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.
