Scholes Marketing Has a New Leader

I founded Scholes Marketing sixteen years ago. It was a risky move for me at the time, taking a leap out of the corporate world and starting with zero customers. And, initially, it was the “Jeff show” and a sea of disparate MarTech. I had big hopes for the agency, but, no idea it would grow into what it is today.  

Technology, marketing and the digital economy move fast, and we’ve been through a lot of major transitions over the years. Taking a look back at the journey we’ve taken to get here, one of the most important moments was around 2008, just as we were starting to gain traction as a young digital marketing agency, serving mostly Boston-based technology startups. That year, the “Great Recession” hit. Venture capitalists retreated from their portfolio companies, and marketing budgets were slashed. This could have been devastating for me and my small team.  

Betting big on HubSpot

We had to rethink our business, and a big part of that transition was betting on a tiny company at the time that I thought had an innovative idea for a unified digital marketing platform: HubSpot. Our customers were managing so many different marketing tools that didn’t talk to each other. When I saw the HubSpot vision, it immediately made sense to me. We were all in. What marketer wouldn’t have wanted an all-in-one, cloud-based platform that provided all of the functions of digital marketing as an integrated whole? 

In 2009, we became one of the first 14 certified HubSpot partners. Looking at that list, only a small fraction are still around. I’m very proud of how we’ve maintained our premier partner status as a HubSpot Platinum Solution provider, a status that we’ve retained every year since 2016, even as the HubSpot partner ecosystem has grown to almost 6,000 agencies and providers worldwide! 

Looking to our exciting future

Marketing and sales technology continues to evolve at warp speed, as does the HubSpot CRM platform. What was once a must have for any marketing team, HubSpot has expanded into a solution that has all the tools and integrations businesses need for marketing, sales, content management, and customer service.

Our agency too has grown into a fantastic team of dedicated and skilled people that are customer centric to the core. I could not have taken the company to this point without each and every person’s longevity and friendship. 

It’s been clear to me for a while now that Scholes Marketing needs another major change to scale up our technical toolsets, nurture and grow the team to provide deeper, better customer service, and to take us to the next level to meet the demanding needs of the future head on.   

Meet Oscar Jaramillo

So today, I am delighted to announce some really exciting news. Scholes Marketing has a new leader, CEO and owner. In our quest to find exactly the right candidate for the job, we had to kiss several frogs in the form of interested agencies, entities and individuals. But when Oscar Jaramillo showed up, I knew pretty much immediately that he was going to be the right choice.  

At regional and national levels, Oscar has led teams and operations for enterprise-scale companies like Honeywell Technologies, International Paper, and Nestle Waters North America. As an entrepreneur, Oscar founded two e-commerce companies and has other investment interests in real estate. His corporate and business ownership experience gives Oscar the confidence to provide proven growth strategies for startups and enterprise organizations alike. 

It's also important to note that Oscar proudly served as a U.S. Marine and was deployed overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). We’re all very proud to have him as our new leader.

“This is an industry that is just getting started. There is so much more opportunity to drive growth for our customers with emerging technologies like AI and virtual reality, “ said Oscar. “And the potential to expand Scholes Marketing into additional service areas that are a natural fit really appealed to me. What I love doing most is growing businesses by delivering ROI to customers.”

Oscar has already begun working closely with the Scholes Marketing team and has enjoyed getting to know and begin working with all of our amazing customers. He plans to build upon the established team as we continue to grow our agency.  

“I’m so impressed by the culture at Scholes Marketing,” Oscar continued.  “Jeff has really taken care to build an incredible team. And I’m going to invest in it, with training, enablement and additional team members to expand and do more for our customers.” 

What’s next?

I consider Scholes Marketing to be the crowning achievement of my career. And I’m honored to have Oscar join our family. At first, I promise you shouldn’t notice anything different. Our collective #1 priority is to make sure that the transition is effortless for customers and that the core team you’ve come to know so well will remain intact. Over time, I’ll be taking on more of a backseat role in a strategic advisor capacity and will be less involved in the company's day-to-day operations. 

As always, thank you so very much for your continued support and here’s to a healthy, happy and successful 2022 and beyond! If you have any questions, concerns or if you’d like some one-on-one time with Oscar, please do reach out.