Meet Joey. He’s a guitar player and Dodgers fan who lives in LA with his dog, Gumbo, and his significant other. He has worked with IZEA for six years now after working at an LA newspaper. In that time he went from writing content to designing to now handling red carpets and video shoots — and everything in between — as a Senior Campaign Manager, Experiential Lead. Joey, who works on IZEA experiential campaigns — those with a unique, special, or interesting element to them — shares the campaigns he handles and traveling for work. Company names have been redacted to maintain the brands’ confidentiality.
Hi! Thanks for meeting with me. I see your Sun Devil hat. Did you go to ASU?
“Yeah, I did.”
Me too!
“What?! Go Devils!”
Where are you based now?
“I’m in LA.”
So what do you do here?
“So what do I do? I do anything weird. I do anything special or different.”
“I’m a senior campaign manager, lead of experiential. What that essentially means is I handle any of the campaigns that have an experiential element to them, whether they be the (major film) red carpet, which we just did, or the (other major film) campaign, which we also just did. I’m working on (Fortune 10 company’s campaign) right now, which is essentially six different creator videos that are highlighting what the brand means to them and how it helps them do what they do a little bit better. For example, one person is a surfer, one person fishes, one person hikes … What we’re doing is partnering with one of our production teams to do a five-day video shoot. We’re going out on-site and having creators do what they do: doing interviews, surfing, skateboarding, etc. I handle a lot of the logistical things around that. For example, I can tell you how much it is to rent a boat, because I have to rent a boat for this.”
“Another example is USMC, which is the Marine Corps campaign. We had four different gamers take part in a yearlong activation where we had Marines come in and essentially see where they were at physically and for the next six months it was them progressing and starting to work out more. Ultimately we had them spend a week in Quantico and they basically did a boot camp thing.”
“It sounds like a lot of fun but trust me when I say, there’s a lot of contracts that go into this stuff, a lot of insurance things and a lot of specialized pieces that make it super hard, which is why it was so hard to even meet today. I have to find a boat between now and when I leave tomorrow (for PTO).”
Oh wow. Thank you for talking with me.
When you’re on a red carpet in London, what are you doing while you’re there?
“We partner with different creators — this one was 12 different creators — to produce content: three different videos, one of those videos being shot while they’re on the (red) carpet. What we do once we’re there is we’re making sure people are booked travelwise, they are COVID-tested, all of those things. Making sure they actually get to the carpet, making sure they know what they are doing while they’re there. I’m there to be a resource to them — to make sure everything goes well. I’m there to make sure they show up. And then be that liaison between the client and them.”
Did you go to school for something related to this?
“No, I was a journalism major and I worked at a newspaper for seven years before I came to IZEA.”
“I have a pretty extensive rich media background, so IZEA found me when I was at the LA Daily News.”
“From there my roles changed over time, from content I was doing a lot of design stuff, basically all the design accounts we have, making sure they have all the design aspects. … and then that eventually switched to doing influencer and regular content and now I’m into the experiential stuff.”
Have you always been remote when you worked at IZEA?
“No, I originally started in the Sherman Oaks office. We had probably 20 people that worked in the LA office. Then we moved to the West Hollywood location — we were there a year. After that we moved the offices to Playa Vista, which for me — being from East LA — was a 2-hour drive in the morning. So IZEA started allowing me to work from home a few times a week. That eventually turned into working from home full time. Then COVID-19 happened and everyone started working from home.”
I’m guessing you like that more?
“Yeah. I like my dog so I would much rather be at home. He’s a French bulldog. His name is Gumbo, like the food.”
Is it hard to leave your dog and significant other when you travel?
“Yeah. Hard yeah, in terms of missing home. This month is a prime example. We’re hitting hard recently. It hasn’t always been this busy but to give you an example: I was in London from the 25th to the 31st. I’m back until tomorrow to fly to Tennessee from April 7-10. From Tennessee I go straight to New Orleans until the 14th. I’m back for one day on the 15th. On the 16th I start shooting (for a major client), from the 16th-20th. I’m back on the 21st. On the 22nd I fly to Boston and I’m back on the 25th. I will be gone absolutely more time than I’m here, but it’s also a really cool job and I get to do really cool stuff. That’s part of it, and my frequent flyer number is getting all kinds of points.”
I can imagine. What do you like to do when you’re not working?
“I usually like to travel. I do like trying new restaurants, doing different things. I like to hang out with friends and family. I hang out with my dog. I’ve been playing guitar for like 20 years so if I ever have some extra time I will immediately play some guitar, but that honestly doesn’t happen too much anymore.”
What do you like most about working here? Experiences?
“Experiences and the people. I’ve made some really good friends over the years. People who work here and people who don’t work here anymore that I still talk to on a daily basis. This weekend I’m going to a birthday party in Tennessee with one of my coworkers here. She’s in Florida, I’m in LA and her birthday party is in Tennessee so I’m excited for that. I think the people — one of the most memorable things was how helpful people could be, when I was just getting started. People were always willing to help and always willing to go the extra mile and be a support system.”
“As much as I respect (journalism) and as much I love it and as much as I still appreciate it, I got tired of working weekends, I got tired of working nights, I got tired of having to wonder — even if I do a good job — am I going to have a job? The people here were a lot more helpful and seem to want the best for you. Some of the relationships I made here are friends I’ll have forever.”
Aww. … Is there anything else you want to say about your job?
“I like my job. My job’s cool.”
Can I see a picture of your dog?
*Sends photos of Gumbo.*
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Want to join #TeamIZEA? Visit the IZEA careers page.
Marette Flora is IZEA’s Content Manager. She writes and edits content about influencer marketing and all the latest #TeamIZEA happenings. When she is not at work, she can be found writing her personal blog, crafting personalized gifts or exploring Chicago where she lives with her husband, two daughters, dog and plants.
