn in school is a fantastic foundation to take with you into your career. Once you're actually in your career, you're gonna use those things you learned in school as applications. Like your core classes such as Branding, People and Money, and IMC with Dan, they are really useful for building your career. You're gonna apply those skillsets you developed and figure out how to use them in your current position to bring a brand to life.
B: Totally, that's really great to get some background about that… moving on a little bit, where do you currently work and what do you do?
A: Yeah, so I used to work for a marketing agency, and now I work for and old client of that agency. It's called Arrowhead Ranch on Camano Island. I oversee all of their marketing. It's a place that really brings the community together; they have animals there and host lots of events. So I oversee all of their marketing from their website, email marketing, social media, and event marketing. We do print and digital ads. I'm pretty much the marketing manager since I oversee all of it.
B: Marketing manager, that's really cool. Lots of different tasks to keep track of it sounds like.
A: Yeah.
B: So what skills do you think you learned during your time at Western and what do you think you’ve learned on the job?
A: That's a hard question… I think the things I learned most at Western was my foundation. Understanding the importance of messaging and branding and spreading it throughout all your platforms. And once I made it into a job I had to take it upon myself to learn how to apply it to my actual company that I’m working for now. How can I take what I’ve learned and apply it? That foundation and understanding that Western thought me really helped when I was starting to look for jobs. Also, I definitely learned my hard skills and why like its important to send out all those emails all the time. Once I was on the job, I learned how to use those email platforms and other website platforms such as Webflow.
B: So basically Western gave you a structure that you where able to build off of and you learned the execution part, more of how to do it, on the job?
A: Yes definitely.
B: Ok, yeah so I’m curious how you got into your current position, what steps did you take?
A: Yeah, so I graduated in December 2020, right during the height of COVID, so the job market I was in was pretty rough. I had a hard time finding a job right away; I actually ended up reaching out to a place that I used to work, my local Boys & Girls club. I started doing volunteer work for them, working on marketing projects with the Boys & Girls club marketing person. Then eventually I was able to move on to part-time and get paid a little bit. That's really where I took the time to grow my skillset and really apply what I had learned at Western. After a few months of looking, I found an agency that really stood out to me. I reached out to the owner and convinced him to give me a job — well, an internship. I started at Madak out of Stanwood, Washington. I was an intern there for about a month. I helped with client projects; I worked with the lead strategist at the time. Then they brought me on full time as a marketing strategist; where I oversaw all the services for my clients, I had 6-10 clients at any given time. I oversaw all those key pieces like their website, email and direct marketing… pretty much everything under the sun. After doing that for a couple of years I started working with one of the old clients of that agency, and thats where I am today, doing their marketing in-house.
B: That's quite the journey, a little bit of a rocky start with COVID too.
A: Yeah, yeah it definitely was really hard to find a job during COVID. Marketing is a very competitive industry.
B: Yeah for sure, so what about your dream position? Have you thought about what that might be? What are you working towards and has Westerns marketing program helped you in any way?
A: One day I would love to work in-house as part of a branding team. Where I could work on one specific brand and learn all I can about it. Or I would love to work on integrated marketing. Those are what I feel most passionate about right now. As for in-house, I’m not 100% sure yet. Cause theres a lot of different industries that I would really Love to work in someday — whether that be in fashion, or the outdoor industry — so I don't really know where I'll go yet I think Western was really helpful for all the connections that I’ve gained. It's really nice to connect with students and to see and help them work towards their careers, and maybe in the future, they’ll even help me in mine. Staying in touch with professors and other alumni is really great. I love being able to connect with them at events they host like the holiday mixer. Western does a really great job of making sure the alumni are still connected.
B: So the networking is really important for you in terms of career progression.
A: Yeah.
B: And Western helps you achieve that?
A: Yes that's what I’m trying to get at, the networking skills that you can gain from Western is amazing. Connecting with fellow alumni is awesome and every time you do it with the same people it gets easier and easier, it connects you that much further.
B: Ok and last question. Could you give some advice for all us future marketers?
A: Yes! My main piece of advice it to enjoy it, love it! It can be hard sometimes; it's hard to stay positive when things aren’t going your way but trust the process! Make sure you take the time actually connect with your fellow students and your professors, actually network with them. Build that connection so you can use it later in the future. And of course while you're in class, make sure that you're really there and present. Take the time to understand and learn the topics, because that will get you so much further later in your career.
B: Ok, ok, well thank you so much for taking the time out of your day. We really appreciate it and I’m sure all our readers will too! Have a great rest of your day.
A: Yeah of course! Thank you; I really appreciate it. Have a great rest of your day as well!