I’d like to celebrate you, your time at REX, and your new adventure!
They say you can tell a lot about a team by the company they keep, and Melissa has been much more than good company.
Melissa started at REX as an intern in 2017 and charted a meteoric rise to leadership over nearly 6 exciting years.
While at REX, she’s been the Account Manager and Brand Leader for countless internationally award-winning rebrands, she produced an award-winning mini-series, and she was a key driver behind the exciting Lettuce Save The World commercial, to name a few highlights.
She has also been a heartfelt and committed leader and co-worker, taking every opportunity to mentor and provide support to team members, she was the driving force behind systems that created outstanding customer experiences, and she showed her resilience and generosity when she founded REX’s AAPI ERG in the midst of a very scary time for our Asian and Pacific Islander team members.
And after exploring just about every role that exists in creative marketing (which is one of the benefits of working at a full-service agency), Melissa has grown in the direction of her dreams.
Those dreams include honing her creative focus as a Producer of Creative Brand Campaigns on the brand side.
She will be leaving us to join the (lucky!) team at Thinkific, an awesome Vancouver company, as their Brand Marketing Strategist and take on the leadership of their flagship virtual events and the rollout of their revitalized brand strategy to grow their Educational Platform brand.
We are sad to see her go, but she’s left her mark at REX, and she’ll always be a part of the Founding Family.
We had a chance to sit down with Melissa to ask her to reflect on her time at REX! Enjoy this walk down memory lane.
What is your earliest memory of your time at REX?
I remember my early days at REX like they were just yesterday! My interview with Allison was definitely a memorable one. I was instantly struck by her passion and vision as a leader, and I knew she was someone I wanted to follow and learn from. I remember her asking the question,
“if you were a kitchen appliance, what would you be?” and my response was, “a Kitchenaid stand mixer because you can swap out attachments for many different functions – and like that appliance, I’m a jack of all trades!”
Some of the highlights of my early days include planning REX’s brand launch party, getting to play with Allison’s daughter, and doing our first team photoshoot in the park.
What will stand out most about your time at REX?
The friendships I’ve made along the way will always stay with me (ugh, so cheesy!). I remember moments of laughing until I cried, doing our signature brewery hops in the summer, book clubs and delicious potluck lunches, and so much more. It’s the people that make REX such a magical place.
What are you looking forward to most in your next phase?
In this next phase of my professional career, I’m most looking forward to growing to new heights. I’m excited to meet new colleagues with that I will learn, explore a new industry, and flex my creative and strategic muscles with a new challenge.
“At REX, my entrepreneurial spirit was fed and encouraged, and I’m entering the next stage with hunger, enthusiasm, and the spark to keep growing. As Allison would always say to me, “the sky’s the limit.”
What will you take with you?
The REX values will always stay with me because they’re fundamental values that I live by, in work and in life. I’m so grateful to have catapulted my career in an organization whose values I so closely align with. I’ll never forget to “start with yes,” “be intentional,” and maintain a “growth mindset.” These values (and laws of leadership) float into my mind when I need them most, and I know that they will help me get through any obstacle I may face in the future.
What would you like to say to our team, clients, and the fans of your mini-series?
I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone that has had an impact on my journey at REX.
Our team knows that I have enjoyed making core memories with them for the past 5.5 years. Once part of the REX fam, always part of the REX fam!
Thank you to Allison for always seeing my potential as a leader, from the day I started as an intern to becoming a meaningful part of growing the business over the past few years.
To our clients, I built genuinely strong connections with the business owners we worked with, and I’m thankful that they put their trust in me.
And to anyone that watched Inside A Rebrand, thank you for following along with my passion project during the pandemic and giving me confidence in my abilities as a producer!
My time at REX has been transformational. My hope is that everyone gets to experience the magic of REX in one way or another. It has been the foundation for what I hope will be a thriving and fulfilling career!
Sincerely,
Melissa Wong