Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Dutcher.
Rebecca, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My first “real” marketing job was at Roger’s Department Store. Rogers was a huge store with specialty departments and shops. Employees there were sales associates with their own books of business. And, they had a robust point of sale system that was used for capturing customer data we could use for marketing efforts. I was a part of seasonal campaigns, store events and media creation for billboards, radio spots, lots of targeted direct mail and more. With the amount of creative and media work we did, I was exposed to several agencies around West Michigan and beyond.
When the store closed in 2005, after 50 years, I reached out to some of those agencies. Over the next 15 years, I worked for 3 different agencies that gave me career growth and experience in SEO, website and web application development, branding, marketing strategies, PR and everything in between. I held roles from Account Manager to Director of Business Development, and was able to work alongside owners of these agencies to learn even more. This gave me a very strong foundation in observing how these owners managed the requirements of running an agency from navigating cash flow, hiring and HR, client management and operations to vision, tech stacks used and so much more.
I was also on the board for Grow (formerly Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women) for 7 years. It was in 2016 when the CEO (now retired) Bonnie, encouraged me to hang out my own shingle and start my own agency. She’d seen my professional growth over that time. With her nudge and support that GROW had given me, I launched RED66 in November 2016.
The best part is that I’ve had clients who stayed with me from the first agency job I had in 2009, who are still with me today at RED66 in 2025. It was those relationships, support from mentors and others, that all helped me feel comfortable with starting my own agency in the fall of 2016 and continuing today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think any entrepreneurship journey is entirely smooth. In starting out it was me and a few subcontractors. Over the last 9 years, RED66 has been a party of one, to a team of 18. We’re right sized now with 10-12 people and key partners.
Struggles, I’ve had a few:
In the first few years we grew, but I knew I needed more clarity and focus. That led to EOS and getting an Implementor to help us get clarity, some vision and accountability for the team.
Covid hit, and many of our clients were essential, so we grew through Covid and helped a lot of clients get more active online.
We grew so fast we added more people to the team, adding people instead of having processes and things clear first. I had to lay people off a few years ago, that was awful. I’ve grown too fast and hired too fast, that was a challenge.
We overdelivered for clients, so we didn’t have capacity with the team members that we had
Processes and systems didn’t get quite the attention they deserved for a few years.
Then I found a coach and fractional COO who really helped me get clarity on our monthly recurring revenue, and what it could support from a team count. That all led to creating “loving fences” about all the work we did for clients, and keeping it within our agreements so we had the capacity to grow the business, with the team we had.
From these things, I’ve learned to look at the team’s capacity, but also how they’re all feeling in what they can take on.
We’ve invested in professional development and cross cross-training for our team. Plus we have a very open culture where we support each other and our clients every step of the way.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about RED66 Marketing?
I shared some of my challenges about the business in a previous question, so this question is a lot more fun.
RED66 has become a great place to work, and we have an incredible culture. That took a lot of time and attention to be transparent with the team as we grew and as we faced challenges, but even more as we celebrated wins, growth and getting everyone involved in where we’re headed. We do quarterly team surveys to capture what they would never change about RED66, but also encourage them to offer items to improve, whether that’s a process, a tool, etc.
Our vision is clients for life. The long-standing relationships we have are very important to us and say a lot about what we’ll do for our clients, too. Every person on our team is invested in our reputation, our quality of work and thus our clients and their success. We don’t sit idle, we’re always looking at what’s next for clients.
Most of our work is digital marketing, which includes website design and development, SEO/SEM or paid ads, content marketing, social media, email marketing, etc. Most clients are focused on lead generation. So we’ve invested in more training for CRMs, website testing (A/B testing tools), heat maps, and conversion rate optimization to make the websites and digital presence a true asset for the companies we work with.
We have some great case studies, examples of our work and customer testimonials. We’re proud of all of it!
When talking with prospects or clients, they talk about other agencies they’ve worked with and we hear that our team is fast to respond, we do great work, we ask good questions to get the outcomes the clients are going for – not just “do what they ask”. But also, we are persistent and keep things moving for them. We work with presidents, CEOs and sales managers who have little to no marketing resources in-house. We’re invested in them, and we make the marketing part of their jobs easier. We also explain what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and the anticipated outcomes for them.
Our responsiveness. Our leadership for the marketing strategy. Our alignment with their sales team’s goals. These are all things that our clients appreciate from our team.
I’m so proud of the team we have cultivated, and that people want to work for us.
What makes you happy?
At work – our weekly team meetings when people share shout-outs about each other and the work they’re doing. The respect, support and collaboration here is incredible. I love watching everyone grow. And as a marketing nerd, when clients have an”a Ha” moment for the work we’re doing, and connect the dots. That makes my marketing heart happy.
Personally, when I have a great workout and drive home in the sunshine. Boating in the beautiful Michigan summers. And, a great glass of red wine.
And as a competitive person, I like it when our team wins, when our clients win, when my friends win, when my family wins – and wins can be anything from hitting a small goal of theirs, or big life-changing things that take place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.red66marketing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/red66.marketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.dutcher1
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccadutcher/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/red66marketing/
