By: Logan Mertz

 

Christie Wells is the director of marketing for the Arc for lane County, a non-profit organization that provides services for people with disabilities. To Christie, her work at the Arc has been the most fulfilling job yet, as she gets to make “a tangible difference” in the lives of people with disabilities and go participate at the Arc. However, this was not what she originally planned.

Before working for the Arc of Lane County, Christie was in a very different area of marketing. For over a decade she worked in business marketing. In 2012, she was working for Hayden Homes, a residential new home reconstruction business. Well’s job at this position entailed working with a marketing budget that was around $400,000 per year.

However, her area of focus changed after she discovered something about herself. After reading a book that helps the reader discover their strengths and what field of work best suits those strengths, Wells found out that all five of her best strengths fit well with work in non-profits. That’s when she decided she wanted to work for the Arc.

Switching to working for the Arc, Wells says that it was eye-opening to discover the culture around people with disabilities. “There’s this stigma that someone [with disabilities] isn’t capable of a good quality of life…We tend to discount people when all we’re looking at is their disability.” Through her marketing work at the Arc, Wells is trying to fight against these negative stigmas and help make sure that people with disabilities are receiving the best opportunities possible. For instance, she recently helped come up with the slogan for Arc, “Because we should all be defined by our abilities.” This focuses on the positive, as Wells said, “We’re looking at the strengths of people, and how we can utilize them more.”

Wells’ passion for the Arc is not being unnoticed. “For Christie, [working for the Arc] has given her work more meaning and purpose,” said Julia Baker, a marketing coordinator for the Arc who often works alongside of Christie. “She wants to put her all in everything, and wants to make a positive impact on the community.”

Though she loves working at the Arc, doesn’t want the progess to stop here. Wells wants to help expand the positive change and success that is happening at the Arc to other places. “I still see myself in a marketing position but taking a more public role in advocacy,” In that public role, she wants to “grow and gain more knowledge” and use her marketing experience to benefit other non-profit organizations around the community and increase awareness of their missions. To do this, Wells would like to “implement marketing [strategies] across organizations”.