Seeking: A unicorn for hire
I was that person.
Right after I graduated from college, I spent three years at an ad agency as an account coordinator on Walmart's grand opening campaigns. It was agency work at its best. I had a specific role that I got really good at it. I learned how hyper-focused work actually looks and feels. But after some time, I found myself wanting more.
So I moved to the nonprofit nonprofit sector as a Development & Marketing Coordinator. That title already tells you something. One position. At least two full jobs built into it.
I was writing grants.
Planning fundraising events.
Managing volunteers.
Writing copy.
Managing socials/website/online newsletter/in-person tours.
Making videos.
Taking photos.
Recruiting for the Junior Board.
Doing all the other things that need doing when you're running a lean nonprofit.
I was good at it and willing to jump in to help support the mission at any cost. But I was also being asked to be expert-level at things that require real focus and depth.
At first it felt incredible. Every day was different and I was learning constantly. I had a director who was a great mentor and I still look back on that time as one of the most formative of my career. But I remember one day in 2014 working from home, which wasn't really a thing yet, and I had one job to do – write a donor letter for our executive director. I sat outside on this beautiful fall day and wrote. I was locked in and it was one of the best pieces I wrote while I worked for that organization. And I remember thinking: this is what real focus feels like. I'd forgotten, because I was constantly context switching over and over and over every single day.
I remember thinking: I don't want to forget what that feels like for the rest of my career.
A few weeks later I was at Home Depot buying gallons and gallons of paint for a volunteer day. Carrying them around the store, something clicked.
I'd somehow become so dependable that I'd worked myself into two full jobs for the price of one. The organization had slowly restructured around my capacity instead of around what actually needed to happen.
I left that nonprofit a couple years later, honestly, pretty burned out. Not because the work was too hard. But because the organization was structured wrong.
One person can't give expert-level work to grant writing AND event planning AND everything else. That's not a work ethic problem. That's an organizational design problem.
When I left, they hired someone new. That person brought energy with fresh work and new ideas. I watched from afar and noticed the same pattern that I had lived. For about six months it was great. but then it started to slip. The work got inconsistent. By a year, they were hiring again.
And then it happened again. And again.
This is how small organizations and nonprofits have learned to operate.
Hire an admin and they can do socials too.
Hire a social media manager and they can also handle the website and graphic design and maybe plan events.
One person. Multiple full jobs.
I still keep an eye on that organization. For over a decade they cycled through this pattern. Someone brilliant comes in energized. Six months later the quality starts to backslide. A year later they're hiring again. Eventually, they figured out what I already knew: you need a team, not a unicorn. They've now built a real department, but it took ten years and dozens of talented people burned out in the process, but they got there.
That's the cost of waiting to get the structure right.
(Keep reading to find out how we can get it right earlier!)
☀️ Bright Ideas
Each edition of our newsletter will highlight a marketing tip or industry trend we’re seeing in real time—along with our honest take. Whether we’re fans or not, we’ll share what’s working, what’s shifting, and how you can apply it to your own storytelling and marketing strategy.
TODAY'S TREND: THE MARKETING UNICORN SEARCH
Every week, I see the same job posting. One position. Ten responsibilities. A list that reads like an entire marketing department's job description. Companies are looking for someone who can manage social, design graphics, film video, build websites, write copy, run ads, coordinate events, and somehow also know strategy.
I recognize that job posting. I was that job.
OUR TAKE
The unicorn doesn't exist. And if she does, she's leaving your company in a year for somewhere less chaotic.
The real problem isn't finding the right person. It's trying to solve a team-sized problem with a one-person solution. That person will be constantly switching gears, constantly feeling behind, and constantly trying to be expert-level at things that were never meant to be one person's responsibility.
The organizations I worked for didn't do this because they were trying to exploit anyone. They did it because they didn't know there was another way. Or they did know, but it looked more expensive upfront than hiring one really good person and hoping they could somehow do it all.
WHY IT MATTERS
Your marketing suffers when your marketing person is spread across ten different skill sets. Strategy gets deprioritized for execution. Execution gets rushed because there's no time for depth. Nothing gets the attention it actually deserves. Your audience sees okay versions of everything instead of exceptional versions of anything.
But here's what really happens: that person eventually leaves. Then you hire someone new. They're energized and everything looks fresh for about six months. Then the quality slides. Then they leave. And you start the cycle again.
What you end up with isn't consistent marketing. You end up with a revolving door, inconsistent messaging, and a team that's always a few months behind where they should be.
(Don't even get me started on business continuity here, that's a whole other newsletter.)
GRAY MATTER: UPFRONT COSTS VS. LONG-TERM BENEFITS
This keeps happening because hiring one person looks cheaper than hiring a team. Upfront, maybe it is. But the hidden cost is real. The quality of your work. The consistency of your message. The speed at which you can respond to opportunities. The institutional knowledge you lose when that person burns out and walks. The cost of hiring and training someone new every year or two.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR YOU
If your business has outgrown scrappy and is ready to scale, the one-person marketing department is the thing holding you back. Not because that person isn't trying. Because no single person can be expert-level across that many disciplines and still have the mental space to think strategically about where you're actually headed.
HOW WE APPROACH IT
When I left the nonprofit world, I decided I'd never build a business the way those organizations had built theirs. I wasn't going to hunt for a unicorn. I was going to do something different.
When you hire Bright & Gray, you don't hire one person and ask them to be everything.
You get a strategist who does strategy.
A designer who does design.
A photographer who does photography.
A video producer who does video.
A web designer who builds websites.
A social media team who knows social.
Specialists in their fields.
One team behind your business.
The kind of structure that actually holds up when you scale.
WANT TO LEARN MORE? LET’S CHAT!
If your business has outgrown the one-person marketing department, send us an email. We'd love to talk about what the right team structure could look like for you.
Schedule your FREE Discovery Call here and we can begin working toward a solution!
