I started out in a job with six titles: Marketing Communications Coordinator, PR, Branding, and Webmaster (it didn’t even fit on my card), partially because I’m an overachiever, mostly because I’m obsessed with what I do, and ultimately because I was terrified of limiting myself.

15+ years later, not much has changed. I’m still a professional chameleon and have had about as nonlinear a career path as one possibly could, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know me.

My first job out of college was in biomedical marketing, the marketing equivalent of watching paint dry. I didn’t know what I wanted to be doing, but I knew it wasn’t an environment where I could thrive. I started throwing darts at the wall applying to anything where I could be creative and strategic.

That led me to the travel industry. I started as the Online Marketing Manager for one of the very first online tour operators doing lead gen for their epic adventure trips flying MIG Fighter Jets in Russia and Becoming a Certified Viking in Iceland. It was the dream job… for all of two weeks.

That company decided there was too much overhead in trip sales and changed the business model overnight to become a publisher. That 200-person company went down to six of us in the media department and I was told if I wanted to keep my job, I could figure out how to become a managing editor. Soon after, I was managing a team of 50+ freelancers around the world and pumping out 30+ articles a month, adapt and pivot becoming a recurring theme in my career.

Tourism boards came to us wanting to know how to get more travelers to their destination. We began to offer sponsored content campaigns where I would travel to each place as their in-house content creator (before that was even a thing), to discern what made each city, state or country unique and share those stories through pictures and videos, while obsessively learning the ins and outs of the social media landscape as I grew my own following and our client’s channels.

As one of the OG influencers, I’ve been able to successful navigate the world of social media and evolve with it. From the early days of pokes to perfectly curated grids to the rise of short-form video—to match whatever internet era we’re living in. Staying relevant isn’t about chasing trends; it’s about understanding why people connect with them.

A pioneer in the space, that company decided to pivot again and become one of the first influencer agencies. We parted ways, and for a while, I was going at it on my own, doing digital marketing and content consulting for 100+ hospitality and tourism brands across 25 states. It was going great, until 2020, when the world came to a crashing halt, and travel was abruptly paused indefinitely.

I took a job in-house with one of my most innovative clients, the Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau, moving from Colorado to deep south Texas to be their tourism developer. We were killing it, dreaming up crazy new festivals and events like Beaulympics with gator races and “try”athalons and Artaco that paired murals with Mexican cuisine, while creating and launching new soft attractions and programs like geocaching and foodie trails that attracted thousands of new visitors a year.

The City Manager and City Council took notice and asked me to do it on a larger scale, and soon after, I created the city’s first-ever communications department from scratch.

Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself working in local government or think I’d love sharing topics like water and infrastructure as much as the “feel good” stuff like travel and events, but I’ve found my superpower to be storytelling and explaining complex topics in a way that’s understandable and relatable with a “citizen first” approach in order to impact meaningful change where you live.

I don’t think outside the box because I don’t believe there is a box. The intersection of tourism and economic development is what I geek out on and I love cities right on the tipping point. I’m always looking to engage with destinations willing to be creative and try new things and love nothing more than introducing people to a new side of their favorite place or showing them a hidden gem right in their own backyard.

I say all this to say, I have a wealth of knowledge and a wide range of skillsets in the marketing and communications world and if you think I’d be an asset to your team, reach out.

Above all else, I’m a connector and problem solver. Let’s chat.

My consulting company, Digital Marketing on Demand Inc, has helped countless tourism, government, public and private sector B2B and B2C clients grow their audience, traffic, leads, and engagement across a range of verticals. My background is in advertising, technology, arts, and media, and I have a master’s in E-business. 

How I Can Help:

Let’s build something great together. No project is too big or too small.

Still Curious?

Testimonials:

“I’ve learned more from spending one day with you than any conference I’ve ever been to.” – Christina Lokey, Beaumont CVB

“Can I adopt you?” – Stephanie Tate, Rivers & Routes CVB

Questions, comments or dying wishes?

Get in touch by emailing lmonitz(at)gmail.com or fill out the form below.