Victoria Planells
Victoria Planells laughing

About

I'm a storyteller who fell in love with the numbers.

I started my career in television at A&E, learning how stories hold attention. Then I moved to Shanghai and spent five years running marketing and sales for a boutique hotel group, where every story had to fill rooms. That's where I learned that brand and revenue are the same conversation.

Since then I've led marketing in-house and as an embedded executive across hospitality, SaaS, education, healthcare and B2B services — often stepping in when a company's early traction had outgrown the way it was marketing itself.

What I do best is build the system underneath the brand: the positioning, the funnel, the scorecard and the team, so growth becomes repeatable instead of heroic.

Formerly Victoria Hajjar.

Career

  1. Mar–Jul 2026

    Interim Chief Growth Officer

    BetterLife

    First growth leader for a founder-led education and media brand; rebuilt paid acquisition, funnels and the growth team.

  2. 2017–2026

    Founder & Fractional CMO

    Ugli Ventures

    Embedded senior marketing leader for growth-stage companies across SaaS, education, healthcare and professional services.

  3. 2021

    Interim Marketing Director

    SaaS Academy

    Led the marketing function for a leading B2B SaaS education brand: team, systems, channels and revenue reporting.

  4. 2018–2019

    Growth Strategist

    Diaz & Cooper

    Omnichannel growth strategy for hospitality and travel brands; online bookings up 50% year over year.

  5. 2014–2016

    Regional Director of Sales & Marketing

    Chic Collection

    Doubled lead generation and grew revenue 30% through a brand relaunch and new partnerships.

  6. 2009–2013

    Marketing Manager → Director of Sales & Marketing

    URBN Hotels, Shanghai

    Revenue up 20%, Top-10 TripAdvisor ranking held for 2+ years, featured by CNN.

  7. 2004–2007

    Programming Assistant

    A&E Television Networks

How I lead

Systems over heroics

If it only works when I'm in the room, it isn't finished.

Brand is a revenue decision

Positioning choices show up in conversion rates. I measure them like it.

Build people, not dependency

I coach marketers until they can run the system without me.

What colleagues say

“I thoroughly enjoyed working on a team where I reported to Victoria. I felt incredibly inspired and supported. She led with the mindset of how to better serve our customers and framed all of our marketing efforts through that lens.”
Chelsey Ayrton, Marketing Manager on Victoria's team
“Victoria possesses a rare blend of enthusiasm, professionalism and effectiveness. She is quick on her feet, an effective presenter, and can strategize with authority and develop out-of-the-box solutions.”
Omi Diaz-Cooper, Founder & CEO, Diaz Cooper Advertising
“Always positive, a real team leader, with genuine enthusiasm for her work. She is extremely organized and able to tackle complex problems with creativity. Anyone looking to employ Victoria would be lucky to have her.”
Scott Barrack, colleague at URBN Hotels Shanghai

I also develop marketing leaders.

Through The Scalable Marketing Machine Accelerator, a program I built, I've coached marketing leaders from 10+ companies — most of them sponsored by their CEO. It keeps me close to how marketing teams actually work, and sharpens how I hire, coach and lead.

About the Accelerator →

Quick facts

Based in
Miami, FL (remote-ready)
Languages
English (native), Spanish (professional), Mandarin (limited working)
Education
B.A., English Literature, Fordham University
Certifications
AI in Marketing Strategy (2024), HubSpot Inbound Marketing, Google Ads & Analytics

Building a marketing team that needs to perform?

Let's talkDownload resume