Questions + Answers

Hi everyone!

This is a compilation of questions + answers related to my skills & interests. The questions are originally inspired by Jelly Marketing, an award-winning Digital Marketing & PR firm providing digital ads, social media, SEO, & public relations services to brands in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. There’s a lot to absorb, but it will help you to understand who I am and the way that I work.

Enjoy!

PART I

My primary aim is to help you find answers to questions like  –

  1. What is your company trying to accomplish?
  2. What is making that hard?
  3. Why is artistic work important to your company?

My focus is to help your company advance and excel. Together, we can find answers like –

  1. You aim for growth through innovation.
  2. You consider the competition and how quickly digital technologies transform.
  3. You trust in the artistic process and you pursue projects that impact a larger picture.

Skills that I can contribute –

  • Solid communication
  • Diligence; resourceful in any situation
  • Knowledge of running a business
  • Knowledge of digital marketing
  • Ownership and management of a professional network
  • Ability to define goals and targets within a time frame
  • Ability to translate and express a company’s core values, mission statement and vision
  • Ability to realize the possibilities & outcomes of failure and success
  • Understanding of boundaries and how to approach challenges
  • Ability to make compelling cases to satisfy buyer requirements
  • Willing to be a team player and work well independently
  • Willing to serve the business, so the business can serve the customer

What I enjoy doing –

  1. Conducting research or any inquiry-based process that involves identifying a question, gathering information, analyzing and evaluating evidence, drawing conclusions, and sharing the knowledge gained.
  2. Writing stories using different styles and tones. Creating graphics that speak to the current state of culture and trend. Organizing my day according to a structure that promotes happiness and wellness.
  3. Applying art and communication strategies toward brand development in a transparent, accurate and responsible way. I am very passionate about branding!

The list below contains projects I executed for VanWhistle Media. Also, see Project Documents page.

  1. 1st Meeting Form
  2. AdWords vs SEO
  3. Business Awareness Campaign
  4. Brand Concept Kit
  5. Complete Branding Package
  6. Contract Templates
  7. Core Concepts & Marketing Approach
  8. Digital Marketing Plan
  9. Digital Presence Model
  10. Example of Project Scope Statement
  11. High Value & Best Value Price Sheets
  12. Letter of Engagement Template
  13. Media Kit
  14. Mission History Market
  15. Proposal Templates
  16. Sales Call & Email Scripts
  17. Services One Pager
  18. Step by Step SEO Guide

Words to describe me –

  1. Digital Specialist
  2. Creative Engine
  3. Brand Strategist
  4. Art Director
  5. Pavement Pounder

I am open to different styles of project management and have experience in the style below –

Planning projects bottom-up

Bottom-up project planning is when upper management does not communicate the project objectives to the team. The team identifies the project’s objectives and the corresponding tasks, which are then sorted into various activities and work packages. Based on the identified tasks, the project manager will create a project plan and schedule.

Advantages

The advantage of bottom-up planning is that team members, i.e. people who are actively working on the project, have a say in the project planning and decisions are made collaboratively. This will improve team communication/building, and will also empower team members. As a result, the team will be motivated to do their best in order to achieve project goals. Identifying tasks first can lead to a more detailed project plan, and potentially, a more accurate schedule.

Disadvantages

Because the project plan is more detailed, the planning phase can be more time and effort consuming, compared to the top-down approach. So bottom-up planning may not be suitable for time-sensitive projects. Bottom-up planning also requires a clearly defined scope (workflow) and control process (optimization), otherwise, it’s at risk of becoming unmanageable.

PART II

List some examples of your leadership in the past 5 years –

  1. Developed the brand identity/strategy, core concepts, sales foundation & marketing collateral of a digital marketing startup agency. This was a 6-month contract with VanWhistle Media, based in New Westminster, BC, owned by Charles Yun.
  2. Created a business model (Digital Presence) to help acquire new customers and illustrate VanWhistle Media‘s vision and mission statement. A formal document was created alongside a PowerPoint presentation.
  3. Ran a business awareness campaign (#ourlocalcrew) on Instagram (@vanwhistlemedia18) to feature local businesses, owners and locations. This helped to establish a target audience and encouraged business growth & community involvement. It also facilitated lead qualification – for every 5 participants, 1 would qualify as a lead.
  4. Managed (working with other cross-functional departments) corporate enterprise accounts to ensure daily operation levels were met and/or exceeded. This included scheduling targeted billing reviews (e.g., FMC Technologies) and running regular reports (Salesforce, CCC Portal) to extrapolate relevant billing analytics. Ranked 1st on a team of 35, based on metrics like productivity and customer experience. Accounts included: Lafarge Canada, Aritzia, The Brick, Enbridge Inc., TransCanada Corporation (now TC Energy), Nova Chemicals (see videos), Tarpon Energy, Trotter & Morton, Houle Electric, Husky Energy, The Jim Pattison Group, Canwel Building Materials Group Ltd, Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited, The Calgary Stampede, Van Kam Freightways Ltd., Sysco Corporation and more.
  5. Supported national sales teams by providing creative solutions to critical problems. This resulted in several contract renewals and solidified customer loyalty and trust. For example, Nutrien (previously Agrium Inc.) is a major retail supplier that delivers important agricultural nutrients and industrial products across North and South America. Acting as a mediator, I effectively communicated the client’s needs to the parties involved, and we were able to develop a workable solution that aligned with Bell’s service protocols and newly established mandates for Wi-Fi Calling. As a result, pilots were able to test the new service and establish a connection with company executives. As the world’s largest provider of crop inputs, services and solutions, this communication link was an important technical requirement for Nutrien and my responsiveness closed their contract renewal within days.
  6. Created PowerPoint presentations, one based on the best-selling business novel, Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. The content was shared with team members to help identify decision-making processes and ways to approach change in the workplace. This increased morale and helped team members feel a sense of pride in their work. The presentation also disclosed personal communication opportunities for frontline agents and team leaders.
  7. Led group presentations (How to use an iPhone vs Android device) and discussions on technologies relating to a mobile device deployment project for a major account win (City of Vancouver). This tested my ability to communicate using relatable terms rather than technological jargon, as well as, work on one-to-one interactions with the client and end-users.
  8. Volunteered as a team leader for a health and fitness initiative (run by Four Bentall Centre, a building managed by Bentall Kennedy, now BentallGreenOak). Engaged with employees to participate and have fun. Teams tracked steps with a counter and data was logged daily, then compared to other national teams’ results.
  9. Led a creative business partnership (Bubbles + Blocks with Shanaz Boake) focused on building community identity, promoting work and advertising events. Supported local artists and musicians (e.g., Snowspeeders/snowboarding apparel company, Conz/graffiti artist, Hi-Fi Club/nightclub and live music venue) to collectively launch an underground, creative transformation.
  10. Led through one-of-a-kind content creation with business identity Blox. Communications, blog ChonaBLOX (www.chonafecanlas.com) and Instagram account BLOX (@chona_canlas). Each platform passionately presents content, concepts and strategies to provide insight into new modes of thinking in the fields of branding, marketing and sales. My aim is to impact Western culture and in due course, Western medicine by exploring and documenting ‘Global Comprehension’. Global Comprehension is the idea that we can only truly comprehend our human experience now by analyzing the digital condition of our life and environment today. Ultimately, our culture and society would be equipped with revolutionary tools to eradicate negative modes of thinking and being. This includes social and communicative challenges like self-image, self-esteem, body dysmorphia and other psychological conditions. The two main components I am focused on exploring are Artificial Intelligence (using right-brained applications) and Critical Mass.

What kind of account manager are you?

I manage tasks using strong organizational and problem-solving skills. I am positively optimistic and engaged. I am tough, determined, adaptable and personable. I am dedicated to creating Simpler & Larger solutions for both the Seller & Buyer.

As a dedicated communicator, I thrive on art + creative direction, working interdependently and evaluating work for the team. I am focused on developing an approach or balanced strategy that will ultimately contribute toward business sustainability.

A business or brand should consider three marketing mainstays – profitability, scalability and customer experience. I strive to make change happen (quote inspired by Seth Godin) each and every day and I will say it again – my goal is to be able to successfully develop and deliver a business model that will output results.

How do you manage expectations on a team?

I believe that we must build strong relationships with everyone around us (integrity) and promote skillful, powerful and collaborative storytelling (synergy) each step of the way.

Here’s one example –

In between school and deciding on a career (2007), I took a part-time job at a fine dining restaurant called Muse in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I managed expectations in a couple of ways. 1 – I had to release my expectations to learn something new in an unfamiliar environment. 2 – The kitchen and cooks had one objective – to produce a superior meal within a specific time frame. I managed their expectations by setting up systems to ensure this objective was met.

They did not have time to instruct. Their priority was to uphold the quality of their product and service time frame. The group’s overall expectation or goal was to accomplish its priority. So, I quickly developed a strong and assertive voice to call out tasks and this helped to lead the team in a productive and systematic manner. Suddenly, we all knew where we were, physically and mentally. And the more efficiently the back-end ran, the better the front-end ran and this was (in our kitchen) a continual process that made staff happy, customers satisfied and the dining experience topnotch.

What is an example of a campaign you were involved in?

I ran a social media business awareness campaign for VanWhistle Media called #ourlocalcrew. Its aim was to facilitate first meeting bookings and add qualified leads to our sales pipeline. I created scripts that were distributed via cold email, Facebook Messenger and/or Instagram DM. Each month, a list of potential businesses was compiled. Our goal was to feature 1 business per week. The feature was comprised of an original photographic portrait (shot by me) and short biography answering 2 questions. On average, for every 5 businesses we visited, 1 would convert into a lead.

To track progress, we had an Excel spreadsheet and a ‘Success Tracker’ which noted ideal experiences for future improvements. For example, we featured a high-end consignment retail store in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Shameless Resale). We developed a relationship with the owner and had the opportunity to forge new projects within a specialized niche (brick and mortar retail) and with a marketable psychographic (Vancouver trend buyers).

For myself, success was measured by creating valuable rapport and spreading positive feedback about our local community (reciprocal brand awareness). We were pleased to share this engagement within our professional network. At the time, it was only me and the owner plugging away, so we empowered each other through huddles, brainstorms and working in tandem to inspire some radical outcomes (i.e.: bringing an ‘old school’ business Bigfoot Industry Supply Ltd into the new age).

How would you define and differentiate excellence + perfection?

Excellence is quantitative. Perfection is qualitative. The measurement of either is something we produce. We have a choice to create standards (of excellence) or labels (of perfection).

For example, imagine a girl concerned about her self-image. She can measure ‘self-image excellence’ by weighing herself on a scale. She can yearn to be a certain weight or try her best to stay within a healthy range. Excellence is thus measured quantitatively; she has a choice to create a standard that is negative (I need to weigh this much) or positive (I’m doing great; my goal is to be within this range for optimal health).

On the other end, she can measure ‘self-image perfection’ by how she perceives her reflection in a mirror. She can yearn to see a certain reflection or try her best to be happy with what she’s observing. Perfection is thus measured qualitatively; she has a choice to create a label that is negative (I hate what I see; I look overweight) or positive (I look great; I like this part of my appearance).

In my opinion, excellence supersedes perfection. For example, excellence would be akin to taking courses to elevate your educational background, whereas perfection could be a competitive environment that purports levels of knowledge or social influence based on the measurement of ‘immeasurable things’, like beauty or to a certain extent content.

A brand strategist’s work is to strike a balance between what’s excellent (objective) and perfect (subjective). This particular exploration establishes certain levels of supply and demand in order to suit a professional or personal context.

What is the importance of branding?

A brand strategist should continually analyze the relationship of a brand to its creator (style), owner (viability) and audience (acceptance). The magic happens when several different departments come together to win for one team!

What will you contribute to our team culture?

I am a lifelong learner. I soak up information and love to receive training from the skilled and experienced. I realize that I must be humble to gain proper footing with any agency. I can contribute as a writer, artist and designer. I will take care of our team by encouraging effective discourse and synergistic collaboration. I love to proofread, edit and create my own designs. My intention is to ensure messaging is communicated transparently, accurately and responsibly.

Thanks for taking the time to read these questions + answers. I’m open to having a further discussion, let’s chat!