Petaluma web entrepreneurs firmly under the ‘influence’

Casa graduates embrace startup culture as ‘influencers’|

The ability to influence others has always been a hallmark of successful business people. But now, with the rise of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, “influencing” has become a business of its own, as demonstrated by a pair of local “social media influencers,” who’ve formed a company they call the H Influencer Collective. Founded last May by Petaluma entrepreneurs Miguel Gutierrez and Jaquory Lunsford, along with partner James Cole, the company uses social media in inventive ways to spread awareness of certain brands, companies and concepts.

But what, exactly is an influencer? And what specifically does one do?

“We create together, to produce authentic content for brands,” Gutierrez explained, last week, speaking from the company’s office in Sausalito. “An influencer can be a photographer or model, who usually has a following greater than 5,000, and who creates content on a regular basis to share with their audiences. Their role at H is to create content that we use, to deliver to brands, as well as our community.”

In other words, the goal of H (www.itsjusth.com) is to identify active influencers, and then pair them with companies that can make strategic use of that person’s social media connections, employing those connections to spread their specific brand. According to Gutierrez, the company is called H as a symbol of their goal to connect brands and influencers together. The left side of the H represents brands, the right side represents influencers and the middle bar connects the two together.

As Creative Director and Head of Sales, Lunsford is the lead generator for the brands H reaches out to, and comes up with the creative part of campaigns. Gutierrez is Head of Marketing. His role involves managing the company’s current clients and their vast team of influencers. He also oversees one team who specifically run Instagram pages. To date, H has recruited over 10,000 influencers, including Petaluma local Nathaniel Gerdes.

According to Gutierrez, H collaborates with all kinds of brands ranging from lifestyle, active wear and media publishing companies. Brands that H has worked with so far include Thought Catalog, Pura Vida Bracelets and BirkSun. The H team has been written about in publications as varied as Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine.

Gutierrez, who still lives in town, grew up in Petaluma, while Lunsford, originally from Humboldt, transferred to Casa Grande as a freshman. The two became close friends during their senior year and bonded over their common business mindsets. After graduation in 2015, Lunsford met Cole while working at We Heart It, an image-based social network with offices in San Francisco. Gutierrez was attending Santa Rosa Junior College at the time.

H, Gutierrez explained, began as a “vague idea” between Lunsford and Cole. In April of 2016, Gutierrez was approached to see if he wanted to come on board. Gutierrez left the JC near at the beginning of his sophomore year to pursue H full-time.

“I had very little experience in the professional, corporate world,” Gutierrez said. “We were all inexperienced in that field. But we each had one thing in common - a hunger to be successful.”

Initially, Lunsford and Gutierrez worked from Lunsford’s Petaluma studio, or at Acre coffee shop in Petaluma, while Cole worked from San Francisco. Occasionally, the Petalumans would travel to the Bay Area to work out of Cole’s apartment, and sometimes at the We Heart It offices. According to Gutierrez, they’d work 12 to 14-hour days, migrating from spot to spot, and signed their first client, Kainoa Swimwear, in Lunsford’s living room.

Eventually, the team landed offices in San Francisco, at a communal work space called We Work. And just this past February, they moved to their new space in Sausalito, to “truly embrace the startup life,” Gutierrez said. That new space is a house, where Cole and a roommate live upstairs, and the H team uses the downstairs as the company office.

Traveling is an essential part of the H experience. Gutierrez said they hand-pick influencers, who match the style and vibe of the brands they are shooting for on a particular trip. H travels anywhere from Martha’s Vineyard to Mexico.

Gutierrez said his favorite part about working for H is having a direct impact in the longevity and success of a new company. There are challenges, of course, such as dealing with high stress situations, working through long hours, and finding a balance between work and personal life.

“I’m very excited to be building something that once started in a small studio warehouse in Petaluma,” he said, “and has now evolved into an actual creative agency. So many ideas never get to fully develop because of hidden obstacles. I definitely get joy and pride out of seeing our many endeavors come to life.”?(Email Nicole at ?argus@arguscourier.com)

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