The Year 1ne's

In his Year 1ne, Tristan has worked in multiple roles doing business-to-business (B2B) marketing with a focus on inbound marketing using social media. He’s done this work for brands such as CanadaHelps, PharmaGuideand Philips. Recently, Tristan started Beyond Redemption, a consulting firm that leverages awards and points-based travel to help small businesses travel better and reduce their expenses. ✈️
Some of the highlights from Tristan and Blair’s chat include how starting in consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketing is like a “golden ticket”, we nerd out over the cover letter; and, why you should consider working in a not-for-profit or charity.
🗣️ In This Episode
Tristan’s Year 1ne @ PharmaGuide and Beyond Redemption
0:46 | Introduction from Tristan
1:50 | Working as a “marketing team of one” at the startup PharmaGuide
7:10 | Overview of Pharmaguide
8:55 | When in doubt...start with organic marketing communication strategies
11:45 | How sales and marketing must be partners
13:50 | What sparked your interest in B2B marketing?
16:25 | Doing marketing for Ariana Grande
18:00 | Overview of his travel startup Beyond Redemption
25:25 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
29:00 | How did you get the job?
30:50 | Shh...Secret job sources other than LinkedIn
32:00 | Working in marketing for a not-for-profit or a charity
38:55 | Hardest part of the job search
40:55 | Nerding out over the cover letter
46:20 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
52:05 | Lesson learned on how picking the right job can set you apart
54:25 |Pro tip on starting in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) marketing is like a “golden ticket”
🔗 Links and Resources
Connect with Tristan Choa: LinkedIn
Brands/organizations: Beyond Redemption | PharmaGuide | Charity Village | Canadian Blood Services | General Mills | Procter & Gamble (P&G)
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness

In her Year 1ne, Hannah works as a Growth Marketer at Growclass, a marketing training course. She started as Digital Marketing Intern and has since been promoted to Associate Growth Marketer and then Growth Marketer. Hannah loves connecting with people through her marketing superpowers of email marketing, copywriting, and community management. 🤗
Some of the highlights from Hannah and Blair’s chat include the importance of having empathy as a marketer, a rookie mistake of not checking your links; and how the Barbie brand captured hearts and minds in summer 2023.
In This Episode 🗣️
Hannah’s Year 1ne @ Growclass
1:20 | Introduction from Hannah
2:00 | Overview of Growclass
3:40 | What does a Growth Marketer do?
6:10 | Talking more about email marketing
7:45 | Essential software and tools
8:50 | Essential human skills
12:00 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
14:30 | Getting hired at Growclass
17:00 | Evolving from an Intern to a Growth Marketer
19:55 | Hardest part of the job search
21:30 | How can organizations better communicate entry-level jobs?
25:00 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
29:00 | Rookie mistake on not testing links before sending email
32:45 | Lesson learned that failure is feedback
33:35 | Pro tip that nothing worth having comes easy
The Hottest of Links and Resources 🔥
Connect with Hannah Permell: LinkedIn
Brands/organizations: Growclass | George Brown College
Marketing and media tools: Autopilot | Google Analytics 4 | Zoom | Slack | Zapier | Luma
Books: The Alchemist | Think and Grow Rich | The Mountain Is You
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness

In her Year 1ne, Rihanna works as a Search Marketing Specialist, primarily focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) at Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), a not-for-profit made up of eight regional automobile clubs serving over 6 million members in Canada. She’s an in-house SEO expert for two automobile clubs—CAA South Central Ontario and CAA Manitoba–doing in page optimization for multiple websites to ensure search results (in Google and other search engines such as Bing) are relevant and create a positive user experience. 🚘
Some of the highlights from Rihanna and Blair’s chat include how being an SEO is the most mysterious job in marketing, the practice of turning an unsuccessful job interview into a moment of reflection; and, the importance of using simple words in marketing.
In This Episode 🗣️
Rihanna’s Year 1ne @ CAA
1:47 | Introduction from Rihanna
2:35 | Overview of CAA
4:50 | Working as a Search Marketing Specialist
9:35 | SEO is detective work
13:20 | Essential human skills
15:10 | Essential software and tools
16:50 | Changing careers from polymer engineering into SEO
22:15 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
24:50 | Getting hired at CAA
28:00 | Preparing for the interview process
28:40 | Hardest part of the job search
30:40 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
33:15 | How to balance user attention span vs. right amount of information for the user
Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
36:10 | Rookie mistake of using acronyms and jargon
38:50 | Lesson learned to practice patience
41:55 | Pro tip to share your ideas
The Hottest of Links and Resources 🔥
Connect with Reyhaneh (“Rihanna”) Hosseini: LinkedIn
Brands/organizations: Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) | CAA South Central Ontario | CAA Manitoba | TD Insurance
Marketing and media tools: Microsoft Excel | Google Analytics 4 (GA4) | Google Search Console | BrightEdge
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness

In his Year 1ne(ish), Alex works as a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Manager at Saatchi & Saatchi, a global advertising agency that’s part of the Publicis Group. I just under two years, he’s progressed through four roles in paid search advertising from SEM Intern to SEM Coordinator to SEM Specialist to SEM Manager. 📈
Some of the highlights from Alex and Blair’s chat include the progression of his four roles and what changed with each one, which brand stands out as the “king of content” by being memorable; and, why you need to spend the entire advertising budget you’re given.
In This Episode 🗣️
Alex’s Year 1ne @ Saatchi & Saatchi
1:30 | Introduction from Alex
2:15 | Overview of Saatchi & Saatchi
4:50 | Progressing from SEM Intern to SEM Manager
13:45 | The specifics of search marketing
17:00 | Essential software and tools
18:35 | Writing ads in Microsoft Excel?!?!
22:20 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
27:20 | Switching from sports management to digital marketing
29:30 | Why digital marketing?
31:00 | Getting hired at Saatchi & Saatchi
32:40 | Optimizing your LinkedIn profile
35:10 | Hardest part of the job search
37:30 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
39:40 | Rookie mistake that it’s easy to make small mistakes in paid search
40:45 | Pro tip as an Intern it’s all about learning
41:25 | Lesson learned to spend the media budget you’re given
The Hottest of Links and Resources 🔥
Connect with Alex Carter: LinkedIn
Brands/organizations: Saatchi & Saatchi | Publicis Group | Brock University | George Brown College | Red Bull
Marketing and media tools: Google Ads Editor | Google Ads | Google Search Ads 360 | Microsoft Advertising | Microsoft Excel
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness

In his Year 1ne, Zack works as an Assistant Brand Manager at General Mills, where he’s done marketing on cereal brands including Cheerios, Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.🥣
Some of the highlights from Zack and Blair’s chat include three different ways to deliver value to a customer, which player on the football field a brand manager would be; and, how Zack realizes how stupid he is every three months!
In This Episode 🗣️
Zack’s Year 1ne @ General Mills
1:40 | Introduction from Zack
2:30 | Overview of General Mills
4:45 | Working as an Assistant Brand Manager
7:10 | Does brand management include marketing communication?
9:30 | What does CPG mean?
10:10 | Managing a global brand like Cheerios
12:15 | Essential skills for a brand manager
15:50 | Developing your analytics skills
19:50 | Which football position is brand manager most like?
24:20 | Essential software and tools
26:15 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
31:50 | How to deliver value to consumers in a recession
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
34:50 | Getting hired at General Mills
39:00 | Trusting the process
40:15 | Hardest part of the job search
41:55 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
48:25 | Lesson learned becoming “slightly less stupid"
51:00 | Pro tip on writing fewer notes
53:50 | Lesson learned about Imposter Syndrome
56:20 | Lesson learned on ups and downs
The Hottest of Links and Resources 🔥
Connect with Zack Bloch: LinkedIn
Brands/organizations: General Mills | Cheerios | Ivey Business School | Labatt Breweries | Apple | Coca-Cola | Bubly
Marketing and media tools: Microsoft 365 | Nielsen | Tableau | ChatGPT
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness