Welcome Shanah Gaskill to #teamexaqueo!

Welcome Back Shanah to #teamexaqueo!


We are a team of brand, marketing, human resources, and communications strategists offering our clients authentic insight and unrivaled expertise to brand and market their unique employment experience from the inside out. And like our clients, we at exaqueo, have our own unique and authentic stories to tell from the perspectives of our brand, our company, and our individual colleagues. Today, we are excited to tell the story of Shanah Gaskill.

Shanah rejoins us as an Employer Brand Strategist, responsible for working closely with our clients, rolling up her sleeves to do research, and getting her hands dirty on all things employer brand. She brings more than 8 years of experience with a focus on content marketing and talent management.

Onboarding is an important step in building a new employee’s confidence and sense of belonging with a company. At exaqueo, we like to build that sense of belonging by assigning each new hire an “exaqueo buddy.” As Shanah’s buddy, I have the privilege of supporting her throughout the exaqueo immersion and onboarding journey. In the first few weeks we realized we both have a love of travel as we have collectively ventured to a few states in a few weeks—Montana, California, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Where in the world are Jackie and Shanah?

When we weren’t traveling to far-off destinations, we took a few minutes to grab coffee in our virtual exaqueo office space and I am excited to share some highlights from our conversation.

What made you want to join exaqueo?

Prior to attending the MBA program at Vanderbilt, I was working as a Senior Marketing Manager at Uber. During my time with the company, I was asked to lend a hand with an Employer Brand initiative focused on hiring women engineers. It was through this project at Uber that I was exposed to the world of Employer Branding. I loved the marketing-esque approach to help solve people-focused challenges. 

Once on campus at Vanderbilt, Susan and Lexi (exaqueo team members and Vanderbilt Alumnae) came to speak in one of my classes. Their guest lecture was the first time at school I'd heard anyone talk about Employer Branding. After the class session, I immediately reached out and soon started an MBA internship with the exaqueo. During this internship, I was exposed to the type of work exaqueo leads and the way in which they deliver consulting services to their clients.  

After graduating from Vanderbilt and spending some time on the People Team at Twitter, I decided to join exaqueo full time to bring my marketing and HR experiences together as an employer brand strategist.


What excites you most about your role at exaqueo?  

There are a few things that I'm excited about! First, to use the knowledge I learned and skills I gained from my time at Vanderbilt, Uber, and Twitter—bringing it all together in this one, strategic role is exciting. Second, working with clients in new industries also excites me because I will gain exposure to brand new ways of work, exciting new challenges, and I can already see that no two days are the same in the world of client-facing work. And finally, but equally as important, I am excited to work with this team of extremely talented individuals who are paving the future of the employer branding space in so many ways.


What impact do you hope to make at exaqueo?

It's my hope that through my educational and professional experiences, I can contribute to the team's thinking and projects, enabling us to continue to elevate the work that we do.

I was very fortunate to join Uber at a start-up stage and therefore, was given a lot of responsibility early on in my career—overseeing marketing campaigns from ideation to execution while working across different teams. The fast pace growth of the company afforded me the opportunity to grow professionally due to the unique amount of business exposure and responsibility I was given. Getting my MBA and building a well-rounded business acumen gave me a strategic and analytical lens to work with. 

Everyone at exaqueo brings different things to the table, that’s what makes us such a great team. I look forward to seeing how my unique perspectives and skills will complement others.


What are three words that best describe you?

Thoughtful: My friends describe me as the glue of friendships. Having moved from Kansas to Dallas to Nashville to Denver, my friends are scattered all over. I’m the person who remembers to send a birthday card or picks up the phone to catch up—I put in effort to be a good friend and am lucky enough to get the same in return.

Hard-working: I am always willing to roll up my sleeves to get the job done, whether at work or home. I’m not very good at sitting still, there’s always something to be done.

Goofy: I like to have fun along the way and bring humor into the day-to-day. Keeping things with friends and colleagues lighthearted and being my true self, always.


What do you like to do outside of work for fun? 

My love languages are acts of service and quality time—so I love having friends and family over to share a meal and spend time together. 

I'm also a big fan of being active, whether it's working out or generally just moving my body. In Colorado, we're able to spend a lot of time outside hiking and skiing, which we try our hardest to take great advantage of.


What’s the most interesting thing about your home office set-up? 

Probably the fact that I'm set up in the dining room. That said, it's a beautiful white desk that sits in front of a window overlooking the backyard. Being set up in the dining room isn't as much of an eye sore as I thought it would be, but the true downfall is when my fiancé is making lunch, because it can get a tad loud. But he needs to eat, so that's okay. :)


What motivates or inspires you to do your best?

My family and friends are my number one motivators, especially my sister. I look up to her and all that she’s accomplished in the workspace as a working mom. Seeing others have a good balance of worklife and successes that make them happy inspires me as well.

Working with smart, talented, passionate, and kind individuals motivates me to do my best each and every day. I deeply believe in the quality product that exaqueo delivers to our clients and the research-based approach to the work that we take, which inspires me to do my best.



Please join me in welcoming Shanah as she dives back into working on #teamexaqueo and contributes to helping organizations work with meaning. You can congratulate and welcome Shanah on LinkedIn or by posting a comment below!

Related Posts