My name is Hayden Rovelli, and I was raised bouncing between central Connecticut and Stowe, Vermont—basically torn between whether I wanted to be a suburban kid or a mountain man. From an early age, I was hooked on action sports—skateboarding, climbing, and freestyle skiing—basically anything that involved defying gravity and occasionally my parents' better judgment.

At 12, I begged for a GoPro for my birthday, and when I finally got one, it was game over. That little camera followed me everywhere, from mountains to lakes and everywhere in between. I had no idea at the time, but my obsession with filming every adventure was actually training me in shooting, editing, and storytelling—without me even realizing it.

By 14, I somehow convinced a local real estate agent to let me produce video montages of her listings. (Nothing sells a house like a dramatic drone shot, right?) From there, I expanded into filming for ski mountains, weddings, scholarship foundations, and even New England’s largest agricultural event, the Durham Fair.

Outside of video, I was also launching myself into the air as a pole vaulter—winning the Connecticut state title twice and getting recruited by Southern Connecticut State University’s NCAA Division II Track & Field team.

Then, halfway through my first year of college, the world shut down. COVID hit, and suddenly, I found myself editing sports training videos from my bedroom for CoachTube—a platform featuring top-tier coaches. It wasn’t the adrenaline rush of pole vaulting, but it did give me over 150 hours in Adobe Premiere Pro, fine-tuning my sequencing, encoding, and web integration skills.

Later, I worked under Matt Solnick at SOLNIQUE, a production company specializing in social media campaigns. There, I got hands-on experience shooting, editing, and working with brands like Macy’s, Ortho-Buddy, Elli Tehari, and Plural Co.

Then came Red Bull. Like any action sports kid, I practically had wings before I even applied. When I saw they were hiring Student Marketeers, I knew I had to stand out. So, I did what any video nerd would do—I made a skit/edit video that caught the hiring manager’s attention. And it worked.

My onboarding was a crash course in independence. I had no direct manager and was one of only two generalist Student Marketeers in Southern New England. Instead of waiting for direction, I took initiative—supporting Red Bull Cliff Diving Boston, building relationships with the sales team, and leading in both hours worked and cans sampled.

By January 2023, we finally got a Brand Marketing Specialist (BMS), who decided I was ready to step up as the Student Marketeer Team Lead. My approach? Lead by example, build an incredible team, and leverage community connections. By July, our squad had grown to 14, with reps at Yale, the University of Rhode Island, and Fairfield University, to name a few.

On top of that, I kept my video skills sharp by shooting for Red Bull Campus Clutch, GrandPooBear Speedrun, and Red Bull Cliff Diving Boston.

In May 2023, I graduated with a B.S. in Communication, specializing in Film, Television, and Digital Production. After that, I spent the summer road-tripping, chasing surf, and rock climbing—basically living out every Red Bull commercial I’d ever admired.

By November, it was time to get serious again. I interviewed for the Brand Marketing Specialist role, and thanks to my experience and hustle, I stepped into the position in January 2024. Over the past year, I’ve grown and maintained our team, crushed all can sampling goals, executed new third-party events, and contributed to multiple Red Bull-owned events.