Joey Leffel is a marketing veteran who has worked with many well-known brands.Portland, Ore.-based Gold Heat, makers of electric radiant floor heating for motorhomes, has hired Joey Leffel as its new director of marketing.
Leffel brings with her more than 20 years’ experience in “hands-on” marketing in a variety of fields, including diagnostic equipment manufacturing; high tech; the movie and amusement industry; and sporting goods. Among the brands she’s worked with are Coca-Cola; the iconic TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Calif.; Microsoft; Dell; and Amazon.
In her new role at Gold Heat, she will “help us find new markets that will value our technology, same-day sales and service response and unique installation and post-sales support,” said vice president and general manager Brian Bishop.
Ironically, it was at the height of the pandemic shutdown when Leffel was being interviewed and ultimately hired. Like many companies, Gold Heat was forced to alter the way they did business because virtually every one of their customers had shut down for a period of time, Bishop said.
“I was going through the interview process during the COVID-19 lockdown,” said Leffel. “I asked (Bishop) how the company was taking care of their employees during the pandemic … I was extremely impressed by his response.”
She continued, “It was the company’s integrity that won me over. If this is how Gold Heat takes care of their employees, just imagine how they take care of their customers.”
Bishop said Gold Heat had its office staff work from home, and the production team split their shifts to minimize contact among employees. But the whole time, he said, they continued to receive their full-time paychecks and benefits.
“We invest a lot in training in our employees and they’re loyal to us and we’re going to be loyal to them,” said Bishop. “After we come out this, we’re going to need them.
Not only did they come out of it but the company now has a new veteran marketing professional to help it grow, not only just in the RV industry but perhaps other markets as well. Asked about that, Bishop’s response was the equivalent of, ‘stay tuned.’ And we will.”
Leffel can be reached at joeyl@goldheat.com.
