Our Makerspace Team, aka Creators of Magical Realms🦄(POSITIONS OPEN)

A Backstory to Explain the Rationale Behind this Future Space

Our salespeople have been hearing a deluge of requests for TikTok content creation over the last year or so, by brands that really don’t have the resources or the vibe 😎 to deal with creating this type of video content 🎬.

Technically, we’ve already started providing this as a service – but in a very one-off kind of way. Currently what we do is use influencers within our existing campaigns to create additional content that can then be used by brands on their own channels.

The current problem with this approach? There are a few…

• using larger influencers to create the content is unnecessarily expensive because they charge based on their following-size (for a project that really doesn’t need someone who has lots of followers)
• we don’t have our own space, so we have very little control over the “branding” and vibe of the content that gets created
• no one is currently art-directing the content, so the results are a little hodge-podge
• it’s not very scalable, because we’re at the mercy of the influencers’ schedules

With this new team, we plan on selling content creation as a separate package from our influencer packages. We will now have our own unique space, a small team of content creators to produce larger amounts of content at scale, and (eventually) an art-director to manage content quality.

How This Will Work

This job post is technically for like 4 different roles. So when you apply, let me know which one (or ones) you think are a fit for you.

1. We need someone who’s great with strategy to lead this effort. You will be calling the shots, coordinating team members, producing timelines, doing the research, making decisions, and working directly with me (one of the founders) to get this off the ground in the next few months. For this particular role, you need to be able to work super diligently and fast. Thinking through all possible needs and planning this out in a way that will scale well over time.
2. We need a handful of people who have experience with set design to handle the production aspects. (Think about The Color Factory… you’ll be doing mini/more flexible versions of those sets. You’ll be working closely with me, as well as our strategy team, to figure out what to build/buy/prioritize, etc.
3. There will also be an events portion of the creatorspace. So in addition to building out sets, we’ll need you to have a maximalist sense of decor and the ability to design a seriously smack-you-in-the-face-while-still-being-extremely-versatile space. If you have both this and bullet point number 2 covered, all the better!
4. Once things are built out, then we will need a local art-director/strategist to manage the execution of these content creation campaigns. (This might be the same person who handles bullet point number 1.) For this, you’ll need to be a client-facing, charismatic personality type in order to work directly with clients – handling all their day-to-day asks and requests throughout each campaign. You will also need to be in charge of sourcing local talent to create the content. And then lastly, you’ll be in charge of art-directing this content to make sure it’s amazingly high-quality and in line with the guidelines provided by the brand.
5. And then we’ll likely need a video editor with experience in creating eye-catching social content to help put together and finesse the final TikTok videos (plus whatever else is needed for the client).

Let’s take a quick moment for a tangent to make sure you will actually like this job… I’ve always found that employees fall into two types:

1. There are some people who prefer a standard 9-5 job with set tasks and parameters and goals. And they can get pretty uncomfy (not to mention unhappy) if a spec changes. Or if there are “too many cooks in the kitchen”, or clients ask for weird things that go against what they themselves want to do…
2. And then there are some people who really love problem-solving. Where they pick up their metaphorical axe and storm off down an unknown path into a thick jungle, with just an end goal in mind. They hack away at the incoming mess until there’s a legit path towards that end goal. They are ok with changes in specs. They understand that processes aren’t created in a day and some things require waves of fine-tuning. And while things may feel messy in the beginning, they don’t get paralyzed by the unknown. This is very important. Creativity only gets you so far with problem-solving. This type of person – the person we need – breaks the problems down, they solve the low-hanging fruit, and they power through things, until the path to that end goal is clear and they can wrap things up with a neat little bow.

As a side note: if you’re the type of employee who functions best as bullet point number 1, there’s nothing wrong with that – all the power to you for liking stability and established processes! It’s just not what we’re looking for in filling these roles.

Here is a fun visual breakdown of the qualities and characteristics related to this role that we find important. (There are more qualities listed below that we feel are more global… these are specific to the Creatorspace role.)

• We provide the usual benefits: 👩🏽‍⚕️ Medical, 🦷 Dental, and 👁 Vision. (The medical insurance is through Aetna, which is really pretty good.)
• We just started doing 401Ks (with a pretty sweet match, too)! Yay!
• We are all remote now, thanks to COVID-19… so that might be a perk if you hate commuting.
• If we ever decide to have an office again, you can be darn sure it’ll be super cool-looking and dog-friendly! 🐶
• We’re a small company without the typical corporate hoops… People who perform well end up advancing quickly.

• We’re a team of 50.
• We’re growing.
• We’re about as scattered as a team can be… East Coast, West Coast, the middle of the country… a bunch of us are in Canada, 1 in Ukraine, 1 in Russia… we like to keep our options open in terms of company retreat locations.
• About half of us are really funny.
• We’re currently working with some pretty amazing brands: Famous Footwear, Zenni Optical, KISS, Lenox, a big chain of malls (I don’t think I’m allowed to say who), a big toilet brand (again… I don’t think I’m allowed to say who, but you probably sit on this brand every morning), Honest Co., Hershey, Yelp… just to name a few.

We’re a pretty down-to-earth bunch, so if you’re interested in applying, in lieu of an elaborate cover letter, you can email me at lauren@theshelf.com and CC atul@theshelf.com, and include bullet points with the info requested in the next section…

• The job you are applying for
• A link to your Linkedin profile
• What job site sent you our way
• Your location
• Your phone number
• What sort of salary you have in mind. Or, if you’re applying for a shorter term contract position please include your hourly rate instead.
• And then a description of why you feel you’d be a good fit for the role, plus your experience with this type of stuff. And a description of your style and what inspires you.

Bonus stuff that you can send over to me (if you really feel like you’re a super good fit, because I don’t want to waste your time if you’re not):

• Links to any social channels that show off your skills for this job.
• Links to any pinboards that you would use as inspiration for this job when designing the space.
• Please feel free to be yourself in your application email. I’m a sucker for colloquial writing with hints of whimsical humor.

Generally speaking, a lot of you will probably find this job post in line with your skill set, and I bet a lot of you probably have the skills necessary to perform the requirements of this role. But… the characteristics that define what it’s like to actually work with you are also very important to us. Think of these requirements more in terms of culture-fit requirements:

🕺 Our company has a very fast-paced environment. It might feel disorganized from time to time because we’re also a small company. We need each employee to be the type of person who can go with the flow. Who can adjust quickly. Who is able to embrace chaos with open arms when it decides to waltz through the door.

🏎 Due to the aforementioned fast-paced environment, you should be the type of person who is able to execute quickly… within time constraints. WHILE still maintaining quality. We don’t ask for the impossible. But what we don’t want to see are projects that are slapped together and riddled with issues when we’re in a time crunch. Instead, we’d like to see people make adjustments and figure out how to make it work. We’re looking for resourceful people who approach projects with that there’s-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat attitude.

📈 I’ve never interviewed anyone who has said that they have bad work ethic… but there’s a big difference between people who show up and do what gets assigned to them, and those who take initiative… Those people who take pride in their projects and who go above and beyond because they have that drive for personal achievement and growth. We don’t want to micro-manage. We want to work with self-motivated people who are neurotic about quality.

✅ People who don’t proofread drive me nuts!

👿 While I feel like I shouldn’t have to mention this, we’ve worked with people in the past who ran around like a bunch of crazed loose cannons… yelling at coworkers, constantly complaining, deploying the cold-shoulder on a regular basis… passive aggressive. So if you’re not a nice person… that won’t really work for us. We really need everyone to exude positivity.

👂 You need to be receptive to feedback. This is a quality that we find candidates have trouble self-assessing. But try hard, because we give feedback when needed. We’re too small of a company to just let people do whatever they want to do. (Side-note… no one loves feedback. That’s fine. I don’t either really. But will you take it nicely? Will you incorporate it? Are you going to be passive aggressive while doing it? Have you ever been told not to “cut off your nose to spite your face”? These are questions you should ask yourself.)

😺 Influencer marketing is constantly changing, so we’re looking for people who are curious and eager to learn. Let’s say, for example, a client mentions in passing how they’re doing whitelisting on Instagram (and we’ll assume you don’t know what that means). Are you going to just nod your head and say you understand it when you don’t? Or, are you going to jot down a note, do some research, and become a whitelisting expert for the next client conversation? Because we need the latter.

👩🏽‍💻 If you’re working remotely, you need to actually be working. No one likes a freeloader.

👆🏾 Are you ambitious? It’s not a requirement, but if you are… there’s lots of room for career growth. Plus, we like to hire our managers from within the team, so there is a very clear path to the next level (if that’s of interest to you).

Here at The Shelf, we truly believe it’s our differences that have allowed us to come together and form such a cohesive and all-encompassing whole. Our mission as a company is to help our clients stand out amongst the crowd… to be different and impactful. And since we’re a team made up of diverse people with all different backgrounds and experiences, we’re able to do this naturally. 🙋🏽‍♂️🙋🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏼‍♂️🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏾‍♂️🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏾

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

I could honestly go on and on (because I’m long-winded, in case you couldn’t tell that by now), but I’m going to stop here. The point is, you gotta have the chops AND play well with others. And if you’re giddy already, feeling like this job description is just so dead-on-b*lls accurate for you, perfect! We can’t wait to hear from you.

If you’re lacking a skill or two but still feel pumped, feel free to mention it in your cover letter. We’re a small company that’s big into personal growth and supporting up-and-coming go-getters!

It’s also worth noting right here that we have our hands full running campaigns, guys. So, we will only contact those candidates who are most likely to be a good fit for the role. We’ll respond quickly when that’s the case. But if you don’t hear from us, please don’t feel slighted. Rally on – there’s a role out there that’s probably a better fit for your awesome skillset.

Oh, and one last thing… Please add the word Toggle to your subject line when applying so that I know you read this entire post.