The Media Captain

Hi There! I'm Stefanie Parks, Co-Founder of The Media Captain (TMC) and business partner to my brother, Jason Parks, the agency's Owner. Back in 2010, I was working at a market research firm in Chicago, feeling unfulfilled. I'll never forget the moment Jason pitched me the idea of joining TMC after he secured his first 5 clients. The timing couldn't have been better. I convinced my market research company to allow me to work part-time, giving me the chance to help build our new agency. My first task was revamping the website. Trust me, you wouldn't want to see how bad the first iteration of Media Captain's site was! I immediately improved the branding to ensure we made a great first impression when people visited our site and got introduced to TMC. It's amazing how many people can't believe a sibling duo can exist as business partners. We constantly get asked if we argue. The honest answer is that we hardly ever do, although Jason does try to take credit for a lot of my ideas! Jason and I complement each other extremely well. We each have our strengths, and there's also a nice crossover in certain areas. After working on the agency side for 5 years, we became more well-versed in eCommerce marketing and web design. Our dad, a dermatologist, was selling a few skincare brands at his office. We decided to start an eCommerce skincare site called DermWarehouse. We scaled the operation to sell hundreds of brands and thousands of products, and have since amassed over 400,000 customers throughout the U.S. I often think back to what would have happened if I had been content at my first job out of college. Would I have taken the leap of faith and joined The Media Captain? Would DermWarehouse even exist? That's the beauty of entrepreneurship: when an opportunity arises, you have to seize it and there's no looking back. When people ask what sets The Media Captain apart, there are a few key things. We are so confident in our marketing abilities that we've been able to grow and cultivate other businesses, like DermWarehouse. The Media Captain has also grown by investing in our own SEO and digital marketing. Plus, we're a family-owned and operated business that loves entrepreneurship and seeing other businesses succeed. We plan on sharing more of our stories about our business from over the years – the wins, losses, and memories. Stay tuned!

Hi there! I'm Jason Parks, Owner of The Media Captain (TMC). Over the years, I've shared a lot of tactics on digital marketing trends but haven't shared much on my entrepreneurial backstory. I will start by sharing the story of how my agency came about. I founded TMC in 2010 when I was 22 years old, working out of my 500-square-foot apartment at Tivoli Apartments in Downtown Columbus. It's hard to believe it's been 14 years since then! In those early days, when clients wanted to meet face-to-face, I'd tell them I wanted to see their business operations. The truth was, I didn't really have a proper place to meet them at my tiny apartment! When we first started, our primary focus was on video and social media. In 2010, social media was a novel marketing avenue for businesses (hard to believe, right?). This was before Instagram existed! There weren't many experienced professionals in the space, so brands turned to young millennials like myself for guidance. My background in video production allowed me to create great content for brands while simultaneously managing their social media accounts. I am always thankful for getting into this industry at the perfect time. I quickly became immersed in digital marketing, working 70-80 hour weeks in my 20's, fueled by 4 cups of coffee per day (I later gave up caffeine, but that's a story for another time). While I knew social media was a powerful channel, I wanted to explore other avenues like Google optimization and website enhancement. I started learning and pitching these additional services to my social media clients, which eventually allowed us to expand into a full-service agency. There were definitely some bumps and bruises along the way while creating new divisions of our agency, but the 2010s were a great time for trial and error since so much was unestablished in the digital space. There were some early clients who took a chance on me as a 22-year-old, and I will never forget their trust and support. We now work with hundreds of brands across many verticals, but some of my best memories are those early clients who helped me hone my craft. None of this would have been possible without my amazing business partner and sister, Stefanie Parks. Stay tuned for the next posts, where we'll introduce her and share more about our journey together. I also plan on sharing more stories about The Media Captain from over the years so you can get a behind-the-scenes look at our entrepreneurial journey.

?? Join us for marketing happy hour at our downtown office on Thursday, May 23rd from 4:30-6:00 PM. Our cofounders will be covering the topic of improving your website's SEO. ??? Google owns over 90% of the search engine market share. When your business appears on the first page of Google, this can be a game changer for your company. Learn the key tactics to surpass the competition from an SEO standpoint. We’ll cover the blueprint we lay out for our clients to help them rank better organically. This event is also a great opportunity to network with other business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketing managers! Beverages and pizza will be served at the event. Tickets can be purchased here: https://bit.ly/4d244JM

?? Join us for marketing happy hour at our downtown office on Thursday, May 23rd from 4:30-6:00 PM. Our cofounders will be covering the topic of improving your website's SEO. ??? Google owns over 90% of the search engine market share. When your business appears on the first page of Google, this can be a game changer for your company. Learn the key tactics to surpass the competition from an SEO standpoint. We’ll cover the blueprint we lay out for our clients to help them rank better organically. This event is also a great opportunity to network with other business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketing managers! Beverages and pizza will be served at the event. Tickets can be purchased here: https://bit.ly/4d244JM

We've hosted monthly marketing events with fellow business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs at our office. This Thursday, April 18th, we'll discuss ad spend allocation. Over 60% of all online ad spending goes toward Google, Meta, and Amazon. We'll share how we create high-performing advertising game plans for hundreds of businesses and how your company should measure success. Sign-Up For Event:?https://lnkd.in/ezkPvyyE

Working on and launching the new Bob Webb Group website was a pleasure. When people walk into a Bob Webb Home, people are greeted with superior quality and meticulous attention to detail and design. Our goal was to create a similar experience when people visit their website (bobwebb.com) for the first time. A special thanks to the following Bob Webb Team Members who worked alongside our team: Hayden Pyles and Lindsay Barhorst. We also want to thank Becky Webb, the CEO of Bob Webb, for accepting our website launch certificate alongside Co-Founders Jason and Stefanie Parks!

We're hosting a local SEO marketing event at our Columbus downtown office on Thursday, February 29th, from 8:30-10 AM. The topic we'll be covering is Google My Business Optimization. The local 3-Pack results get 44% of clicks on the first page of Google for local queries. If you are a local business, populating in this section can drastically increase your website traffic and leads. Jason and Stefanie, Co-Founders of The Media Captain, will walk you through optimization tips to enhance your Google My Business page. There will be bagels and coffee at the event, and networking with other business owners and marketers. Tickets cost $10. We hope to see you there! Buy Tickets for 2.29 Event:?https://bit.ly/3uG7pNt