Meet Trailblazer Mandy Eckford

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mandy Eckford.

Mandy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
You might say my story started right after college, on a cross-country road trip. My roommate and I went from Boston College to Colorado via Florida, California, Washington, and Montana. A spark of wanderlust ignited in me then, and even after that trip ended, and the next one began, my love for travel started to navigate the course of the rest of my career. I’m proud of the places I’ve worked and more importantly, I’ve worked in places I wanted to be. Taking on different landscapes, from California to New Zealand to Hong Kong, prepared me for an advertising landscape that was also changing. By that time in the industry, you didn’t need to be in a big city to take on the ad world anymore. So, returning to Colorado, the place I grew up, made sense. Although I knew the old mountainous terrain very well, the adventure was just beginning. A whole new world opened up with the opportunity to help found Fortnight Collective. Figuring out how to start a new small business would prove to be an epic journey.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nowadays, I say I have three children. One girl, one boy, and one Fortnight Collective.

No one can deny that helping start a new business from day one, based on a completely new concept, is a daunting challenge. After all, it’s not just figuring out a new advertising model on paper. It’s executing it in the real world and making the model actually work.

But you come to the very rock-solid conclusion– that success isn’t something you hope for. It’s something you have to believe is inevitable. You have to. You have to trust that with the help of people who have done it before, you will create this amazing thing. You just have to ask for advice, and so many others will jump to help. You also have to trust your gut. And above all else, don’t try to be something that you’re not, even if it means not everyone will like you.

As the days go on, the challenges never stop, but taking them on with those things in mind becomes instinctive.

What do you do? What do you specialize in?
I’m the Managing Director of Fortnight Collective, a full-service independent brand marketing accelerator focused on helping brands be better, faster. We believe that all you need to change the world is the right people and not enough time.

We weren’t out to trailblaze a new model for the sake of being trailblazers. It was a model that clients were asking for. But no one was doing it.

When we opened our doors in 2016, I was running the agency day-to-day while building out the client roster, which now includes brands like Patagonia, Nestlé, B Corp, Vail Resorts, Yasso, and Nike. It was in these early days that I set the standard, devised the systems, managed the multi-million-dollar P&L and created a culture that led to being named an Ad Age Small Agency of the Year in 2018 less than two years into our journey. And proudly, in a male-dominated industry, 77% of the total company and 75% of the leadership team are female.

Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
Growing up in Colorado, one thing my parents gave me is a mega work ethic. They found that tricky little ‘be relentless’ switch in me and turned it on. Yes, I learned to strive for the best. But what’s more, I learned everyone’s success is your success. So, if there is a job that needs your help, you don’t hesitate to roll up your sleeves. I think that kind of group loyalty and hard work extends to how we’ve made Fortnight Collective exist today. Where the expectations are high and fast, we never ever half-ass anything. As a model that depends on people working together, it is amazing how willing people are to strive for something greater than themselves. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1727 15th Street, Suite 200
  Boulder, CO 80305
• Website: www.fortnightcollective.com
• Email: mandy@fortnightcollective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fortnightcollective/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fortnightcollective/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/fortnightagency

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