Head of Content @ LASSO | Co-host of That's Marketing, Baby | Delivering daily cheat codes for small content teams

I'm a creative director turned content marketer and strategist with more than 20 years of experience conceptualizing and executing breakthrough work for B2C brands like Eggo, Rice Krispies, Blue Cross, Cottonelle, and McDonald’s, and B2B brands like Fastly and Island.

I have a knack for leading cross-functional teams toward a common goal, bringing order to the oft-chaotic creative process, crafting insight-driven global campaigns, and bringing stories to life via long- and short-form content.

Jess Cook

I've worked with a lot of talented people over the years.
 
But every once in a while, you meet someone who just 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵 in every way that matters.
 
Annalisa Rodriguez is one of those people.

I had the privilege of working with her for a short time at Fastly.
 
And this week, she joined Vector 👻 as our Sr. Content Marketer Manager — a sentence that makes me so happy I could cry.
 
Annalisa has a journalism background that shows in everything she touches. Long-form, repurposing, content design... she's equally amazing at all of it.
 
But what makes her truly special is her ability to take the things people 𝘴𝘢𝘺, turn them into content that makes readers 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭, and connect it all to results when buyers 𝘢𝘤𝘵.

(Read: not a common skill.)

Bonus: she's already vibing with us in Slack, and keeping our cat-loving hearts fed with pics and videos of her kitties, Oreo and Darkness. 😻
 
With Annalisa on the squad, we now have four marketers at Vector. And for the first time, a real three-legged stool:
 
→ Product marketing 
→ Demand gen 
→ Content

(i.e. I feel like I just collected ALL OF THE POKEMON.)

Annalisa's going to be sharing how she builds content here at Vector. You'll want a front-row seat for that, so go give her a follow.

Then stand back, 'cause sparks are 'bout to fly, y'all.

3 years ago, ChatGPT was supposed to kill content marketing jobs. Instead, content marketers are becoming CMOs.
 
That's not a coincidence.
 
In the age of AI, anyone can spin up a landing page, launch a campaign, or generate long-form content in minutes.
 
That's useful. Really.
 
But it's also made one skill more valuable than ever: storytelling.
 
The marketers who understand how to build a brand, create ownable content, and connect with an audience in a way that AI can't replicate—those are the people snagging seats at the table.

And not just in content, but across 👏 every. 👏 single. 👏 marketing. 👏 discipline.
 
(I shared more on Behind Good Content with Peter Conforti recently. Peep the clip!)
 
In fact, it's the skill I'm building Vector's entire marketing team around.
 
👾 Alex Virden is the most story-focused PMM you will ever meet. She doesn't just "do positioning"—she crafts narratives, messaging, and truly delightful content that make marketers feel seen and our product make sense.
 
Kelly Arndt's content background means he gets something most demand gen marketers miss: storytelling makes or breaks your demand gen activities. You can have the perfect targeting and the slickest automation. But if your message doesn't connect emotionally? None of it matters.
 
As B2B gets more crowded and products become more commoditized, storytellers ARE the differentiator.
 
And if you're one of us? Lean into those skills. They're more valuable than you think.

Just back from an incredible week at Above the Fold where I ran six content workshops over two days. I have but three pieces of photo evidence I was even there.

1) Schnitzel dinner with my ride or die agency guy, Justin Dunham. We've had two Zoom calls a week for nearly 5 years straight and had yet to meet in person. It was worth the wait. (For both the hang and the schnitzel.)

2) Got to meet my buddy from across the pond, Luke Winter - the man, the myth, the legend behind our "Next best way" ads. We talked shop (obvi), and concerts, and about what we do when we're not at our desks. His hair is just as fab in real life.

3) My parents were also flying out of Detroit at the same time as me - something we only realized a few days before. So we met up for an early bird special before boarding. They paid, of course, because I'm only 42. 🥰

So glad I went. So glad to be home. So ready for this damn snow to melt.

I've been a VP for all of 4 weeks.

And I'm obsessed with learning from leaders ahead of me.
 
The shift from "doing all the things" to "leading the people who do all the things" is real. I love it. But I also know there's so much more to learn.
 
Which is why I am counting down the days until Exit Five's Marketing Leadership Retreat in March.

I want to see how seasoned VPs and CMOs are building their teams, scaling high-impact programs, actually using AI (not the LinkedIn version, the real version), and proving brand value to skeptical CFOs.

Not so I can copy them, but so I can put them to work in a way that makes sense for Vector 👻.
 
March 18-20 in Paradise Valley, AZ.
 
I'll be the Hermione of the group: taking a bajillion notes and being way too eager to ask questions.
 
If you're going, let's connect. I'd love to meet you!

If you want to go, there are still a few tickets left! 
You can get yours here: https://lnkd.in/gXdGx4u3

I have a rule I live by in marketing: Test small before executing big.

It's why I ran an influencer pilot before making it a full program.
Tested new messaging in ads before our repositioning launch.
And why I'm so excited about what we're announcing today...

Vector 👻 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝗱𝘀. 🎉 

Here's the metaphor that's been living in my head for this:

Clay is the proving ground. 🏁
It's where GTM teams experiment with signals, build enrichment workflows, test what actually predicts buying behavior, and figure out which audiences are worth activating.

Vector is the Autobahn. 🚗
Once you know what works? You open it up. Contact-level targeting, live audience updates, suppression logic that actually follows your buyers—running modern ads playbooks at full speed.

This isn't hypothetical for us.

It's exactly how Kelly and Sara have been building Vector’s ads program.

• Kelly uses Vector to identify accounts and contacts signaling intent. 
• Sara uses Clay to enrich and score those ICP contacts. 
• Then, they use Vector to activate those contacts across LinkedIn and Google, keeping our paid targeting aligned to real buyer signals as they move through the funnel.

When your team’s already living the use case, you know you're onto something.

Grab some time to see it in action: https://lnkd.in/eugn7rJh

I love a good Uno reverse. 

Especially when it's aimed at Joshua Perk 👻.

In the season two finale (!!!) of This Meeting Could've Been a Podcast, Josh and I take you through our entire website redesign process: from the awkward "you literally told me no when I suggested this six months ago" conversation (haha), to how we worked with our design agency to build the new look and feel, to the 37-item launch checklist 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 (Josh) did not see coming.

But one of my favorite takeaways from the entire project goes a little something like this...

The second someone lands on your site, they start to form an opinion about your product. 𝗔𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
 
They assume the same level of polish and thought put into your website go into your product, too.
😒 If the design feels dated, they assume the product UI is clunky.
😒 If product screen shots feel too mocked up, they assume the product isn't robust enough.
😒 If it's hard to figure out what you do, they assume the product is just as convoluted.

A lot of teams either go full nuclear on a redesign and lose everything distinctive about their brand, or they're so precious about what they have that the "redesign" is just a fresh coat of paint on the same old house.
 
So when Josh and I sat down to figure out what to actually change, we built three buckets.
 
𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝟭: 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽. These are the things that make you you. The stuff your audience would immediately recognize and miss if it disappeared. You don't want to lose them—you want to evolve them. Same personality, better haircut. For us: Ghostie, bright colors, bold statements with a wink.
 
𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝟮: 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽. These are the things that aren't bad, exactly—they're just limiting. They paint you into a corner or kill your flexibility, even if people associate them with your brand. For us: super saturated color usage that made text basically impossible to read.
 
𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝟯: 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲. These are the things actively working against you. They're building a perception you don't want—making you look smaller or less sophisticated than you actually are. No sentimentality. They gotta go. For us: all-caps headlines and ghost visuals in spots that should have had actual product screenshots.

The reason I love this framework is it gives you permission to make bold changes while protecting the things that actually matter. Before we kicked off the project with our design agency, Josh and I literally listed out which parts of our brand fell into which bucket. It made every every design decision after that so much cleaner. 🤌

The FULL second season of is out now! Just search This Meeting Could've Been a Podcast.

Some learning curves only make sense after you’ve lived them.


Funnel Vision was supposed to be 𝘵𝘩𝘦 thing for Vector 👻. Six months of building. A slick product UI. A beautiful narrative about contact-level intent. Launch posts. Playbooks. Customer testimonials. A scroll-stopping GIF with ghosts shooting lasers out of their eyes.
 
And then we killed it.
 
As a copywriter, you get used to having your darlings killed. But this one hurt differently.

It had been the entire company's full focus for two solid quarters, and we all believed in it wholeheartedly.

But when the data shows most customers aren't finding value, you listen.
 
The new episode of 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 is about what happened when we swung for the fences with Funnel Vision—and missed.
 
What broke (besides our hearts lol).
How we told 180+ customers.
Why it was the right call.
And how making the wrong decision led us to exactly where we needed to be.

P.S. Sorry not sorry for swearing at you, Joshua Perk 👻

"We need an explainer video," is one of the most exciting and anxiety-inducing things a marketer can hear.

They can take forever.
They can be expensive.
They usually require buy-in from everyone and their mother.
And, because of all of the above, they need to last a while.

BUT, if you get it right, the payoff can be massive.

Because a great explainer video doesn't just educate—it gets people excited: 
"Oh my gosh, this is a different way of doing things. I want to try it." 
"They're fixing that thing that's driven me insane!"
"That was cool. I want to see more from these people." 

And if you're building something category-defining, like we are at Vector 👻, they're 10,000% worth the effort.

HUGE shout out to João Freitas and his team at MezzoLab Studio, for not only being the brilliant minds behind the video, but also making the process FUN.

If you've ever wondered...


what the inside of Vector actually looks like, how it works, and what this whole contact-level advertising thing is all about...

then Thursday, March 5 is your lucky day. 

In our first-ever Booooo-t Camp, our mother of Customer Solutions, Ally Saylor will show you the three most impactful plays you can run inside of Vector 👻.

1. Visualize who visits your site from target accounts 
2. See which ICP clicks on your paid ads
3. Create an ad audience of your entire ICP

Be sure to hydrate. 'Cause your campaigns are 'bout to get SHREDDED: https://lnkd.in/ehJJQcbN

ivrygold

Your path to a better business and life starts here | Empowering and Equipping Entrepreneurial Women, who've experienced Trauma, Triggers, and Mental Health Challenges, to thrive in business and life.

ivrygold is now Inc. verified!

ivrygold works with Women & Survivors of Trauma who are current and aspiring business owners, turning vision and goals into long-term revenue growth through 1:1 and Mastermind Small Group Coaching.

We also help growing businesses during growth stage to plan and establish recruiting processes, employer branding and talent attraction strategies, and onboarding and training systems. 

Launch Business Bootcamp was put together to make launching your new passive stream of income or business idea simple. This step-by-step intensive 1:1 coaching experience will help you build the foundation of your Business, Brand, and Offer and Launch with confidence in just 3 working sessions.

The Womanpreneur Lab, our flagship program, was designed for Entrepreneur Women with Trauma and Triggers, to help them streamline their businesses and passion projects, setting them up with the right foundations to scale… All while keeping Mental Health top of mind 💙

Let’s work together and collaborate! Visit ivrygold.co to schedule a quick intro chat or email ashley@ivrygold.co




Revenue Growth Partner | Execution Strategy | Project Management | Marketing | Brand Strategy | Brand Marketing | Personal Brand | Fractional and Interim Employment Services | Business Mentor | AI Workshops | Marketing Workshops | Business Workshops | Community Mentorship

Founder, Consultant, Coach

Founder Mental Health Pledge

Founder Mental Health Pledge is an coalition of startup investors, founders, and leaders coming together to destigmatize and encourage mental healthcare for founders and the greater startup community as a business imperative. Visit FounderPledge.com to learn more and take the pledge.


________________________

Founders make countless sacrifices at the expense of their mental health.

They are more likely to suffer from:

2X Suicidal Thoughts & Depression 
10X Bipolar Disorder
3X Addiction
6X ADHD

My company, ivrygold's mission is Empowering and Equipping Women, with Trauma, Triggers, and Mental Health Challenges, to Thrive in Business and Life.

And rightfully so,

That's why I have committed to the "Founder Mental Health Pledge" - To make mental health a business priority.

Join me and 677 others in dedication to a better focus on Mental Health for Business Founders, leaders, and teams 💙

Member

WhiteFlag

As a WhiteFlag Ambassador, I am an advocate and voice for a unique and groundbreaking platform dedicated to fostering support, connection, and empathy within its community. 

WhiteFlag is a free, anonymous, peer-to-peer support app designed to offer a safe space for individuals seeking support, understanding, or simply a listening ear.

Learn more and join the community at https://www.whiteflagapp.com

Ambassador & Investor

Free Skin Co

This brand took a road of its own, going down a beautiful philanthropic path with high demand that was never expected 💙 Closed temporarily for rebrand — Will announce the relaunch when we’re there! 

Free Skin Co combines our founder, Ashley's, love and passion for skincare with clean ingredients that work for sensitive and acne-prone skin with her drive to improve the mental health.

Though our Self Care Packs for Survivors Program, 30% of all profits are donated to improving the mental health and healing process for survivors of child sexual abuse, sexual assault, trauma, and PTSD 💙

Founder

Protis Global

For over 25 years, Protis Global has been recognized as a leading global search firm in the Consumer Goods industry. Our years spent understanding the professional, personal and financial motivators for candidates allows us to deliver against the needs of Fortune 500’s and start-ups alike.

Key Industries Served:
Consumer Package Goods (CPG), Banking, Global Food & Beverage, Food Tech, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Adult Beverage, Cannabis, Hospitality, Media and Beauty

Director, Brand and Marketing

Portobello America

At Portobello America I was responsible for leading all aspects of brand positioning, product marketing and creative development. 
These responsibilities included creative strategy, development and execution of new product lines and special programs, planning and executing 2-3 annual brand events, development of department and project SOPs for cross-functional internal team and eternal vendors, lead product photography, videography and 3D rendering development, vendor onboarding and management, new client onboarding and more.
Assisted with development of website, digital product apps, and customer apps to enforce brand integrity and proper content strategy
Reported directly to the CEO.

Portobello America is a solutions-oriented innovator and leader in the tile industry. Portobello America is part of Portobello's internationalization strategy in the US based in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Brand and Marketing, North America

Robert Half

Recruiting Manager with Robert Half Finance & Accounting, the world’s first and largest specialized financial recruitment service. 

Full-desk recruiting role included high volume B2B cold calls for client job orders, as well as responsibility to source, interview and prep candidates for matched positions.

Recruiting Manager

Septic Maxx

I was hired with this company to lead the IT partner to develop an inbound marketing and EDI system to increase company revenue and productivity, and decrease payroll overhead.
I additionally spearheaded the company's brand overhaul: Rebranded all product packing, logo, website, social media, SEO and internal training to coincide with the new EDI and inbound leads project 
In this role I also oversaw all day-to-day operations of the business and was responsible for a complete branding overhaul for the company. 
Directly managed leadership team of 4 and oversaw 65+ employees 
Leadership development and mentoring of managers and department leads
Management of manufacturers and distributors to create and manage products for multiple lines and sister companies (residential telemarketing, retail, and commercial products)

Director, Marketing and Operations

Visionary Brand Management, Inc.

Tactical brand management for internal teams and external messaging for product and talent marketing, inbound marketing, social media and ad management, SEO development and monitoring, website design, graphic design for small-medium sized companies. Hubspot Inbound Certified agency. 

In this role I was responsible for managing a team of four, customer life-cycle management, defining and building brand guidelines and playbooks for clients, establishing KPIs and brand strategy, overseeing client account progression, project management, creative development and GTM execution over my team.   

ABOUT VISIONARY BRAND MANAGEMENT
Visionary Brand Management is a full service digital branding agency committed to providing a pleasurable & results-oriented experience for our clients. We were designed around creating marketing that people love.

Founder, Head of Brand Strategy & Marketing

Cydcor

The Brand Operations Manager (BOM) role was a concept I was lucky enough to assist in the development of. During my time as a Recruiting Manager, Social Media for business was just coming into existence and I started experimenting with building websites, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Twitter and blogs from a Talent Marketing perspective. It was so successful at our local office that I began to also assist our 30+ other franchise locations in the USA and assisted in the development of this new program for 300+ locations with the corporate office in California.

Brand Operations Manager

Award-winning and pace-setting recruiter. Responsible for making 100-150 cold and warm calls per day in order to recruit new employees for multiple sales locations throughout the country. Regular keynote speaker at national meetings/conferences with over 5000 attendees. Assisted in development and launch of innovative ATS used at hundreds of sales offices in North America. Creating, posting & managing job ads. Conducting in-person and telephone interviews, hiring new employees, and training new employees. Preparing teams for new location openings, office management, large-scale team management and leadership development training, payroll, social media management. Created and assisted in launch of new promotion structures and business opportunities for future employees.

Direct, face-to-face sales and marketing account manager. Worked with B2B customers, handling new account acquisitions, customer retention, and marketing. Trained new employees, conducted interviews, led meetings and business trips, and managed a team of 3. Promoted to Recruiter & HR Manager after exceeding sales goals and setting nationwide company records in the field.

B2B Account Manager

Empowering & Teaching Women and Trauma Survivors to transform passions & experiences → From triggers to 6+Fig business & career they love | Mental health first 💙 | Mastermind & 1:1 Coaching, Personal Brand, Skincare

My name is Ashley Pereira, and I am the woman talking about the things "you aren't supposed to talk about." Like Abuse, Assault, Trauma, Suicide Prevention, Mental Health, and Women’s Empowerment. 

As a survivor of abuse and failed suicide, my mission is to empower women and trauma survivors to elevate their confidence, achieve balance, and thrive in business and life. 

While I am an accomplished Brand and Marketing Leader by profession, helping new businesses to launch or enter the US market, expand their programs and solutions, align internal teams for better Buyer Experience, streamline for scalability, and lead CRM implementation,

I am also the . . .

▪️Founder of ivrygold — Coach to Entrepreneur Women & Survivors of Trauma 
▪️Co-founder and co-host of The Worthy Woman  
▪️Co-creator of Sell Me Your Story Workshop

I'm a little obsessed with my kids, enjoying life, laughing as much as possible, curiosity, and Business, Recruiting, Brand, and Marketing Strategy, with a heavy emphasis on Personal Brand and Mental Health, and the common skincare-obsessed chat.

__________________

To book me as a guest for a podcast, speaking engagement, or to work with me please email: hello@ashleypereira.me

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Jess Cook

Ashley Pereira

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The Battle

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Likes

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