Meet Karen Marshall

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Karen Marshall. Karen was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Kimberly Hogate.

Karen , thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
I’m a mum and I live with my husband and two teenaged boys on the coast in Devon, England. Our house looks out to sea, which is what I look at when I’m doing much of my thinking.

I grew up in The Lake District, Northern England, with a steady supportive family. My parents weren’t strict. I was rather my own person with little expectation or obligations set. I wasn’t expected to come home for Christmas or birthdays, go to a particular school, or have any set career. Just to be a decent person. The only rule I can remember was not to go on motorbikes, a rule I broke spectacularly (and even got myself a motorbike licence) sorry mum!

Because of their style of parenting, I grew without the weight of having to do anything. I just needed to get enough money to pay for what I wanted, and to enjoy my life, which is what I did. I finished school when I was 16, did a college course, then left home at 18 and moved across the country to Newcastle upon Tyne, the big city! I started my career in design, which moved onto marketing and tourism and when I felt confident enough, I set up my own marketing agency, which was just me, but I brought in designers, analysists, researchers etc when I needed then.

Then, 10 years ago we got stuck in the down turn. A lot of jobs were going where me and my husband lived and we could feel redundancy coming for my husband. We decided we wouldn’t wait to be pushed, so we made the decision to move down to Devon with our two little boys and even though I had a successful marketing business and I was well known, we left. It really did feel like starting again.

Since then I’ve continued my work in marketing and comms in the South West. The best advice I can pass on is to ask for what you want. If you see somewhere or something you want to get involved in, contact them and tell them what you want to do! Be specific, don’t just send a resume. Within a few months of arriving in Devon I was working in the region’s top museum, leading the Marketing and Audience Development Team. Amazing job with a ready made network of contacts and new friends!

I’ve worked for festivals, museums, arts organisations, an organic food company, venues, charities, initiatives… all sorts of organisations! I’ve had some excellent projects and through that time I’ve grown my skills, my knowledge, network and confidence.

Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
I’m one of those people who likes to try everything. How can people know what their thing is unless they’ve given a lot of things a good try? Or they’re one of those people who just know who and what they are from the off. I’m not one of those. I’ve been an art-worker, a waitress, a shop assistant (back in the days when people rented videos!), a marketing assistant, a graphic designer, a marketing manager, a gardener and landscaper, a tourism development manager, a business owner, a film producer, a silversmith, a t-shirt designer, a coach and a marketing consultant. I’ve been so lucky, I got my break into marketing, not through qualifications but being in the right place at the right time, getting a Marketing Assistant job for my print knowledge for Swallow Hotels. The hotel group was then bought out by Marriott Hotels, which allowed me to have a rather high flying corporate job at Marriott head office! Right now I’m an open water swim coach (I help people swim in the sea) and a marketing and audience development consultant. I work with Kim at Faceted Media in Denver supporting her in digital marketing. I’m telling you all this because I believe you don’t have to choose a job – or a career – and stick with it forever more. I think as you go through life you find out what makes you tick. It might be lots of elements which you can find in lots of roles. From my life so far I know. – I like working with people. It makes me happy when I engage with other people. – I love good design, colours, shapes and a nice font. – I enjoy a story and using journeys or narrative in marketing and communication to make business and products stand out. – I get a kick when people I work with thrive, if feels good. – I like writing strategies and doing some heavy thinking… a good plan is a wonderful thing – I want to keep learning and developing my skills – hence working for Faceted Media.

Kimberly Hogate and Faceted Media have been great to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship with them as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Kimberly Hogate and Faceted Media and your experience with them.
I started work with Kim at Faceted Media in February 2022. I noticed Kim because she had pinned the role on her passion as an entrepreneur of a socially conscious company and the client journey, not on a job description.

I’m based in the UK, Kim in Denver, so I wasn’t sure if the time difference, or culture, would be an issue, or if we would click, but I was interested enough to fill in her form and we met. Kim wants the people she works with to be happy and fulfilled and that comes across in everything she does. She is passionate about digital marketing and everything Faceted Media does is thoughtful and designed with the end goal in mind.

Together we make a good team. Kim is a self proclaimed geek, she loves digital and tech, she’s always looking at code, fixing issues, making system seamless and looking for new solutions. I like nothing better than finding out about people and what makes them tick. I’m curious about their business, why they started and their big goals. I like thinking about audiences and developing strategies. We thread in the socially conscious aspects to our work. That could be working with individuals who need a bit of extra support, charity work or joining up eco or environmentally strong businesses or just helping where help is needed. Generally doing the right thing. It’s not all about money.

Digital marketing across the world is fast and furious. You can do a million things in the blink of an eye, or a click of a finger. Faceted Media is different. Oh I’m not saying that things aren’t done quickly and proactively… it’s just that at Faceted Media things aren’t done lightly. I say the business is thoughtful. We believe in doing everything right. Strong actions, tailored to the individual business, designed to get them noticed by the right people. .

You need to work with Faceted Media if you want a one stop digital shop. We work with business who are new and do everything from marketing strategy, branding, web design, print, social, messaging, video editing… all tied up with SEO. Equally we work with people to make their marketing work harder, reviewing where they are and delivering new improved strategy.

We work hard to get out clients visible in the big world, digital, but human.

We love what we do and you’ll feel that if you meet us. It can be lonely working for yourself, we can help when things become overwhelming or confusing. We are here for a virtual cup of tea and a chat. Kim loves a bit of business therapy!

Website: facetedmedia.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faceted.media/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/facetedmedia/