I’m an Indigenous / Native Hawaiian Creative Marketing and Branding expert based in Irvine, CA 🍊🤙🏾
Entrepreneur, Designer, Military Veteran and Sake Lover 🍶
Summary
I’m an innovative and design-driven leader with 12+ years of experience spearheading the vision, identity, creation, and execution of branding and marketing strategies, programs, and initiatives to increase brand awareness, attract new customers, drive increased frequency of existing customers, and grow sales.
I’m an entrepreneur at heart who truly enjoys the journey of building and scaling a company through cohesive brand content and strong story-telling.
Specialties
Product Management
Strategic Planning
Content Strategy
Data + Analytics
UX + UI Experience
Creative + Art Direction
Corporate Branding + Identity
Marketing Strategy
Education
Art Institute of Pittsburgh
Degree: Bachelor of Fine Arts - BFA
Field Of Study: Visual Arts + Design
Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School
High School Diploma + Vocational Certification
Field Of Study: Mechanical Engineering
Certificates
Certificate: UX Design
Issued: Dec 2020
IE Business School
Certificate: Brand and Product Management
Issued: Feb 2021
California Institute of the Arts
Certificate: Game Design: Art and Concepts
Issued: Sept 2020
Lean Six Sigma Institute LLC
Certificate: Six Sigma Yellow Belt Specialization (Process Improvement, LEAN Methods)
Issued: April 2011
Military
U.S. Army Veteran
Infantryman, U.S. Army Active Duty - Enlisted Status: Honorable Discharge (E-5)
2007 – 2011
Experience
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
November 2021 – November 2022
Summary: ByteChek is a compliance SaaS company that issues SMB and Enterprise companies their SOC 2 Report, HIPAA Compliance or ISO 27001. I Joined ByteChek at a very early stage (Pre-Seed Round) and helped build a marketing structure, re-positioned their brand and pricing, designed their newest website, and hired a solid marketing team. We raised a $3M Seed round.
Key Achievements:
Designed their V2 website design to be more "SaaS" focused and product driven
Helping to build go-to-market plans for industry verticles
Generated numerous monthly leads to achieve $1.2M ARR in less than 7 months
Created all content to focus on brand awareness: sales material, website updates, social media content, internal onboarding content, email marketing design, customer content, partnership collateral, and many other pieces of content.
Built an L10 Format structure for organizational teams to stay focused on weekly tasks and report KPIs Created our Brand Pitch Deck to help successfully raise funding
Implemented Hubspot for internal use for both Marketing and Sales. Created workflows, automations, and reports to track MQLs, SQLs, Prospects, and Leads as well as deal pipelines.
Designed and launched product feature update campaigns to multiple personas
Designed and launched major platform updates to multiple personas
Curated over 50+ blog posts based on SEMRush data. Researched common search terms and generated content based on that to support SEO and brand discovery.
Connected our analytics data using Hubspot to track user journeys and customer attribution.
Developed the primary personas and developed messaging and marketing material
Created paid ad campaigns on their primary channels (Google, Linkedin and Instagram)
Increased ByteChek's overall reach by 30% month over month
Collected customer testimonials and generated case studies to help support new customers and decision making
KPIs Tracked: CAC, Signup to Paid Conversion, Churn Rate, Retention, NPS Score, ACV, MQLs, Vanity Metrics, ARR, Customer Engagement (informed by the product + tech team)
Head of Product and Brand
Feb 2021 – Oct 2021
Summary: Promoted to Head of Product for my expertise and recognition in driving innovative marketing plans, designing and improving Bunker Labs product offering (Programs) and tools, and designing product roadmaps to ensure long-term business success for Military Veteran Entrepreneurs. Cross-functionally collaborated to drive product definition, strategy, and long-term vision for Bunker Labs. Articulate and validate products, marketing, brand strategy, and roadmaps both internally with leaders and externally with customers and partners. Operate as the domain expert for Bunker Lab’s product development with a comprehensive understanding of customer feedback, market drivers, and market dynamics to shape the product’s direction.
Key Achievements:
Leverage business metrics as well as interactions with customers, internal stakeholders, partners, and industry leaders to develop a perspective on how the product is being used and where to take the product next.
Transform business and product strategy into well-articulated product specs, using both quantitative and qualitative data to inform product direction and priorities
Operate as a coach, thought partner, and sounding board for creative teams, with an emphasis on problem-solving skills by practising reflective listening, asking good questions, and giving timely direct, and kind feedback and encouragement.
Design product roadmaps and work with individual product teams to communicate to leadership and/or stakeholders and design Product Requirement Documents.
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
May 2019 – Jan 2021
Summary: Promoted to spearhead all national and global scale marketing operations and develop Bunker Lab’s marketing strategy and vision to help veterans, active duty service members, and their spouses start and grow businesses. Innovated and owned the go-to-market (GTM) strategy for our company including product marketing, paid advertising, social marketing, email marketing, and CRM operations. Conducted customer research and applied insights to initiatives to drive the evolution of brand positioning, bringing it to life in a clear and consistent way that resonates with and motivates target audiences. Marketing leader who promoted the company as an innovator to the press and public and oversaw outbound customer-facing and community communications across website, blog, and social channels. Strong emphasis on improving the user journey and solving consumer problems.
Key Achievements:
Performance-driven professional who scaled Bunker Labs local impact from eight to 55 locations, and scaled brand growth from 2.5M to $8M in revenue.
Process improvement expert who shifted the organization structure from in-person community events to an online-based community platform. An innovator who designed and built a community and social networking platform online.
Interpersonal professional who cultivated authentic partnerships with JP Morgan Chase, USAA, PWC, Metlife Foundation, Boeing, Bob Woodruff Foundation, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, WeWork, Ford Motor Company, WeWork, Wintrust, and Blackstone Foundation.
Launched multiple partnerships including Macy’s (raised $680,000 in donations from marketing campaign), Google for Startups, and WeWork. Instrumental in scaling startups that generated $118M+ in revenue.
Managed multi-faceted digital marketing campaigns and traditional advertising mediums, including print and brochures, to increase brand awareness, community outreach success, and win-win partnerships.
Recruited staff, trained and mentored a team of 30+ to consistently monitor their performance and offer guidance as needed. Training with high standards for employees as brand stewards to elevate brand satisfaction.
Branding, Identity and Design Director
Mar 2017 – Apr 2019
Summary: Created a cohesive brand identity for Bunker Labs with an emphasis on social impact and storytelling for the organization. Full brand maintenance and IP protection. Cohesive branding across all channels. Implemented processes and systems for all design, layout, and formatting of materials including typographic, photographic, illustrative and graphic elements.
Developed the branding and guidelines for partnership programs with WeWork and the Schultz Foundation including color palettes and photography standards.
Re-worked tool and software procedures including the implementation of communication tools through-out the entire organization and supported the adoption from over 200+ Staff members and volunteers.
Directed our Narratives documentary series and WeWork Collaboration videos
Notable Experience
Creative Director
Founded is a Los Angeles agency that creates winning brand strategies and craft culture-driven stories and content.
Summary: Creative Director with a knack for solving complex challenges and brand opportunities through original content creation. Strategically lead the translation of the brand and innovation work to drive revenue, visual identity, brand identity, and digital presence for brands including Harley Davidson, Royal Enfield, New Balance, Ralph Lauren, Carhartt, Red Wing Shoes, Levi's, Ford, Everlane, Ball and Buck, Belkin, Wolverine, Eaglerider, and many others.
Create and define concepts based on brand values and client briefs
Fluent in all social platforms and digital trends
Provided Brand Direction with partners on campaigns and projects
Worked with designers to execute on campaigns including: Social, Commercial, Online, Ecommerce and TV Spots
Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts based on knowledge of layout principles and aesthetic design concepts
Review final layouts and suggest improvements as needed
Worked in Digital, Social AV, and Print advertising formats and top of class design benchmarks
Director of Brand Development
Everlane was founded with the mission of selling clothing with transparent pricing.
Responsible for building a clear and distinctive brand message around ethical, sustainable and radically transparent product
Lead, build and manage a team of creatives to focus on brand messaging and visuals across various marketing platforms
Create a strong culture through brand alignment and mission driven products
Worked directly with CEO to pivot brand strategy based on consumer data
Startup Founder + Creative Director
A Men’s lifestyle brick & mortar location and brand
Key Achievements:
Business Development, Finance, Operations and Marketing Management
Bootstrapped startup and signed a media contract with Complex Media
Pivoted the brand and opened 3 physical locations
Built and maintained professional relationships with partnered brands
Designed and Produced physical products (Outerwear, Denim, Boots, etc.)
Grew business revenue from 0 to 1.3mil
Sold company in 2013, Took role as Creative Director
Product Design, Pattern-making, and production coordination
Won Nylon Magazine Award for Best Content Direction - Men’s Category
Selected by Conde Nast as referred editorial websites
Proficiencies
Software, Tools, and Apps
Design Tools
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Solidworks, Canva, Premiere Pro, Figma, iMovie
Marketing Tools
Hubspot, Brand24, Sprout Social, Mailchimp, Active Campaign, Coschedule, Google Analytics, Meltwater, SEMRush, Mailerlite, Unbounce
Commmunication Tools
Slack, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Workplace, Zoom, Google Meet, Discord, YAC
Web Management Tools
Wordpress, Squarespace, Shopify, Magento, Webflow, Wix
Organizational Tools
Salesforce, Airtable, PowerBI, Smartsheet, Asana, Basecamp, Monday.com, MeisterTask, TeamWork, Trello
LMS Systems
LearnDash, Teachable, Kajabi, Mighty Networks
And many others 😎
Recommendations
“Jamison is one of the most creative and talented people I've worked with. We served on staff together at Bunker Labs and his marketing efforts were responsible for significant growth and many new veteran entrepreneurs finding Bunker Labs and improving their business.”
— Kirby Atwell Former CFO - Bunker Labs
Jamison is one of the most dependable people I've worked with.
Working in sales, and specifically sales development, I was interacting with him constantly to work on messaging, lead generation, lead triage, and our GTM strategy as a whole. Jamison is constantly open for communication. With him I never feel like there are grey areas or things that are not being talked about and he is extremely open to feedback and change. At one moment he would be helping us beautify a sales deck, the next he'd be helping with our Hubspot workflows, and then yet another time he'd be changing our website. Jamison was easily one of our most valuable ByteChekians because of his dynamic skillset, his warm professionalism, and his willingness to help - no matter what. The things he can do with limited resources are simply amazing.
I loved working with Jamison and hope we get to work together again one day.
— Alex Barker Business Development Manager - ByteChek
“I have worked with Jamison for several years spanning different roles, projects and objectives, based on those experiences I recommend Jamison with the utmost conviction. He has an uncanny ability to both be empathetic and effective. This serves him well as he distills down the "so what" of a project or engagement and then can quickly turn that insight into tactical actions. If you are thinking about working with Jamison in the future let me save you the time -- jump at the opportunity.”
— Tim O’Neil - Former COO - Bunker Labs
“Jamison is not only a marketing and branding guru, but he’s also an extraordinary colleague who always reduces drama, creates clarity, elevates diverse voices, and more than anything just gets the mission done. He’s someone I hope to bring with me on any professional / entrepreneurial journey.”
— Todd Connor Former CEO and Founder - Bunker Labs
Jamison is the best of the best! I've had the privilege of partnering with Jamison on the leadership team of a SaaS startup. I'm continually blown away by his effective strategy, quality content creation, and powerful engagement. Jamison can produce big results with few resources. And beyond his Marketing chops, he's an incredibly thoughtful and caring leader. I'm a better leader because of Jamison, and any team who works with him is a lucky one.
— Allison Bauman Chief People Officer - ByteChek
“Jamison is incredibly skilled at his job. His work ethic in unparalleled. He is also a great manager, he was always available if need be for guidance but gave me the trust to work independently. Jamison is clear with his assignment instructions and helped me truly understand the company ethos during on-boarding.”
— Johnna Hughes Senior Content Marketing Specialist at Downtown Center Business Improvement District
“Jamison is a rare combination of master storyteller and technical wizard. He immediately latches on to the big picture and is able to drill down to the necessary details to make it clear to audiences. Jamison is always looking for solutions through collaboration. His positive outlook makes all the difference in a high pressure situation by focusing on the goal and outcome. I count myself lucky to have worked with Jamison for years and I am always looking for ways to continue the collaboration.”
— Chris Carlson Founder and President - NarrativePros