Take 5 Spotlight is a series of brief articles that introduce you to members of our National Office team, and many other SMART-types, in a short & sweet way.

How is working with accountants like working with SMART Recovery employees? No, this is not setting up a punchline. SMART’s Director of Marketing, Anna Marie Murphy, provides a convincing answer. “My last job was with a CPA firm whose structure was really similar to SMART’s. Both have lots of representatives out in the community who need support promoting services and succeed best when there is a strong brand presence behind them, training resources available, and good materials they can share.” In other words, a great marketing team working on their behalf.  

For the last 15 years Anna Marie has worked in marketing, and, after working three years in a part-time position with SMART, has been SMART’s marketing guru since January. That essentially means keeping a watchful eye over the overall brand. “…[F]rom the website, blog, social media posts, and emails… our [team] is included in most projects and conversations. Marketing takes almost everything we do and say and makes it look and sound snazzy.”   

Anna Marie says she takes pride in using her skills for such an amazing cause. For its part, SMART benefits and enjoys her amazing skills applied for a cause we all take great pride in.   

Here are Anna Marie’s responses to the Take 5 Spotlight questions:

1. Are there tasks you perform regularly during your workday? I work very hard on a daily basis to strategize and implement improvements to our websites, content, emails, etc., that will help present SMART Recovery in the highest quality way and drive more people in need to SMART Recovery’s resources. We are growing at a rapid pace presently, and our online tools and messages need to continue evolving to reflect the caliber of organization that we are.  
2. What are a couple of the ways you interact and coordinate your job with other national office staff? My team works very closely with almost all of our departments – supporting them however we can! Preparing for presentations, launching new meetings, training programs, publications, fundraisers, helping with communications and making resources available to our volunteers and more.  
3. What is one of the ways that you think you personally make a difference at SMART? I have a specific passion for the content that we create and share through our website, blogs, podcasts, videos, social media and emails. I’m working very hard to diversify the audiences we speak to, knowing that addiction doesn’t discriminate. I want our content to speak meaningfully to all the different communities of people who use our program.  
4. What is your message to all those dedicated SMART volunteers across the country? I see our volunteers as an extension of my department! And I am so appreciative for the hard work you put in as our “boots on the ground.” I promise to continue working hard to provide additional resources to support you and make your efforts easier.   
5. What kinds of things are you interested in outside of work? I have a husband and two kids who are my whole world! We spend a lot of time outside hiking and looking for birds, salamanders, and critters. I also have a passion for fitness and nutrition and can often be found bending someone’s ear about what they’re eating and how they’re feeling.  

With a match made for excellent marketing, Anna Marie Murphy is a strong part of the SMART team. Her impact ripples from the National Office across the whole country. But she doesn’t have to hike to get it there; it spreads far and wide along the digital highway at web-speed.   

Learn more about the Take 5 Spotlight series and see others who have been profiled.

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