(the thread / behind the scenes)
The Story Behind Gabby Espejo
Marketing & Design
Untangling the messy middle: how a spark at 17, a pandemic side hustle and a detour through corporate marketing led me back to building brands that feel unmistakably yours.
Hi, I’m Gabby. This is the long version of how Gabby Espejo Marketing & Design came to be, and why I came back to it.
(chapter 01: the spark)
It Started At 17
At 17, I knew I was drawn to marketing and storytelling. I just didn’t know yet what that would look like.
My first marketing internship gave me a glimpse into the kind of work I loved: small teams, big ideas, and people willing to teach me enough to find my own way.
(chapter 02: the leap)
Then The World Stood Still.
A few years later, while studying Global Business & Digital Arts at the University of Waterloo, COVID brought the world to a standstill. I still needed to pay my way through school, so I started freelancing.
I taught myself design tools, shared my work online, joined creative communities, and slowly turned a small idea into a business. What started with graphic design grew into:
It was making ideas make sense.
I loved sitting with someone who had a half-formed idea and helping uncover the thread running through it. I loved the creative puzzles, the strategy sessions, the messy whiteboards, and the little moments when everything suddenly clicks.
(chapter 03: the detour)
Learning The Business Side
Over the years, I worked with businesses, nonprofits, artists, and teams across a range of industries. Each experience taught me more about people, communication, and what it takes to turn an idea into something tangible.
Eventually, I stepped into a traditional marketing career. I learned how to build systems, lead campaigns, navigate complexity, and collaborate across different teams and personalities. It gave me a deeper understanding of the business side of creative work and, more importantly, clarified what I wanted to come back to.
Because I kept missing something.
The wonder.
At first, I thought I was romanticizing freelance life. The coffee shops, the flexibility, the creative freedom. But when I looked closer, I realized what I was really missing wasn’t the coffee shop. It was the human connection. The collaboration.
The feeling of sitting across from someone who cares deeply about what they’re building and thinking, “Okay, let’s figure this out.”
That’s what I want to bring back into my work: awe, curiosity, and a genuine sense of possibility. Not just into the brands we build, but into the process of building them together.
(chapter 04: coming back)
I Wasn’t Starting Over.
Walking away from the security I had worked so hard to build was terrifying. But eventually, I realized something simple: I was coming back to something I had started at 17.
Seven years later, I’m proud to reintroduce Gabby Espejo Marketing & Design, this time with a little more experience, a lot more perspective, and a much clearer idea of what I want to build.
Today, I work with small businesses, entrepreneurs, artists, and dreamers who are willing to bet on themselves. I help them make sense of the messy middle, find the story worth telling, and turn big ideas into brands that feel unmistakably their own.
