The evolution of marketing over the past few decades has been incredible to witness. Even more rewarding to grow alongside it. I’ve always felt like marketing was wired into me from the start. In kindergarten, I vividly remember watching a classroom film about the advertising industry. It showed how cartoon characters were used to sell sugary cereal to kids. I was fascinated.
Even at that age, I understood that marketing was about more than just selling. It was about psychology, emotion, and influence. That moment sparked a lifelong obsession that has only grown stronger as the industry has transformed around me.
The 1900’s
One day in first grade, my mother started receiving phone calls from the other mothers in my class. Apparently, I had invited all of the girls to a Japanese-themed tea party at my house. The invitations were on notebook paper in a child’s handwriting so the mothers wanted to know if it was real. In that moment, my mother decided that it was for real and helped me put together my first event. For me, event planning was just another way to express my creativity.
In college I became the Social Chair for my college sorority. This entailed planning events with other sororities and fraternities on campus. Because we were a new sorority on campus, the job also involved a bit of promotional marketing 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 and the FOX Network. 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 Fact
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.
The Beginnings of Email Marketing
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 event services for the club, as well as overseeing event 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. But, hey, I was a pioneer of the future of digital marketing!
Marketing in the New Millennium
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 print edition. The Street Team’s efforts included taking photos of attendees to post online, giving away prizes and generating web traffic.
Also at that time, I had become obsessed with MySpace. 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. A pioneer again.
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.
Since graduating from UCLA at the end of 2009, I’ve built websites, managed social media, and created eBlasts for a wide range of companies including Joico Hair Products, Molton Brown, Sainsbury’s, Which? Publications, and many more. These projects have allowed me to blend creativity with technical skill while adapting to the needs of both global brands and independent businesses.
The Next Evolution
I launched my agency, Phoenix Road Creative, in 2016 and rebranded it as Pike x Digital in 2023. Since the beginning, I’ve drawn on a wide range of skills to deliver meaningful results for clients. I combine over 30 years of marketing experience with the firsthand knowledge that comes from running my own business.
While I started with long-term contracts for larger corporations, I’ve found greater fulfillment working on a project-by-project basis with a diverse mix of clients. Today, Pike x Digital operates as a digital agency offering web design and development, SEO, Google Business Profile optimization, and social content strategy and engagement.