Jack Fagone
Marketing Director, Attitash and Wildcat, N.H. (Marketing Manager at Mount Snow, Vt., at time of nomination)
Age: 28
Hometown: Simsbury, Conn.
Six-word bio: Skiing will always be my passion.
Fun fact: Spent a summer at a Native American Art Institute in New Mexico as group leader for a community service trip for high school kids.

Skiing has been a constant for Fagone, whose parents started him in the sport at age 2. While at the University of New Hampshire, he served as president of the ski club and joined the season pass rep program. Later, he took a job as the snow reporter at Mount Snow and moved up the marketing ladder. In May, he started as marketing director for New Hampshire’s Attitash and Wildcat mountains.

Tell me about your former position, and your new one.
At Mount Snow, I was a first point of contact for other departments—there was constant communication to make sure we had accurate information and were getting that out in the world. Many of these responsibilities transferred into my new job: making sure we’re marketing the resort correctly, that there’s nothing expired out there, really just staying on top of our messaging. Of course, in the winter, you have to get out and ski at least a few times a week.

Describe your style of management.
I’ve adopted a more hands-off approach. I tend to trust that people do their jobs well, and I’m there for guidance. I’ll step in if I need to, but day-to-day, we all have our to-do lists, so let’s do them well.

Do you have a professional mentor?
Mount Snow’s marketing director, Thad Quimby, definitely shaped my role in the industry. When he started in December 2015, he basically asked, “Where do you want to go from here?” The natural progression would be marketing director, so he basically took what he could off of his plate and gave it to me. He gave me a lot of responsibilities, found out my goals, and helped me work toward them.

Have you had to adapt to changes in media?
Absolutely. Technology is moving so fast, and marketing has to keep up and learn new strategies all the time. We’re definitely seeing a big shift to digital and social media, and definitely a large shift toward social media advertising.

In 10 years?
A big part of taking my job here was the location (North Conway, N.H.). Once they presented this opportunity, I figured that would be it. Hopefully I’ll still be here doing ski area marketing.