Escalon Services, Inc.

Presidents Club 2023 136% of plan
Full Cycle Account Executive -Working with VC backed companies in the CPG, Life Science, and Tech Industries

Account Executive

Paylocity

I worked with Major and Emerging accounts to streamline their technology relating to automation of business administrations. Pioneered several Enterprise level relationships between Paylocity and companies such as Deloitte, and brokered new API connection partnerships with several insurance and financial advisory firms.

Major Account Executive

I specialized in providing small business owners solutions for their Human Resource and Payroll needs. Additionally I promoted strong business to business relationships, and network within accountant firms to provide their clients with compliance and regulatory peace of mind.

Centric District Manager

Centric Associate District Manager

East West Bank

Business Banking Relationship Manager

American Motorcyclist Association

Competed nationally and internationally in motocross and supercross. Ranked 13th in the world, 2005.

Professional Motocross Racer

VC backed Startup Advisor

Banking, Insurance, and Financial Consulting from Fortune 40 through Startup.- Licensed Insurance Agent - MDRT Awardee - 4 time National Motocross Champion - 4 time Presidents Club Achiever - ADP, Paylocity, Escalon

With over 14 years of experience as a startup advisor, I bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise in venture capital, accounting, banking, HR, payroll, insurance, recruiting, managing, and financial advising. 

I have helped dozens of startups achieve success and growth by providing strategic guidance, financial advice, and operational support. I am passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and helping them navigate the challenges of building and scaling their businesses.

Randall Hall

Natalie B. Swan

Swan & Associates

My dad taught me a lot about entrepreneurship (even though he was a corporate banker). I credit him for why I left the 9-5 at 29.

Growing up, he took my siblings and me to garage sales on weekends. 

It was prime time for him to teach critical business skills.

One Saturday, we came across an original Nintendo console.

Before that, my siblings and I weren't allowed to own video games, so this was a high-stakes situation.

The sale sign said, “$20 - NO NEGOTIATING”.

My dad gave me $10 and said I could buy it if they'd take half the price.

I was brave. I asked. It worked.

My biggest takeaway was that to make life more exciting, put yourself out there and try.

Ask for what you want. 

Believe in yourself and go for it. 

So, when I was 29, I decided to bet on myself and pursue my business full-time.

I knew my expertise, strategic marketing leadership, could support other entrepreneurs. 

People who hustle. People who take risks & make things happen. 

How did I develop a knack for strategy and marketing leadership early in my career? 

I got WAAAY too much trust and responsibility from some inspiring founders and executives.

Because of this, just like with the “no negotiating” sign, I wasn’t afraid to speak up. 

I didn’t let ‘rules’ (like my age or, at the time, lack of experience) hold me back.

I stayed with the company for years and jumped at every opportunity.

The result?

I grew two brands by over 50% in one year and led a massive launch that most would’ve deemed impossible.

(you can read more about it in the Red Frog section below)

Since 2017, I've helped clients turn business objectives into strategic, actionable marketing.

I do this by creating playbooks & supporting action plans. 

Then, I turn their marketing into an efficient process so they can streamline and scale what works.

I've supported tech startups, B2B service providers, high-growth companies, and non-profits. 

DM me or email Hello @ SwanandAssociates.co if you'd like to learn more.

Owner & Founder | Fractional CMO

Castle Rock Microwave

Fractional CMO

neXco National

Lenati

Consulting wasn't a great fit for me. Not because I wasn't good at it but because it didn't light me up like other opportunities. 

I'm too scrappy, and consulting was too hands-off. 

But I spent a year supporting the marketing initiatives of two household name brands. 

One was a fortune 100 tech company, and the other was an international retailer.

You've heard of both - they're kind of a big deal.

It was a great experience, and I worked with highly talented people. 

It didn't last long because I had a business to grow.

Senior Marketing Strategy Consultant

Red Frog Events

Let me tell you about the stupidest thing I did as a marketer. And how it resulted in over 50% growth for two brands within a year.

As Brand Manager, I led brand and marketing strategy for two festivals.

My responsibilities included:

- Developing the brand & marketing strategy
- Building an integrated campaign
- Collaborating with a 25-person cross-functional team
- Allocating budget
- Analyzing and reporting sales trend data, and 
- Managing marketing execution with stakeholders and external partners

Our company had recently acquired one of the brands I managed.

We decided to do a full brand revamp (even though this festival had a cult following and had been around for 15+ years). 

Can you see where this is going?

The loyal fans hated it. The *big city* company from Chicago didn't get their brand of shenanigans.

It flopped. And it pissed people off.

The next year, we fixed it. We went back to the old branding with minor changes.

In addition, I analyzed sales trends of thousands of tickets. This led to better pricing structures and campaigns.

I revised the key messaging & worked with creative, operations, and customer service to deliver a consistent story.

We highlighted the elements of the brand that the fans cared most about.

Each week, I created and presented sales reports to the executive team. Finance and operations needed updated projections and trends for accurate budgeting and planning.

The festival sales increased by 50% that year, exceeding internal sales goals by 38%.

What I took away from this experience: new and shiny doesn't mean better.

Even with smart people in the room, mistakes happen.

Listen to your customers. 

Understand your value proposition.

Cater to your biggest fans, and it will pay off.

The following year, we rebranded the other festival I managed. 

This rebrand matched what customers wanted (what a concept, lol).

As a result, the event sold the most tickets in its history and became Chicago's largest beer festival.

Brand Manager

One time, I managed the marketing and brand development of a major music festival with a one-week go-to-market deadline. It sold 20,000+ tickets in year one.

Here's the story of one of my favorite projects of my career.

One day, my boss at the time - the VP of Marketing - came to me and said:

"As the marketing lead for brand go-to-market, you have a new project. We're launching a major music festival and putting tickets on sale in one week."

Holy sh*t.

We didn't have a name.

We didn't have a logo.

We didn't have bands (pretty critical to selling festival tickets).

We didn't have event information (also needed to sell tickets). 

We didn't have a website.

We didn't have content.

We didn't have a marketing plan.

We didn't have any marketing assets or ad placements.

But we had one heck of a scrappy, get-it-done-no-matter-what team.

I worked with the executive team to build the brand strategy. We created the personality, the value proposition, and the key messaging.

The designers created an aesthetic, logo, website, and assets based on the direction.

I quickly:

- Developed marketing objectives

- Established internal communication needs

- Delegated research tasks

- Allocated the budget

- Selected marketing channels and 

- Managed content creation to ensure on-time and cohesive assets

The talent team got headliners and bands.

We drafted, we iterated, we discussed, we improved. 

And with a one-week deadline, we launched a festival that sold 20,000+ tickets in its first year.

That week I learned that magic happens when everyone works towards the same goal.

When a team understands what they're building and why - the (very hard) work becomes doable.

In addition to this project, I planned and managed launches for seven new brands that year.

This is why I bring strategy, process, collaboration, and organization to every marketing engagement.

You cannot be effective without it.

With it, you'll be shocked at what's possible.

Assistant Marketing Director - New Brands

Getting my marketing chops at a FAST growing company with *viral* brands (before that was a thing) was a ride.

As the Senior Marketing Manager, I learned a lot about marketing tactics. I also learned how marketing should support an organization’s overall goals.

I wrote ad copy, managed messaging, tracked budgets, and optimized campaigns.

Starting my marketing career in events was an ENORMOUS advantage. I saw early that marketing doesn’t live in a silo.

For our campaigns to make money and drive brand loyalty, we needed to collaborate internally.

If marketing sends an email blast to hundreds of thousands of people, what does the website say? Does it match?

If we’re doing a price increase to drive sales, is customer experience ready for the influx of calls?

If we launch a giveaway campaign, how will we work with on-site ops to fulfill it?

I’m so glad I saw how marketing serves other functions of a company.

It means nothing without the teamwork of everyone it affects.

When the whole company understands and supports the marketing strategy, it becomes exponentially more powerful.

Senior Marketing Manager

Marketing Manager

Event Coordinator

JanSport

Talk about starting your career working with an iconic brand.

I was a Brand Ambassador for JanSport on my college campus. I'll credit this experience with launching my marketing career. 

Between planning a fashion show, passing out more swag than I knew what to do with, to ending up on the front page of the student newspaper, my ambassador partner and I got things done.

It all culminated at a fundraising event for a non-profit organization.

We decided it'd be best if we worked with another on-campus group to get more people there so we could raise more money.

*the marketing strategist was born*

We hosted a huge party, and hundreds of people showed up because of our partnership and networks. 

We raised the most money of any ambassador pair (it was a national program). As a result, we won the competition for best internship performance.

From then on, I knew I loved marketing, I knew I loved great brands, and I knew I could make really cool things happen.

Brand Ambassador

Gamma Phi Beta Sorority

Wow. You’re still here!

All I have to say about this role is if you think business is tricky, try leading - WHILE LIVING WITH - 100+ of your best friends.

It was so much fun while also being a bit of a nightmare.

As President, chapter members elected me to serve as their leader.

My responsibilities included:
- Overseeing our Executive Council and its strategic goals
- Upholding member discipline, and
- Being an ambassador to other Greek Life leadership on campus

President

Before becoming President, I was elected as Membership Vice President. 

Formal sorority recruitment included 600 women for all sororities. 

That year, our chapter, Gamma Phi Beta, increased in size by 47%.

To make that happen, I:
- Organized a $5,000 budget for chapter recruitment activities
- Planned and executed a two-week training period and five days of formal recruitment for 70 women, and 
- Upheld the strict international standards of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority

Membership Vice President

⌛How much money and time is your marketing wasting? More importantly - how long can the business survive while you figure it out?


John Wanamaker, a pioneer in marketing who lived from 1838 - 1922, said:

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."

That was a long time ago. 

Despite the tools and tech available today, businesses still waste SO MANY RESOURCES on lousy marketing. 

Many believe that more money, time, and team members will automatically solve their marketing challenges. 

They won't. 

Here's the difference with having more money and resources to spend:

Some companies have hefty budgets to blow.

Most companies don't.

So, if your marketing consists of:
❌ Wasting thousands of dollars every month without prioritizing activities that support company growth.
❌ Admin tasks, like updating the website and creating brochures, with no strategic roadmap. 
❌ Endless "good" ideas and going about them in 18 different ways that never get traction or results.

It's not going to drive meaningful business outcomes. 

You can't keep operating the same way and hoping it'll work. 

Imagine where the company will be a year from now if nothing changes. 

I have a solution for you. Me.

Over the past decade, I've partnered with executives, built strategic plans, managed cross-functional teams, and fiercely prioritized resources in break-neck pace environments. 

Here's the truth: 

You don't need a huge team, an expensive agency that creates a fancy (but unactionable) pitch deck, or months of planning for better marketing. 

What I help you do instead: 
✅ Prioritize key channels that DRIVE BUSINESS OBJECTIVES and results so you can optimize what works.
✅ Create a STREAMLINED MARKETING PROCESS and rhythm to scale momentum. 
✅ Build a PROVEN STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAYBOOK with actionable implementation tools.

Good marketing isn't a "nice to have" for successful companies. It's non-negotiable.

As your proactive partner, we'll roll up our sleeves and focus on high-impact initiatives.

And we'll scrap everything else. 

If you don't have a handle on what marketing works vs. what is a waste of time, what will change before it's too late?

Ready to do things differently?

➡ DM me, or email me at hello@swanandassociates.co (no ‘m’ on the end).

Let’s market like business depends on it (because it does).

taplio

The Battle

Randall Hall

Natalie Swan

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