First real marketing role and somehow I'm the entire department.
Just started as a Junior Brand Manager at a food company in the pasta category, and the whole brand is on me. No Brand Manager, no Marketing Manager, no CMO above. Only two external agencies backing us up on branding and design.
A lot is landing at once too: new product launches, trade shows, influencer kits. Every bit of it is mine to manage.
Before this, I was a Marketing Trainee at much bigger food/FMCG companies, but the big calls were never mine and neither was the responsibility. Never touched a budget either, since every major decision came from someone senior above me.
The weird part is that mentally, I'm actually doing fine. Stretched thin, sure, but this feels like a career opportunity most people wait years to get.
That said, I'd rather not learn everything through painful mistakes. So for anyone who's been the lone marketer in the room: what should I be paying the most attention to in a setup like this? What common mistakes can I dodge, and how do I develop as fast as possible?
Any advice would honestly mean a lot. Thanks in advance!
