Favorite Tool(s): Infusionsoft
Tip for Small Business Owners: Set aside time to write and review your goals. Review them weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. WRITE them down. As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae of running a business and forget the big picture. Also, treat everyone with respect. It will come back to you.
Bio: Christine’s passion for small business began at a young age, as her family owned a chain of Hallmark stores. After earning her bachelor’s degree in marketing/advertising and sales promotion from the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Christine moved into a sales position with a management consulting company. She then worked her way into a district management position, and eventually into the chief executive of sales position for the Western USA and Canada—overseeing more than 100 field managers/salespeople and 75 telemarketers. She met her now business partner, Thomas, and together they introduced digital marketing to the management consulting firm. Soon after, in May 2011, Viral Solutions was born, allowing Christine to do what she enjoys most—working on conundrums and helping business owners with difficult-to-solve problems.

When she’s not assisting small business owners in achieving their goals, Christine is playing with her dogs or working with the Front Range German Shepherd Rescue—a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing and re-homing purebred GSDs.

Favorite Tool(s): Infusionsoft
Tip for Small Business Owners: Know that you aren’t your own customer, even if you created your business and product based upon your own experience and a problem you share. As the business owner, you have biases and therefore can never see your business and product as your customer does.
Bio: As Thomas’ daughter, Lindsey was introduced to the world of sales and marketing at an early age. Curious about what her dad did, Lindsey would jump at every opportunity to help and ride along on sales calls. Always quick to take charge and lead the group—a trait that has only grown with time—Lindsey was frequently told by her parents that she was destined to be a manager or CEO of some sort. While working toward earning her bachelor’s degree in human services from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Lindsey interned with the UW Office of Equality and Affirmative Action and served on several councils, which gave her the opportunity to develop her persuasive writing skills, researching skills, problem-solving skills, project management skills, and more. After working as the lead teacher of the 4-year-old room at the local daycare center, Lindsey decided to switch gears and join the Viral Solutions team. In her position, Lindsey is able to help clients think through an end goal and reverse engineer it into the steps needed to achieve it.

When she’s not working, Lindsey loves spending time with family, be it traveling somewhere together or just hanging out at home.

Favorite Tool(s): WordPress
Tip for Small Business Owners: Put the time and effort into defining your avatar, as this will give you a much better sense of what your prospect’s problems/desires are and will help you create content that is more effective.
Bio: Caitie’s passion for reading and writing is what pushed her to pursue her bachelor’s degree in English from Kent State University-Stark. While attending college, she worked as an editorial assistant at a local newspaper, which helped further develop her editing and fact-checking skills. After roughly 5 years working in the content department at a marketing firm, she relocated and took an editing position at a proofreading company. Caitie’s current role at Viral Solutions allows her to apply her writing, researching, and editing abilities daily, ensuring the quality of the content provided to clients. Additionally, she enjoys having the opportunity to take on challenging projects and discover how to manage, distribute, and measure content the best way possible.

When she’s not working, Caitie enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, and spending time with loved ones.

Favorite Tool(s): Lightroom
Tips for Small Business Owners: Know your audience! You can have and do everything in the world but you cannot impact anyone if you do not understand their wants and interests.
Bio: During her time working for Walt Disney World, Lauren quickly grew a social media presence on platforms, mainly through Instagram. With a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing paired with her passion for marketing, Lauren grew her audience even more by creating a blog and through use of other social media platforms. She loves the impact that social media has and how quickly it can get information around worldwide.
When she is not busy keeping up with the latest trends online, she can be found baking cookies in the kitchen, watching hockey, or at the gym. She loves hot yoga and trying out any new dessert recipe. She can’t cook, but she can sure bake!

Favorite Tool(s): Proprietary Strategic Planning Process and Wicked Reports
Tips for Small Business Owners: Do not throw your money away on tactics without a plan. It does not matter what size business you have; without a plan how do you know where you are going or how you are growing, or who you are targeting? Without goals how do you know what you are striving for? Without data and metrics how do you know what works and what does not?
Bio: Lisa began her sales, marketing, and category management career at Clairol, where she helped pioneer the company’s analytical capabilities. She then spent more than six years at L’Oréal USA, during which time she launched and managed the Category Management Department across all categories and gained category captain positions across most major retail partners in all categories, leading to L’Oréal’s rise to the #1 beauty brand position. Lisa then stepped into the OTC medicines arena when she joined Novartis, where she expanded her expertise into channel strategy and marketing across multiple categories. Following her time there, she joined Bristol Myers Squibb, where she was an integral part of the senior team responsible for the launch of their new “standalone” consumer medicines division. Following the sale of this division to P&G, Lisa joined The Yankee Candle Company to head up their business development initiative, where she opened new retail channels and significantly grew the business. In 2006, Lisa joined Sleep Innovations and brought her successful CPG approach and expertise to the foam bedding industry. She spent the next decade leading various initiatives throughout the organization, including channel marketing, marketing, creative, communications, and e-commerce. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Lisa started her own consulting business in 2015, primarily focused on business development and marketing for companies with a desire to enter the consumer retail markets or diversify into new categories. She worked with a wide range of companies, from commercial building material suppliers to towel manufacturers. Lisa has extensive experience with retail trade classes, product commercialization, marketing, packaging, and market research.
In her free time, Lisa is dedicated to helping local charities enhance their efforts, whether it is a fundraising event at church or assisting the American Legion with event planning for their annual Memorial Day services. She is also on a personal mission to inform friends, neighbors, and local businesses of elder care abuse and fraud. This is a significant issue in all communities across the country.

Favorite Tool(s): WordPress, Adobe, and Sketch App
Tip for Small Business Owners: Strategy and data should play a key role in determining how much money should be spent on initial brand development.
Bio: Marisa’s extensive digital marketing training coupled with her experience as a graphic and web designer sets her apart as a marketing expert. Her long-held belief that data-based strategic planning should always inform the design brief has allowed her to serve and grow businesses of all sizes.
Marisa’s key responsibility at Viral Solutions is managing brand development and messaging. She is passionate about creating strong brand personalities that are consistent across all platforms and meet the growing needs of clients and their respective audiences.
Marisa has sought out extensive training both as a designer and as a marketing expert. Her greatest joy is developing data-based UX designs that enhance the customer journey while building a long-term brand identity that lasts.

When she’s not working, Marisa enjoys teaching art to small groups, cooking, and traveling with friends and family.

Favorite Tool(s): Adroll
Tip for Small Business Owners: Invest in your employees. Enhancing their professional development skills and education will go a long way in employee satisfaction and retention.
Bio:Jon recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh with a degree in marketing and economics. He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and loves his Chicago sports teams. Jon found his passion for marketing while in college and decided to pursue a career in the digital side of marketing. He is an eager learner and started with Viral Solutions as an intern before accepting a position upon graduation. Outside of work, Jon enjoys hanging out with friends and watching sporting events.