30/30 Challenge
The 30/30 challenge is my personal career defining initiative where I will be conducting and publishing 30 impactful interviews with 30 minds in the start-up tech space. The goal is to better understand how I can be successful in a Marketing role.
Today’s blog post feature is Ashley Jane Brookes and I would like to share with you the key takeaways from the interview that I had with her.
Ashley Jane Brookes — VP of Marketing at Commit
I had the absolute pleasure of virtually meeting Ashley Brookes, VP of Marketing at Commit, the remote-first community for Software Engineers. Commit provides professional development, peer-to-peer support, and access to the best startup opportunities. As a Marketing Executive, Ashley specializes in high growth brand and communication strategies for mission driven startups, and joined Commit in the summer of 2019.
Ashley’s journey into the Marketing space initially started in the branding and design division of Cossette, an agency in Vancouver, where she worked on new business and brand strategies.. She then worked at Hootsuite where she managed the Global Brand and a number of teams dedicated to content, design and social.
One of the key takeaways from the conversation that I had with Ashley was that the main ingredient to succeed in Marketing is essentially “making sure that you understand people and always have a defined approach for how you’re going to connect with people.” She also highlighted that there is a lot of power in casual conversations. Casual conversations can be a start to so many things such as fresh ideas and job opportunities, the possibilities are endless.
The second key takeaway is the importance of narrowing down and specifying exactly what you would like to do when deciding which stage of marketing you would like to specialize in; she grouped the four stages as ‘Starting, Building, Fixing & Maintaining’. Marketing is a very broad term which encompasses many processes to get to the final result. Learning and researching about which phase you are particularly passionate about is the basis of defining what type of marketing role, and subsequently, the type of company is best for you..
In conclusion, these are the two important points that I found to be very helpful and I wanted to share them with you. This particular interview embodies what the 30/30 challenge is all about. This insightful and informative conversation helped with setting the tone for the rest of my interviews and it also gave me a framework to help me focus on what I am trying to achieve. It’s okay to start a new journey as long as you commit and dedicate all your energy into understanding, asking the right questions and continuously working on improving yourself.
If you enjoyed this blog post, share it with a friend or work colleague!
Here’s a link to my LinkedIn page, let’s connect!
