Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash
Hi, I’m Michelle Higgins. I’m a marketing Jill of all trades with a specialty in social media, video, and special events. I’ve marketed in industries as diverse as film, circus, musical theatre, and now mechanical seals.
I grew up with marketing in the air around me since my father worked in it and often invited his employees over for meetings at our house. One of his employees, Betty, would let me sit in her lap for the whole meeting, so the concept of marketing has lived inside my brain since I was very young. In college, my friends and I ran an independent film company. We would spend months sometimes years on productions but when the premiere came, our audience was almost entirely family and friends. So I switched gears and started applying my marketing knowledge. I learned a lot that way through trial and error.
What I learned is that marketing is about building relationships. Which is what lead to my first job being paid for my marketing skills. As a sometimes actress, I was connected with photographers who were new to Chicago for headshots. As we got talking, they discovered that I helped run a company and asked if I would host a table at their upcoming screening. That day I brought my usual stuff, as well as a baking tray and bags of Jewel chocolate chip cookies. The cookies would draw people over and then they felt like they needed to listen to my spiel. This got the attention of their Marketing Director. Months later when I was looking for a new day job, she was looking for an assistant.
That was 2012 and things have only gotten more excited since including my time as Director of Marketing at Drury Lane Theatre. How has your marketing been working for you?
MarketingMichelle 