Editor’s Note: They are leaders. They are inspirational. They are mentors. They are visionaries. They are, quite frankly, badasses. They are our 2022 REEL WOMEN. During Women’s History Month, you will be able to meet these incredible personalities in Advertising, Entertainment, Media and Production. Get ready, because women like Danielle Yuthas are making “Herstory.
Danielle Yuthas is Vice President of Marketing and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at B2B franchise SpeedPro. Serving a variety of industries and their innovative visual solutions, SpeedPro is a large format graphic design and printing production partner to major brands and agencies across verticals including advertising, commercial interiors, construction, architecture, corporate offices, retail, healthcare, museums, hotels, restaurants, event venues, educational institutions and more.
Yuthas serves on the Marketing Innovation & Technology Committee for the International Franchise Association and is a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) as well as Google certified. Danielle, a true creative at heart, led the charge on rebranding SpeedPro (formerly SpeedPro Imaging) and she has carved a niche in scaling lead generation for franchise systems. She increased digital lead generation at SpeedPro by 224% and website traffic by 86% since joining in 2018.
Yuthas has a breadth of franchise experience in the B2C space as well through working for WellBiz Brands and Ace Hardware. Prior to franchising, Yuthas was the Director of Search Engine Marketing for an e-commerce focused advertising agency in Denver, CO, where she resides.
Danielle is also a freelance journalist and contributes to Franchising World and Colorado Expression magazines and speaks at national conventions including BrightEdge’s Share conference on search engine optimization.
Yuthas consults through franchisingmarketing.com, AlphaSights, GuidePoint and GLG and is currently pursuing an international Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA) through Maastricht University School of Business and Economics.
Let’s meet Danielle!
What’s your origin story?
When I was growing up, my mom was the Director of Public Relations and Marketing in the hotel industry and I would tag along on photoshoots and press trips whenever I could – it was essentially a lifelong internship. In high school, I founded the school newspaper and participated in the broadcast of the school announcements. In college, I declared a technical journalism major and wrote for the entertainment section of the campus newspaper and had two internships with other local newspapers as well as a Denver radio station.
I graduated at a time when one of Denver’s two major newspapers closed and journalists were vying for positions. I quickly realized I could apply my journalism skills to content creation for search engine optimization, which was an emerging field at the time. I went to work for an ad agency that specialized in e-commerce as a journalist and videographer and became the Director of the search engine marketing department within five years.
I then decided to see what it would be like on the client-side for a blue-chip and became a regional marketing manager for Ace Hardware. My family had a history in franchising and once I got a taste of it, I knew it was my niche. I then accepted a role as Senior Digital Marketing Manager for WellBiz Brands before I became the Marketing Director, and now Vice President of Marketing for SpeedPro, where I serve on the Executive Leadership Team.
REELated: See who else is on the Reel Women List
How did you get into the creative industry?
I have always been drawn to art, theater, fashion and design and I realized writing and advertising are my strong suits.
Who were your mentors?
My mom Maryann Yuthas, Nancy Clark and Jarod Clark at Unleaded Digital, James Schwartz and Abby Lee with RE/MAX and Larry Oberly, CEO of SpeedPro.
While there will be others, what do you consider your biggest achievement to date?
Rebranding SpeedPro and growing online lead generation by 224% and increasing traffic to SpeedPro.com by 86%.
What drives you to create?
There are endless opportunities to create in an ever-changing landscape, which constantly gives me new ideas. Lately, my mind has been in the metaverse.
What shows are doing the best job of portraying strong women on TV?
Amazon Studios’ THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL and TV Land’s/Paramount+’s YOUNGER.
Coffee, Lunch and Happy Hour. Name a famous woman you would like to attend each function with?
Coffee: Sarah Blakely – I have an idea to pitch her
Lunch: Anna Wintour (preferably during Fashion Week)
Happy Hour: Lady Gaga
What is the biggest challenge to women in your industry?
Women only make up one-third of the printing industry and slightly less than one third of franchises are owned by women. The good news is this leaves a lot of room to grow. Ladies, get out there and own a business.
If being a woman is your superpower, what is your kryptonite?
Carbs.
When you’re not creating, what do you do in your off time?
I like to get into the mountains in the summer to recharge the creative battery. Outside of my day job, I also write for a lifestyle magazine, Colorado Expression and Franchising World magazine. I consult through franchisingmarketing.com as well as AlphaSights, GuidePoint and GLG consulting networks. I’d love to get back into doing speaking engagements, now that events are starting to come back.
Predict your future! Where are you in 5 years?
C-suite or starting as an emerging franchisor in the creative space.
