Michelle Stinson Ross, VP of Marketing & Sales at Gruen Agency

I love learning and sharing. That may be why marketing came so naturally to me. I started learning how to build simple web pages as early as 1999 to help support a local jazz trio. I also created tons of marketing assets in the form of flyers and cover art for singles that we handed out at gigs. I may have even participated in very early influencer outreach as I emailed event organizers to tell people about that little trio.

By 2007 I had a MySpace page and then Facebook and Twitter. By 2009 I was working my first social media marketing gig for a little tourism company in Key West. Safe to say that my skill-set has grown as the industry has grown. Over the course of this crazy career I have worked in-house for several consumer brands, provided content for travel brands, and consulted with nearly every type of small business under the sun. I wake up every day totally fascinated by marketing systems and how they touch the every-day lives of people. Every opportunity I get to teach or train someone else about marketing communication gives me joy.

One of the things I love most about this industry is how freely people share and help others grow. As a part of that ecosystem, I co-hosted #SocialChat on Twitter for 6 years, I’ve helped to create a slew of Google Hangouts on Air, and I still write for Search Engine Journal.

As the VP of Marketing and Sales, I am Gruen Agency’s internal marketing strategist and chief brand evangelist. Frankly, I get into everybody else’s stuff – website, content, social marketing, search marketing, industry thought leadership, digital advertising, consulting, speaking and training.

“It is a pleasure to share my resources and experience with the listeners of Search Talk Live.