Get to Know Nicole
I am a born and bred Jersey girl! Originally from Bergen County, I've called Jersey City home since 2016.
After years of working in New York at marketing agencies and startups with brands big and small, my entrepreneurial spirit led me to turn my side hustle (supporting local businesses as a writer, marketer and social media strategist) into my day job. An all-around champion for small businesses, I love to shop, eat, drink, and share all things local to Jersey City on my Instagram page, @heynicoleraye.
When I'm not curating content or networking, I can be found exploring different neighborhoods with my college sweetheart, whipping up a home-cooked meal, planning a get-together for my friends, redecorating my apartment, rooting for my favorite teams (go NJ Devils!) or plotting my next adventure.
My Professional Journey
As Student Body President during my time at Sacred Heart University, I was no stranger to ideating, planning, and executing marketing and events. On top of my extracurriculars and workload as a Marketing and Management double major, I also worked at the Office for the Vice President of Marketing & Communications. I helped plan university stakeholder events, wrote press releases and pitched publications.
Prior to graduating, I completed an apprenticeship at Luxottica, a global eyewear conglomerate, where I shadowed professionals in internal communications and brand management. Here, I had the opportunity to work with prestige brands like Ray Ban, Coach, Tory Burch and Dolce & Gabbana.
Upon graduating, I became a pioneer member of the social media team at Stella Rising – the digital marketing agency I interned my senior year. At the time, social media was a new career path and the industry was only forming. Throughout my four year tenure, I worked with indie beauty brands like Moroccanoil, jane iredale and Lime Crime, overseeing social strategy, content marketing, and paid social. I managed two Social Coordinators, varying interns, and introduced influencer marketing as a core capability of the agency.
Just as the influencer industry began to boom, I joined theAmplify – an influencer agency within the You and Mr Jones brandtech group. I was responsible for sales, nurturing client relationships, building influencer strategy and managing the execution team. Here, I worked primarily with Unilever brands.
I dipped my toes into the tech industry when I became the Associate Director of Partnerships at ACTIVATE – an influencer marketing agency and technology platform. Here, I pitched and earned the business of big brands like Amazon Studios, Estée Lauder, and GoDaddy.
My last move in the agency world was to Malka Media – a Jersey City-based creative and production studio. My job was to build a new book of business, and in 6 months time, I brought in 4 new logos and sold $800M in gross revenue across new and existing clients.
