My story starts in 2010, the recession of 08 was terrible, and I was struggling to get ahead. I had no profession but I knew college was the answer to my problems. Luckily, I was able to graduate from UM and I was looking for work. Everything that was out there asked for experience rather than a college degree. At the time I was with my high school sweetheart, and she got pregnant. So the rush to start making an income put immense pressure on me. It almost broke me apart but I knew the only way through this was to push forward. In case you were wondering, I speak French and that is how I was able to get my first job.
I started working at Wikipixel making about 2k per month which for me at the time was enough to get by. I still struggled for a long time but at least I was able to provide for my family. At the time I didn’t have a car so her father would take me to work every morning. Wikipixel was in Aventura which was about 30 min away from where we lived.
That’s where I met Howard Goodman, a Penn State graduate who was the VP and he took me under his wing. I learned more from that man than school could ever teach me. I was lucky, and at Wikipixel is where I started to refine and build my skillsets.
At Wikipixel, I first learned about SEO and Paid advertising. They had hired a marketing agency to promote their SaaS, and didn’t do much help. I was in charge of the website and the translation from French to English. This is where I learned about project management and actual marketing that worked. I created my first Google Adwords campaign and generated a decent size amount of traffic. We were obtaining leads and growing, yet, people would sign up and never use the tool. The SaaS platform had so many bugs and issues.
People were not happy with the digital asset management platform.
Unfortunately, the company didn’t survive in the U.S. but did well in France. Soon after all the unsatisfied customers left, Dylan Gobin, the CEO, and I spoke. He told me the best thing was for me to leave the company because he couldn’t afford me anymore.
So now I was back to square one but with something that would follow me forever, my skill set. I could now create Google AdWords campaigns and do SEO. I understood marketing at another level. This would lead me down a path of meeting people who didn’t want to pay, sure I learned the hard way. I made all kinds of messes, I had to give my marketing away for free most of the time, for years.
Everything was a struggle, low pay or no pay. I was at my wit’s end on everything. I started to give up and focus on different things. I considered management positions at stores and even a sales job at a real estate company.
Like all things, after the storm comes the sun. This is when I had about 4 years of experience in marketing, I had recently finished my project for Pepsico. Andres Zarate got me that project through his logistics company. I started working at this marketing Agency called Stilt Media, I was there for a few months.
This is where all my years of experience would shine. I created a Google Adwords campaign for Swatch Group. I managed a 1 million dollar advertising account, and everything was amazing.
The Mido brand was very popular in China, the goal was to establish itself in the U.S. market. And at Stilt Media I worked with some of the most talented people I have ever met.
Swatch Group grew by about 380% in traffic and a 72% increase in sales. I had created a CPM campaign, CPC and display campaign. I then did the whole Google Merchant remarketing campaign. It helped increase retention by 23%. Swatch Group didn’t care so much about the sales of the product but rather grew their brand awareness.
Stilt Media is where I learned a lot about art direction, web development, and branding. During that time, I was freelancing. This is where I met Percy Martinez and started to do marketing at the highest levels.
I did his marketing for free for 2 months since he was a friend of my mother’s, I created the website and did all the SEO. Within a few weeks, he started ranking on Google and was generating traffic and leads. I quit Stilt Media to pursue my dreams of becoming independent. I didn’t want to rely on people, but rather on myself.
Here is where I started to learn about personal development, which is something that I mesh into my work. I am now led by philosophical principles and I mix it with my marketing. I use these pillars as the foundation of my principles. They are courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice. This approach to the way I envision myself; the brand, is a creation that took many years of refinement. Since the start at Wikipixel, I knew what I wanted to do in life, but I also knew that I would need experience.
I used to think about things with a very closed mindset. Experience has taught me, that no matter what life throws at you. You still have to push forward, to have the courage to continue on the path. To have the wisdom to understand the internal and external, to be fair and to have the right attitude.
So we are a few years later, a little older and a little wiser.
I want to provide you with the best in marketing. I’ll help you set goals and push the limitless boundaries life has given us. If this resonates with you, speak with me at no cost. Let’s begin our adventure in the unknown. Because in the unknown is where the magic lies.