Taylor Hulyksmith

About Taylor Hulyksmith

I work with brands. I help them understand themselves, shape and express their identities through communication. But most of all, I help them connect with their customers. To make them want to do something, whether that\'s to feel, laugh, ponder, learn, reflect or buy.As a professional, I am motivated by the prospect of slowly changing the rules. What if we were a little more ourselves, a little more flexible, a little more open to change? A little more real? How would that improve our work environments, our creativity, our deliverables? Not coincidentally, these professional motivations mimic those of the most successful brands.My career spans many disciplines: marketing, public relations, customer service, reputation management, branding, sales and advertising. I am versatile. This industry demands and rewards it. But what really sets me apart is that, above all, I\'m a leader, a writer and a creative. I\'m quick on my feet. I not only react; I proactively find ways for myself and those I work with to be better, to achieve what was previously thought to be impossible. How exciting is that?

Experience

1. VP of Brand Strategy & Design

   Head To Toe Brands

   Apr 2025 — Present

   Lead brand strategy, creative, content, promotions, campaigns and communications for Head to Toe Brands\' franchise beauty portfolio, including The Lash Lounge (formerly: head of marketing from 2018–2025), Frenchies, Bishops Cuts/Color and Delta Crown.Special emphasis on setting, measuring and achieving quantitative marketing and business KPI targets and creating sustainable cross-departmental project management processes and systems, aided by technology.• Brand strategy and brand books (The Lash Lounge, Frenchies, Bishops)• Logo adaptations (Delta Crown)• Print suite refresh (Frenchies)• Win-back campaign (The Lash Lounge): 2.5-month email-forward lash win-back campaign that resulted in ~$600K in incremental revenue across 126 salons, with incorporation of 3-offer test; winning offer migration to “always on” automation and sales tool.• Site creative refresh (The Lash Lounge): In alignment with re-platform, led design and content production for new site, incorporating competitive and industry audits and best practices, informed by SEO and GEO, and with mind for the production of long-term-use content blocks.• Multi-channel holiday gift card campaign (The Lash Lounge): Test of “buy more, get more” bonus gift card format, resulting in ~$220K in sales.• Spafinder partnership (The Lash Lounge): Built and sold partnership with beauty gift card marketplace to achieve lower CPA relative to alternate digital channels.• Agentic AI (The Lash Lounge): Initiated beta of SOCi’s Reputation Agent and Local Search Agent to improve review response time and rate, and find efficiency in local listings management to increase PoP GBP leads.• Process, Systems, Accountability (Head to Toe): Continually identify gaps, propose solutions and facilitate collaborative conversation in pursuit of improved franchisor workflows, with an emphasis on cross-departmental collaboration, efficacy, clarity of responsibility and ownership.

Education

• University of Michigan

  Bachelor of Arts, Communication Studies, Spanish

  2004 — 2008

Skills

• Publishing
• Copywriting
• Online Marketing
• Press Releases
• Promotions
• Writing
• Facebook
• New Media
• Video Editing
• Social Media
• Video Production
• Video
• Digital Marketing
• Media Relations
• Advertising
• Strategic Communications
• Social Media Analytics
• Entertainment
• Social Networking
• Multimedia
• Social Media Measurement
• Social Media Marketing
• Leadership
• Mentorship
• Editing
• Community Management
• Public Speaking