Pronounced kow-ee-LAH-nee

Curious first. Confident after.

I built my marketing foundation in insurance, which taught me to be creative inside the rules. Now I'm putting that to work by helping tell the stories of brands where self-expression is the rulebook.

See selected work Download resume

01 · selected work

three problems, solved

What the problem was, what I did, and what changed.

my role · Chose the clips and edited them.

01 · problem

Gateway Specialty's first scripted video series, which introduced the company's product directors, was fully produced and then shelved. Leadership saw the finished product and realized there was no clear strategy behind it.

02 · solution

The team pivoted to a lower-risk idea: short clips from existing webinar recordings. I chose which moments to clip and edited each one in Descript, cleaning up the audio and applying consistent branding.

03 · outcome

Early audio-waveform clips averaged 6.1% engagement. Real video footage lifted that to 9.4%. Employee culture videos hit 16.4%. Content built on real people and candid moments wins, and it now shapes our plan for future video.

my role · Researched and proposed HubSpot AEO and the Instagram launch; own LinkedIn content strategy.

01 · problem

Gateway Specialty had minimal digital visibility, and buyer research was shifting toward AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) and away from traditional search. Most of the industry, including Gateway Specialty, hadn't caught up.

02 · solution

I connected a trend I noticed on LinkedIn to a shift in Gateway Specialty's own submission data, researched HubSpot's AEO product, and built the business case. I paired it with a second initiative, launching Gateway Specialty's first Instagram presence. I also took ownership of LinkedIn content strategy, documented a process for the team, and ran A/B tests on posting days and content types.

03 · outcome

Gateway Specialty purchased HubSpot AEO following my proposal, and its insights shaped our LinkedIn strategy and the Instagram launch on October 1. Followers grew from 2,261 to 2,965, a 31% increase under my ownership, after a slower growth rate before. I also pitched TikTok to our VP as a future channel. It's still in the idea phase.

31%

LinkedIn follower growth, 2,261 to 2,965

81%

higher engagement on Saturday posts than weekday posts

432%

higher engagement on posts featuring real employees

my role · Came up with the idea and built it.

01 · problem

Clients requesting an insurance quote had to work through multi-page PDF postcards, materials that were clunky to read and act on quickly.

02 · solution

I came up with the idea of consolidating that content into a single-page HTML document clients could act on in one place. I taught myself GitHub to build it, used Claude to write the page, and readied it for client distribution.

03 · outcome

Every client we send it to now uses it. Clients and the internal team have both responded well to how much simpler requesting a quote has become.

02 · how i work

four habits, with proof

What shows up in every project.

31%

LinkedIn follower growth

Build content people respond to

content strategy · copywriting · short-form video

I own LinkedIn content strategy, and followers grew 31%. Switching to real video footage lifted engagement from 6.1% to 9.4%.

432%

more engagement on employee posts

Find what works

A/B testing · market research · competitive analysis

Testing showed Saturday posts earn 81% higher engagement than weekday posts, and posts featuring real employees earn 432% more than standard product content.

250+

ad campaigns optimized

Get found

SEO & AEO · Google Ads & Microsoft Advertising · HubSpot AEO

I proposed HubSpot AEO, and Gateway Specialty adopted it. I optimize Google and Bing Ads across 250+ campaigns to lower cost per click and cut wasted spend.

1 page

replaced a multi-page PDF

Make it and ship it

Canva & Copilot · CapCut & Descript · HTML · GitHub · Claude

I came up with a single-page quote tool and built it, and every client we send it to now uses it.

03 · about

hi, i'm james

Greetings! I'm James Hobbs, a marketing student at Widener University and a marketer by way of Gateway Specialty Insurance and USLI.

I started in customer service, preparing quotes for agents, and six months later became the first student at Gateway Specialty fully dedicated to marketing. Nobody handed me that path. I said yes to every opportunity, learned from all the resources I had access to, and let the work make the case.

Outside of school and work, I'm obsessed with doing it all in style and on beat. A good outfit and the right tunes keep me grounded, curious, and, above all, confident.

james kauilani hobbs

Portrait of James Hobbs

04 · connect

let's talk

The full picture of where I've worked and what I've done is on one page.

Download resume

email

jameskauilani@gmail.com

linkedin

/in/james-hobbs-marketing