Creators: VP, Business Development Eli Rotholz

Eli Rotholz has more than 15 years of sales, business development, strategy, and production experience having begun his career as an independent sales rep for top firms. Since 2018, he has served as a Vice President of Business Development at Alkemy X using his passion for discovering and developing emerging talent to build our directorial roster and create successful relationships with clients and creative talent alike.

AX: What does an average day look like for a VP of Business Development?

ER: There's never an average day when you're working in sales at Alkemy X. Every day we have to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones to find the next exciting opportunity or talent that will be a gamechanger for the company.

AX: What is a piece of advice that helped you get to where you are today?

ER: There's proactive and reactive sales, you need a solid balance of each to stay focused and keep the opportunities flowing. 

AX: What’s a challenge you have encountered in your career?

ER: It’s imperative to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to emerging styles of commercials that are becoming more prevalent. As a company, we always need to be further developing our creative offerings to stay relevant and meet client needs. 

AX: How do you go about making connections with brands?

ER: A good amount of our traditional agency contacts have made the move to the brand side as brands develop internal creative and production departments. Especially with the growth of the freelance market there's a ton of cross pollination from the agency community and the brand marketing side. 

AX: What have you found brands look for the most when hiring agencies/studios?

ER: There aren't the barriers of the traditional agency/client dynamic when working directly for brands. Brands tend to ask more of their producers in the world of account/client management. I have found that brands see more value in the integrated offering, where everything can be done under one roof that we have here at Alkemy X. One centralized vendor for their entire live action and post production experience allows for a seamless and less communication handoff intensive process.

AX: What do you wish people knew about working in sales/business development?

ER: It's not as glamorous as you would think, ha….The day-to-day sales process involves a deep understanding of our company's work, what the marketplace needs from us and where we sit in the lexicon of production companies in the creative advertising community. 

AX: What has changed the most about the industry in the last two years?

ER: The market for bigger budget work has become more competitive. With each opportunity, you must find the “Slam Dunk” reel to make it into the bid pool. This means always having to find the next exciting director or creative director that is going to grow our roster or freelancer network. 

AX: What advice would you give to someone entering the advertising industry right now?

ER: If you are getting into sales, find a mentor who is willing to show you the ropes. Try to meet potential clients in person and sell your personality as well as the company. 

AX: What is a goal you have set for yourself, work-related or otherwise?

ER: The goal I have set for myself is to make one new contact every day, even if it's only a LinkedIn connection. Expanding your network is a cumulative process.

AX: When you aren’t working, what are some of your favorite things to do?

ER: Photography, seeing live music, rowing, playing with my kids.