Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Lapin.
Hi Joseph , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My path into higher education marketing—and eventually entrepreneurship—didn’t follow a straight line. It started with writing.
While earning my MFA in Creative Writing at Florida International University, I was introduced to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. That framework deeply shaped how I thought about narrative—not just as a tool for fiction, but as a structure for understanding human transformation. That insight became the through-line in everything I would go on to do.
After grad school, I built a career as a journalist and communications professional in Los Angeles. I wrote for publications like The Los Angeles Times, Slate, Salon, and moret—learning how to craft narratives that cut through noise and connect emotionally. At the same time, I was helping clients tell their stories in the media, which led me to the world of PR and brand strategy.
From there, I transitioned into higher education marketing. I became a partner at Circa Interactive, a performance marketing agency, and helped scale it from a small startup to a nationally respected agency—one that was ultimately acquired by Archer Education. At Circa, I had the chance to lead campaigns for institutions like American University, Harvard Kennedy School, and University of San Diego, and I began to see just how critical storytelling was in student recruitment.
That experience eventually led me to found Campbell Learn, a higher ed marketing and consulting firm that combines fractional CMO strategy with a creative engine built around storytelling. Today, we work with institutions like the University of Virginia and many more—helping them boost enrollment, lower acquisition costs, and build student journeys that truly connect.
But through it all, I’ve never stopped writing creatively. Alongside my professional work, I’ve continued to publish essays, fiction, and poetry. That creative life grounds me. It’s not separate from the business—it’s foundational to it. Whether I’m building a brand campaign for a graduate program or working on a novel, I’m driven by the same mission: to tell stories that resonate, reveal, and move people forward.
So when I look at the journey I’ve taken, it’s not a career in compartments. It’s a story about how creativity, strategy, and purpose can coexist—and how building a professional life doesn’t mean giving up the creative one.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road—and I’m grateful for that now, even if it didn’t always feel that way in the moment.
When you have an MFA in Creative Writing, you enter a world that doesn’t always have a clear roadmap for how to turn creative talent into a viable career. The job market favors hard, translatable skills and linear paths. But when your skill set is more abstract—storytelling, intuition, emotional insight—you have to do the hard work of building the bridge between creativity and commerce yourself. And that’s not easy.
Early on, I launched a podcast called The Working Poet Radio Show, where I explored what it meant to build a creative life. We interviewed everyone from Roxane Gay to John Leguizamo, and one thing became clear—almost no one had a smooth journey. The through-line was complexity. Detours. Reinvention. And I related deeply to that.
My own path has included a lot of trial and error. A lot of jobs. A lot of moments where I wondered if I was getting it right. But those struggles were essential. They chiseled out something I wouldn’t trade: confidence rooted in experience. I learned how to make my creative instincts work in the real world. How to sell ideas. How to lead. How to build something sustainable—without abandoning the part of me that wanted to make meaningful work.
That’s what led me to build Campbell Learn: a company that stands at the intersection of creativity, strategy, and transformation. But I only got here by walking a winding, uncertain road. And I think that’s what gives the work—and the story—its depth.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Campbell Learn is a marketing agency and consulting firm built specifically for higher education institutions. We help universities and education organizations grow their enrollments, improve marketing performance, and stand out in an increasingly competitive and complex landscape.
But what sets us apart is how we do it. We specialize in story-driven strategy. Our entire approach is rooted in the belief that every student is on a transformative journey—and every institution has the opportunity to play the mentor. That’s why we blend fractional CMO services with a subscription-based creative engine, building and optimizing the entire student journey—from the first ad impression to the enrollment decision.
We’re known for helping institutions like the University of Virginia, American University, and Harvard Kennedy School not just improve their marketing metrics—but tell a better story. One that actually resonates with students, reflects their values, and inspires action. We’re also proud to support edtechs and partners looking to bring creative strategy into complex, performance-focused funnels.
Beyond higher education, we also collaborate with mission-driven brands like Mocama Brewery to craft stories that connect brand identity to human experience. Whether it’s naming a new beer line or designing a brand that celebrates place and creativity, these projects reflect our core belief that great marketing starts with meaning—and that every brand has a story worth telling.
What makes Campbell Learn different is that we don’t just execute campaigns—we architect experiences. We look at the full enrollment lifecycle and constantly ask: where can we create more meaning? Where can we reduce friction? Where can we help a prospective student feel seen?
Brand-wise, what I’m most proud of is that we’ve built something deeply human. In a space often dominated by generic messaging and high-pressure tactics, we lead with emotional intelligence, creativity, and strategy that aligns with both student needs and institutional goals. We help schools find their voice again—and use it to grow in ways that are sustainable and student-centered.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
This might not be my absolute favorite childhood memory, but it’s one that’s stayed with me—the kind that deepens in meaning as you get older.
My grandfather used to gather us around and fire up this old Kodak carousel projector—you know, the kind you’d load with slides and click through one by one. At the time, I didn’t fully appreciate it. I probably even rolled my eyes. But looking back, those evenings were incredibly special.
He’d project photos of our family—some we knew well, others we’d only heard about in stories. He’d pause on each one, tell a story, recall a moment, and make sure we remembered people and places that might have otherwise been forgotten. Sometimes he’d find a photo of an old car, and just from that image, he’d reconstruct an entire era. And what I came to love—what really stuck with me—wasn’t just the stories themselves, but the way he told them. There was always something unstated running beneath his words: kindness, love, a quiet reverence for the past.
Funny enough, it reminds me of that scene from Mad Men where they pitch the Kodak carousel—not as a projector, but as a time machine. My grandfather understood that instinctively. He knew that storytelling keeps people alive. That memory becomes legacy. And now, all these years later, I realize he wasn’t just showing us pictures—he was teaching us how to remember, and how to care.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.campbelllearn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josephlapin/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-lapin/
- Twitter: https://x.com/JosephALapin
