Robyn Kelly, the namesake and mind behind local marketing company Socially Robyn, could now be known as Downtown Robyn.
The Squamish local is two weeks into her new role as the executive director of the Downtown Squamish Business Improvement Association (DSBIA). Between learning the ropes of her new part-time job and gearing up for her first event, the annual pumpkin patch, Kelly shared what she's learned so far and what she wants to see happen downtown.
"I've been doing the social media marketing for downtown Squamish for two years now," she said. "I think being partly in but not fully in and seeing everything that they've been going through and trying to do, and knowing the struggles that they've had in the past, gives me a little bit of a head start."
For six years, she volunteered with the Loggers Sports Festival as the marketing manager. She was looking to get more involved in the Squamish community when the executive director position opened up.
Kelly said when the previous executive director Anne Kadwell was leaving, she hadn't thought about herself filling the role until she was encouraged by others to put her name forward.
"I kind of got excited about it, thinking the things I could bring to the role, and my relationships with Tourism Squamish and the Chamber and different groups and organizations around town could really benefit downtown Squamish," she said.
Kelly said she has plenty of ideas for downtown, but — only two weeks into the job — has yet to run them by the board.
"I love the change that's happening in Squamish. I've very much embraced it," Kelly said of the influx of newcomers in town. "It just means more business for us... This world is constantly evolving. I think it's great for the town."
One idea she can share is more shop nights downtown. Some retailers have hosted such events before and done well, Kelly said, and she'd like to get the BIA involved.
"My whole job is supposed to be helping the merchants get more foot traffic downtown and exposure. So creating events that actually bring people downtown to go in the stores and shop and have incentives for them, more often, is really what I'd like to do."
The 21 Days of Christmas event by the association, Kelly said, is the biggest draw for some businesses. She'd like to expand similar events to more than once a year.
"Squamish has put themselves on the map a lot more," she said. "But there are still a lot of people who just drive by and don't actually come into the downtown part. I think really getting us out there more, getting more exposure in the downtown and seeing more foot traffic and more people.
"A big initiative that we talked about in the first board meeting that I was part of is figuring out how to work with the District to have more parking available," she said.
Before she returned to Squamish six years ago, Kelly worked in the Vancouver tech industry, managing a sales team that sold chargers for electric vehicles. A lot has changed since then. She started Socially Robyn — a social media and digital marketing business serving local and international companies — part-time for two years before making the jump to full-time two and a half years ago. In 2017, she was named the Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Squamish Business Excellence Awards. This year, she and her partner Nate sponsored the Young Entrepreneur award, having both earned it previously.
"We're all small business owners, for the most part, in the downtown core. I can relate to a lot of the issues that they're seeing," she said. "A big difference would be that they have rent to pay and foot traffic coming in and out of their store, whereas mine's very online-based and I work from home. But we would face a lot of similar issues just in the fact that marketing is a really hard and expensive thing in town. I'm hoping as I start talking with people more an visiting the stores and merchants... just being able to give them that free advice and tips is going to be really helpful to them. I'm sure I'll be learning a lot from them as well."
