I'm not as young as I look - especially for someone who has been involved in marketing since she was about 3 years old! You see growing up, my biological father was the VP of Marketing for a west-coast cookie company. We could not drive past a grocery store without going in to check the cookie displays. And on Halloween - we weren’t just trick or treating - my Dad would dress up in his purple monster “cookie eater” costume and we'd go give cookie sample packs door-to-door as well! 

When I was 9, we moved to Naperville, IL where my mother and step-father created a high-end interior design business complete with a drapery workroom. Back then, my first job after school was cleaning the bathrooms and vacuuming up after the seamstresses. But in High School and College, I was given the responsibility to oversee the advertising and marketing for the business. That included working with the local newspaper, radio, TV execs and even the Builders when we decorated model homes for shows like the Cavalcade or Gallery of Homes. 

Throughout college, I was a barista (before they coined the phrase), delivered flowers and worked in management training for both Marriott Hotels and von Maur department stores. Even before graduation, I knew I wanted to do what my Dad did and what I had helped my Mom's company do – which was help products or services sell - but that I didn't want to do it for the same product or service my whole life. 

My professional career began at an Agency in Oak Brook where I got to work on little accounts like Banc One, Nissan, Sara Lee and McDonald's Corporation! I’ve worked in both agency and client environments in account service, marketing management, traffic management, print production, operations and creative direction for Meindl & Associates, TBA Events, Sikich Communications and the MX Group.

In 2003, my mom wanted a new brochure for her business and I simply did not have the time to coordinate all the necessary resources. It was also time to either renew her lease or move her 10,000 sq. ft. showroom and drapery workroom. It was then she offered me a full-time position to not only oversee marketing (and get that new brochure done) but also to assist in the relocation and revamp operations from leads to sales to manufacturing to deliveries. We also created her first website.

In my time there is where I saw first-hand the true importance for consistent marketing. My mom’s small business friends would ask me all the time if they should place this ad here or mail this mailer there. “Nettie, the Naperville Sun is running 50% off this week. Isn’t that a good deal?” Well, I don’t know. Is your target market READING the Naperville Sun?!? And even if they are, please don’t think a one-time ad is going to make a noticeable difference!

Now, it's one thing to have eight million dollars to spend alone on advertising -- and I’ll never forget seeing that first billboard off the expressway, the spread in the Wall Street Journal, or the ad in the in-flight magazine on Southwest -- but in my heart, I’ve always rooted for the small business like my mom. And experience has taught me how to apply the steps I've learned within almost any kind of budget.

In 2005, my mom decorated the spa for a high-end salon who asked about her marketing. They then asked if they could hire me! My mom’s business was rocking… I was newly married and thinking about starting a family…so Monarch Marketing was a natural next step! And I still work with that salon. 

These days, I am most passionate about branding, target market and creative concepts. “What is your message? Who are you talking to? And how will you be remembered?” I handle most the work from concept to graphic and web design to printing and production or placement. (I do have a plethora of resources though, if something is beyond my capabilities.)

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Take a look through the portfolio pages, send me an email, or pick up the phone and call. Let’s start discussing your marketing and figure out what’s next for you and your business!