Maialen Madariaga

Maialen is an animal lover — and with three dogs (Kala, Blas, and Pipo), she's made a strong case for being sb's biggest dog lover. Some smartbranders might disagree, but has anyone else flown to the Philippines specifically to rescue one? Maialen has. Top that.

Trained in Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation (LEINN) at the University of Mondragón — with specialisations in digital marketing, automation, and Growth Hacking — Maialen is a highly organised, transparent, and endlessly curious marketer. She works alongside Josu in the Marketing unit, serving both Smartbrand and external clients. She also plays an active role in developing and maintaining our proprietary AI tools, overseeing their adoption across the entire team.

Our young Durangan admits to a terrible memory for names — which is why she keeps a notebook of every country she's visited (26, she thinks, though she's admittedly lost count). Like any good smartbrander, she's a devoted series enthusiast, but with a twist: she watches the season finale first to avoid surprises. The rest of the team remains grateful she kept quiet about Game of Thrones. 🙂