Catalyzing Climate Action: Strategy, Marketing and Growth Ops at Dashboard.Earth
About two months into my tenure at Dashboard.Earth, I got an 8am phone call from our CEO. Could I join the leadership team meeting?
Dashboard.Earth’s mission is to harness the untapped power of individual action to drive local climate adaptation at scale. Through behavior change science, partnerships with environmental experts, and good old fashioned gamification, we built a best in class mobile app to nurture sustainable behavior shifts, while measuring and verifying impact.
As the early stage startup’s first marketing hire, I was tasked with building the marketing function from the ground up. With that call — followed shortly by a promotion to Director of Marketing and Content — I found myself in my sweet spot, moving seamlessly across departments to shape and execute organizational strategy, always with my eye on our north star metric: real-world engagement in climate action.
Some days, this meant bringing full-funnel marketing campaigns from concept to execution — initially as a solo operator, and eventually leading a small team — in order to expand our app user base from a few hundred to tens of thousands, grow our socials by 2200%, reduce churn, and increase retention. On others, it meant creating data models, analytics frameworks, and forecasting tools to guide decision-making. Or working with subject-matter experts in the climate change space to create and deploy a vast library of climate actions and sustainability resources. And on still others, it meant developing and presenting pitch decks and impact reports that helped secure over $4M in capital and supported ongoing fundraising.
And on so many other days, it meant taking a deep breath, throwing away what wasn’t working, and starting over from scratch.
The result? Our north star is shining a bit brighter, with over 178k climate actions logged on the platform since 2024—representing tons of CO2 emissions avoided, millions of gallons of water saved, and vast amounts of waste kept out of the landfill—and Dashboard.Earth poised to expand to 20 cities across the US and Canada.
From Local Favorite to National Icon: Brand Leadership at Pistils Nursery
As Director of Marketing and eCommerce at Pistils Nursery, I developed the brand through community engagement. Leading individuals and teams across departments, I brought Pistils’ unique style and timely sensibilities to a national audience through innovative business practices and creative strategy.
After leading a company-wide discovery process, I rewrote the business’s mission, vision, and core values statements, keeping true to Pistils’ roots while positioning it to forge new paths within a changing industry.
Growing the online store from 12 skus to over 500, the social media following from a few hundred to nearly two hundred thousand, and the annual revenue to over 2M, my goal was to cultivate a loyal community eager to connect with Pistils as a resource for know-how, ideas, and inspiration, while offering best-in-class products and services.
I wore many hats to meet the ever-changing needs of the moment.
I re-wrote procedures in order to operate at scale, nurtured company culture through employee-centered policies, and coordinated virtual events. I owned all marketing campaigns, branding initiatives, website design, and content creation. I analyzed trends and data, managed supply chains and procurement, and administered departmental budgets. I created a vast library of free online resources, developed products, and designed packaging and collateral. I led fundraising for social and environmental justice, and formed connections with a network of local and national nonprofits.
Throughout it all, my approach to leadership fostered growth without sacrificing sustainability, always in collaboration and putting our people first.
Sharing the “Genius of Place”: Business Development at Pistils Landscape Design
Pistils Landscape Design had grown organically. Without a dedicated website, social presence, or standardized intake procedure, the business relied primarily on word-of-mouth to find new clients, and opportunities sometimes slipped through the cracks.
I documented and shared PLD’s vast body of work with the community through a professional portfolio website, while simultaneously developing our presence on the the leading industry network through content management and targeted advertising—and created systems to manage the influx of demand once PLD’s work was on display for all to discover.
Whether jetting around Portland to photograph landscape renovations, analyzing financials, or streamlining procedures, my work focused on harnessing latent brand equity and shoring up the foundations in order to help the business thrive.
