About us

From insight to impact: The journey behind Marketing Mile

Hi, I’m Mel, the founder of Marketing Mile. With over 18 years of experience in B2B and B2C marketing, I’ve worked with businesses of all sizes, from scrappy startups to billion-dollar brands. Along the way, I noticed a consistent issue: too many businesses overlook one important thing—truly understanding their customers.

Whether big or small, new to market or well-established, most businesses don’t consistently prioritize customer insights. Strategies too often revolve around the latest trends or fastest growth tactics, but those strategies fall short without a clear understanding of the customer journey. The results were obvious: customer-driven strategies consistently outperformed the rest and stood the test of time.

I also saw another challenge: brands juggling acquiring new customers while hanging onto existing ones. Everyone knows retention is easier than acquisition, but what often gets missed is just how much current customers can drive future growth. One issue I ran into again and again? Siloed teams. SEO, content, sales, and customer success all worked with monthly data that lacked any customer insights. Unfortunately, this just slowed all marketing down. Messaging was muddled. And worse of all, teams were pulled in different directions.

“Marketing gets clearer when the whole team understands the whole customer.” —Mel

That’s where my passion for customer insights took root. By using qualitative and quantitative research, we can uncover the “why” behind customer decisions. These insights help build strategies that actually work and really put behavioural data to good use. With the right tools, this process keeps human understanding at the centre of every decision and makes strategy feel clear, not complicated.

I started Marketing Mile to help businesses like yours create strategies rooted in real customer understanding. I’m here to bridge the gaps between teams and keep the focus on what really matters: the customer.

We loved working with Melissa as part of our brand research initiative. Her passion for understanding brands and their audience’s journey in order to deliver actionable insights provided so much value for us. Melissa always delivers on her commitments, is on time, and has the ability to understand and anticipate needs which made working with her feel as though she was an extension of our team.

Owen Sagness, CEO of Digital Nova Scotia

Melissa led a thoughtful and strategic research project that gave us a clearer picture of how alumni engagement has evolved over the decades, from the 1970s through to today. She conducted in-depth interviews across generations of STFX alumni, as well as helped us identify key differences in alumni perspectives, motivations, and expectations. Her insights helped us understand how to better segment our alumni communications and marketing strategies.

Kyler Bell, Director, Marketing & Communications at St. Francis Xavier University

Working with Marketing Mile on this project was a real turning point for us. Melissa walked into a business with a lot of history and strong personalities and created real alignment without dismissing the journey that got us here, which is rare. She brought clarity to our three audiences and customer journeys in a way that was structured, practical, and immediately actionable, not just a “strategy deck.” She created comfort fast, pulled out honest, raw feedback from our people, and the output is now shaping our vision, mission, and next phase of growth.

Rick Mayuk, Owner and Managing Director of A Buyer’s Choice Home Inspections

When we brought Melissa in, our intention was to find strategic answers to who our clients truly are, what they genuinely want and need, and how to psychologically sharpen our sales process, strengthen our messaging, and open new paths for growth — the kind of clarity that creates real traction. What stood out immediately was how quickly she learned our business. She understood our model and our clients faster than we’ve onboarded internal staff. That alone speaks volumes. Her analytical and strategic thinking accelerated the clarity we were looking for. The insights from her research helped us communicate in a way that feels far more relevant to our customers. I would highly recommend Melissa and her team if you’re looking for tangible takeaways that truly deep dive into the cracks of your business — not just surface-level observations. We’re genuinely grateful we found her and are excited about what’s ahead.

Tammy Mitchell, Partnership Acquisitions and CMO at Building LENS Solutions Inc.

President and Owner

With over 18 years of experience exclusively in marketing agencies, Mel has had the privilege of collaborating with talented professionals and partnering with established brands and new startups. Her journey has allowed her to build insight and strategy departments, lead multi-million dollar marketing initiatives, and design impactful customer research projects that drive results.

Having progressed through various roles within the agency environment, from entry-level roles to COO, Mel has discovered that her true passion lies in making customer-informed decisions. She is well known for her customer interview and customer journey mapping capabilities allowing her to provide high-value marketing strategies to all of her clients.

Marketing Mile’s commitment is to ensure sustainable success.

Having worked with Melissa, I’ve witnessed her passion for understanding the customer journey firsthand. Her depth of experience in consumer research goes beyond just gathering data—Melissa has an incredible ability to connect the dots between what customers want and what businesses need to grow. She is committed to uncovering actionable insights to help businesses succeed through a deeper understanding of their customers.

Matt Cooper, CEO of Volta

When it comes to better understanding your customers—their pains, problems, and challenges—Mel is one of the best in the industry. Arguably one of the pioneers of customer journey mapping and persona development, Mel brings a depth of knowledge for organizations looking to ensure that the stories they tell resonate through detailed research and insight.

Ross Simmonds, Founder and CEO at Foundation Marketing Inc.

As our account lead, Mel led the team I worked with closely to deliver a comprehensive go-to-market strategy. As a high-growth tech startup building the next-generation ‘super highway’ of the internet, we knew our brand and product needed to resonate with customers deeply and meaningfully. Mel provided the critical insights that shaped our go-to-market strategy, helping us understand our customers’ needs, pain points, and aspirations through customer research and journey mapping. Mel was an essential partner in setting the stage for a successful launch. Further, Mel exemplifies the qualities of a true partner – collaborative, approachable, and consistently fostering a sense of trust and camaraderie that makes her both a valued advisor and an exceptional colleague.