Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Beechner.
Hi Kim, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The food & beverage industry saved my life literally. When I was in high school, my single mother unexpectedly passed away leaving me with a mortgage and a mountain of bills. Being a high school student I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do to keep everything together.
It was then that my career in the food & beverage industry began. I worked sometimes up to three jobs in restaurants as a server while completing high school through night school. This experience helped me not only survive financially but launched me into what is today my passion.
When I officially graduated high school, I quickly applied to the University of the Incarnate Word for an Undergraduate degree in International Business and Marketing. During my time in college, I transitioned to the bar industry becoming a craft cocktail bartender in the fine-dining segment. Here, I was able to fine-tune my customer service skills and learn more about the marketing & management of restaurants.
In 2010, during my senior year of college, I started my company Embark Marketing. At the time, social media marketing was still very new, and not many independently owned businesses had figured out how to leverage social media. This became my niche – helping restaurants and bars leverage not just social, but all digital media to gain more brand exposure.
After several years of working with both independent and franchise brands, I returned to the University of the Incarnate Word to attain my Master’s degree in Communications. This field of study gave me even more insight into consumer behavior and how to create content that invoked emotion.
I feel that my educational background, combined with years of experience in the service industry and marketing restaurants in a digital space has provided Embark Marketing a unique opportunity to grow. Over the last 10+ years, we have blossomed into an agency with a team of professionals that are dedicated to the food and beverage industry.
We have successfully helped countless restaurants with their branding and marketing campaigns which resulted in new customers and higher revenues.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The life of an entrepreneur is never a smooth one – there are constantly bumps in the road – but isn’t that what makes it exciting? Maybe that’s just me.
When I reflect on the past 10+ years, there are a few struggles that I feel our company experienced & overcame.
One is the adjustment of our organizational structure & operations to keep up with company growth. While this is a great problem to have, it still presents internal issues that have to be managed & solved. I feel we have kept up with our structure well, as we’ve grown. We are constantly looking ahead on how to prepare for even more growth.
And more recently, was the adaptation of both our company operations and our client work during the height of COVID-19 and now, post-pandemic. It was an extreme experience that all business owners had to work through, but I feel as a company we excelled in providing our clients with solutions that worked.
Additionally, our in-house team did an amazing job at adapting to virtual work when needed.
We’ve been impressed with Embark Marketing, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Embark Marketing is a Texas-based, digital marketing & public relations agency specializing in the food & beverage industry.
We have been providing dynamic marketing strategies for restaurants & bars, as well as food & beverage brands for over 11 years. This includes consulting services, as well as management services. After working in the restaurant industry personally for 8 years prior to opening my agency, I discovered there was an underserved market for restaurant marketing locally, regionally & even nationally.
The food & beverage industry niche requires its own set of marketing strategies & this is what we specialize in. We have positioned ourselves as a one-stop-shop for restaurants & bars, as well as food & beverage brands. Our goal is to relieve them of marketing tasks so that they can focus on operations and growth.
Many of our clients cannot afford an in-house marketing team or recognize the need for professional marketing help. In either case, we take over some, or all of these tasks — providing our clients access to a team of knowledgeable marketers that are familiar with their industry specifically.
Services include:
– Short & Long Term Strategy Development
– Website Development & Maintenance
– Social Media Management
– Content Creation
– Reputation Management
– Public & Media Relations
– Ad Buying
– Graphic Design & Branding
– Email Marketing
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I am so thankful to call San Antonio our home base for Embark Marketing. We have a thriving culinary community with a lot of up-and-coming chefs and restauranteurs. It’s an exciting time for the food & beverage scene, and we are incredibly happy to be a part of it.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.Embark-Marketing.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/embarkmarketing
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/embarkmarketing
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/embarkmarketing
Image Credits
Kody Melton
