Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Ballard.
Hi Kristen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I found my way to marketing, but started my career as a teacher. I taught for 10 years as an elementary teacher, and now have progressed to guiding, teaching and managing a team – whether it’s marketing or education, teaching has weaved its way into my career one way or another.
I founded Fort Worth eMedia, a digital marketing agency, in 2012 with my father and worked with many incredible small businesses and local brands. We focused on digital marketing strategies and campaigns, building their social media brand and online presence through social media advertising, data analytics and email marketing campaigns.
In 2021, I moved to the corporate space at TTI, Inc as the social media marketing specialist. I really enjoyed working in the corporate setting for a successful Berkshire Hathaway company and getting marketing experience in a large-scale corporate setting. I was promoted to content marketing manager and managed a team responsible for the content marketing strategy and social media strategy at TTI Americas. I found a love for corporate events, corporate communication and cross-functional collaborative projects.
This last year was full of changes as my husband took a new job and our family moved south to Waco, TX. I am incredibly excited to have found a home at Heart of Texas Goodwill as their Marketing/PR Director. My team manages the brand, the PR and social media, executes events as well as the retail marketing campaigns. Each day is different and that is probably my favorite thing about marketing in general!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think you learn or experience much from a “smooth road”. The bumps along the way are where the learning happens! In the early days, it was sometimes a struggle to convince business owners to invest in social media. I always said if I wrote a book, I would title it “What is a hashtag?” because that was overwhelmingly the question I got more than any other!
Nowadays, I believe a marketer’s struggle lies in being heard amongst all the “noise”. Everyone has a presence online now, so your job as a social media specialist, a content marketing manager or a Marketing Director is find the right platforms and create consistent and creative messaging that tells your story.
We’ve been impressed with Heart of Texas Goodwill , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Heart of Texas Goodwill is made up of 13 stores in the region (serving 20 counties, from Waco to College Station), plus 5 community connects that offer job training, job placement and various classes for upskilling and training.
Most people are not aware, but the profits from the Goodwill stores fund the mission programs and services. When you shop or donate, you are doing so much more than recycling or thrifting. Heart of Texas Goodwill provides job training and job placement services for all through our mission services and programs. The tagline is so true – Shop, Donate, Change Lives!
Our Goodwill is celebrating 70 years this year! Goodwill has been providing services since 1955 in the heart of Texas region.
What I want people to know is the vision behind the brand. Everyone knows the retail stores and they are our “bread and butter”, because we need the stores to further our mission and vision.
Our mission is “To facilitate change through skills training and work opportunities”.
Our vision is – “That all people are living their full potential and capable of contributing to their community”.
Another thing that people may not know is Goodwill’s are autonomous; each region has its own Board of Directors, President and CEO. They are all run autonomously, but are provided valuable resources from Goodwill Industries International, the global brand. We are not run by that global brand, and we are not connected to the other Goodwill’s in the state.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Whether it’s good or bad, it’s all an opportunity. When Covid hit, I took it as an opportunity to grow my skills and experience and enter the world of corporate marketing. When my husband had a new job opportunity that required us to relocate, I took it as an opportunity to take the next step in my career and lead my own marketing team. Opportunities show themselves all the time – it’s not easy, but take those opportunities. It may be the best decision you ever made, but at the very least, you will learn some valuable lessons.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hotgoodwill.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenballard/
