What happens when you've seen more landing pages that anyone on the planet?

Well, for one, you start noticing poor and positive marketing experiences all over the web. And then you start noticing optimization tactics at play in the real world, too, like when you're shopping for a blender or using a poorly-designed bathroom sink.

But you also learn a heck of a lot about marketing.

And if you're Oli Gardner of Unbounce, you try your best to share your learnings with other marketers. 

After writing a couple best-selling books and speaking at a ton of marketing conferences, Julien Smith decided it was time to put his money where his mouth is - so he co-founded Breather, a company that rents out private spaces by the hour. Since Breather is based here in Montreal, Julien came by the office to chat us about his seemingly backwards transition from marketing thought leader to real-world marketer and CEO.

Imagine being the only marketer on the team at a budding startup.

You need to know the best practices for all sorts of campaigns: paid, content, social, email, partnerships… the list goes on. What's more, you're responsible for both strategy and execution (no matter how brilliant you are, there are only 24 hours in a day... and fewer if you want to, y'know, sleep).

That's a lot of hats to wear. Sound like a nightmare? Well, it was the reality for Georgiana Laudi back when Unbounce was just a baby company. Today, she is the VP of Marketing and has watched the department grow to have more than 30 employees.

And while the role was surely stressful (wearing a lot of hats can make you look goofy), Gia's hands-in-everything position taught her a lot about being a marketer and a manager.