Some might say, Bri Swan landed exactly where she belonged all along.

With not yet a year under her belt as an Oakdale resident, the Morgan Hill native has done anything but shy away from the activities and responsibilities as the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce Membership and Marketing Coordinator.

Relocating to the 95361 during the summer of 2022, Swan shared she had interest in working for the Chamber but the timing initially was not right. That would change, however, in just a few shorts months as Swan joined the chamber in her current capacity last October.

“My passion is small business marketing for sure,” Swan said, noting prior to relocating to Oakdale she worked in marketing with a Credit Union in Morgan Hill.

It’s an experience which afforded her a vast amount of learning.

“I would say my role is facilitating the relationships with businesses and helping them set up their memberships and facilitating their relationships with the community,” Swan said.

The Membership and Marketing Coordinator further shared a feeling of gratitude to be in a job where she feels supported by the community and their care for the chamber and its overall operations.

“The support was great. I was never really alone, which is nice,” she said of support from the board as well as businesses when she first joined the Chamber.

Partnering much of what she learned in the banking industry with the needs of the community by way of the Chamber of Commerce, for Swan it is a perfect fit.

“I love the opportunity to be out in the community. I love that it’s just part of my job,” she stated enthusiastically. “I just love that I’m able to make it part of my day, every single day.”

One of the many things she enjoys doing when out in the community is promoting the businesses through social media, be it posts on a business or creating a reel to highlight key aspects to share with the community and followers.

“There’s so many ideas that I want to be able to do for the Chamber and now it’s that extra support to get things done,” she shared, noting her excitement for the addition of new CEO Cher Bairos joining the Chamber team.

“I think these next few years together are really going to be great. We’re really going to grow the Chamber and bring back the value and the support to our community,” Swan said.

When not working or out promoting businesses, Swan shared she loves spending much of her time with her seven -year-old rescue dog, Ziggy. Making it hard to hide her love of her four-legged companion, Swan beams as she shares the story of rescuing Ziggy when he was just a six-month-old pup.

As for the day in, day out job at hand working full-time for the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce, Swan has no complaints.

“The people,” Swan noted as her favorite thing about Oakdale. “I really like the community that I’ve been able to build around myself. They’re just really welcoming and giving me the opportunity to grow and figure out who I am too is really great.”

And she’s confident in the direction and future of the organization.

“A lot of good things are coming,” she predicted. “We’re always open to ideas and recommendations; I’m open to anybody if they ever want to contact me.”

Swan can be reached by calling the Chamber of Commerce directly at 209-847-2244 or e-mailing her at email: membership@oakdalechamber.com or briana@oakdalechamber.com