The Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth

The Story of ATM, founded by Hazel Breen

In all transparency, I fell into Marketing. In 2010, mid-recession, I launched my first business selling 1950's style accessories and customised high waisted Levi 501's (who knew they would stick around for a few years). It became an overnight success locally, but when I started to promote it through social media and events, I saw the business grow quickly and I started receiving orders from all around the world. I thought to myself, maybe I have a knack for this marketing stuff!?!

Between 2010 - 2014 I complete a graphic and web design diplomas, mobile app design and a digital marketing course course. I kept growing my brand on social media and became addicted to watching YouTube videos in all areas of marketing but particularly digital marketing because I didn't have a degree in Marketing at the time, I thought I better up my game if I want to make a career out of this. At the time I thought I needed to know EVERYTHING about marketing, but those countless hours on YouTube have served me well.

In 2015, I created my own magazine site made up of inspirational positive content called Addicted to Everything. 6 months later I became a Finalist for the Health & Wellbeing Category in the Irish Blog Awards. My aim with ATE was to reach 1 million people. The site reach just under 4 million people in 5 years. My hope was that people would visit the site and leave in better mood, more inspired and ready to take on the world. Naturally, I was delighted that the site exceeded my expectations and it gave me the confidence that I could take any brand and grow it substantially! I tried and tested everything in my own business. And finally got my first break at growing a brand other than my own.

Moving on up

I created a digital marketing strategy for the lighting company I worked for at the time as they did not have much of a digital presence and I knew there was great potential there. I sent it to the MD of ROBUS Lighting and he made me Marketing Manager after being approached a few months previous by a well renowned Dublin Marketing Agency with a similar strategy. I promised I would make them an extra €100,000 in 2 years from online conversions alone. We reached this goal in just over a year and a half. From there I went to work for both brands in the company in Communication Executive roles. During this time I went to college and completed a Level 8, Higher Executive Diploma in Strategic Digital Marketing in DIT. After 13 years overall with this company and an a huge amount of gratitude for all the support and education they gave me, it was time to move on.

A Melting Pool...

I got a job in emovis Operations Ireland which operated the eFlow and eToll brands as I wanted to work on one of the busiest websites and apps in Ireland to learn everything about User Experience and Analytics. I started as a Digital Marketing Specialist and was promoted to Marketing Communications Manager one year later. See some of the great results we achieved through our marketing plan here. I left emovis after two years to start my own business... Addicted to Marketing Irl (ATM Irl). ATM Irl was launched in 2020 and I have worked on some great projects and brands since. In 2020, I was asked to illustrate a book for Tony Griffin. Art has always been my first love, so I jumped at the idea of going back to my childhood to draw to my hearts content and it was a welcomed distraction through the earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic. This book was 'The Teenager's Book of Life' which was the hardest project I ever worked on because it was so important to get right. Tony hired me to market it and we launched the book on February 18th, 2021. The Teenager's Book of Life became a best seller in just 10 months and continues to nourish the souls of teenagers around the country since. (Definitely the proudest part of my career). You can read all about this too in the case studies page. I have worked primarily with non-profits and the healthcare industry over the past couple of years as well as promoting the book and delved into PR to master this side of marketing.

I have worked with so many people nationwide and around the world, agencies of all types, consultants, government bodies, associations and inspiring individuals and I look forward to working on many more. I truly believe if you are good at what you do, that it does not matter if you have worked in a certain industry before or not, its all about researching and tailoring marketing to each customer and businesses needs. If you would like to grow your business, talk about your marketing needs or are in need of consultation and advice, click here to book a FREE 15 minute introductory consultation.