Today we’d like to introduce you to Candace Caskey
Hi Candace, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I spent my childhood hand-crafting magazines, vlogging my family camping trips (before vlogging was cool), and blogging about my latest recipes and adventures between softball tournaments and football games with my dad. This love for story-focused content eventually led to a cross-country post-grad move to Boston to study public relations in BU’s prestigious masters of science program and the launch of sports performance brand, Vail Athletics, with my college best friend and current business partner, Roman Brown.
During and post-grad school, I had the opportunity to work on national and local brand accounts in both PR & marketing, with brands in the eCommerce, hospitality, food & beverage, nonprofit, and sports & wellness industries. My experience working with startups, large corporations like Memorial Hermann (back in my HR/internal comms days!), international sports marketing agencies (miss you London!), and co-launching my own product-based business led to a deep-rooted desire to serve founders in the best way I know how – by sharing their stories through social media. Thus, Vail Media & Management was born.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not! From personal finance struggles to grappling with a struggling economy while building a business, learning how to sell and juggle all the hats as a business owner, managing business and personal relationships, physical health struggles, and building a business truly from scratch with no financial backing, no viable network, and limited resources, my journey has truly been self-made by pure grit and determination.
We originally started as a talent management first agency with marketing & PR services as a secondary offering, and made the pivot to marketing & PR first around 9 months into our business. That shift alone came with its own set of struggles, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I truly believe having these additional hurdles has helped shape the voice and mission of the business tremendously, and there are so many lessons I learned the hard way early that would’ve made a larger negative impact later on down the road. Better to learn early and fast!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Vail Media & Management is a Marketing & PR agency specialized in helping trailblazing founders win the attention of their dream audiences.
We empower & enable visionary founders to share their story with the world. We believe in letting data, personality, and creativity work in tandem to show off all of the best parts of you, your brand, and your mission. Every brand–from underdog to household name–has a story worth telling. It’s our job to uncover it, amplify it, and connect it back to your community at every touchpoint.
We get the dream. We respect the grind. We know the drive.
Because we have it, too. Hustling through those late night work sessions, chasing those sparks of inspiration, and giving your all to those scary-but-exciting, brand-defining moments will pay off. Because you’ve got a vision, a passion, and a story that deserves to be heard.
Our job isn’t to fit you into a perfectly marketable, copy-and-paste mold of what a brand “should” be. Our job is to meet you where you’re at and get you where you need to go with a killer combination of tested-and-perfected strategy, magnetic storytelling, and content creation that keeps your brand ahead of the curve.
VMM is the shared dream of two best friends who connected over their love for sports, wellness, and the impact of business. Eight years, four degrees, and over 32+ incredible clients later, our dream of helping scrappy founders solidify their reputation as industry leaders is just getting started.
I’m so proud of the way we are committed to service, innovative creativity, and authenticity in everything we do. We truly care about our clients’ success and ensuring that their voice is heard – because we believe everyone has a story worth sharing. We aren’t a copy-and-paste agency. Everything we do is thoughtful, intentional, and to the benefit of our clients.
We provide the following services:
– full-service social media marketing
– video editing
– creative direction
– influencer marketing
– media relations
– marketing & PR consulting
Don’t see your marketing or PR need listed? Don’t worry, we do it. And if we don’t, we know who the best is that does.
What matters most to you?
Keeping true to our business values and our mission in everything we do and having a spirit of creative servitude in every action. I’m a competitor and I always want to win for my business, myself, my team, and my clients, but never in a way that compromises who I am or the business I’ve built. This is driven by my commitment to my faith, my self, and my business partner who has empowered me to a degree that’s probably delusional since I was 19. I always believe that doing the right thing for the right reasons will lead to far greater returns than doing whatever it takes to get ahead even if it’s unethical.
Pricing:
- Social media management starts at $2,250+
- Influencer marketing starts at $1,500+
- Video editing starts at $400+
- Media relations starts at $2,500+
- Consulting and custom packages are available and encouraged 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vailmediamgmt.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vailmediamgmt/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candace-caskey/
- Other: https://substack.com/@decaffeinated1
Image Credits
Candace Caskey
