Kim Barker is the manager of new markets and senior account executive at the Hoffman Agency in San Marco. She started in December.
WHAT DOES HER
JOB ENTAIL?
“As senior account executive, I’m involved in the day-to-day communication of the value of the agency [to the outside]. I’m more involved in various projects, specifically with insurance clients. Everything we do with these clients is routed through me. I serve as a translator.”
TRANSLATOR?
“We work with all sorts of clients, but Hoffman’s focus for several years has been on banking. For awhile I was a client of the agency, so I bridge the gap between techno-speak to bring the two sides together. There are a lot of regulations on advertising in banking and insurance. As you may know, banking and insurance are moving closer together. I was in the insurance industry. For the last five years, I was the senior vice president of marketing communications for a firm [American Classic Agency] in Ponte Vedra Beach. By having the understanding [of regulations] going into it, you trim the time to do a project. The client doesn’t have to spend time educating us.”
WHAT DOES SHE DO AS NEW MARKETS MANAGER?
“Hoffman previously did not have someone dedicated full-time to advertising the agency. I go out into the community and introduce them.”
IN WHAT OTHER FIELDS HAS SHE WORKED?
“I have a very comprehensive background. My major was in communications with a minor in history, so I worked in broadcast television [as a news writer and producer] and talk radio in Tampa. For White Publishing, I worked on the administrative side. I have gotten to try lots of different things. My belief is you have to keep learning and keep growing.” While living in Tampa, she was the educational coordinator for the Lowry Park Zoo where she implemented conservation awareness programs in the school system. In Jacksonville, she operated her own advertising/marketing firm for two years.
WHY THIS FIELD?
“I love the process of communicating, of giving people information. I wanted to be able to touch a lot of people over the course of a lifetime.”
EDUCATION
She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Great Falls in Montana.
WHAT’S MOST REWARDING ABOUT HER JOB?
“I absolutely love going in with a solution to help a company project their value to their audience. ”
HOMETOWN
Jacksonville.
WHY BOUNCE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY?
“I married an Air Force serviceman. Before, I was with a national company and felt I lost my connection to Jacksonville. This position gives me the opportunity to turn my focus back in.”
FAMILY
Barker is married to Vick, her high school sweetheart. They reside in Mandarin with their daughter Stephanie.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
“I just joined the Association of Fundraising Professionals.”
HOBBIES
Despite being a self-admitted workaholic, Barker never misses an episode of “Friends.” She loves spy novels, Southern cooking and riding on a Harley motorcycle with her husband.
WHO’S YOUR HERO?
“I appreciate women in business. I have a lot of local heroes that succeeded in a male-dominated business and paved the way for those who followed. By the same token, I feel it is my obligation to do the same so my daughter won’t know the disadvantage.”
— by Monica Chamness