Bright Minds of Virayo: Meet Robbie, Marketing Director and Co-Founder

Welcome to our summer series, “Bright Minds of Virayo,” where we highlight the remarkable individuals driving our company forward. Each week, we’ll feature one of our talented team members, showcasing our dynamic tech company culture and how we contribute to B2B SaaS success.

This week, we explore marketing and SEO strategy with Robbie, our co-founder and Marketing Director, and discover how he has driven growth at Virayo since day one.

Meet Robbie

• Name: Robbie Richards
• Position: Marketing Director
• Time at Virayo: 12 years

Behind the Scenes Fun

• Hobbies: Playing golf, workouts at BFT, traveling, studying philosophy
• Favorite book: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Guilty pleasure: Banana cake frosting
• Go-to road trip song: “Feeling Alright” by Rebelution
• Pets: Zoe (mini greyhound/ Chihuahua mix)

Check out the Virayo Team Playlist! New songs added weekly as we discover our team’s favorites.

In Conversation: Insights From the Virayo Team

We talked with Robbie about his role in team operations management, his career growth, and his vision for Virayo’s future. Here are some highlights of our conversation.

Q: Can you tell us more about what your role involves?

I wear a few different hats at Virayo:

I put together the SEO strategies for all of our SaaS clients. These get revisited in our QBR calls.

I run account management for clients in the European and the Asia Pacific regions.

I lead the internal sales and marketing initiatives for the company.

Despite the time zone difference (I’m based in Australia and the rest of the team is in the US), I’m still fortunate to collaborate with the team on a fairly regular basis. Specifically, I work with Jarod (Principal) on company vision and sales and marketing initiatives.

I collaborate with Ryan on everything operations, resource planning and service pricing so that we are able to deliver quality work and stay profitable.

I sync with Jake, our Senior Account Manager, on client strategy and performance.

And, last but certainly not least, I try to support our wonderful content team, Jenny and Erin. But, they are so awesome at what they do, I often just get in their way. Lucky they only have to deal with me for 1-2hrs a day 🙂

Q: What are some of your favorite parts of what you do?

I love to work for a company where I get the opportunity to directly impact growth, both internally and for our amazing growth-stage SaaS clients, as well as collaborate with such a smart and driven team.

Q: What’s been the biggest learning opportunity in your role so far?

One of the things I struggled with the most was letting go of clients as I transitioned into more of an internal growth role. However, we’ve achieved a nice balance at Virayo. I still collaborate on strategy for all of our clients, and put together QBR presentations. Jake, our Senior Account Manager, handles all the client-facing interactions across our US-based accounts, and the rest of the team delivers quality work month after month.

Another challenge has been stepping into a broader internal marketing and sales role. Historically, we’ve built pipeline off the back of quality work and referrals. However, as we set more aggressive growth goals for the company, I need to expand my skill set to new channels — outbound, LinkedIn ads, etc. — to generate qualified leads and refine the sales process to close bigger deals faster. This is an exciting challenge for me, and one that I very much look forward to embracing moving forward.

Q: Do you have any particular accomplishments you are most proud of?

Honestly, the thing I am most proud of is helping to build Virayo from a small two-person team building WordPress websites and running social media campaigns for local restaurants into a leading SaaS search marketing agency with A+ team members who get to work with industry-leading companies. It’s been a gradual climb, but in reflection, I’m so proud of the company we have all built over the years!

Q: Now let’s talk Virayo. What’s unique about working for our organization?

Team members are empowered to own and define their roles. While we all have core responsibilities and OKRs, we also have the opportunity to define how we want to grow within the company. This could be getting involved with different internal sales and marketing initiatives, learning new skills to expand the service line, or gradually moving into a different area of the company.

Additionally, given the size and company goals, each employee has the opportunity to directly impact the growth and direction of the company.

Q: Our team takes our values seriously. Which one(s) resonate with you the most?

Excellence and Authenticity.

Q: What’s your favorite aspect(s) of our culture and team dynamic?

1. Each person genuinely wants to help the other succeed in their role.
2. The company supports work-life balance and makes each team member feel valued.
3. The company encourages continuous learning and self-growth.

Q: On any given random day, what’s going on behind the scenes for you during a team meeting?

COFFEE! I usually start at 5:30 or 6am, so I need a mug in-hand that contains at least two espresso shots. The kookaburras or magpies are usually chirping in the background (muted by my Yeti mic :)), and my little dog Zoe is curled up on the futon sofa behind me.

Q: Last question! What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?

I’m looking forward to showing up each and every day for myself and the company! This is what I can control, and with discipline, know will help reach personal and business growth goals.

Shining the Light on Excellence

We’re thankful for Robbie’s incredible expertise and strategic vision. His effective marketing and SEO strategy talents have been a driving force behind Virayo’s growth and success. Visit Robbie’s website and LinkedIn page to learn more about his background and SEO insights. Also, check out Virayo’s new podcast, Build + Scale, where he discusses his strategies and success stories.

We invite you to engage with Robbie’s story by commenting below or sharing this post on social media. Your thoughts and shares help us celebrate the amazing individuals working hard to drive B2B SaaS success for our clients.

Be sure to follow Virayo on LinkedIn to get the latest spotlights and company news. We have many more inspiring stories to share, so check back next week to discover another remarkable Virayo team member.