I will never forget my high school marketing class (hey, Mrs Stumpf!) and the happiness it gave me. I finally found a class that I couldn’t get enough of. I found it all so interesting, I could envision the whole picture of a marketing strategy easily and I was actually pretty damn good at it. My entire life I had wanted to be a teacher, but this class changed it all. It was official, I wanted to get into marketing.
I then went on to earn my bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in marketing, all while doing alllllll the a extracurricular activities, like being an officer in the marketing club, mentoring incoming students and being that outgoing, silly orientation leader to keep incoming students comfortable and working at the Career Services office. I mention that because when I look back on these jobs, I can’t help laugh as they were truly the building blocks of me embracing all sides of my personality and skillset leading me to where I am today. When it was time to get an internship, I stumbled upon an opportunity through my hometown’s chamber of commerce to assist with marketing in the revitalization of the downtown area. Now this was 2009, when social media was emerging and it was my job to go door to door to build relationships and convince these small businesses that they needed a Facebook/Twitter pages, websites, etc because that is where the future of marketing was headed. Spoiler alert, a lot of them didn’t get it, though the ones that did, saw great success. I really credit this particular experience to where my passion for helping small businesses succeed with social media marketing began. I really enjoyed the integration of building these relationships with business owners on and offline.
After graduation, I still had the same passions, but I was fighting an upward battle to have businesses understand the future of social media marketing and pay enough for rent. So I settled on various different sales positions. These jobs totally helped me to perfect my interpersonal and feedback skills. In every single one of these sales roles, I campaigned for myself to also be their social media manager on the side. All in order to keep the ultimate passion of mine growing, while this industry of marketing became more understood and relevant. During this time, I took the opportunity to earned two social media certifications through the Pittsburgh Technology Institute. As the years went by, I launched my own personal brand as a blogger and influencer while continuing to work with and for many small businesses all while honing in on my social media marketing skills, specifically through Instagram. Which is probably where you found me!
So here we are 13+ years later, social media is now more relevant than ever and the time is NOW to work toward your social media goals. The best part? I’m still here with the same passion, same smile and more knowledge than ever waiting at your doorstep to help! Let’s get started, click here!
Anna Hinkle 