Minh Do is a freelance marketing consultant and former marketing communications coordinator for one of Canada’s premier speakers’ bureaus. When not sticking her nose in a bottle of perfume, Minh can be found perusing vintage shops with her trusted sidekick, Ling.

She currently works as a marketing consultant for Scent Trunk,  a customized monthly fragrance subscription service for men that uses advanced analytics to deliver the perfect scents to your door. For only $15/month, it takes the guesswork out of fragrance shopping (hint: GREAT super-last-minute gift idea).

SDTC: What does a typical day look like for you, starting from when you wake up – to heading to bed?

MD: It varies from day to day. As a freelancer with a day job in a different field, I fill spare hours with marketing tasks. During a typical week I’ll check emails before work, edit a blog during my lunch hour and hold a conference call on a Sunday afternoon. It keeps me busy and I love the variety. Believe it or not, I still find the time to socialize!

What made you want to get into this line of work?

The constant urge to remedy everyday problems with novel ideas combined with a perfume obsession that germinated in childhood. Marketing for the fragrance sector is a natural marriage of the two.

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What characteristics should a person cultivate to do this job well?

There are three characteristics I find crucial to successful small business marketing: The hustle of a john, patience of a nurse and wisdom of a sage. When working with start-ups, the temptation is to execute on the level of well-established brands. While there’s nothing wrong with thinking globally or like where you plan to be in a decade, it’s prudent to act like where you are now. That means developing a local presence first, establishing relevant business partnerships and gradually building up from there.

What’s your favourite part about your job?

I can work in my pajamas. Least favourite: Editing meta descriptions for search engines. Ha!

Describe a situation that you’ve encountered in your life where you knew for certain this was the right field for you.

Just over a year ago, my teammate and I participated in a province-wide marketing competition. We didn’t win, but were honoured to place so closely (5th in the marketing research category) with some of Ontario’s brightest future marketers. The opportunity to work in a team, present and analyze a business case on 30 minutes notice, and network on a professional level solidified the Olympic-like nature of the event. Most importantly it reaffirmed how much I enjoy the fast-paced discipline of marketing.

What do you see yourself doing five years from now

I’d like to continue spreading scented gospel to the masses and perhaps consult for just one company I love. Right now there are too many to choose from!