I was fortunate to be born and raised in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Allgäu.

The European Alps are the backdrop for the beginning of my career. What started as a Friday afternoon job in high school being the handyman and errand runner for a local office 5 minutes from my house, turned into more than a decade of rewarding work at faszinatour. The best thing about the gig? It was actually two gigs. While pursuing my business administration degree, I worked on my skills as a marketer and project manager in office as the student trainee. Outdoors, I was leading individuals, groups and organizations through experiential learning adventures to facilitate personal and team development. 

My studies also took me to Costa Rica for a 6 month internship. A decision that would change my life forever. It’s where I met my wife Kristin in La Fortuna on a Friday the 13th. The same day we would get married 3 years later in sunny San Diego. It’s where we now raise our two beautiful children, Theo and Avani.

That was in 2012 after finishing up my studies in Germany and then moving to Southern California. I got hired shortly after by international tech start-up Symbaloo, where I would spend almost 7 years taking my professional growth and personal development to the next level. I navigated everything from content creation, community management, and campaign strategy; to affiliate, event and inbound marketing; all the way to data analysis, partnerships & networking and the transition to a SaaS revenue model. The start-up life provided me the opportunity to learn, try, fail, iterate and succeed in all sorts of ways. I’m reaping the benefits ever since. Personally, I worked on improving my managing and relationship building skills, learning how to lead and how to learn, as well as how to see the bigger picture.

Beyond the world of marketing, branding, and business development, I’ve always been interested in the future of work itself. In 2016 I pushed to move the US operations to work remotely, and have since seen both productivity and team member happiness increase substantially. On top of that, I question the ‘productivity’ of US corporate specialists working 9-5 without agency, freedom or any profit sharing. Not to mention the current exploitation of gig workers without even basic labor protections.

I happen to believe there is a better way to do business. 

I’m a generalist. I find that long term, sustainable success stems from having a broad spectrum of skills and interests, experimenting with many different paths and seeking out a breadth of experiences.

Now, I’m on a mission to cut the bullshit. And I mean (in) business: Through freelance projects, I work with small business owners, start-ups and former employers to create multi-faceted marketing campaigns, build lead generation platforms and develop growth strategies. This includes: web design, email marketing, social media development, go-to-market strategies, brand relationship building, FB & Google ads, affiliate marketing, experiential (event) marketing and more.

But once the pandemic hit, I had to decrease my work load so that I could be the primary care taker of my 2 children. Since things are opening back up and they’re older, I’m ready to get off the sidelines as well.

I’m an outdoorsman at heart, an avid reader and a committed father. When I’m not creating something on the web or working in a collaborative space, you can find me cooking, hiking, keeping up with German soccer leagues and spending time with my family. I long to create a more sustainable and generative future for our planet. I remain curious, humble and engaged.

Thank you for reading.

Best,
Thomas Hauser

Last Updated: May 2021