I’ve always felt that marketing was my destiny, ever since my earliest memory. It all started with a filmstrip I saw in kindergarten about the advertising industry. It followed the effects of using cartoon characters to sell sugary cereal to children. The psychology behind it all fascinated me. By first grade, I was already planning and marketing my first event – a Japanese-themed tea party for all the girls in my class. I sent out invitations and we all got dressed up to enjoy tea together. For me, event planning was just another way to express my creativity.
The 1900’s
In 1993 I became the Social Chair for my college sorority. This entailed planning events with other sororities and fraternities on campus. It also involved a little bit of promotional marketing as our sorority was brand new. No one knew us so we had to get noticed in order to set up the events. Some pretty creative publicity stunts came out of that.
It was only natural that I would end up first in the publicity department and eventually in the special events department of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. I was in event planning heaven.
My favorite events with Fox included the annual Primetime Upfronts in New York City. This was a big project that entailed a live corporate presentation featuring all of the talent on the shows for that upcoming year. Following that was an extravagant party attended by a thousand advertising and studio executives and celebrities. Other events included premiere parties and milestone parties for 90210, Melrose Place, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and That 70’s Show.
Fun Facts
At a party for The Simpsons, I was tasked with finding series creator Matt Groening and bringing him to a room for a press junket. He was in the middle of a conversation and I didn’t want to interrupt him. He thought I was there to ask for his autograph so he took my staff access pass, drew a picture of Bart Simpson and signed his name. I then had to say “thank you but really I need you to come with me to do some interviews.” I still have the autograph though.
Another funny story is how I got my start at Fox. I called their human resources department and asked what temp agency they were currently using. I managed to get the name of the person who told me as well. Then I called that agency and told them that the person from HR told me to call them about getting placed at Fox. A couple of weeks later, I started a job there as a receptionist and worked my way up.
The New Millennium
In the year 2000, I took on the role of events manager at Key Club, an iconic music venue situated on the bustling Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Having already garnered experience in film and television, this marked my foray into the music industry. My responsibilities included marketing the club, as well as overseeing event sales and operations.
This was a time when the internet was in its wild west phase. Illegal music file sharing was rampant, while email marketing was a fledgling concept. In those days, promotional emails could be sent to any email address that was available. If the sender didn’t think to put the addresses in the BCC section, the recipient could steal their entire email list for their own purposes. However, the upside was that people were more receptive to receiving these emails and actually read them. I must admit I am guilty of hijacking some emails for use of pitching the venue’s event services as well as inviting guests to our promotional parties.
Marketing in the Mid-2000’s
In the mid-2000’s, I was working at LA Weekly, the go-to magazine for all things happening in LA. During my time there, I created the magazine’s Street Team, a group of young adults who attended various events throughout the city to promote LA Weekly’s website and paper. The Street Team’s efforts included taking photos of attendees, giving away prizes and generating web traffic.
Seeing the impact of MySpace on my friends in the music industry, I recognized an opportunity to leverage social media to promote LA Weekly. I started the magazine’s social media accounts and was among the first to use social media from a corporate standpoint to reach the public.
Back then, MySpace allowed users to override their code with HTML and CSS so that they could further design their own pages. I found myself very interested in learning how use this code to come up with my own designs. It was actually the work on I did on MySpace that inspired me to return to school and pursue an education in web design and development. Funnily enough, about a year after graduation, I came full circle when I accepted a position as a web developer at 20th Century Fox, where I developed two internal websites.
More fun facts
Favorite event I planned while at LA Weekly – The LA Weekly Battle of the Bands. Local bands from all over Los Angeles submitted music to be considered for the competition which took place at the famed Roxy on the Sunset Strip. Judges included members of Fishbone and Star 69 among others (that I can’t remember right now…senility?)
Few people know this but I got my job at LA Weekly by sending an email to the then-VP of Sales & Marketing. I told her that her paper did not currently have a Street Team or a photo gallery section of the paper. I suggested something like Page Six, but rock n roll and sponsored by Jack Daniels… She called me in for an interview and shortly after my time had begun. I still have that email chain saved on one of my old accounts.
From LA to London
Upon moving to London, I worked as a web designer/developer for some well-known brands which included Molton Brown, Which? Publications, and Sainsbury’s.
During this time, I also organized a monthly charity event which featured eight comedians of varying levels and an MC for the evening. All proceeds went a different charitable cause each month. Aptly named “We Got Wood”, it was hosted in a recycled wood furniture and home furnishings shop in Shoreditch. Promotion of the event was mainly through social media, our website, and good old-fashioned word of mouth. We continued to run the event successfully for a couple of years and eventually retired it shortly before the pandemic.
Additionally, I planned events for an American expat club and hosted an annual summer rooftop event complete with live music and DJs to keep my event-planning skills sharp. The rooftop parties, especially in the early years, were also some of my favorite parties that I have done.
The rise of the phoenix
I launched Phoenix Road Creative in 2016. Since that time I have been utilizing a wide range of skills to provide excellent service to our clients. Every day I draw from my now-30 years of experience in marketing as well as my own experience as a small business owner to help others build their businesses.
While I started out with long-term contracts from larger corporations, I have found greater satisfaction in working on a project-by-project basis with a diverse range of clients. In 2023, I shifted focus towards functioning as a creative agency. We offer a variety of services including web design/development, SEO, Google Business Profile, Social Content management and engagement as well as corporate promotional events.
Want to know more about what Phoenix Road Creative can do for your business? Feel free to get in touch.
