Elena Laswick

Background

About Elena Laswick

Born and raised on the U.S./Mexico border in Tucson, Arizona, bridging cultures has been a theme in my work ever since. Since graduating in 2014, I have been drawn to marketing and communications positions benefitting Latin Americans. After working for several NGOs and social businesses based in Nicaragua and Guatemala, I was inspired to create two social businesses of my own. Ixil Collective and Amano Marketplace created go-to-market strategies for Guatemalan and Peruvian artists during COVID and served as my unofficial M.B.A. in marketing. Some of my proudest accomplishments are:~Project managing the launch of a brand focused on GTM strategy for 200+ products representing artists from Peru and Guatemala from market research phase to launch in just 6 months.~ Ranking in the top 10% for 2020 Black Friday performance and top 12% overall sales among Shopify businesses launched the same week.~ Developing 50+ unique textile products representing 25+ Maya Ixil artists across three Guatemalan towns generating $50K+ in net revenue for indigenous artists in two years.~ Ixil Collective products have received exclusively five-star customer reviews to date and been featured on Anthropologie.com and in Selvedge Magazine. After starting two businesses, I realized my passion is, in fact, project management, specifically in communications and marketing. I am in love with everything about planning, branding, and digital marketing strategy! I love creating Ghant charts and breaking down tasks into achievable milestones. I dream in KPIs and Instagram grids. Some other things I'm passionate about: 1. Travel- I've been to 25 U.S. states and 31 countries in America, Oceania, Asia and Europe. In total, I've spent 1/3 of my life outside of the U.S. I'd love to get to Antarctica but am afraid of Drake's passage. Any tips? Textiles of Guatemala - Read about how to purchase them ethically in my 2018 article: https://ethicalunicorn.com/2018/03/19/recycled-doesnt-always-equal-ethical-understanding-exploitation-in-guatemala/ 3. Podcasts - I'm an NPR junkie. Some of my favorites are Radio Lab, Radio Ambulante, and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Spanish - I am proud to be a bilingual speaker of the unofficial second language of the U.S. In my spare time, I teach English to Spanish speakers and was an English/Spanish interpreter for over a year.