TMCnet News

THE NEW BREED: LEADING BY EXAMPLE [MidJersey Business]
[July 25, 2014]

THE NEW BREED: LEADING BY EXAMPLE [MidJersey Business]


(MidJersey Business Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ERIN KLEBAUR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING SERVICES Creative Marketing Alliance Age: 32 Education: Rider University She's always enjoyed competition. As Erin Klebaur's bio suggests: A golf aficionado, she knows what it means to stay a few inches ahead of the competition. That passion and desire is what sets her apart from her peers. Her role as CMA's director of marketing services encompasses more than the title might lead on. She's doing a lot more than merely marshalling creative. Klebaur manages four client service departments - Public Relations and Social Media, Account Services, New Business Development and Strategy, and the Creative Studio - which encompass everything to do with strategizing clients' objectives (and CMA's) and interfacing with creatives to bring that vision to reality. In all, she's overseeing about 14 staffers plus three interns and freelancers. "I'm responsible for managing both left brain and right brain people," she says.



Raised by a single mother in Ewing, Klebaur confides she never really wanted to leave family or leave New Jersey. "Mom was very hard working and a successful vice president of a career development company and was the first acting woman lobbyist in New Jersey. She's a great role model and inspiration for me," Klebaur says. Mom's example encouraged a 9-year-old Klebaur to enter a "Dear Mr. President" letter-writing contest, which would advise then-President George H.W. Bush on how to do his job better by stressing education. Klebaur won the contest, and got the chance to meet Bush 41 in person.

After college, she tried her hand at fashion, but the experience reinforced the idea that she belonged back home, doing something she was passionate about. "I was in and out in six months," she says, eventually taking a position with a marketing firm she interned with in college. That company was so impressed, it actually convinced its rival, CMA, to recruit her. CMA CEO Jeff Barnhart ended up creating the position of executive assistant just for her.


"He took a risk by seeing something in me," Klebaur says. "He allowed me to take advantage of opportunities and under his mentorship I'm constantly striving for the next thing." Outside of work, Klebaur is on the board of the New Jersey Communications, Advertising, and Marketing Association and is executive vice president of the MIDJersey Chamber's marketing committee. She also volunteers with HomeFront, the Rescue Mission of Trenton, and Trinity Cathedral of Trenton. She also created a drive for a family member, currently serving overseas in the military.

For now, life is great at CMA. She stays busy by juggling multiple projects at once. "I wear a lot of hats but I love it because it's not the same thing every day," she says. "It's always changing. We're creating something for someone else and making them successful. We're going from nothing to something that gets results." (c) 2014 MIDJersey Chamber of Commerce

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]