Marissa Shrum '99

After an extensive career in marketing and advertising, Marissa Shrum ’99 found herself at a crossroads in 2018. Already established in the world of advertising strategy and branding, she felt a pull to forge a path that would allow her to integrate her business skills with a deeper personal calling: art and wellness. Her business, Remember I Love You, is a result of that journey—a blend of cultural intelligence, creative direction, and community building aimed at transformative messaging. Yet, arriving at this point was a complex, winding process. As she explains, balancing entrepreneurship and artistry is an exercise in what she calls “bothness”—the idea that two seemingly opposing aspirations can coexist and fuel one another.

Reflecting on her early days at GPS, Marissa recounts her love for art and dance, recalling how these passions sparked her interest in creative self-expression. She deeply remembers her involvement with Terpsichord, GPS’s dance company, and the mentorship of Cathie Ault Kasch ’72, who encouraged her to embrace her individuality through movement. "At the time, I didn't realize I was learning from an artist,” she says. "I didn’t yet see how creativity could become a part of my life path." This encouragement helped instill confidence, but societal pressures would still come to challenge her expression.

After GPS, she entered Vanderbilt University, where she was quickly absorbed into a high-achievement culture focused on future job prospects and economic stability. Coming from a background where she witnessed her mother powerfully leveraging business acumen to rise above economic, racial and gender expectations, she was driven to succeed, sometimes at the expense of personal fulfillment. "I was so focused on economic stability that I wasn’t listening to the creative part of me,” she shares. “We’re often taught to seek external validation and accolades, and it's easy to lose the most magical parts of yourself in that pursuit.”

Her first taste of this struggle came during her early career, including work on the high-stakes 2004 presidential election in Florida—a job Marissa describes as one of her hardest. Political strategy, brand consulting, and youth education defined her professional life, but her passion for art persisted. “I remember typing ‘jobs for creative people’ into Google in 2005,” she says, laughing. “There weren’t as many opportunities for someone who wanted to blend creativity with business back then.” Years in advertising left her feeling successful but unfulfilled, and she eventually realized that she needed to find a way to honor both her business mind and her artistic calling.

The launch of Remember I Love You was born from this realization. She wanted to create a business that didn’t just meet a corporate need but did so in a way that promoted self-love, family values, and community care. She wanted to bring messages to the world that celebrated humanity and respect. Building a brand with such an ethos hasn’t been without its challenges, but it's also allowed her to blend her unique talents into something profoundly meaningful. 

“Being an entrepreneur is hard,” Marissa notes. “Sometimes your vision of what’s possible for your clients even surpasses their own. It requires patience and persistence, but also compassion.” She found herself reinvigorated by a documentary film project during a year-long pause in her business, embracing the idea of creative entrepreneurship. This venture encouraged her to take her ideas seriously, a confidence she attributes to the foundation GPS gave her.

Beyond professional pursuits, her experiences growing up as a biracial woman and navigating multicultural backgrounds have profoundly influenced her work. “I come from a background of stark contrasts,” she says, reflecting on the sense of being different from a young age and how this pushed her to make unconventional choices in her career.

“Sometimes I cried a lot, but those moments gave me perspective,” she says. “They taught me that you don’t have to fit neatly into one category or follow one clear path.” The work she does today is influenced by her diverse experiences and a drive to unite different perspectives, helping companies connect with communities through empathetic, inclusive messaging.

One of her proudest achievements was helping Target develop strategies to reach Gen Z consumers, a digital magazine that bridged the gap between corporate brands and grassroots influencers. Marissa’s investment in We the Urban, a community-building Instagram account, stands out as an innovative collaboration that brings uplifting content to the world, daily . Her role as a strategist has evolved along with the rise of influencer culture, and she’s witnessed firsthand the shift in power from brands to individual creators. She describes herself as “a creative entrepreneur,” someone who uses business strategy to support meaningful connections, both online and offline.

When asked to give advice to current GPS students, she encourages them to “study themselves” and to embrace their individuality. “Learn to listen to yourself. If you know who you are and why you are the way you are, you’ll be less likely to fall into someone else’s story.” She also recommends diversifying one’s interests, particularly in an ever-changing world where adaptability is key. Her final piece of advice is to build a life that supports offline fulfillment as well. “The most successful people you see on the internet do a lot of work offline.” 

Her story is a testament to the balance between achievement and self-expression, resilience and creativity, purpose and joy. From the lessons of her GPS mentors to the challenges of her career, Marissa has come to see the importance of charting one’s own path, honoring the “bothness” within. "The future belongs to those who can pivot, adapt, and still hold onto who they are," she says. And as she continues her journey, she’s determined to embody that spirit of adaptability, self-discovery, and love for the transformative power of the creative process.