Marketing Director Shares Career Insights For Detroiters
Jayme Pretzloff is a hardworking, Midwest talent recognized not only in the Detroit area, but is fast becoming a name on many business-minded radars. In the ever-changing world of online media marketing, Pretzloff has successfully transformed his education into a burgeoning career through ingenuity, persistence and dedication to his craft.
Pretzloff has been recognized as one of the nation's top new media marketers under the age of 30 for his innovative digital marketing methods. He has worked in small business marketing for the past seven years in various capacities, including management and consulting of marketing activities. He currently serves as the marketing director for Wixon Jewelers, the premier luxury jeweler in the Midwest. Pretzloff is a graduate of Minnesota State University with a bachelor's degree in marketing and business administration and is expected to complete his MBA degree from the University of St. Thomas in 2015.
What is the most relevant aspect of your education that applies to your day-to-day job?
"As the marketing director for Wixon Jewelers, I couldn't be effective had I not learned the essentials of financial analysis and ROI. As a marketer, it is crucial to be analytical in your approach of potential media opportunities to evaluate if the monetary risk of participating is worth the potential return on your investment. Although I learned the base level of understanding on this topic in college, real-life scenarios have helped to further advance the effectiveness of my decisions."
How important is a solid education within your field?
"I graduated with my undergraduate degree in 2009, right at the height of the recession and into a bleak job market. Many classmates were moving back home to work for the company they worked for in high school or stayed near school to work their part-time jobs. Luckily for me, I had a wealth of industry experience from my internships coupled with leadership and organizational intelligence from my years in campus organizations including my fraternity, Sigma Nu. While others were frantically struggling to find a job, I was reviewing offers from four companies before I had even walked across the graduation stage. I believe it was my dedication and ambition during school that prepared me for entering the job market and in a favorable position."
Do you have any advice for someone just starting out?
"The best advice, although an overused cliché, would be to go to class every single day. There were times that I skipped lecture for various reasons and I wish I would have gone because I could have missed something impactful that day. I also think that it's important to always strive to be better; we should never settle for the status quo. If there is something that you want in life--career or otherwise--you have to chase it and never get stuck in a slump."
Michael Ferro is freelance writer and a graduate of Michigan State University where he majored in Creative Writing and received the Jim Cash Creative Writing Award. Born and bred in Detroit, he currently resides in Ypsilanti Township. Additional writing can be found at Examiner.com.
