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Amanda Kay

I’m a creative leader and brand builder with 15+ years of experience.

I develop meaningful, memorable brands. thoughtful, measurable campaigns. collaborative, goal-oriented teams. eye-catching, differentiated designs.

Brand Experience


Some of the Brands I’ve Worked With

About


Amanda Kay

Expertise

I’m a Swiss Army knife of verbal and visual communication — passionate about:

  • Developing meaningful, memorable brands from the ground up
  • Stewarding them through evolving business needs
  • Amplifying them with thoughtful, measurable campaigns

I think that great messaging is jargon-free, that finding insights in data is fun, and that working smarter always beats working harder.

When I’m not building brands, I practice enthusiastically mediocre yoga, compete in nerdtastic online trivia, wage war against the aphids in my garden, and seek out new foods to sample — both from pros and in my own kitchen. I lack any musical talent, but excel at curating never-ending playlists and love experiencing live music. I’d love to hear who you saw at your first concert and your best concert!

Education and Certifications

The University of Notre Dame

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design

Cum Laude

Google Skillshop

Google Analytics IQ

Certified power user

LinkedIn Learning

Digital Marketing Specialist Certification

26+ hour course with exams in SEO, social media, content marketing, Google Ads & Analytics, email marketing

IDEO U

Storytelling for Influence

5-week course in methodology for telling powerful, persuasive stories

I'm a Swiss Army knife of verbal and visual communication — passionate about:

  • Developing meaningful, memorable brands from the ground up
  • Stewarding them through evolving business needs
  • Amplifying them with thoughtful, measurable campaigns

I think that great messaging is jargon-free, that finding insights in data is fun, and that working smarter always beats working harder.

When I'm not building brands, I practice enthusiastically mediocre yoga, compete in nerdtastic online trivia, wage war against the aphids in my garden, and seek out new foods to sample — both from pros and in my own kitchen. I lack any musical talent, but excel at curating never-ending playlists and love experiencing live music. I'd love to hear who you saw at your first concert and your best concert!

The University of Notre Dame

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design
Cum Laude

Google Skillshop

Google Analytics IQ
Certified power user

LinkedIn Learning

Digital Marketing Specialist Certification
26+ hour course with exams in SEO, social media, content marketing, Google Ads & Analytics, email marketing

IDEO U

Storytelling for Influence
5-week course in methodology for telling powerful, persuasive stories

Software

Adobe

After Effects
Animate
Illustrator
InDesign
Photoshop
Premiere Pro
Premiere Rush

Google

Ads
Analytics
Search Console

Code

CSS
HTML
PHP

Other

Asana
Figma
Hootsuite
Hubspot
MailChimp
PowerPoint
Smartsheet
Sprout Social
Squarespace
Webflow
WordPress

Experience & Key Accomplishments

Creative Director
Atlas — Chicago 03/2022 - 02/2023

Led an internationally distributed in-house creative team and managed freelancers while collaborating with leads in comms, growth, content, product, sales and more to run B2B campaigns for a global HR SaaS platform

  • Achieved website traffic increase of 200% and boosted LinkedIn followers by 55% through the successful launch of an accelerated rebrand within three months
  • Supported the company in securing up to $200M of VC funding through the design of effective analyst and investor presentations
Marketing & Creative Director
Traffic Tech — Chicago 03/2022 - 02/2023

Oversaw global marketing processes and systems, driving the successful expansion of a rapidly growing company with 30+ locations

  • Implemented targeted recruitment campaigns and messaging to attract top talent, supported by impactful branded promotional merchandise
  • Conducted strategic research to lay the foundation for a brand refresh
Marketing Director
The Gettys Group — Chicago 01/2020 - 10/2020

Headed brand marketing for multiple lines of B2B services and sub-brands

  • Cut thousands of dollars in waste from the annual budget by auditing department spending and developing best practice guidelines — such as reducing email marketing costs by $200/month
  • Launched 2-4 multi-channel campaigns per month for ghostwritten content marketing; these pages had the longest session durations of all site content
  • Increased engagement for three brands on social media:
    • LinkedIn post shares by +60%;
    • Instagram engagement rate per impression by +42%, Facebook by +30%;
    • Instagram net follower growth by +34%, Facebook by +36%
Senior Brand Strategist
The Gettys Group — Chicago 06/2019 - 01/2020

Developed differentiated brands for hotels, bars, and restaurants through strategic market research and competitor analysis — resulting in successful positioning statements, brand narratives, visual identity concepts and more

  • Received high praise from a major client’s global SVP for delivering the best brand concept presentation they had seen, leading to new business opportunities
  • Co-led an initiative to rebrand and relaunch our own service lines to better position them for highly targeted clients; one launch campaign created the singularly highest day of traffic on our website that year
Senior Brand Designer
The Gettys Group — Chicago 04/2016 - 06/2019

Developed and executed creative concepts to support The Gettys Group and its multiple sub-brands’ B2B marketing and branding

  • Assumed responsibilities of vacant Marketing Director position, overseeing external PR and SEO consultants, providing direction for social media and email campaigns, analyzing competitors, and making strategic recommendations for brand messaging
  • Produced and co-directed a video about company culture that has been watched 33.5k times — with average viewers watching 80% of the 1:25 duration — leading to an increase in quality candidate applications
Senior Communication & Branding Manager
TEAMS Design — Chicago 04/2015 - 03/2016

Led international colleagues in building out my solo digital marketing work into a collaborative global process

  • Promoted into role after consistently demonstrating a strong understanding of organizational needs and exceeding expectations
  • Played a key role in shaping the company’s new brand by representing the U.S. studio on an international committee responsible for defining implementation standards
  • Initiated the successful adoption of Trello collaborative project tracking software, enabling a global team to efficiently plan website content and supporting social media and email campaigns
Senior Graphic Designer
TEAMS Design — Chicago 09/2010 - 04/2015

Established and managed official company social media accounts, revamped website design, and oversaw junior team members’ project work

  • Set up and maintained social media profiles on key platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) with tailored content guidelines
  • Designed and developed an interim Joomla website that served as the company’s main online presence for several years
  • Successfully advocated for a modern rebranding initiative, replacing our outdated logo from 1962
Visual Branding
TEAMS Design — Chicago 04/2007 - 09/2010

Created work for clients in a diverse range of print and digital media, including: packaging, app design, video editing, brand guidelines, logo and iconography development, and user interface design

  • Conceptualized and coded a “configurator” desktop app that allowed clients to customize product concepts’ user interfaces, colors, materials, and finishes; led to faster approvals and aided clients in creating custom SKUs for retailers like Target and Walmart

Contact


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