By: Courtney Ima, July 10, 2023
Marketing guru Craig Ima is no newcomer to the fast-paced, ever-evolving business world. As Chief Marketing Officer of Windes — a top-100 U.S. accounting firm — Ima has been extremely successful in promoting Windes’ advisory, audit, assurance, and full-service tax work. After being in the corporate space for 36 years, Ima is ready to share with OCEAN members his wealth of knowledge on building relationships and making the most out of a marketing career.
Having always been in marketing and management positions, Ima relates why he was drawn to the practice in the first place: “Marketing is a lot of fun because it provides the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, whether they are really creative, very analytical, or everything in between.” He also enjoys working on events, research, promotion, branding, communicating benefits, social media and campaigns, or sponsorships, advertising, search engine optimization and content creation. Ima has worked on it all, and, as he observes, “It is all very complex and becoming more complex as we move through.”
Ima has spent over a third of his marketing career at Windes, and why is that? “Windes has brought me the opportunity to really brand myself and build strong relationships outside of the firm,” Ima answers, “whereas before I was probably more focused on the relationships within the companies that I had, and pushing the vendors and agencies to get things done.” Additionally, Ima is able to network with the larger Orange County community through Windes’ connections, becoming the first non-partner of Windes on the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. He has also taken the initiative to serve on a second board, UC Irvine’s Center for Investment and Wealth Management under Christopher Schwartz, Professor of Finance at UC Irvine.
After speaking with Ima about his impressive executive leadership, rising to the height of his career as Chief Marketing Officer was largely made possible through maintaining a positive attitude. Being open to developing relationships with coworkers, prioritizing his team over his own tasks, and “trusting them to do what they are talented at and guiding them in their careers” is how Ima reached the top of his field. Additionally, because Ima is constantly reviewing projects and helping execute them, a lot of his work is team-based and collaborative. Moreover, even though he leads Windes’ entire marketing department, he still advises and guides his teammates who are just starting out, describing his work as “a total team effort.”
Ima credits hard work and diligence early in his career with his later success. Once he was active in the marketing industry, Ima recognized how vital it was to understand and integrate high-level business strategies into his work. With this drive and focus, he was able to earn an MBA from UC Irvine in three years, while maintaining his full-time job.
When asked how he balances marketing work with his life outside of it, Ima responds, “That has always been tough because I want to be the best at what I do in everything — being the best parent, being the best husband, being the best friend, and being the best worker.” Though it can be challenging at times, Ima does not allow work to supplant his family’s placement as his main priority. “During my career, the most important thing is to make sure I’m not missing out on my family’s events and obligations, especially for the kids.” [As one of those kids, I can attest to how loyal my dad is to this statement. He never misses a family dinner or school play because of work, always committing to family gatherings and extracurriculars because he puts our family first.]
In addition to encouraging teammates, part of what leads Ima to success in marketing is having “clients that push us, that are innovative, that are profitable for us and drive a lot of revenue — but at the end of the day it is the clients you really enjoy working and collaborating with, and it is a two-way communication with them.” Once more, Ima stresses the great impact people have had and continue to have on him. Successes of his such as rebranding Windes’ 90-year-old firm, which included changing the name, logo, and all of the strategy behind the project, sprouted from his ability to work well with others and consider how his clients and coworkers would react to the alterations.
Although Windes primarily serves Southern California clients, the accounting firm has expanded across the United States, and even internationally. Ima refers to Windes as “part of this global network of accounting firms called Allinial Global,” doing business around the world and showcasing the firm’s efforts to connect with a diverse set of clients. The emphasis on how powerful relationships can be is echoed in Ima’s conviction that the greatest lesson he learned “is quickly figuring out how to build great relationships with people within the firm” — once more a testament to both the career-related success one can reap from effectively communicating with others, as well as to the joy that comes with it in the form of lasting friendships.
Lastly, Ima has praise for Todd Herschberg’s efforts in fostering OCEAN into the invaluable networking group it is today: “To have that many people attend his monthly events is very encouraging, and I think he is doing great work and a great service to bring people together in the community, so they can collaborate and figure out how they can do business together.” Ima’s vision of togetherness in marketing and beyond parallels OCEAN’s very own welcoming and collaborative nature. Both Ima and Herschberg have paved the way for others to find success in their careers, all through the power of meaningful relationships.
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