Mike Hill
- Partner
- Strata PMM
School Information
School: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
College Major: Business
Years at College Works: 2010 to 211
Career Information
Working For: Strata PMM
Title: Partner
Industry: Marketing
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
At Strata PMM we help early-stage tech companies refine their positioning and build marketing surfaces that generate demand. I am also a Founder of Lumenairs. Lumenairs provides in-depth customer & competitor intelligence to help B2B technology startups better answer fundamental GTM questions.
What Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?Starting the nonprofit that perfectly fit my background and has allowed me to take my entrepreneurial passions and previous experience and apply it in a unique way!
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
Tested my work ethic, drive, and sales abilities to where I feel like I can handle anything now.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
Client of mine gave me my first job at Robert Half as a Sales Executive! My current business partners are all old College Works Painting friends. Still constitutes much of the stories I tell in interviews.
What do you want to tell your clients about what it meant to work with them and how it has helped you get to where you are today?
I learned so much about client management, it becomes an art managing over 50 clients in one summer on top of everything else. A unique experience that completely prepared me for my sales career after graduation.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
Follow through, selling is easy. The hard part is delivering. I think that it is the challenge every working professional faces. Nobody I know at my age understands that like College Works Painting alumni.
How have the friendships and networks you built during CW affected you?
I currently am partners with two College Works Painting alums. A College Works Painting alum is my financial advisor. I have visited alumni in New York, LA, and San Francisco many times.
If you had to come up with a one line slogan for CW, what would it be?
Hardest reward you will ever earn!
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
Start off strong, prepare as much as possible for the first couple weekends. Momentum there can carry not just your business, but your passion and drive to weather tough times.
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
College Works Painting, there is simply nothing like it. Anything business, entrepreneurship or sales especially!
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
Booking my first job on my own. I went absolutely crazy in the car outside the clients house!
Last words of wisdom?
Excuses are like diapers.