Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Seal-Gaustad.
Julie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I received my Bachelor’s and teaching credential from San Diego State University and went on to be a first-grade teacher. Unfortunately, I lost my job due to budget cuts and ended up in a career in marketing and communications. All the while, I was doing in-store demos and other field marketing activities for various brands on the side.
I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with people and getting them excited about the products I was representing. During a time when social media was on the rise, and I witnessed the public thriving on quality face-to-face interactions, I saw a need in the field marketing industry for a higher level of brand representation.
As a result, I started the company in 2009 with one client in San Diego and have since grown the company to a nationwide level, representing over 100 different brands. I started building the business organically on referrals and left my full-time job in 2011, so I could finish my Master’s in Communication Studies and give 110% to pursue my dream and feed my entrepreneurial drive.
Looking back, I remember as a little girl that I was always looking for ways to connect with others and run “businesses.” I sold lemonade, made “perfume” from crushed flowers and water, opened a “store” where I tried to sell my wares to neighbors, and more! To my mother’s chagrin, I always had to be the top Girl Scout cookie seller in my troop, as well!
Little did I know my passion for connecting with people, openness to opportunity, drive for success, and entrepreneurial spirit would bring me to where I am today.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Running a business is like life – there are peaks and valleys. I’ve learned that all businesses experience similar challenges – the product or service may be different, but the business principles are the same. I rely on my fellow business owner peers to share their experiences and guidance, as well as utilize my business coach (every business needs a Coach Karie Kaufmann!) as a sounding board.
What I’ve also found out over the years in growing my company is, as you get bigger, the challenges get bigger – rarely are there small fires to put out any longer. The challenges are bigger, scarier, but also more exciting to find solutions because there is ALWAYS a solution. When you get through the challenge, it’s the best and most exhilarating feeling.
I’ve loved being able to share my experiences with other business owners to help them through the valleys and working with my team to create new systems and solutions. I rely on my team, my husband, family and friends, my peers and my business coach to help talk me through new challenges that arise.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Mirus Promotions – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a nationwide field marketing company in the business of building brands through meaningful and engaging face-to-face experiences in a fast-paced world. We provide extraordinary, personalized representation and consulting to help promote our clients’ products and services to their target consumer in unique and positive ways. We are a boutique agency with a large network.
We value family spirit, leadership, personal growth, communication, and giving back. Each year, we provide thousands of jobs to people across the U.S., representing over a hundred brands, emerging and existing, in various categories. Our field team has expressed they enjoy working with us because they feel valued and appreciated, which can be lacking in other field marketing companies who hire many remote workers.
Internally, we proudly provide numerous professional, personal, and leadership development opportunities. We thrive on building and sustaining supportive and positive relationships with each other, our clients, our field team members, and our vendor partners. Our internal team has said they feel genuinely supported and appreciate the opportunities for growth and value the relationships they build.
Our valued clients continue to work with us, not solely because of the results, but because they trust us. When a client reaches out for us to partner on a retail or field marketing program, they are certain their brands will be handled and represented consistently across all markets and all events with the utmost of professionalism. The consistency, take-charge proactive approach, and attention to detail is unparalleled.
Finally, we believe in giving back – whether locally or on a global scale. Locally, we support UC San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center, as well as we are a member of Buy1Give1 (B1G1), which means we can tell our customers that every time they do business with us, something good happens.
To date, we’ve made over 11,000 global social giving impacts through our partnership with B1G1, including days of life-saving water to people in Africa, business training to women in Africa, and animal welfare education to children in Cambodia.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We recently moved from a remote working business model to a new office. This will allow our already strong company culture to further thrive in a cohesive and supportive working environment. A few goals we have are to expand a few of the programs we started where we saw a need.
We are expanding on our merchandising support program to new markets outside of California, allowing our current and future clients to partner with us to fill the gaps between sales and marketing, further securing their growth and maintenance in the marketplace.
We are also growing our Smarty Pints® Cicerone Level 1 certified brand ambassador program (the first of its kind in the nation!) to additional craft beer-focused states, giving our current and future craft brewery clients additional piece of mind our representatives will be knowledgeable to connect with seasoned and novice beer consumers.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2831 Camino Del Rio S, Suite 203, San Diego, CA 92108
- Website: www.miruspromotions.com
- Phone: 855.786.7734
- Email: marketing@miruspromotions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miruspromotions/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MirusPromotions/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/miruspromotions
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
