Meet Shandel Shand | Marketing Director & Founder of Marketing Creates

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shandel Shand and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shandel, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind my success has been my resilience, determination and courage to change my circumstances. I always say when you don’t come from much you are always grateful for the opportunity to experience and achieve more as long as you have mentors and sponsors willing to guide you in a positive direction. Environment is very important and how you treat people, because when people remember how you made them feel they’ll never hesitate to speak your name into a room you’ve never been in before

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Marketing Creates is my up and coming agency that specializes in content, copy, and data. We support dominantly high performing CEO’s, e-commerce founders, and events. I’m most proud of who we’ve been able to serve internationally within our first year as an agency after 5+ years of freelancing.

To get to where I am today, definitely was NOT easy but well worth it. I started a small cleaning company at the young age of 22, I quickly realized I had a passion for the logistics of a business and marketing more than I liked running a cleaning company. I was going through some very tough times before and during the birth of my first business, these moments required me to reflect and choose better for myself. I overcame my life’s challenges by having the courage to change and pivot. Pivoting in life and then within business strategies has become second nature. I want the world to know it’s never too late to choose a path you imagine better for yourself but you need to do the WORK inside and out. Your work ethic and mindset will determine a lot of outcomes. Being a business owner allowed me to give opportunities to other people and provide for them as I learnt to do for myself. To own a business for me means building a mini economy people can rely on.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Do 2022 tree houses have Wifi? If so I’d plan a tree house adventure as part of the vacay, I’d definitely bring some plant based bug spray, I hate bugs since I’m a downtown Toronto city girl. However, I do love to adventure. I’d also take us to a beach to enjoy the ocean vibes. To me nature, genuine authentic company, some good Caribbean tunes and lots of sun is very much the vibe. When I can, I’ll bring my whole team on a remote work trip to work remotely, eat mangos and unique fresh fruit fresh from the near by trees.
I’ve met my most interesting people travelling to America. State to state is so different culturally, mostly because of the food, and the vibe of the people. There is nothing like trying southern food or cornbread from Chicago for the first time. So when my best friend is visiting me in the states we ‘re having a cookout with southern comfort food and getting somebody’s grandma to make the corn bread.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate this article to the numerous women in business and professionals from Toronto. These are the women who have allowed me to shadow them, intern for them, receive support and sponsorship for opportunities I didn’t realize I was qualified for. Last but not least, Pauleanna Reid Forbes Writer, Jackie Clarke Sponsorship expert, Monique Bryan Brand Expert, Judge Lori Thomas and former president of the Upper Canada Association of Black Lawyers. These 3 individuals helped me shape my career to where I am now. They’ve gotten me to dream bigger, believe in myself, and ask for what I want as long as I can lead with a result. These women do not play games!

Website: www.marketingcreates.com

Instagram: Personal Brand @inspiredbyshandel Agency: @marketingcreates

Linkedin: Personal: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/shandelshand?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F Agency: https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-creates/about/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shandel.shand

Other: My newest Podcast interview: How to Use Email, SMS for Marketing that Converts- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBZrc_P_zNg&t=156s

Image Credits
Elevate Management & Andre the director.