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Jacques Marais

Creative Marketing Concepts (asi/170631)

Jacques “Jay” Marais is truly a man of many talents. Not only does he speak French, English and Afrikaans fluently, he’s also a certified patisserie chef. Oh, and then there’s his promo career, where he’s the managing director of Creative Marketing Concepts’ San Jose office. Marais has been so successful in his role that in 2017 his team easily surpassed their $4.8 million sales goal. For 2018, his team is on track to hit $6.5 million, though he admits to personally aiming for closer to $7 million.

‘“Do sales activity and sales will follow.’ It’s the best advice I’ve received work-wise and our whole team believes it,” says Marais.

With a bachelor of arts in film and media production from the University of Connecticut, Marais first believed his future was in the entertainment industry, before stumbling into a job in the fulfillment department at Creative Marketing. In short time, he worked his way up through the company to become the highest producing sales rep. “I moved to San Jose to start our office that would directly service current clients and create new ones in the area,” Marais says. “Since then, through the tireless efforts of the entire team, we’ve expanded our existing accounts and created numerous new ones.”

Being in California now, who knows what new pursuits Marais will take up? In the meantime, he’s learning Spanish – because any edge he can get, he’ll take. “Most of our San Jose team members can speak multiple languages,” Marais says. “I think that’s something that really makes a difference to the way in which we understand and interact with clients, which adds to the success of our office.”