Digital Content Director @ Elle Marie Creative Services with Elle Marie

In their year one as a Digital Content Director in the arts and culture industry, Elle Marie has worked with clients from Diplo to The Tragically Hip on marketing communication strategies and content creation to bring them closer to their fans online and on social networks. Some of the things that Elle and Blair discuss include fighting all the battles and overcoming rejection to pursue the career of their dreams, knowing when to make a hard decision to let things die; and, the critical importance of living to attain to a value(s) vs. a goal(s).

About Elle Marie

Elle works with music and visual artists on marketing communication strategies and content creation to bring them closer to their fans online and on social networks. Elle Marie Creative Services specializes in the arts & culture industry; offering marketing and branding consultations in addition to in-house professional photography and videography. She's turned her passion into a career. Elle loves capturing raw artistry and supporting her clients in their endeavours. 

The Highlights and Hottest Takes 🔥

How Elle Got the Job

(It's a long story that you gotta listen to in the episode) Elle threw herself into doing small jobs, going to events…basically learning the in’s and out’s of the music industry. Four years after Gord Downie, iconic lead singer of The Tragically Hip, passed away the band needed a relaunch and was hiring for a Digital Content Director. Elle was told they wouldn’t get the job, but they should still apply to get experience going through the process. However, after applying Jake Gold, CEO of The Management Trust, called to ask:

“Are you gonna work your ass off? This is gonna be a really hard job. You don’t really know what you’re doing, so I’m expecting you to put in every ounce of effort into making this work for us. Can you promise me that?”

Mistake Made

Too many to specifically call out as the Digital Content Director for the Tragically Hip:

“My real first year was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I was so bad at it, man. I screwed up so many things. I almost got fired so many times. But I stuck to it. I didn’t give up. I continued to learn everything I could. As well as enjoy every ounce of my job.”

Lesson Learned

When you understand your values, yourself…you’ll know what’s right. “When your clients see you being confident in yourself and see you caring about them genuinely because you care about their success, because their success is your success, then they’ll trust you more as their business partner.”

Pro Tip

Go the extra mile when there’s something worth fighting for in the job search–if you want to get into a new industry, get into a certain organization, get into a specific role.

“You can’t lay down and die. If somebody says no to you, prove them wrong. Know your abilities. Have confidence in yourself.”

Segments

Elle's Year 1ne @ Elle Marie Creative Services | 0:58-28:00

Elle Marie Creative Services does marketing communication strategies for arts and culture clients, specifically visual and written content. “I’m an artist who’s also pretty good with people.”

Works in this industry specifically because there’s a need for it but it’s hard for somebody to get a role with artists who are starting out because they don’t have the money or immediately see the value in personal marketing.

"Artists are artists because they create from their heart. They need to find a happy medium between creating art they love and what the audience needs. I see artists fail because they don’t find the balance between art (aka the passion) and business (aka the job)."

The work is quite dynamic week-to-week. It includes some mix of photo and video shoots with clients at different venues, and being in the office doing video editing, writing social posts, preparing content strategy and planning, analyzing the market the client is trying to connect with.

“I love my job. I could cry just telling you how much I love my job. I’ll go to the end of the earth to do it each day. You don’t need to understand art, but you do need to feel your passion.”

A relationship change in September 2021 forced a transition period and Elle started working in tattoo shop. What Elle was “doing wrong” was trying to fit into a career path dictated by traditional capitalism norms. I have a disability, and found traditional work didn’t work but this work does. I realized I didn’t have to accept anything in my career, “nothing would make or break me”  

“As a disabled person, I experienced my disability after having goals in my life. Everything was squashed. My dreams have been crushed many times and they continue to be as my body becomes more difficult to deal with especially getting older. When you change your mindset into loving what you’re doing because it’s according to your values and beliefs you’re never going to be unhappy…and you’ll be able to help your clients better.”

Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search | 28:01-45:59

Elle's story starts as a teenager who grew up wanting to be psychiatric nurse. She got into nursing at MacMaster University...but a broken arm in grade 12 uncovered Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder. Elle was told "You'll never be a nurse". 

Then Elle tried social work at University of Guelph, and hated every second of it. During this time she experienced physical and mental health issues. Elle was hospitalized for two weeks for heart condition–and was sedated for two weeks straight.

“At this point I was in a wheelchair, I was not living life, I was not loving life and I was definitely not laughing.” 

Went from a mindset of “I’m never going to be able to do what I love” to “Let me get myself to a point where I can do as much as I can, where I can be happy with myself, then find something I love.” 

Went to therapy, physiotherapy…met someone who said “Why don’t you work in arts industry?” Elle started her career getting paid $150/month to be a part-time artist manager for a band that was part of The Management Trust. She threw herself into doing small jobs, going to events…basically learning the in’s and out’s of the music industry. 

Four years after Gord Downie, iconic lead singer of The Tragically Hip, passed away, the band needed a relaunch and was hiring for a Digital Content Director. Elle was told to apply to go through the process, but she wouldn’t get the job because she didn’t have the experience. However soon after, Jake Gold, CEO of The Management Trust, called “Are you gonna work your ass off? This is gonna be a really hard job. You don’t really know what you’re doing, so I’m expecting you to put in every ounce of effort into making this work for us. Can you promise me that?”…

”I said yes, because you never say no.” (in this situation). That was the day I was offered the job as the Digital Content Director for The Tragically Hip." 

Things I've Learned in Year 1ne | 28:00-33:15

You need to go the extra mile when there’s something worth fighting for–if you want to get into a new industry, get into a certain organization, get into a specific role. Elle's real first year as a Digital Content Director was one of the hardest things she's ever had to do...

"I was so bad at it, man. I screwed up so many things. I almost got fired so many times. But I stuck to it. I didn’t give up. I continued to learned everything I could. As well as enjoy every ounce of my job.”

“You can’t lay down and die. If somebody says no to you, prove them wrong. Know your abilities. Have confidence in yourself. I’ll prove you wrong. It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, and what I’ll continue to do.”

Re(Sources)

• Connect with Elle Marie: LinkedIn | Instagram | Website
• Brands/organizations: The Management Trust | The Tragically Hip | Diplo | McMaster University | University of Guelph | George Brown College
• Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn | Website

Credits

• Created and Produced by Blair Smith
• Hosted by Blair Smith
• Mixed and Mastered by Ray Harripaul

Sponsor(s)

N/A for this episode...Interested in being a sponsor of The Year 1ne's Show? Drop us a line via email 😀