By Angela Rogalski
Playing on a team can be the catalyst for some of the most rewarding times in a person’s life. The camaraderie and support that a team gives each other is something that can’t be replaced, whether in a personal scenario or in business.
Will Hunt is the founder and CEO of Hunt Marketing in Oxford. Hunt says that he worked hard to get to where he is today, but in the same breath, he’ll swiftly tell you how he stays there: with a team effort.
Hunt grew up in Oxford and his ties to the community run deep. His father is longtime obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Glen Hunt. And while he moved away for a few years to go to college; he began his studies in Virginia and then finished at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, he never forgot where he came from.
“I basically started Hunt Marketing ten years ago,” Hunt says, “in Washington D.C. and I spent several years there. I met my wife, Beth in D.C., she had attended Ole Miss and we met through mutual friends. But when we decided it was time to raise a family, we decided it was also time to move back to Oxford. She was working for the leader in online marketing for the hospitality industry and she represented 132 hotels throughout the United States.”
Hunt and his wife moved back to Oxford to start Hunt Marketing. Hunt says that he felt there was a need for relationship building within the city.
“That was a big focus for those early years, helping to bring community partners together. Those relationships were very important and led to managing the marketing for small businesses.”
Hunt adds that an opportunity came up through a relationship with Michael Joe Cannon and Hunt’s father.
“At the time he needed an online sales manager, and I mentioned my wife had done online marketing, she had joined me in the business, and that was seven and a half years ago and we’re still working with Cannon Motors.”
Hunt and his wife have worked with online marketing for Ole Miss Athletics and handled community involvement for them, among other clients.
Today, Hunt Marketing has clients in Oxford, parts of the Mississippi Delta, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, the greater Chicago area and Dallas/Fort Worth. Hunt attributes the company’s growth and success to his hardworking team and he emphasizes they have a growth strategy for the company. “I started at my desk in my apartment in D.C. and looking back over the ten years, I am so grateful for the community support we have received and the obstacles we have overcome.”
But Hunt never forgets the ties that bind, nor his team.
“And I am very thankful for our Delta relationships, such as the Bank of Commerce, among many others and our hometown relationships. And of course, without my team there is no way we would be where we are today.”
