THE BRIEF
Build new paths to career-changing education through trusted communities.
General Assembly offered immersive programs designed to help people enter technology careers.
I began as an Account Executive, speaking with prospective students about their goals, doubts, and barriers. Moving into marketing partnerships meant applying those customer insights at scale through publishers, alumni, brands, and communities people already trusted.
THE CHALLENGE
Two affiliates. Forty-plus markets. No obvious path between them.
The affiliate channel depended largely on two bootcamp-review publishers in a niche category, with limited differentiation and little room to grow through listings alone. The usual institutional education partnerships were also a poor fit for a non-degree business operating across dozens of local markets.
At the same time, the sweepstakes channel I inherited was generating high lead volume but declining returns as the same audiences became saturated. The challenge was not simply finding more partners. It was learning which audiences, offers, and formats produced real intent, then making the strongest motions repeatable.
HOW THE WORK EVOLVED
From one-to-one sales to partner-led growth
I learned the discipline end to end, from understanding the customer and structuring deals to testing campaigns, measuring performance, and scaling the motions that worked.
01 SELL
Learn the customer by selling career-changing courses directly.
02 INHERIT
Take ownership of sweepstakes and existing affiliate relationships.
03 IMPROVE
Refine listings, messaging, lead nurture, tracking, and conversion paths.
04 EXPAND
Recruit partners and test content, referrals, events, influencers, direct mail, and co-marketing.
05 SYSTEMIZE
Build agreements, incentives, reporting, playbooks, and performance cadences.
06 SCALE
Enable 25+ local marketers to activate repeatable programs across 40+ markets.
RESULTS
From experiments to measurable growth.
25+
Affiliate partners
~6×
affiliate revenue growth
40+
Markets
WHAT I LEARNED
Sales taught me the customer. Partnerships taught me how to scale trust.
Starting in sales meant hearing why people wanted a new career, what made them hesitate, and which proof points helped them act. That customer proximity shaped the work I’d later do as a marketer. General Assembly taught me to find aligned audiences, create value for both sides, negotiate clearly, test before overinvesting, and let performance guide the next bet. Those fundamentals became the foundation for the larger partner ecosystems I later built at Shopify and Snap.