Before becoming Director of Ad Sales, at the Teton Valley News. I had worked in bike shops and restaurants. I had never before:

• Heard the acronyms KPI, SEO, ROI, CTR, or CTA.

• Worked at a desk, or in an office.

• Designed ads, or sold marketing contracts.

• Supervised adults. (I had supervised teenagers, which is a lot easier because you can yell at them.)

I was qualified but not experienced. Grit and charm carried me. Curiosity and commission drove me to dig deeper. Being surrounded by brilliant colleagues inspired me to keep it up.

I excelled. Within a few weeks I developed effective procedures. I built an automated CRM strategy without knowing what that was. I simplified and streamlined the ad-buying process by selling extended contracts and offering incentives for renewals. I was completely hooked on the satisfaction I felt as a creative marketing partner.

While working for the newspaper, I distilled my professional values. I discovered my competencies and learned to communicate effectively. I came away with personal pillars:

• Integrity drove me to ensure my clients were spending their ad dollars effectively and intelligently.

• Empathy allowed me to understand my customer’s customer, so I might design clever engaging ad copy.

• Sincerity opened the door for generous mentors with boundless knowledge to share.

• Passion for storytelling, art and design, meant for the first time in my life, I loved my job.

When I say I loved my job, I didn’t know what my job was. Asked, I might have simply answered, ad sales. It wasn’t until I quit, that my marketing career revealed itself to me.

After a year and half, the newspaper changed ownership. The new atmosphere made me itchy and I decided to move on. But I couldn’t just leave because I was invested in my clients’ success. So, I built campaign strategies to carry my best customers all the way through the next quarter. I sent each business and nonprofit a plan with ad specs, due dates, and briefs. I included a letter of gratitude and farewell.

One client replied immediately. He was looking for a freelance marketer and wondered if I was interested and available. I googled freelance marketer. I replied confidently, yes. Twenty-four hours later I was a Marketing Freelancer. It was not an immediate rise to glory. My first gig was tucking fliers under windshield wipers.