The Daily Herald’s new advertising director can draw on deep familiarity with the community and the newspaper in her new role.
Carrie Radcliff was promoted Tuesday from advertising sales manager to the head of the advertising department. Radcliff, 48, grew up in Snohomish County and has spent her entire working career at The Herald.
“What I hope to accomplish is to obviously grow revenue for The Herald, provide our advertisers with solutions to help their businesses grow and develop a sales team that works well together, works hard and has a lot of fun,” Radcliff said.
Publisher Josh O’Connor said Radcliff is a strong asset to The Herald who “exemplifies outstanding professional values in everything she does.”
“People that know Carrie Radcliff describe her as a sales dynamo, hard working, organized, fun, energetic and a leader,” O’Connor said. “It’s an absolute privilege to work with her every day and I’m excited about the sales direction that she’s taking our business.”
She replaces Pilar Linares, who returned earlier this winter to her home state of Texas to take a job as vice president of sales at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
The newspaper industry faces tough challenges, but The Herald has a strong audience within the county, able to reach 332,000 people through print and online products, Radcliff said.
“As the media business becomes a lot more fragmented, we really need to listen to our customers and learn their needs and match that with the products we have,” Radcliff said. “We’re not just a daily newspaper, we have a website, we put on events, we have magazines.”
She also noted that The Herald is part of Sound Publishing, which publishes 49 newspapers throughout the state. With those titles, her sales staff can help advertisers reach markets outside of the county.
Radcliff joined The Herald 26 years ago when she was hired as an advertising intern after graduating from Central Washington University. When the internship ended, she was offered a job as an advertising assistant.
Radcliff grew up in Mountlake Terrace and wanted to return to Snohomish County. Her parents, Mike and Alix O’Donnell, still live in Everett and she has extended family throughout the area, including a sister, Paige Jensen, and a brother, Shawn O’Donnell, who owns Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill &Irish Pub in south Everett.
Radcliff lives in Snohomish with her husband, Brent, who is a teacher at Lowell Elementary School in Everett. The Radcliffs have a son, Kendall, 21, who attends Everett Community College, and a daughter, Madison, 18, who attends the University of Washington.
Radcliff said she deeply cares for the community and the newspaper. She noted that she’s read the newspaper not just for the news of the day but also for granular details, including marriage licenses and divorce proceedings and births and obituaries.
“I loved (the newspaper) as far as looking at the high school sports, who are the kids who are getting honors and did I know them or their parents,” Radcliff said. “I just like reading about what’s happening.”
She encourages her sales staff to spend time reading stories every morning and take notice of bylines to learn who is covering the community.
“I think that’s one thing that has kept The Herald so strong is we have such a local following,” Radcliff said. “We put out a great product. I always tell the sales staff we should be proud of what we sell and proud of what we have to offer.”
Radcliff serves on the Leadership Snohomish County board of directors and is an active member of the South Everet/Mukilteo Rotary Club.
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