Our Story

About us and how we got where we are today.

Hi there! My name is Mildred Oetzel-Passaro and I’m the founder of Madison Marketing Hound, along with my gorgeous rescue mutt, Zoey.

I come from a family of small business owners, so when it was time to decide what I wanted to study in college, I knew I wanted to go for a business degree. Once I started exploring the various subjects within the business program, I became fascinated by marketing and consumer behavior. After completing Bachelor’s degrees in international business and marketing, and a Master’s degree in business administration, I worked as part of ad agencies or in-house marketing teams for several years. Then, I started to realize that there were a few things that I wanted to do differently.

I felt that most ad agencies wanted to work with big, profitable clients and often underserved the small business sector or simply had too high a price tag for many of them. Even worse, a large number of the companies that did cater to small businesses used predatory and questionable tactics and contracts, and delivered poor quality services. I knew that there had to be a way to offer valuable services to small businesses in a way that was honest and affordable—and so, after a lot of research and sleepless nights, Madison Marketing Hound was born!

Our mission is to help those businesses that can't afford to hire big ad agencies or an in-house marketing team, but still want to grow their business and get results. We can do this thanks to our company structure. We keep our prices accessible by cutting out as many overhead expenses as possible so that we can pass those savings on to you. We’re not a big agency with a fancy office downtown and we don’t come with tons of bells and whistles, but we are a group of knowledgeable, skilled, and creative people who put our clients’ success first.

In addition to Zoey, our team consists of a small network of marvelous website and graphic designers, programming wizards, and expert wordsmiths (a.k.a. copywriters), all with the same mentality and desire to help small businesses succeed in their industries. When you work with us, you can rest assured that every project is handled with the utmost care and professionalism by an amazing team of talented individuals who truly want the best for your business.

So what’s with all the dogs around our website and social media?

When you work with us, you’re supporting a great cause that’s near and dear to our hearts — dog rescue! We foster dogs for a wonderful organization in Milwaukee and part of our earnings every month are set aside to get the necessary supplies we need to make our foster dog’s stay with us fun, healthy, and comfortable (treats, toys, food, trainer consultations, etc). We also make frequent donations to animal welfare organizations, emergency rescue efforts, and other causes to save and protect animals in need. If you want to learn more about this, make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram, which is where we post most of our dog-related updates.