Hello, everyone, and welcome to my corner of the Vagaro Pro Blog! My name is Charity Hudnall, I’m the Chief Marketing Officer at Vagaro—a title which I’m proud of and have earned after establishing a proven track record of leading businesses of all sizes to next-level success, from the developing startup to large-scale corporations.
If you’re a fellow marketing pro looking to take your career to the next level, a woman navigating the corporate world, or somebody who’s simply interested in learning more about marketing best practices & tips, I hope you’ll find value in following along on my blogging journey.
So, where did it all start?
I entered the professional scene during the dot-com era, coinciding with the rise of social media, e-commerce, and search engine optimization (SEO). Wow. Admitting it makes me feel a bit seasoned, but what I value and miss the most from that period is its uniqueness. The skillsets and insights that professionals who were lucky enough to gain during that time are irreplaceable assets. Even today, those resources remain so valuable in the current business landscape.
Okay, okay—yes…it was also a time when beer breaks and technology cults were at their peak and many people weren't necessarily too preoccupied with their “official title.” During that time, a lot of us were just happy to be a part of the scene and directly involved with the cause. The status quo and stale corporate traditions went out the window. Those who were smart, savvy, and scrappy enough made something amazing out of their work.
This tech boom was a bit of a love fest and a protest, all in one era. It was thrilling. I can feel the energy coming back to me any time I reflect on it. We all BELIEVED, and we all worked with such conviction.
While working at a handful of tech companies—where the size of the organization ranged anywhere from a handful of us that could fit in a living room to mega corporations—there was a point when I knew I found my niche. To put it bluntly, I became really darn good at coming into a complex situation or joining a company with little to no marketing and using my scrappy experience & pure drive to help elevate the organization. I was even better at finding gaps and filling them. But the skillset I can really hang my hat on is building and leading talented teams.
Of course, my background doesn’t consist solely of Silicon Valley dreams of making it big. I also experienced some significant twists and turns that many women undergo at some point in their professional careers. The largest of all, I would say, was the decision to have children.
During my pregnancy with my first son, I had been working really hard at a fashion business. That’s right—a non-tech company. At the time, we were releasing our latest line and seasonal look book. I was so excited to bring all my knowledge to this organization that included gaining an internet presence, digital ads and—OMG—becoming data-driven. While seven and a half months pregnant, I launched their first E-commerce site. It was one of the largest initiatives the company ever experienced and by the following year, it began driving millions in revenue to the business! Soon after the launch, though, I started to show some complications with my pregnancy and my doctor ordered bedrest.
Coming off such an exciting professional high, bedrest was not something I was open to. So, three days out of the week, I worked from my bed with my laptop propped up with a pillow. The other two days a week, I decided to commute one & a half hours to the office so I could be physically present and in the mix, like I loved to be. That lasted about two weeks and, after a long commute home from the office one day, my water broke. I delivered my son one month early.
Still, I worked through my maternity leave at home while taking care of my son. But when it came time to go back into the office, I had an ah-ha moment. I was now responsible for my son—another human’s life—and while I wanted to work, I wasn’t ready to leave him.
The next chapter included my decision to find a way to have a flexible schedule so that I could be a hands-on mom, but still feel like I could fulfill my desire to work. So, my husband and I bought into a franchise business. We bought a UPS Store. I knew nothing about shipping packages, but I thought, “How hard could it be?” After all, I helped hundred-million-dollar companies build their businesses and grow! Off that success, we bought another UPS Store.
However, I realized I was simply not happy, career-wise. After a couple of years, I felt like I was not fulfilling my calling. So, we ended up selling those stores and I headed back to the corporate world.
I went to work for a couple of start-up companies to get my chops back again. Both companies had products that most marketers might think were incredibly difficult to market, but I personally loved the challenge. These were the perfect opportunities for me to get my confidence and conviction back while simultaneously helping the businesses grow and thrive.
Small businesses with the potential to truly scale and grow are very fulfilling to work for, and with. Going back to the start-up where I rekindled my corporate career, I then worked my way back up to a mid-size company and, later, to a billion-dollar technical consulting company where I really had my work cut out for me. That eventually led me to my most recent chapter, here, with Vagaro.
"This is why I particularly love working for Vagaro, because with more than 81,000 businesses using our platform, it’s like I work for all of them and want to see them all experience success."
Growing my career in the dot-com era was a huge foundation for me. Finding talent that has the conviction and grit like we did during those days is not easy anymore, but that’s exactly what I look for when I build a team. I need talent that wants to be a part of something special—and we have something special here at Vagaro. The centerpiece of what we do is our community of customers.
I can take everything I know from working at all different-sized companies, working through office politics, complexities and knowing what it feels like to be an entrepreneur myself, and I can now put myself in the shoes of our customers—the business owners we serve.
So, now I’m at an interesting point in my life where I really feel the importance of sharing my experiences—the good and the bad. My hope is that, maybe, I can prevent someone from making the same mistakes I did or help them become inspired by the situations that went “right” for me. Even if the specific situation is not exactly something that everyone can relate to, the sentiment of the process I went through might be helpful. They are all learning lessons for anyone who is interested, and I hope you find them valuable. Stay tuned!