We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marla Gomez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Marla, thanks for joining us today. Is your team able to work remotely? If so, how have you made it work? What, if any, have been the pitfalls? What have been the non-obvious benefits?

Most of the work we do at King vs Kong is remote. Our people—team workers, clients, and suppliers— live all around the world, which makes it possible for us to work with different talents that would otherwise be very difficult to obtain.

How do we make it work? Besides the typical task planning and communication tools that have facilitated remote-work, time management is a challenge in remote environments. Your work hours may not be the same as others’. No matter how busy our work schedules are, I never send a WhatsApp or text message at an inconvenient time or label anything urgent that isn’t.

Remote work makes it harder to interact with your coworkers on a daily basis; if you try to run a project only through Asana with minimal contact with your team, you miss out on the process. Creativity in our business is collaborative. Also, sometimes, remote work leaves less space for feedback and motivation. I usually try to provide it and ask for it as well. Time has become such a valuable asset that you can forget to ask about your coworker’s sick child, for example. This is an absolute “no” for me. The concept of working remotely is still new, but I’m confident in our ability to learn how to balance its benefits and challenges.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a creative strategist and content creator who loves to tell stories. I have a degree in Journalism with postgraduate studies in Public Opinion. Throughout my career, I have worked for different brands and business areas: strategic planning, public relations, internal and external communications, editorial management, digital marketing, and content development, which is my current focus in my company, King vs Kong.

As a business, we give a voice and tone to every brand we work with. First, we help them figure out what they wish to say by creating a narrative for their communications and then executing it. Our strength is creating digital and audiovisual content that speaks to their audience, using storytelling to build a strong brand identity and create a great journey for users.

Our clients include small businesses, corporations, personal brands, and even communications agencies and audiovisual production companies. As a result, King vs Kong can feel like a freelancer within your team or even become your own marketing communications team.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The biggest turning point in my professional life came seven years ago when I moved to the United States. It changed the narrative of my life story and forced me to ask myself who I am, what I’m doing here, and who I aspire to be. This pivotal moment transformed my sense of identity and purpose. I became more determined but also a little insecure because I was constantly facing new challenges.

Starting anew also meant reinventing what I did for a living. In my home country, I was a successful professional, spending many years working for a global integrated marketing communications agency, reaching important positions and gaining recognition.

When I came here, I worked as an Editor-in-Chief of a travel magazine. It was kind of like running a business, because I had the opportunity to not only put my editorial knowledge to practice but also utilize project management, marketing, and sales skills. During this time, I also started my own content creation and marketing company: King vs Kong. The real pivot came when the pandemic struck, and the magazine closed down. Instead of looking for another job, I focused on growing my business. It was a huge change in mindset because you have to go out into the world to look for clients in a new market, and every decision depends on you now. You must rely on your intuition and experience and add your creative touch to everything you do for your clients.

On the other hand, I’m currently living in a personal pivotal moment. Last year, I had a sort of breakdown, which led me to have to start taking care of myself. Anxiety and stress made me sick, and I started having panic attacks. Now, I am trying to manage everything calmly, understanding that work does not define me, changing my habits little by little, working out, going to therapy, and having tools to help me when I have too much on my plate.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The result. Don’t get me wrong, creative thinking is all about having fun during the journey: generating ideas, seeing them develop into something else, and then landing on a winning idea. At the end of the day, though, my creativity is for the service of the brands I work for; so, I get really excited when I see the result, and it succeeds. If the creative solution I found for a project works, that’s my greatest reward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kingvskong.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gomezmarla

Image Credits
Edwyn Garcia King vs Kong www.kingvskong.com https://www.behance.net/edwyngarcia