Meet Megan Wesley, Vice President of Account Strategy & Digital Marketing, who not only develops multi-layer marketing campaigns as account director for several JSA clients, but also leads our team of in-house HubSpot pros. Read on to learn more about her passion for inbound marketing, how HubSpot helped her hone her leadership skills, and her love of the outdoors (which grew even more during the pandemic!).

 

Internally, you’re known for your great marketing campaign execution and knowledge of the latest digital marketing strategies. You are also our internal HubSpot guru. Can you share with us a little bit about your background with HubSpot and how it has become a go-to tool for JSA clients?

Prior to JSA, my background was largely in digital marketing with considerable experience with HubSpot, an inbound marketing and sales platform that helps companies attract visitors and convert leads. I find that HubSpot is a great solution for clients who struggle to find an all-in-one platform that not only streamlines their marketing initiatives, but also encourages clean data, complies with GDPR regulations and creates great synergies between marketing and sales efforts.

JSA was an early adopter of HubSpot and when I joined the team I instantly saw an opportunity to reignite the long-standing relationship to help even more clients leverage the platform to take their inbound marketing initiatives to the next level. Once JSA was ready to take the next step to becoming an official HubSpot Solutions Partner, I took on the role of managing our relationship with HubSpot and helping to train our JSA team on new strategies to best utilize HubSpot tools for our clients.

Today, in addition to directing new and long-time client account relationships, I manage a team of 17 incredible JSA “HubSpotters”, who collectively possess over 80 HubSpot certifications. Since becoming a HubSpot Solutions Partner, JSA has achieved Platinum Partner status and currently manages over 30 client HubSpot portals. I am looking forward to my team’s continued growth as we bring on additional logos and continue to see great success within the platform.

 

You began your career at JSA as an Analyst and over the years have worked your way up  into your current role of Vice President of Account Strategy & Digital Marketing. Can you tell us a bit about your journey within JSA and how you have grown in your roles?

Yes! I am extremely grateful for the overwhelming support that Jaymie and the JSA team have given me to grow over the years into the marketer that I am today. 

Managing the JSA – HubSpot partner relationship is probably the main driver that brought out the confidence and leadership qualities that I apply to my executive role. I’ve never been a shy person, but inbound marketing and campaign strategy is where I have always excelled, and having the ability to marry those strengths to a platform like HubSpot really made my position within JSA take off. 

From there, I naturally became very comfortable leading client calls, delivering multi-touch campaign strategies and managing the long-standing client relationships that make up JSA. I give my colleagues a lot of credit, the ones who trusted me with the get-go with inbound strategy, and gave me the reigns on many client calls, ultimately leading to where I am today. Without their support and ability to see those leadership qualities in me, I’m not sure I would be in the position I am in today.

 

Now let’s get a little bit personal! Can you tell us a little bit about what you like to do in your spare time? And collecting HubSpot certifications doesn’t count (Megan has FIVE)!

Haha! If only HubSpot was considered a hobby… 

Over the past 2+ years a lot of my time has been spent moving around and wedding planning! “Covid Bride” is unfortunately a title that I can add to my name, and the cancelling, rescheduling, rearranging and replanning has been a major theme of my quarantine.

I currently live in Chicago with my fiance and our dog. It has been so nice to finally call this place home again, as we spent the last 5 years living all over the country for my fiance’s professional hockey career. Working remotely during the pandemic was not a new experience for me, of course – going on 5 years now remote! I loved having the ability to travel this beautiful country and live in places I otherwise would not have, but to me, there is still no place like Sweet Home Chicago. 

P.S. – I consider my downfall to be the fact that I will instantly turn into an architecture tour guide anytime a guest comes to town, so Chicago visitors… beware!

On the weekends, you’ll find me going for long walks along the riverwalk with my dog or taking advantage of all the amazing restaurants Chicago has to offer. When I do get the opportunity to travel, you’ll most often find me in the snow. Some of my favorite Rocky Mountain places to go are Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge and Park City. I’ve been on skis since I was 2, and I’ve even become quite the fly-fisherwoman during Covid!

Overall, I love to be active and to be outdoors. I’ve been an athlete my entire life, and I crave the fresh air. I hope to move out west one day and get back to my Rocky Mountain roots. But for now, you’ll find me taking in a Cubs game or arguing with an out-of-towner over why Chicago-style pizza is the best.