Working for two national brands in their early- to mid- stages of growth, I helped shape their platforms for event marketing strategy through event sponsorships, brand partnerships, and driving consumer trial. 

Tito's Handmade Vodka

When I started working for Tito's Handmade Vodka in 2010, our marketing team comprised of myself and our VP of Marketing. Tasked with jump-starting their field marketing efforts on a national scale, my activities helped increase case sales over 420% in just three years. While my main focus was national event marketing, our modest budget and team size allowed me to wear several other marketing hats along the way.

National & Regional Events

My main job function at Tito's Handmade Vodka was to manage, negotiate, plan, and execute all major consumer and trade events. Events included Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, SXSW, Outside Lands, CMJ Music Marathon, Pitchfork Festival, Fun Fun Fun Festival, Manhattan Cocktail Classic, Tales of The Cocktail, as well as several film festivals and food & wine festivals. At SXSW alone, I managed donations and activations at over 40 parties, which served over 120,000 Tito's cocktails.

Starting in 2013, Tito's incentivised their top accounts and distributor partners across the country by awarding top-performing sales reps with a week-long trip to Austin. Participants were invited to tour the distillery, attend a UT Football game and tailgate, play in a golf tournament, relax at a local spa, and enjoy dinners at Austin's best. I spearheaded all logistics and travel arrangements for the group of 200+ each year (a job that a team of 12 agency reps handle today).

Event Marketing Assets

Before I started working for Tito's, the company lacked proper marketing tools to activate at events. I worked with local vendors to create custom branded assets, including a branded Airstream lounge bar and a Smilebooth photo booth. 

As we ramped up the number of events and tastings across the country, it became apparent that there was no tangible guidelines for execution or aesthetic. To ensure the brand look and messaging stayed consistent, I developed standardized tasting and trade show kits along with event branding guidelines for the sales team to utilize locally in their markets. I also helped curate, design, and manage inventories of our branded Point-Of-Sale and swag items.

Company Intranet Systems

One of the major challenges of any rapidly growing company is effective communication. To help get our team on the same page and facilitate for continued growth, I worked with an agency to build the company's first ever intranet system to streamline internal business processes and reporting. Seven years later, the company still uses this system to this day to track marketing activities, sales databases, POS inventory and requests, and HR needs.

Sweet Leaf Tea Company

After completing my marketing internship in the spring of 2007, I crafted a field marketing plan and convinced executive management to hire me full time as their first full-time field marketing manager. The role eventually (and quickly) grew into management of all field marketing efforts locally and nationally, including a team of field marketing managers in five target markets plus part-time brand ambassadors and marketing interns. My primary role and focus was on consumer sampling, which included all aspects of our involvement in national and regional events as well as guerilla and in-store sampling.