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FEATURE
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Rising Stars
E
smeralda Anaya moved with her
family to the U.S. from her native
Mexico at age 15, leaving behind her
home and friends, and entered high
school in California with no knowledge of
the language or American culture. It was
the most difficult time in her life, she says,
but her parents wouldn’t let her give up.
“My parents have been a guiding hand
that has followed me through every step
of the way. They taught me that if you
persevere you will achieve everything you
set your mind to,” says the 24-year-old,
who went on to finish high school and earn
an associate of arts degree in accounting
at San Diego Mesa College before moving
on to San Diego State University, where
she graduated with a B.S. in business
administration marketing. She also earned
a specialization in integrated marketing
communications. After interning with an
online gift retailer and the Aztec Business
Consulting Center where she was a
business consultant for local companies,
she joined supplier Terry Town in San
Diego, California, a year ago.
She says the job has allowed her to
learn a lot in a short period of time. Among
Anaya’s responsibilities are developing
new marketing strategies and expanding
the company’s exposure in different
channels of communication, along with
creating a strong social media presence.
She says she gets a great deal of
satisfaction from creating new ideas for the
company and strategies to strengthen the
brand. Among the lessons she’s learned at
Terry Town is that in order to grow, you can
never stop learning. “You need to move
along with the growth of the company in
order to keep going forward,” she says.
She passes along her experience
about continual learning to her little
sister with this piece of advice: “Only
dead fish go with the flow. Take the
opportunities that life gives you; don’t
be afraid of taking risks. There is
no such thing as luck. If you work
hard, and take opportunities that life
presents, you will be able to succeed
in whatever you set your mind to.”
Her attitude and work ethic quickly
caught the attention of Ray Adams,
a sales executive at Terry Town,
who nominated her as a Rising Star.
“Esmeralda has been a breath of fresh
air from the moment she started with
Terry Town,” he says. “She has worked
tirelessly to not only understand Terry
Town’s products but the promotional
products industry in general.” In just a
few months, he says, she has transformed
the company website and increased
views by more than 300 percent and
overhauled e-blasts to make them more
relevant to distributors, which increased
views and clicks by 200 percent and
led directly to increases in requests for
quotes and orders. She’s also added
video to the site to help sales reps and
distributors better understand and
promote the products. In addition, she
has produced new end-user videos that
distributors can send to their customers
to better show how the products make
sense for their events and she’s increased
traffic on the company Facebook,
Twitter and other social media sites.
“For Terry Town, this has been more
than what we expected,” he admits. Not
only has Adams been impressed with
Anaya’s progress at work, but he’s also
moved by her work with the national
Seal of Biliteracy program at nearby
middle schools. “She helps the teachers
spread the importance of speaking two
languages and teaches how it can help
one succeed in the workplace and in
life,” says Adams. “She encourages
people to be proud of their heritage and
to use it as an advantage.”
In her spare time, Anaya likes
discovering new places in her adopted
hometown. She also hikes to help her relax
and enjoys spending time with her family.
“It’s a way for me to recharge and get
motivated to keep going,” she says.
Esmeralda
Anaya
MARKETING COORDINATOR
Terry Town
HER INSPIRATION
Her parents. “They overcame so
many obstacles and have succeeded
in every single one, against all odds,
while always helping me to construct
my future. The best I can do is take
advantage of all the opportunities they
have worked so hard to give me.”
THE INDUSTRY IN FIVE YEARS
She wants to see the industry
modernize itself—specifically,
for distributors and suppliers
to communicate more through
social media. “Social media
partnerships would allow constant
and open communication between
one another.”
ON HER TO-DO LIST NOW
Storyboard for an upcoming video
series; update and post to social
media platforms; check Google
Analytics; prepare marketing
materials for upcoming trade shows
and ideas for next year’s catalog.
2016
26
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SEPTEMBER 2016
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