Message from the BizHack Instructors
We have worked at Fortune 500 companies and startups, nonprofits and small businesses, and we’re excited to share our hard won insights to help grow your business and accelerate your career.
Our Experience
We’ve worked with some of the world’s top companies.
BizHack's Founder
Dan Grech
Lead Instructor & Founder
dgrech@bizhack.com
After nearly two decades as a journalist and storyteller, I have reinvented myself as a digital marketer and educator. I’ve headed digital marketing at billion-dollar companies and software startups, and I’ve consulted for hundreds of businesses. I believe in the power of digital marketing to transform lives and businesses. And I want to share what I learned with you.
Some fun trivia about me: My first startup was founded by Eric Reis, author of The Lean Startup. I was interviewed for Tim Ferriss’s book The Four Hour Workweek. I was part of a Pulitzer Prize team while I was an intern at The Miami Herald. And I’ve performed in an improv troupe for more than a decade.
Our Certified Instructors
Giovanni Insignares
Lead Instructor
Giovanni Insignares is the founder of Insignia Media, a boutique digital marketing agency based in Miami. With over 15 years in the digital space, Giovanni founded the company in 2016 with the goal of helping and teaching businesses how to leverage the reach and precision of social media advertising to grow their business. He is an instructor at Miami Dade College and worked at Mercantil Commercebank. He has a master’s in degree in management information systems from Florida International University and graduated from Nova Southeastern University. Giovanni was in Cohort 3 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course. When he’s not geeking out over the latest digital marketing tools, Giovanni can be found enjoying live music around town.
Tatiana McDaniel
Lead Instructor
Tatiana McDaniel is an account supervisor at República Havas, a multicultural advertising agency owned by one of the largest global advertising and communications groups in the world. She oversees clients in industries as diverse as luxury brands, nonprofits and consumer packaged goods. Previously, Tatiana worked as an account manager at Young & Rubicam. She’s the former lead instructor of the Facebook Marketing course at Miami-Dade College. Tatiana was in the 1st Cohort of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course in 2015. She comes from a bicultural background, is multilingual, and is passionate about new media, digital innovation, teaching, traveling, and the culinary arts.
Eileen Higgins
Lead Instructor
Eileen Higgins is the Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 5. She’s a marketing executive with 20+ years of international experience in innovation, marketing/brand management and leadership for small and large business and not-for-profits. She founded Inside the Glass, Inc., a marketing and communications consulting firm. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family taught her to work smart to drive growth, and she’s done that for companies such as American Home Products, Seagram, Hartz Pet Products, Jose Cuervo, Orangetheory Fitness, and Books & Books. She’s an expert global brand builder with experience ranging from pharmaceuticals to luxury consumer products, from retail to grass-roots community organizations. Eileen was in Cohort 2 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course.
Rafael Savino
Lead Instructor
Rafael Savino is the co-owner and managing director of Ascendance Studio, a multi-style dance academy in Doral. Rafael designs new digital marketing strategies to promote and grow the studio. Before starting his own business, Rafael spent more than a decade working at Amazon, ExxonMobil and Carnival Cruise Lines. He was in Cohort 2 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course.
Karla Arguello
Marketing Coach
Karla Arguello has been the Rhythm Foundation’s communications director since 2014. She manages digital marketing, social media, media and press relations; she also oversees production and administrative logistics for Rhythm Foundation concerts and events at the North Beach Bandshell. Previously, she was the media coordinator for the music festival Hulaween. For three years, she was the head of human resources and public affairs at DemeTech Corporation, a leading manufacturer of surgical sutures and blades. Karla graduated from Wake Forest University in North Carolina with a double major in Communications and Spanish. Karla was in Cohort 8 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course, where her peers awarded her “The BizHacker Award,” the class’s highest honor. Karla, a Miamian of Nicaraguan descent, has a passion for music, travel, arts and culture, and has attended music festivals all over the country and internationally.
Neto Almanza
Marketing Coach
Ernesto “Neto” Almanza is an award-winning creative hybrid who conceptualizes, produces and markets videos in the digital sphere with VideoWorks Miami. Neto has produced videos for Twitter, Univision, Mexico’s National Chamber of Commerce, Greater Miami Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, Nearpod, Techlaunch, Venture Café Miami, Miami Made, Oscar-nominated actress Adriana Barraza’s AB Acting Studio and many more. Neto is a graduate of the Miami Ad School Europe in Germany and has degrees in marketing from The University of Texas at San Antonio and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Neto was in Cohort 3 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course. He was born in the U.S. and raised in Mexico, and he runs Facebook ads for the San Jorge School, his parents’ private school in Mexico for children ages 2-15.
Angela Otero
Marketing Coach
Angela Otero is the marketing and operational manager at Otero Dental Centers, a group of six dentist offices in South Florida founded by her father, Dr. Antonio Otero. She runs digital, traditional, and events marketing for the dental group. Angela has an MBA from Lynn University and is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University and Florida International University. Angela was in Cohort 9 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course, during which she ran one of the most successful series of campaigns in course history: During the 3-month course, she spent $1,958 on 11 Facebook ads that generated 52 leads, 23 new patients… and $53,259 in revenue. Angela was born and raised in Miami to a “very Cuban” family. “My family is big, loud and very close,” she says. “My family is just like the one in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”
Carmen Leal
Marketing Coach
Carmen Leal is a digital marketing triple-threat; she has worked at advertising agencies, inside large companies, and at startups. She is the head of growth at Spotless, a leading provider of home construction and integrated facilities services. She’s the founder of Actionable Planner, a company dedicated to help aspiring entrepreneurs hatch and validate their business ideas. She has worked with startups and Fortune 500 companies, such as Sears, Sears Hometown & Outlets, Zimmerman Advertising and Open English. She has an MBA in international marketing from Argosy University and an integrated marketing degree from the College of Business at Northern Illinois University. In her free time, Carmen cooks up new ideas for startups.
Armando Martinez
Marketing Coach
Armando Martinez is the founder of SpiderBoost, a marketing agency part of the rbb Communications family of brands. Armando specializes in SEO, front- and back-end web development, mobile app development, user experience design, pay per click, online reputation, and social media. Previously, he worked in online advertising at AT&T Advertising Solutions and Office Depot. He studied economics at the University of Florida.
Andreina Santaella
Marketing Coach
Andreina Santaella is the COO of Polestar Pilates Enterprise, one of the world’s leading providers of pilates teacher Training. Andreina has 9 years of experience in business development and is an expert in increasing sales growth through the understanding of market trends, emerging technologies, platforms and partnerships. Previously, she’s worked at the marketing firm Cimacast and the Inter American Press Association. She has an MBA from the IE Business School in Spain and a degree from the University of Florida. Andreina was in Cohort 7 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course. She is a mother of two, is a pilates instructor, mentor and coach, and runs online ads for her mother’s pilates studio Pilates Zone in Key Biscayne.
Mayra Rocha
Marketing Coach
Mayra Rocha is a media executive and Emmy-Award winning journalist. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. For the past 15 years, Rocha interviewed politicians and leaders for the most respected Spanish language news program in the U.S. “Aqui y Ahora.” She was also the senior strategy executive director for Univision Network and Fusion Media. Currently, Rocha is the president of Project M Media, a Digital Strategy Corporation that focuses on management, content development, and marketing. She is also an advisor to the Scale Up program at Miami Dade College, where her cross-functional expertise in finance, strategy, operations, and marketing, help small businesses scale up to the next level. She is a contributing business expert for Univision Network’s flagship shows Primer Impacto and Univision Noticias.
Jorge H. Gonzalez
Marketing Coach
Jorge H. Gonzalez is a data scientist at The Children’s Trust, one of Miami’s largest funders. He’s the co-founder and executive director of Beacon of Hope, a nonprofit empowering youth in Latin America. He’s a marketer with over 11 years of experience at the second-largest Hispanic-owned ad agency in Florida, JGA Marketing. He has worked with startups and Fortune 100 companies, such as Humana, to leverage innovative marketing solutions to fuel their growth. Jorge has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Fordham University. Jorge was in Cohort 3 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course.
Joy Schaaffe
Instructional Designer
Joy Schaaffe is the lead instructor of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program in Miami and the Scale Up program at The Idea Center at Miami Dade College. She has worked in marketing at Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines. Joy specializes in strategic assessment and planning, marketing strategy, planning and execution, marketing materials development, communications, public relations, business analysis and planning. Her daughter, Jodian, was in Cohort 9 of BizHack’s The Digital Marketer’s Edge course.