Are you counting yourself out of the growth that other thought leaders, companies, or influencers have?

Welcome to a new intersection of marketing, where niched and personalized thought leadership, audience building, and strategic growth win. Whether you’re launching a business, growing a business, or simply seeking to become a leader in your career or industry, I want to give you the keys to unlock your online brand.

Don’t count yourself out. The world needs your knowledge, ideas and solutions. We have so many great research breakthroughs, companies, and products today because people like you stopped counting themselves out. It’s your turn.

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Meet Vanessa Errecarte

Vanessa Errecarte is one of the top marketing consultants in Northern California with two decades of experience helping businesses reach their growth goals. Unique in her commitment and ability to create and customize campaigns for small to medium businesses and non-profits, she enables them to be competitive in a world often dominated by organizations with large marketing staff and budgets. As the CEO of Marketing Simplified, she has worked with businesses in the service, consulting, construction, real estate, hospitality and retail industries, and not-for-profit groups ranging from grassroots organizations to academic divisions within universities.

Vanessa is also a lecturer at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. Blending an extensive academic background in business and strategic communication with her real-world experience, Errecarte brings into the classroom an enthusiasm for instructing students on techniques for using digital and content marketing to reach, inform, engage and convert customers. She teaches Strategic Branding, Digital Marketing, and Personal Branding. She also has helped hundreds of CEOs, managing and executive directors, and marketing professionals significantly increase their bottom line by establishing a robust, customer-focused digital presence through her corporate training programs.

Vanessa Errecarte holding a microphone and speaking in front of a class of graduate students at UC Davis

The Most Overlooked Piece of Storytelling (and How It Makes You Unforgettable)

May 15, 2025 By Vanessa Errecarte Leave a Comment

Whether you’re building your personal brand or growing your business, we all know storytelling is powerful. But there’s one piece of the story puzzle that often gets overlooked: the obstacle. Compelling stories have you on the edge of your seat rooting for the main character to succeed and they achieve that with a setback. This gives the story tension so…
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“Vanessa changed my life. This is not an exaggeration. I learned more about marketing and brand management from Vanessa in one weekend than I did in YEARS of trying to navigate these subjects on my own. Vanessa has a way of presenting material so that it is easy to understand, effective and immediately actionable. She makes complex concepts simple and accessible. With her many years of experience, she is able to teach real-life lessons that you can implement to launch or improve your business today. Most of all, Vanessa can see your potential and vision sometimes better than you can see it yourself. She truly believes in her students and clients and has a unique way of helping them make their dreams a reality. I did not always think of myself as a thought leader in my industry but Vanessa inspired me to look at my career in new ways. She has helped me bring forth opportunities that I never thought were possible. I am so thankful to have her in my life and forever appreciative of the impact she’s had on both my personal and professional endeavors. Vanessa uses her special gifts to help bring out yours.”

Dr. Lisa Hornick

Optometrist

“A huge thank you to Vanessa and for her unwavering commitment to shaping leaders of the future. Her knowledge and strategies with personalized thought leadership was the foundation that transformed the way I presented myself and my business. I realized how crucial it is to create a brand that authentically represents you, your values, and your mission. This branding not only impacted my career but shaped the way we position WilsonTech in the market, emphasizing our dedication to excellence, trust, and innovation.”

Ryan Wilson

student and business owner

“Working with Vanessa is like being in your mother’s arms. Seriously. She‘s persistent yet patient, nurturing yet assertive, and accessible while promoting independence. Most impressively, Vanessa knows what she’s talking about. Doing what she says, even when it removes us from our comfort zone, always pays off. You cannot have a better ally for online marketing.”

Heidy Kellison

DOWNTOWNNORCAL

“Before Vanessa, I literally spent thousands of dollars on other marketing courses, and Vanessa’s strategies continue to outperform and exceed my expectations every single time!”

Meaghan Likes

OWNER, BOOKKEEPING ACADEMY ONLINE | CEO, LIKES ACCOUNTANCY COMPANY

“Vanessa helped us realize that we needed to look at marketing one of our new ventures in a whole new way — the opposite of we were doing before. When I followed her approach to create our offer, conversions were downright easy.”

Claire Tauzer

CO-OWNER, TAUZER APIARIES

“I like how Vanessa begins with the end in mind. She has you strategically understand your goals, ideal customer, and offer first, then teaches you how all the rest applies. It’s not tied to one thing, but rather, it’s an integrated approach. I would like to create online products for my business and Vanessa really reaffirmed the possibilities. She also highlighted how simple it can be to get them started.”

Bruce Watts

WATTS-WOODLAND AIRPORT

“Vanessa’s careful nurturing of her clients, her guidance, and her cheerleading have been invaluable to me. The amount of information you get in her workshops and online course is staggering… it includes email marketing, social media, paid traffic, content creation and so on… email marketing was especially valuable for my business. I would recommend her to anyone looking to increase their organization’s online marketing presence.”

Alison Kent

PRINCIPAL, LISTENINK

Lorraine Beaman

“We actually slowed down our marketing plan to keep up with all the new business!

Vanessa has expert knowledge of marketing techniques, but what is really special is the way she helps her clients understand and apply those techniques. She is a great mentor and coach.”

Lorraine Beaman

FOUNDER, INTERVIEW2WORK

“Vanessa’s strategies have allowed me to significantly outpaced competitors in fundraising revenue generation. But what I really appreciate is her passionate approach, the way she cares about each individual person she works with, their mission, and how it can change the world. Her marketing strategies can’t be found in any textbook but they work significantly better than the ones I find there.”

Tracy Fauver

Executive Director, Davis Community Meals and Housing