Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloe Carter.
Hi Chloe, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I’m originally from the Glass City- Toledo! It’s a small Midwestern city in Northwest Ohio. I come from a Christ-centered family and grew up going to all Catholic/Christian schools. I spent a lot of my free time in art, music, and theater classes, but I was also a huge nerd. I skipped a couple grades and ended up starting high school at 12 and graduating at 16. I went to Case Western Reserve University at 16 to study biomedical engineering but quickly realized that engineering wasn’t the right fit for me. I pivoted to biology and anthropology and graduated with my Bachelor’s in 2010. After undergrad, I spent some time in the AmeriCorps VISTA program working at an economic development nonprofit in north Philadelphia where I soon realized that my true skills and passions were in marketing and fundraising.
Soon after, I began to pursue a career in marketing. I’ve had a number of marketing roles across various companies and industries. I moved to the DMV in 2012 to work in outreach and communications on an autism project at the National Institute of Mental Health. I left the NIMH to work in marketing at the British Medical Journal (one of the oldest and most widely referenced medical journals in the world), and then audience development at The Chronicle of Higher Education (the leading source of news in academia). While working at The Chronicle in 2019, I graduated with my MBA from the Georgetown McDonough School of Business (Hoya Saxa). I was in a 3-year evening part-time program (what a journey!).
After graduating with my MBA, I joined Capital One, where I was a Marketing Strategist and Campaign Manager at the Commercial Bank. In these roles, I developed the marketing strategy for various lines of business, including the Healthcare, Technology/Media/Telecom, Energy, and Commercial Real Estate financing teams. I oversaw the strategy for several large-scale events and receptions and executed one of the largest digital marketing campaigns the bank had ever launched. In 2021, I started as a Campaign Manager on the Global Marketing team at AWS (Amazon Web Services). AWS provides cloud computing services to companies, governments, and individuals. I develop and execute large-scale global marketing campaigns supporting various AWS initiatives and solutions. Very exciting but complex work!
When I’m not working, I’m spending time with my dog Josie, hosting an event for friends, cooking, or traveling someplace warm!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not. There have been bumps and hurdles all along the way, sometimes when I was least expecting it or prepared! First, I had no clue what I wanted to do after college! I had a degree in Biology at age 20 but no desire to pursue medical school or a career in public health. I felt like I had made a huge, expensive mistake. But through volunteer work at a nonprofit, I discovered a passion for marketing and knew the career path aligned with my strengths. Advice: don’t feel the need to rush your career/purpose at a young age. You’ll figure this out over time and with experience.
Second, the passing of my father in 2018 during business school was the hardest situation I’ve had to deal with. But with supportive family and friends, I was able to survive the roughest season my family has faced.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve described my full-time job in detail earlier, but I’m also very proud of the Brown Girls Book Club DMV. It’s a club/Meetup group I founded in 2019 to connect women of color in the area, but also read books (mostly by authors of color).
Our mission is to foster sisterhood amongst brown women and promote reading for self-betterment, leisure, and exploration. All are welcome to join! We have monthly meetups to discuss book selections and other social gatherings between book discussions! We have over 2,600 members.
https://www.meetup.com/brown-girls-book-club-dmv/
I’m also sometimes known for my social media and content creation. You can catch me mostly on Instagram and YouTube!
https://www.instagram.com/chloegabrielle/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd6knuAn5QXk1IoD020OwFw
What do you think about luck?
Honestly, I don’t really believe in luck– I believe in God’s divine timing. I don’t think any success or failure in my life/career was due to luck or fate. I believe all my steps are orchestrated, and I believe God has continually opened new doors for me to grow and advance when it looked as if doors were closing for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: chloegcarter.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloegabrielle/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloecarter/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd6knuAn5QXk1IoD020OwFw
Image Credits
Chloe Carter
