Alyssa Watkins
Creative Operations / Project Manager
San Diego, CA
www.introlimited.com/#team
instagram @alyssawat
tiktok @alyssawat
Q What do you do?
“I have a variety of skills that are applicable to many different roles. My positions have been specific to a certain part of operations, creative content or technical responsibilities, while other positions have been fully encompassing of a project’s success from its conception. I am part founder, part recruiter, part creative and part pilot. Here is a condensed breakdown (yes, it’s condensed I promise)”
Project Management - holistically I oversee project brief creation, and SOW’s, as well as implementing process and structure internally on teams. I meet with clients to understand their business needs and what they want to achieve. I schedule meetings, reviews and report to founders and stakeholders as well as manage resources. I organize deliverables from ecommerce site go-live dates, to uploading content to sharing assets and files and organizing structure to maintain all of the moving pieces of working with a client. I interface with photographers, retouchers, talent, designers, developers, founders, copywriters and vendors. I maintain the moving parts of a project, which sometimes includes working with a variety of personalities and wrangling those who need guardrails to keep things moving forward. I sit in on design and developer meetings to understand the process and how the departments intersect and offer opinions when needed. I track time, finances and deliverables, all while maintaining positive interactions and promote a culture of progress and growth.
On the side - Sunday Driver
My family started a mom + pop car dealership 40 years ago, my grandfather was a top Ford salesman in the 60’s and cars have been a huge part of my upbringing. My dad is transitioning from the dealership to his life long hobby of collecting, restoring, selling and enjoying vintage classic cars. This is something he has been doing for years - never making it into a business. I am helping him create a website, get physical assets created, deciding the brand identity, tone of voice, typography, art direction and vision for the brand and the services. It’s called Sunday Driver, I started the social accounts for it and have been capturing content and creating short videos on the weekly activities we engage in within the car community. From the recent car I purchased and the work that went into it to update some old parts, to the car shows we attend and the car community in San Diego. You can check out the first month of content here: https://www.tiktok.com/@sundaydriverclub
On the side - Intro Limited
3 years ago I met my now mentor Michael Ardelean. He was starting a boutique recruiting agency with the intention of being different. He was previously a VP of Merchandising for Quiksilver and an ex pro BMX-er. He had zero experience in talent acquisition and neither did I. That’s the point. We both had worked in businesses and understood the ways different departments intersect and knew the value of working with talented people. We are more like a matchmaking service between talent and companies - viewing both sides as good friends. We remove the corporate stuffy transactional process of the job/candidate search and replace it with genuine connection, healthy work situations and longevity of having an asset on your team or landing a job at a company that cares about you. I source talent, I schedule meetings, I ask strangers about their priorities outside of what you can tell from their LinkedIn or portfolio and I see if the position we are filling aligns with what they are looking for. If yes, I introduce them. I strategize, I deliver digestible news, I meet people and companies where they are at and help them map out the next step. I get to know the inner workings of the business, the departments, the overlap and the job requirements that are needed for each role, while fundamentally understanding the culture, the trajectory for growth and the other basic logistical pieces like relocation, benefit packages, salary expectation and budgets. Then after meeting with people I present candidates to the client and talk through each of them to provide the best options including context for each one. Highlighting things clients might overlook if they quickly scanned someone's resume. I understand the client priorities and things not listed in a job description and I deliver people that can add value to the long term business plan.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I started in Event Management, worked at weddings, corporate parties and quickly realized scraping dinner plates at 2am is not what I love doing. I transitioned into a client facing role at a software company that provided a service for media monitoring (how your company is talked about online, in the news, on the radio and on paper) Working here taught me technical skills in software, how to implement systems, how to think critically how to understand clients needs, how businesses in different industries operate, how to manage a portfolio of customers and manage internal people. This was a pivotal career move for me - not what I loved, in fact I hated it - but it was a challenge that in the long run I persevered through. I now look back at the miserable first few years of my career and am eternally grateful for how it shaped me. It truly was the foundations of everything I have done since and the best jumping off point I could have asked for.
I left this company after almost 3 years and started my Project Management career. I moved to an in house role at PAIGE Denim where I assisted the C-level team to implement systems for all of their 18 retail stores, update the website, work with copywriters and strategists. This role opened the door for me to use all of my event management and client facing/critical thinking skills to a purposeful position that had a direct impact. COVID hit the world and my contracting career took off. I took 6 month to 1 year positions on contract to build something or assists with a big project before finding the next interesting opportunity. This was perfect because I got to continue building my stack of versatile skills.
In summary - I tried new things, I said yes to positions I wasn’t sure I knew how to do, I taught myself by failing forward and researching and watching those who knew how to do something. I asked for help. I showed up early and set the precedent on how hard I work and how capable I am so trust was built and I was able to learn and grow my skills while still being credible. I never pretended I knew how to do it, I neer placated my personality - I was myself and I raised a flag when I got lost. When you are yourself you allow other people to be themselves - being relatable, teachable and likable will get you farther than being someone who knows what to do all of the time.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
My skill stack - it’s versatile. I don’t take things personally, I keep trying new avenues until the results desired are accomplished. I know when to take breaks and I don’t quit. I mainly stand out in my field because I have been exposed to so many things - I’ve worked in-house for a single brand, both in a start up phase and a large corporate organization. I’ve worked at small agencies and large agencies, focused on multiple different companies - food & beverage, hotel groups, CPG brands, beauty, furniture, aviation, services (from Free People Movement work out class bookings to daycare companies who watch kids on a subscription monthly package) The variety is quite vast. This is also how I understand and work with clients as a recruiter. I’ve been or adjacent to a lot of the roles I place, so I don’t just grasp the concept - I’ve lived it.
Q What are you working on right now?
Right now I am only part time recruiting. I’m placing 7 roles across 3 companies ranging from luxury fashion to performance brands focused on Apparel Design, Footwear Design, Planning/Merchandising and Marketing roles. This takes up about half of my week, meeting prospective candidate options, sharing candidates with clients and scheduling interviews.
Q What’s your style?
My style is minimal, heritage, charm/character and a little witty. Depending on the mood, the client, the project and the goal. Elevated and minimal aesthetics is what I align most with, I believe less is more. I love simplicity when carried out in a special way. Most of what I do is not documented in a visual creative way, it’s all about the how it’s done, and how people feel when working with me. Here is my Tumblr page - I am adding to it through life to show my taste and inspiration: www.alyssawat.tumblr.com
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
I love working with companies and brands that align with my personal interests most. Health, wellness/fitness, clean beauty, cooking, traveling/languages and aviation.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Project management became my career because of my personality. I am a project manager in and out of work. Making progress, feeling fulfillment, checking boxes, organizing things are things that drive my desire to wake up in the morning. The most frustrating thing is wasting time by not making decisions. At some point, almost any decision will work, (or will arrive at point B where the next decision can be made to go another direction) It’s the indecisiveness or the inability to move forward because there are too many voices in the room, these are my main pain points in any role.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Wow I love this question. It reminds me of a meme I saw: “I don’t want AI to do my design work or take my client calls so I can do my laundry and dishes, I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so I can take my client calls and design”. I would hire someone to take over admin work, the parts of the role that really add up, and take time away from the impactful pieces of my job - like conversations and innovation. I would also hire someone to take my measurements and go to the seamstress to get a bridesmaid dress taken in that I need altered and haven’t found the time to do yet.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I could have told myself that no one is coming to save you. You have to take control of your life, career, hobbies, community and engage in the way you want too - NOW. It’s a lesson I learned in the last decade, but I wish I knew that to propel yourself forward is completely in your control and the sooner you grab the reins and try something the sooner you figure out what works/doesn’t work for you.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Probably the quantum field, the studies that have taken place, the science behind it and how we are using that to advance/learn.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I’m looking for freelance, contract, part time and potentially full time roles. At the moment I have 20 hours per week available. I travel often so ideally I can work on a project that can be flexible with time zones, but I am flexible as well! I’d love to work in house, for a brand that is global and has people in different countries, I love the versatility of this and the consistency of an in house opportunity. (Capricorn here - I’m a process focused person who likes structure, implementing structure if it doesn’t exist and then thrives off of creativity) So it’s a mixed bag!
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
My ideal client/job today is a freelance/contract role focused on a few internal projects along the lines of wellness, health or services industry. Working with a strong team of individuals who contribute with quality and communicate effectively.
Q: What is your rate?
Hourly rate fluctuates between $50-$75 p/h depending on the length of the contract, the size of the project and the deadline. Full time salary I am seeking also ranges based on the company/role and position involvement from 145,000-165,000. This is dependent mostly on resources/team size.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Email, Text, Call, WhatsApp, - send a Raven. I’m around! When being approached to work together my main question is timing, when do you need assistance, for how long, in what capacity/a JD or brief is helpful and budget is also nice to know but something I’m happy to talk through later.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
My sister - Jody Watkins www.jodywat.com / Instagram @jodywat / TikTok @jodywat
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
There are no rules!
This member profile was originally published in July 2024.