Risk Being Told No

His first paycheck at Iron Horse Brewery was a cold beer. Now he’s the “VP of Marketing Stuff and Director of Titles,” according to his LinkedIn profile. He may not be paid in beer anymore, but his job is still pretty cool.

Jared Vallejo spoke to my communications class this week about his job, how he got to where he is and how he navigates branding Iron Horse to be a unique craft brewing company in a world of many beer brands.

Vallejo found his job in a somewhat non-traditional way. He simply asked to do some valuable work, and got a yes. He probably had no idea he would end up with the career he has, especially when he mainly had background in acting, and some web work.

Vallejo highlighted the fact that he first said yes to this job, and then figured out the parts he didn’t quite understand later on. I think this is a piece of advice everyone can benefit from.

We won’t always have all the pieces, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do the job- and do it well. Sometimes it just takes saying yes and thinking of reasons why you can, not reasons why you can’t. Vallejo recommended that when you’re in a creative position like he is, you should follow your curiosity and let it guide your research.

He gave the example of seeing a billboard and saying to himself ‘I wonder how that got there, I wonder how we can get our brand up there,’ and just using that to learn something new about marketing.

Vallejo also said that he’d like Iron Horse Brewery to move toward producing more content like blogs and podcasts. He explained that this kind of content “keeps working for you.” Over a year ago, Iron Horse released a series of podcasts. Even today, they still get at least a hundred views or so a week.

Social media is a really popular way to market, but Vallejo reminded the class that it’s not the most important, and it might even be the least important. He said that word of mouth today is still the best form of getting Iron Horse out there and spreading brand awareness.

Vallejo had helpful advice for those just getting started in their career, and advice that will be helpful throughout an entire career. You never know when a single experience could be the door you need to go through to find great opportunities.

Take a beer as a paycheck.

Ask for what you want.

Just say yes.