Working within businesses from manufacturing to retail and learning about all aspects of the business needs from B2B and direct to consumer John found his home in marketing and business development. 

Through the years he helped business from start ups to brands that most households would know grow through a time proven strategy that evolved to meet the market need. 

After deeply learning the Inbound Marketing methodology, John sought out an affordable plan for all businesses to adopt and successfully launch and grow through its practice. 

After over 18 years in the industry, John’s mission is now to grow a team of successful business leaders within W3 to help more and more business grow at scale through our proven process. 

Q&A with John

How did you decide to get into your current work role?

Having spent over half my life in the field, it’s hard to remember the reason I landed here. The reason I’ve stayed has evolved over time and grown with the business and my personal goals for the future of W3. 

The decision to get into business growth and digital marketing came from seeing a need for the skills while maintaining affordable, proven strategy. 

The reason for staying in the role is a God driven business model to support our clients in their growth with a servitude to exemplary practices that show Christ through our work ethic and methodology. This includes leading a team through this model and educating the future of W3 in our practice and standards. 

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you this year?

Growing the team. This has been at the core of doing what we have set out to do at W3. Placing team members carefully in charge of the various roles here at W3 to carry out our mission. I’m excited for the team members that joined us this year. 

What do you want others to remember you for?

I want to leave a legacy in family and in business of love, integrity and generosity. 

When is the last time you tried something new?

This feels like a constant! Trying new things keeps me going. I enjoy picking something up and seeing if I’ll like it. The latest is cooking with a smoker and making big meals for the family and friends. Not sure what’s next but I’m sure it’ll involve water or food!

When it comes to Jason, he is truly a “Jack of all trades” or should we say “Jason of all trades”. He brings an extensive amount of experience and knowledge from his many years in the digital marketing industry and strives to make brands truly shine to make them look their best. From creating websites to graphic design, and even video production, you know you’re in good hands when he’s working on your project. 

After studying graphic design at Norfolk State University in Virginia, Jason began working at the local newspaper as an online producer. He was responsible for managing and editing the paper’s separate local entertainment website and also assisted with the production of the entertainment section on the newspaper’s own website as well. While working there, Jason managed freelance writers, photographers, and designers, all the while making sure the entertainment website’s online presence was the best it could be, not only for its readers but also for potential advertisers.

Some time passed and Jason became a little homesick and wanted to take his talents back to his home state of New Jersey where he started working at the nation’s largest real estate company on one of their newest brands as a digital marketing manager. This industry was new to him, but he didn’t let that stop him from constantly creating new and invigorating content for the brand. He spearheaded the brand’s social media presence, as well as led design and development teams through website redesigns and new initiatives. During this time, he was also a part of the team the created the brand’s first mobile app which was awarded multiple Webby nominations and set the company apart from the rest of the industry. 

Jason didn’t stop there with the real estate industry though. He then decided to switch over to the parent company’s company-owned brokerage working as UI/UX designer. Even though this was a role he never had before, all of his previous positions had him managing various aspects of UI/UX design and he was very well versed in how to really make a website work well and look great at the same time. In this new position, he was once again tasked with many redesigns of consumer websites and internal admin websites. He also was responsible for the company’s internal social media & communication platform, bringing together colleagues from all across the country to collaborate online. 

Q&A with Jason

What is the favorite part of your job and the impact you make?

By far my favorite part of my job is when I make someone’s dream a reality. This is especially true when it comes to small business owners. Even though I’ve worked with some really big nationwide companies, when I do freelance work with an SBO and they tell me about a problem or dream they have been trying to get done for a long time, it gives me the energy to give them that “rockstar” service that they have been longing for. Then to see their company/brand really thrive afterward brings me great joy and satisfaction

What’s the best thing you’ve learned since starting your career?

Not everyone is going to agree with your vision, but it’s your job to make them see your vision. Sure, not everyone will have the same exact tastes as you, when it comes to design work. But if you are not explaining yourself correctly, giving them the total picture, then how could you expect that to happen in the first place? Clear communication is key, and making sure that you are getting your point across in the correct way is paramount. 

How did you decide to get into your current work role?

Tech life has always interested me, starting all the way back in middle school. I remember when my mother’s department at her high school she taught at allowed the teachers to have a computer at home as well. When she brought it home, I was always on that thing, learning every aspect of the technical part of it. This morphed into my becoming interested in graphic design. Once I hit high school, I took many graphic design and computer-related electives, mainly because it was a passion of mine. Then after high school, I decided to follow what my main interests have been for so many years at that point, graphic design & interactive websites. All of those early seeds of tech life when I was young led me to this point. Nowadays, the famous quote “Do what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life.” rings very true for me. 

After graduation from Tulane University – Freeman School of Business, Kathryn started at W3 Affinity as an Account Manager. She runs the day-to-day strategy for our clients and helps with the fulfillment of emails, content, and more.

“I’ve always had a creative side growing up, whether it was making and selling art, designing and embroidering clothes, or exploring photography and graphic design. I found so much of my inspiration through social media such as Instagram and Tumblr, and managed my own various social media accounts.”

After working as an accounting intern for two summers, she realized she couldn’t be as creative as she wanted in a finance and accounting-related career. Throughout college, she fell in love with the balance of business strategy and creativity that marketing offers and realized digital marketing was the industry she should start her career.

Q&A with Kathryn

What is the favorite part of your job and the impact you make?

My favorite part of my job is designing emails. It is fun to spend time playing with formats and graphics to ensure the email communicates the right message from the brand. It is very rewarding when you see high conversions for a client from an email you worked so hard on and are so proud of.

What’s the best thing you’ve learned since starting your career?

Teamwork is how any business thrives. My coworkers and I can provide such high-quality work because we all work together to capitalize on our strengths. Our best clients are clients who value teamwork and communicate closely with us as we all work together.

How did you decide to get into your current work role?

Social media and aesthetics have always been a huge interest of mine. Working as a digital communication specialist, I can think creatively and strategically, creating the perfect balance for my day-to-day work.

Graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business, Austin started in Digital Marketing with a catch-all role handling social media, analytics, website auditing, copywriting and SEO. He found his passion in SEO and soon arrived at W3 Affinity as our SEO Specialist. He is our resident SEO expert, working to polish up on-page web content, fix technical issues, research, and conduct off-page outreach.

“All throughout high school and college, I enjoyed writing. I found that I could get into a writing frenzy when I was passionate about a subject. But it was during a high school Marketing class that I found a passion for Marketing Copy. Later on, I enjoyed learning analytics in classes at VCU in addition to running my own personal athletic social media accounts. However, true analytics didn’t allow me to pursue my creative writing, while solely creative writing didn’t fulfill my analytical need to know why certain strategies, tactics, copy, etc. worked. This need for a middle ground laid the foundation for me to pursue SEO later on.”

His first job out of college introduced him to Digital Marketing in a way that was not readily available at VCU. However, he was not able to pursue copywriting as much as he would have liked. After taking on SEO tasks, he could now use his analytical mindset and creative writing passion together. This allowed him to write purposeful copy/content, paired with technical and outreach skills that would imporve overall user experience. It was this point in his life that he realized he wanted to focus only on SEO.

What is the favorite part of your job and the impact you make?

I really enjoy the process of going from keyword research, to implementation through title tags, meta descriptions, page copy and blog optimization/publishing. This is only one pillar in SEO that I used to make an impact, but it helps tremendously with our clients’ websites appearing in favorable SERPs rankings so they can serve their customers better. 

What’s the best thing you’ve learned since starting your career?

Collaboration is the key to true growth. Even though I am the resident SEO expert here at W3 Affinity, I have found that it’s important to get the opinion and expertise of my colleagues for the finishing touches on my efforts. In addition, collaborating with our clients accomplishes the same thing. They are the closest to their customers so having their industry expertise paired with my SEO expertise can oftentimes make all the difference. Teamwork can be the difference between short-term and long-term growth.

How did you decide to get into your current work role?

I have an analytical brain but have also grown up with a creative side, which portrayed itself through ideas and writing. Working as an SEO Specialist allows me to find the “why” or “what” behind keywords, site performance and outreach, and then apply my creativity to wordsmith, optimize and strategize. I believe that SEO is the perfect middle ground between analytics and copywriting.