Fast 15: Alexa McGriff

Just two years out of college and two years into her first job, Alexa McGriff has helped ONF grow its number of owners more than 30 percent, to nearly 9,000, and significantly raise its profile in the community.

McGriff, who supervises a staff of four, is in charge of all advertising decisions such as media buying; designing all print ads; overseeing owner services; and planning events such as in-store promotions.

As a member of the management team, she works on the co-op’s overall marketing plan and strategic planning.

She’s especially proud of growing ONF’s Facebook following.

“To me, social media is a big marketing tool,” McGriff said, and one she felt was being underutilized when she started at ONF in May 2010.

It had a Facebook page, but only 400 “fans.”

“As of today, we have over 5,000 fans,” she said. “We get a lot of people who come in because of our Facebook page.”

Another accomplishment she feels good about is a fundraiser last summer that netted more than $2,000 for the Fayetteville Public Schools lunch program.

The Siloam Springs native discovered her passion for marketing in her last semester at John Brown University, where she was studying graphic design and photography. McGriff had some elective hours to fill and chose a class in advertising and one in marketing.

With those, she knew she’d found her niche.

Marketing professor Mandy Moore was particularly inspirational, McGriff said. Moore is not only an excellent teacher, McGriff said, but remains a mentor to her.

“She’s always on the edge, looking for something new in the way of marketing, so I really look up to her and hope to be like her one day,” McGriff said.

While she doesn’t see herself ever leaving the marketing field, McGriff does hope to one day put her skills to work at either a women’s shelter or rape crisis center.

“Something I’m really passionate about is sexual abuse prevention,” she said. Talking with staff from local agencies made her realize “that’s a service I can provide, to help them gain exposure and get more funding to help them help more people.”

— Serenah McKay