Welcome to The 9 To 5, our new series where we highlight and interview creative professionals doing great things. Our first profile is of Joelle MacPhee, Director of Marketing at Ooka Island, and graduate of York University’s Schulich School of Business.
1. How do children learn to read using Ooka Island’s platform?
Children learn to read and become confident readers by visiting Ooka Island 30 minutes, 3 times a week for a year. As they progress through 80 hours of purposeful play and adventure, an adaptive learning program continually analyzes their performance and plots a personalized path towards mastery of the five foundational reading skills.
2. Are there any challenges in working in a small, start-up-like environment?
Growing the team is a challenge, but an incredibly rewarding one when you find the perfect fit. Each new person has a direct impact on the dynamic of the team, so you seek out people who will enhance, not hurt the culture, no matter how strong their skill-set or experience. On the flip side, making sure your work environment and culture is the right fit for them is also worth the time and effort to verify. (ps. we’re hiring!)
I try to divide my day working towards 1 big goal, 3 medium goals, and 5 small goals.
3. When did you first know you wanted a career in marketing?
In the beginning days of Ooka Island, I managed school sales, which is what made me realize that marketing’s long-term benefits are a more sustainable strategy for us. I would always be hearing stories from parents whose children were becoming confident readers by using Ooka at school. It was inspiring that they were reaching out to us, but because I was selling to schools, I rarely got to communicate with the parents that valued the program the most. So I started shifting our focus from school sales to partnering with parents. Since then, we’ve pivoted to B2C as we now know that supporting and empowering parents is where Ooka can make the biggest impact to ending illiteracy.
4. What’s on your typical “to-do” list for a day at the office?
I try to divide my day working towards 1 big goal, 3 medium goals, and 5 small goals. Otherwise I get lost in emails and meetings. I like to chip away daily on the big goals because these are our key marketing projects that take the most effort, like launching a website. Medium goals might include sending out an email campaign or gathering customer research, these activities can take the week. And small goals are those to-do’s that are still important, but you can do in less than an hour or even 2 minutes, like following up with an intro. The 1-3-5 to-do format just forces me to think through what my time and energy is best spent doing and making sure that I’m ultimately moving the needle.
5. What do you do outside of the office to become a better marketing director inside the office?
Keeping up with other marketing professionals definitely makes me a better marketing director. We can learn so much from each other’s mistakes and successes without having to reinvent the wheel. I also just enjoy following marketing trends. I like to think about the marketing message that I see on a daily basis and through all the noise that exists, see which ones are resonating right now and why.
6. What do you know now that you wish someone might have explained to you before entering your position or industry?
Find and choose the customer that your product resonates with the most and who also have buying power. Then learn as much as you can about that customer profile so you can reach more of them. Improve your product and brand for them so they’re happier than before that you exist and will be an advocate.
7. Where do you see Ooka Island in 5 years, and what role does marketing play in getting it there?
In 5 years, I envision Ooka Island being the place parents choose to send their children to learn to read. By the point, I also see a community of Ooka Island graduates unlocking their potential with their new reading skills and taking on the world. I believe the most exciting role marketing will play in getting there is highlighting customer success and telling stories around the impact of a child becoming a confident reader.
8. What is one piece of advice you have for any young marketer about to graduate from university?
Being a successful marketer requires a deep understanding of your customer. So if you can, choose to work someplace where you are genuinely interested in solving your customer’s pain points. This will make your work life a lot more fun and rewarding.