Brand strategist · Business builder

Brand strategy that starts with people and is proven with data.

I’m Taylor Petersen, a founder and brand strategist from Seattle, now in the MS in Marketing Strategy & Analytics program at UT Austin McCombs. I help brands figure out who they are, then help the world see it.

Start the journey See my projects

8 stops · 4 countries

Taylor Petersen smiling, laptop on lap — **3+ years**building brands since 2022

Scroll to travel from Seattle to Austin

The journey

Four countries. Eight chapters. One story.

My path into marketing didn’t start in a traditional role. It started in conversations with founders building something from nothing, and it has taken me across the world. Every move meant a new city, a new culture and a new team to learn from.

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01 · Seattle, Washington

Where it starts

I grew up in Seattle, Washington, and I’ve been fascinated by business for as long as I can remember: how ideas become companies, and how companies become brands people care about.

Taylor standing in front of the Space Needle on an autumn day — Under the Space Needle.

Home

Taylor taking a sunny selfie with loved ones

02 · 2020 · Utrecht, the Netherlands

Learning business, creatively

I moved to the Netherlands to study Creative Business at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, a degree that blends business design and development with creativity and research. As a student ambassador for Beyond the States, I made videos, social content and articles about life abroad.

Taylor smiling on a cobbled Utrecht street lined with historic canal houses — My first days in Utrecht.

In 2023, while I was still a student, I started The Next Creative Solution.

Business design

Development

✳

Creativity

Research

Life in the Netherlands

Laptops, an iced coffee and a cappuccino on a café table by a canal-side window

A historic Dutch brick water gate reflected in a canal

Taylor holding a bouquet of white roses at a Dutch flower market

03 · Sept. 2022 · London, UK

My first marketing role

I joined Avida International as a marketing and branding intern in London. I researched and built a six-month marketing plan for one of its markets, and within four months I was promoted to Marketing Coordinator.

Taylor with the Avida International team at a wood-panelled London pub — With the Avida International team in London.

First London chapter

A classic London pub draped in flowers and Union Jack flags

Taylor taking a mirror selfie with a work badge in a London office lobby

Taylor working in a bright London office lounge

The Avida story

04 · Jan.–May 2023 · Helsinki, Finland

Design under the northern lights

I spent an Erasmus semester at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, completing a minor in Design and Media, while still working with Avida remotely. A new country, a new design culture, and a lot of learning to adapt fast.

Metropolia UniversityMinor in Design & Media

Snapshots from Finland

Taylor and a friend bundled up in fur-lined hoods in the Finnish winter

Taylor walking through the snow in a blue snowsuit

Helsinki Cathedral under a deep blue sky

05 · 2024 · Back to the Netherlands

A thesis, then a job offer

I came back to Utrecht for my final year. For my graduation project and thesis I worked with The International Retail Academy on its website and brand, and after I graduated in 2024, they hired me.

Taylor in an HU graduation cap signing the diploma — Signing my diploma at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.

Graduation day

Taylor in a graduation cap sharing a joyful hug after the ceremony

Taylor in an HU graduation cap smiling in a selfie with a loved one

“Taylor is not only entrepreneurial but also exhibits a level of maturity and tenacity.”Jennifer Tucker, Executive Director, Wave Europe BV · thesis supervisor

The TIRA case study

06 · 2024 · London, again

All in on my business

After graduating I went full time on The Next Creative Solution and moved back to London, while continuing with Avida International as Marketing Coordinator and sharing new creative strategies with branch leaders across Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Taylor Petersen at a desk with The Next Creative Solution website on screen — “Innovative. Authentic. You.” The Next Creative Solution’s website.

Taylor holding a laptop showing the new Avida International website, celebrating with the team — Launching Avida International’s new website with the team.

London, again

Taylor on a glass staircase with the Gherkin and the London skyline behind

Taylor walking through the City of London between historic buildings and skyscrapers

Taylor beside a pale blue vintage car between tall clipped hedges

Avida International

07 · Back home in Washington

My first event

Back home, I created An Affair of Art & Beauty: an evening at Hotel Sorrento that brought 8+ luxury beauty, fashion, fragrance and wine brands together under one roof, including Jo Malone and Pinch. About 120 guests came out for the night.

The entrance to An Affair of Art & Beauty at Hotel Sorrento, with a gown on display and the event sign — The entrance at Hotel Sorrento on the night.

On the night

The Jo Malone table with fragrances, a red rose and gift boxes

A wine tasting table with flowers and a wooden wine crate

The event

08 · July 2026 · Austin, Texas

Adding the data

Now I’m in the MS in Marketing Strategy & Analytics program at UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business, adding research, consumer insights and modeling to everything I’ve built so far. Next stop: a brand strategy or product marketing role.

Taylor pointing to the McCombs School of Business sign on Robert B. Rowling Hall — First week at McCombs.

1st place · Sept. 2026

Adobe “Brave the Way” pitch

We won first place in a class pitch competition with “Brave the Way”, an integrated campaign recommendation positioning Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising as a growth partner for challenger brands. We developed the campaign together, turning research and brand strategy into its positioning, messaging and creative direction, and presented it as a team.

Taylor with four teammates in front of the Brave the Way title slide for Adobe — Group 3, a few days after their presentation.

Life in Austin

A UT Austin building with the sign What Starts Here Changes the World

Taylor with two other attendees at the KS WELI photo wall

Be the next chapter

P.S. The elephant that walked the route with you? Elephants are my favorite animal. They never forget where they’ve been, and neither do I.

That’s the journey so far. Want the short version?

See my experience

What I bring

Strengths, backed by the work.

01
Entrepreneurship-minded

I started The Next Creative Solution in 2023 while finishing my degree, led marketing for 15+ consumer, lifestyle and wellness brands, and ran every part of it: winning and managing clients across industries, keeping projects on budget and on deadline, and hiring and leading a small team. Clients referred me to other clients.
02
Creative strategic thinker

I can take a brand from a blank page to a finished system: positioning, logo, palette, website and social. For The International Retail Academy, that meant a new site and identity that lifted site sessions 75% in the first week.
03
At home across cultures

I studied in the Netherlands and Finland, started my career in London, and worked with leadership in Brussels and the UK. At Avida I adapted campaigns for different markets and earned my place on a team where most colleagues had 25+ years’ experience.
04
A designer who speaks data

I design and build websites and brand identities myself, and I’m adding the analytics side at McCombs: research design, conjoint analysis, choice modeling and pricing optimization, using R, Python and Excel.