CMO Spotlight | Alejandro Alvarez Correa - American Signature, Inc.

The CMO Spotlight is a chance to get an inside look into the minds and journeys of high-performing marketing leaders. 

Setup CEO, Joe Koufman, virtually sat down with Alejandro Alvarez Correa, the Chief Marketing Officer of American Signature, Inc., to discuss how he finds inspiration from being in bodies of water, how he leads with empathy and more.

WATCH + READ THE RECAP BELOW (SCROLL TO THE END FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW)

Q1 | Is there any advice you’d like to share? 

“You must keep your eyes on your long-term goals.”

He shared that for most marketers, the path is not always linear. “It's never going to be a straight-up path to where you want to end up. There are always going to be ups and downs, and sometimes you have to take a step down to take a step forward.” Sometimes these life experiences lead you in the right direction to achieving your goals.

Q2 | What is your superpower?

Alvarez Correa shared that his superpower is empathizing with others while challenging them to think outside the box. He allows his team to brainstorm new ideas for projects and then discuss the ideas. His role allows him to hear everyone out, and come to conclusions without making his teammates feel like they had to compromise. He explained that throughout his marketing career, he has exercised that muscle to the point where empathy comes naturally to him.

Q3 | Where do you find inspiration?

Alvarez Correa finds inspiration from being active. He particularly loves feeling “cleansed” from bodies of water, whether it’s a pool, lake, river, etc. He explained that after he jumps into a body of water and feels refreshed, it opens up mental space for him to think of new ideas and continue moving forward. He also loves to run and uses that time to think and brainstorm. Traveling and art are also passions of his, and on his trips, he’s constantly seeking inspiration from his new surroundings. He takes note of his inspirations and then tries to connect them to his work. 

Q4 | What values are important to you?

Alvarez Correa values reliability over anything else. “You can't move forward if you don't have reliability. Ultimately, the outcome or the input/output is debatable. You may not come to a conclusion, but at least you have to do the homework. Doing what you said you would do when you said you would do it is quite important.” He continued, “If I have to produce some output for a specific date and we're supposed to have a meaningful valuable conversation about that, it's really crucial for me that [work] actually gets done. So reliability for me has always been paramount.”

Q5 | Tell us about an impactful experience.

Alvarez Correa shared an experience he had working for Gap, Inc. where he participated in a corporate program called Mindspark. It was designed “to bring multiple people, from multiple functions, and multiple brands together to solve a problem in a week.” He was put on a team with other employees and they were tasked to come up with a solution to a question that was posed. It was eye-opening for him because it allowed him to get out of his daily job to be taken into an inspiring space with creative people that he wouldn’t have interacted with otherwise. The experience was so impactful that he still uses what he learned from that experience in his current role at American Signature, Inc.

---

For more marketing leadership advice and a view into the mindset of marketing executives in various industries, be sure to watch the full interview with Alejandro Alvarez Correa, and keep an eye out for more thought leadership from our CMO Spotlights.

Watch the full interview to the right.