CEO Monthly Issue 3 2018

24 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 3 2018 , Rae (Hoffman) Dolan announces her retirement fromSEO& affiliate marketing, and steps down as PushFire CEO; Sean Dolan assumes the role. Marketing Veteran Rae (Hoffman) Dolan Announces her Retirement from SEO, Steps Down as PushFire CEO; Sean Dolan Appointed New CEO PushFire announces today that Rae (Hoffman) Dolan has stepped down as the Chief Executive Officer for the firm, concurrent with the announcement that she is retiring from SEO consulting and affiliate marketing. Sean Dolan, who has served as the company’s President and COO since co-founding the company in 2012, has moved into the CEO role. (Hoffman) Dolan has been a visible fixture in the digital marketing community for almost two decades. She started her digital marketing career in 1998, founding the first international support group for parents and families of paediatric stroke survivors to ever register with the American Stroke Association. In 2000, Rae entered the affiliate marketing and search engine optimisation industries, becoming a well-known voice within them over the tenure of her career. Described by award-winning author Jonathan Fields as “a legend in the online world,” (Hoffman) Dolan has given over 200 conference presentations at marketing conferences all over North America. She has columned at leading publications within the marketing industry and has been featured in multiple national media outlets as an acknowledged expert in the field. Rae has been nominated for the affiliate marketing industry’s most prestigious awards, the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards, four times – taking home the award for Affiliate of the Year in 2016. (Hoffman) Dolan has served as an educator in the online marketing space for over a decade, freely sharing information through her speaking engagements and personal website, Sugarrae. “I’ve had an unbelievable career in online marketing, but it was time for a change,” (Hoffman) Dolan said. “I’m so proud of what we’ve built with PushFire and am excited to watch the company expand on its success. The ‘Sugarrae’ brand will always be a part of me, but retiring it was a necessary component to execute my plans.” Rae expanded on her retirement from the SEO consulting and affiliate marketing fields in a blog post published this morning on Sugarrae. (Hoffman) Dolan’s exit from a public-facing role in the company has been prepared for behind the scenes for over a year. “Current clients shouldn’t even notice the change. We’ve worked hard to ensure the transition was seamless.” (Hoffman) Dolan said. Rae will remain a co-owner of PushFire, and has moved into an advisory role for the agency, but will have no involvement in client fulfilment, services, operations, or public branding efforts for the company moving forward. Her change in position will allow (Hoffman) Dolan to focus on new ventures in real estate: Audrey Micah Investments - a real estate investing company she co-founded with her husband last year and AMI House Buyers - a company that buys houses as-is in the Katy & Houston areas she launched in February of 2018. (Hoffman) Dolan is also a licensed real estate agent in Texas, having launched Selling Katy as representation of her license in March of 2018. “The use of my digital marketing skills will be limited to promoting my real estate endeavours from this point forward,” she said. (Hoffman) Dolan will also make a move to using her married name – Rae Dolan – in the business world moving forward. PushFire recently brought in Jessica Frick to serve as VP of Operations in preparation for the change, allowing Sean Dolan to assume the CEO position without affecting operations. “Rae had a large hand in helping PushFire get to where it is today,” said Sean Dolan. “We’re fortunate to have had her reputation and expertise behind the company over the last six years.” Mr. Dolan is well qualified to be assuming the CEO role. With ten years of experience in the Internet marketing industry, he is a recognised expert on paid search and digital advertising. Like (Hoffman) Dolan, he is a popular conference speaker at industry conferences nationwide and has been featured in multiple international media outlets. With a strong reputation for providing result-oriented marketing services, his talent and skill-set will be an invaluable asset to growing the company from this point forward. “I couldn’t ask for better hands to leave the company in as I step down from the CEO role. Sean is incredibly talented, dedicated, and I have no doubt he will hold the company’s production and reputation to the same high standards as I did. PushFire is poised for some incredible growth over the next few years, and Sean is the ideal person to drive and oversee it.”