Meet Allison Walker

Each week, we sit down with a marketing leader to learn more about their career, insights, and accomplishments. This week, that leader is Allison Walker, VP of Communications at Therabody.

Allison’s path starts on Hollywood film sets and makes a pit stop in Hawaii before landing in the agency world. But eventually, she landed on the brand side with high-growth companies like Jazzercise, where she led marketing for 8,000 franchisees, to her current role managing PR and communications at Therabody.

Here are the need-to-knows about Allison:

• In her current role at Therabody, she generated over $2 billion in media value through integrated press and communications strategies and orchestrated 25+ successful product launches within FDA and FCC-regulated sectors.

• At Jazzercize, she led a brand repositioning initiative that resulted in 25% franchise expansion and $200m in annual sales; she also launched a on-demand fitness offering that achieved 300% revenue growth.

She began her career in film, managing post-production and special/visual effects on major feature films with $500k–$2mm post budgets 

From film sets to agency life

Allison didn’t study marketing. She studied film and worked in that industry for years doing commercials, music videos, and films. During that time, she learned a lot about managing a schedule, juggling a lot at once, and managing up through effective communication. 

But when she moved to Hawaii and started teaching yoga, she realized she wanted a different kind of life. “When I eventually moved back to the mainland, I didn’t want to go back to seven-day workweeks or the insecurity of freelance production,” she says. “So I looked for something that used the skills I already had, but with more stability.”

That search led her to a role at J Walter Thompson, RPA, and then TBWA/Chiat/Day/TEQUILA. At one point in her agency work, Allison had two back-to-back automotive clients, which gave her pause. “I realized if I took one more car account, I’d be pigeonholed. So I took a lateral move to an agency that was doing a bunch of consumer facing work for CVS\Pharmacy, Too Faced, and Skullcandy.”

“It was a very small firm but it gave me visibility into different kinds of business that are working at different levels. And it prepared me for the brand side in a way I couldn’t have planned.”

Bringing the brand vision

After having her child, Allison had a stint of freelancing which gave her the flexibility to stay home. Then, one click of the LinkedIn “EasyApply” button landed her a call from Jazzercise.

“When they first called, my response was, ‘Wait… they’re still in business?’” she recalled. “That told me everything I needed to know about the brand perception because if I thought that, everyone else probably did too, especially younger and urban audiences.”

Despite being the “dark horse” candidate, Allison impressed the Jazzercise team with her strong vision for the brand, as well as her respectful candor. “They asked me to look at their website but they had just rebranded so I had to tread lightly. I flagged the possibility that the agency that rebranded them used ASICS to build their template. That wasn’t something they’d caught. I think that’s when they realized, ‘Okay, this woman knows what she’s talking about.”

In her new brand role, Allison owned all communications, consumer marketing, and franchise marketing for Jazzercise and its 8,000 franchisees. She was suddenly running comms for a brand with reach in Japan, Italy, UK, Canada, and across the U.S.

Of course, she leaned on the skills she built from her agency days but Allison also leveraged the vendors that were constantly reaching out on the brand side. “I took every 15-minute vendor meeting I could. Not necessarily to buy anything, which I was clear about, but just to understand what was possible. I’d say, ‘I don’t really know what you do. Start at the beginning.’ And people were happy to teach me. That’s how I learned digital marketing early on in my career, too. Just ask questions, constantly.”

Building a PR engine

After years as a generalist, Allison now owns a specialist seat as VP of Brand Voice, PR, & Communications at Therabody, which now earns billions of impressions each year.

“In past incarnations, I might not have wanted to take a specialist role after being a generalist because it’s perceived as a step back in the industry,” she said. “But from the interview process, I could tell this was an incredibly smart group of kind people who have an entrepreneurial mindset. I knew I’d learn a ton.”

What drew her in most was the science. “There’s no smoke and mirrors. Everything we do, whether it’s Theragun or compression boots, is rooted in scientific research and physiology. The more I learned about circulation, the more I understood how it helps people and why it works.”

In building the PR engine at Therabody, Allison focuses a lot on relationships. That means relationships with PR agencies, editors, and publishers. But she also values the relationship with her audience. “Because our products help people, I feel like by doing my job, I’m helping both the business and the people engaging with our business. I realize the value of working on something that I feel good about and it’s something I feel very fortunate about.”

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A standout campaign

In her time working with Standard Black agency on CVS Pharmacy, Allison was focused on new business. And the last campaign she worked on with them was called “What’s your deal?” It entailed a commercial with Joan Rivers and George Hamilton highlighting the benefits of the CVS Extra Care membership program. 

“We shot this about 12 years ago and loyalty programs weren’t what they are now. Not every brand had one.” The goal was to talk to existing Extra Care members about the benefits of the program. As for the tagline? It was based on a subculture of Extra Care members who were all trying to get the best deal. 

“If you think about how boring it is to talk about promotions and try to get people to sign up for a loyalty program, it’s usually a $5 coupon or something. This campaign made it fun and gave CVS Pharmacy a new personality through that lens. I thought it was a really beautiful way to humanize something that feels so corporate.”

Advice and takeaways

1) Stay open to learning from unexpected sources

When Allison joined Jazzercise, different kinds of brand management tools and platforms were emerging in the fitness world. So to get introduced to all the options available to her, she took vendor meetings. “It gave me a better map to work with and helped me understand what was even possible to do with the brand.”

If you’re early in a new role or shifting industries, consider booking exploratory meetings with platforms, agencies, or partners. Set transparent expectations upfront about your intentions, and absorb as much as you can. It’s a low-pressure intel gathering exercise that can be very effective if you come with questions.

2) Don’t underestimate the power of the pivot

On a few occasions, Allison successfully took a step back to move forward. She also made lateral moves to learn and gain the kind of exposure that she felt was necessary for her career. 

When you’re considering making career moves, weigh out how new opportunities look and feel versus the skills they give you in reality. Figure out which one aligns best with where you want to go in the long run and make your decision from there.

3) Identify the guardrails 

Whether she was working on Visa, CVS Pharmacy, or Therabody, Allison created structure. “You have to know who you’re talking to, what they care about, and where they show up. Then you can create a structure around where you’re going and the creative department can push up against that to find a really unique, impactful way to execute the strategy.”

Consider how your creative and account teams work together. Are there ways to smooth out the collaboration process without being prescriptive? If so, get perspective from both teams and test out some ways to fill gaps or level up the collaboration.

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