In this episode of the "Mind My Creative Business" podcast, Feleceia Wilson, a successful creative entrepreneur, shares her journey and valuable insights for budding entrepreneurs in the creative industry. She discusses her transition from studying musical theater to founding her own boutique communications agency. Her experiences provide crucial advice and inspiration to fellow creatives. Here are the key takeaways:

Introduction and Background

• Feleceia Benton shares her journey from studying musical theater to founding her boutique communications agency.
• She emphasizes the importance of mentorship and guidance from experienced individuals.

Starting the Entrepreneurial Journey

• Feleceia highlights the role of necessity in her journey, as she needed to provide for herself and her child.
• She started as a volunteer, offering her skills and gaining valuable experience.

Navigating the Transition

• Feleceia discusses the pivotal moment when she realized the importance of combining her creative talents with a business-oriented mindset.
• She emphasizes the significance of continually learning and evolving in one's entrepreneurial journey.

Building a Communications Agency

• Feleceia explains the transition from solopreneurship to building a team.
• She provides insights into restructuring contracts to ensure profitability and sustainability.
• The importance of factoring in all expenses, including equipment, licensing, and workspace, is emphasized.

Customizing Services for Clients

• Feleceia describes her agency's approach to tailoring services to each client's specific needs.
• She advises creatives to align clients' needs with their existing processes and skills to ensure a successful partnership.

Measuring Success

• Feleceia outlines various methods to measure the effectiveness of creative work, including gathering client feedback, analyzing analytics, and monitoring revenue.
• She emphasizes the importance of regular evaluation and not being afraid to look at the data.

Parting Thoughts and Mantra

• Feleceia shares parting thoughts and expresses her willingness to return for future episodes.
• The podcast ends with a mantra: "All it takes is intention, consistency, and laser focus to mind my creative business."

Feleceia Benton's journey from a creative background to establishing a thriving communications agency serves as an inspiration for those looking to combine their creative talents with entrepreneurial endeavors. Her insights into contract structuring, client customization, and effective measurement of success provide valuable guidance for creative entrepreneurs. The episode concludes with an empowering mantra for all creatives to embrace in their journey to success.

Welcome to the "Mind My Creative Business" podcast, where creativity meets entrepreneurship in a symphony of success! 🎭🚀 In this episode, we're diving into the riveting journey of Feleceia Benton, a trailblazing creative entrepreneur who has not only harnessed her artistic talents but also transformed them into a thriving boutique communications agency. As an expert in this niche, I believe that sharing her story is invaluable for budding entrepreneurs in the creative industry.

Creator Bio: Feleceia Benton Feleceia Benton is a dynamic entrepreneur, artist, and visionary. Her journey is a testament to the power of creativity combined with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. With a background in musical theater, she defied convention by founding her own boutique communications agency, where she seamlessly blends artistry with business acumen. Her experiences provide crucial advice and inspiration to fellow creatives on their entrepreneurial journeys.

Check out Feleceia's work and connect with her here.

Key Takeaways:

• Nurturing Creative Roots: Feleceia Benton's journey from musical theater to entrepreneurship underscores the importance of staying true to your creative passions while seeking opportunities for growth.
• The Mentorship Magic: Feleceia emphasizes the role of mentors in her journey. Their guidance and wisdom can be a compass, pointing aspiring creatives in the right direction.
• Evolution and Learning: Feleceia's story showcases the necessity of evolving as an entrepreneur. Continual learning and adaptation are key to staying relevant in the dynamic world of creative entrepreneurship.

Feleceia's Entrepreneurial Steps:

1. Starting the Entrepreneurial Journey:

• Feleceia's path to entrepreneurship began out of necessity, driven by the need to provide for herself and her child.
• She started by volunteering her skills, gaining valuable experience, and building her portfolio.

2. Navigating the Transition:

• Feleceia had a pivotal moment when she realized the importance of combining her creative talents with a business-oriented mindset.
• She highlights the significance of continuous learning and adaptation as an entrepreneur.

3. Building a Communications Agency:

• Feleceia shares insights into transitioning from solopreneurship to building a team for her communications agency.
• She stresses the importance of restructuring contracts to ensure profitability and long-term sustainability.
• Feleceia also underscores the need to factor in all expenses, including equipment, licensing, and workspace, in the entrepreneurial journey.

4. Customizing Services for Clients:

• Feleceia's agency thrives by customizing services to meet the unique needs of each client, showcasing the importance of adaptability in creative entrepreneurship.

As someone deeply immersed in the world of creativity and entrepreneurship, my personal advice is to stay true to your artistic vision while also nurturing your business acumen. Learn from mentors and continuously seek opportunities for growth and adaptation. Feleceia Benton's journey is a beacon of inspiration, illustrating that the fusion of creativity and entrepreneurship can lead to remarkable success.

Timestamped Overview:

00:02:00 Husband has 15k degrees, I got 2.

00:05:58 Smart people helped me recognize similarities.

00:10:17 Questioning if graphics and flyers work; team expands.

00:12:54 Hindsight 2020, volunteering led to paid opportunities.

00:15:38 Importance of research and specializing in contracting.

00:19:53 Broadway route offers better life opportunities

00:21:56 Believer in timing, answers exist around you.

00:28:00 Strategic communications company helps tell your story.

00:31:09 Our company has three types of clients. The first type comes to us to manage their events and branding. The second type hires us as their marketing team. The third type needs help with their business strategy.

00:33:56 Quick growth, solo to small team.

00:38:56 Consider platforms, costs, and ownership for pricing.

00:43:19 Listening, understanding, and aligning with client needs.

00:46:36 Evaluate feedback, analyze analytics, track finances.

00:49:04 Verify, analyze, and improve social media performance.

Hey what's up everybody? Welcome to the mind

my creative business podcast. I am your host shot speaks.

Ronald Lee Jr.: And I am your host, Ron ironic Lee and this is

the number one podcast for creative printers to gain

strategy, structure and self development.

Yeah, I should do a clap sign right there like that.

Listen, let's clap it up for that. I'm so excited because we

actually have a guest in the building. As you can see, we

have the ce o of Zoe communications agency. Miss

Felicia?

Well, if my husband was listening, and he

will be listening, he would say my name is Mrs. Felicia Wilson.

Ronald Lee Jr.: Misses Oh

forget it. Please say to please say to Mrs. This side

note, I've been known her for many years before she was

married. So this is how I've mixed it up. So

you get presidential pardon? Shy? No

worries. Presidential pardon?

Yes. Legacy. You know, her and her husband. I

know them both. So sorry. Yeah.

Yeah, we got way way super back.

Super back. So yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. So Miss Wilson

misses.

Doing all right, you're gonna go with it.

I said that. I'm working on it. I said that you

were you have this agencies only communications agency. But one

thing I do want to give them is some credentials that you have

you have a bachelor's in PR and advertising and musical theater.

Yeah. Can we talk about athletes? Can we please talk

about that? Well,

I feel like if you didn't know my husband, and

you know, he has like 15,000 degrees. And so I feel like my

two are kind of humble. By comparison, I did both of mine.

At the same time, I did a BS and a BFA, just simultaneously, not

because like I'm so clever, but because I knew I wanted to go to

school to do musical theater. And my dad said, that's cool.

But do something else as well, like you can do it. But I want

you to do something else also. And so I learned about this

opportunity to get two degrees at the same time if I took a

victory lap. So that's what I did. It wasn't because I went in

with great intent. It's not because I went in knowing

exactly what I wanted to do. The cards just kind of fell in the

right place. And I had that little, that little noise in my

ear from my daddy's and do use something else to go.

Okay, but doing something else they had they

have all kinds of other degrees. You could adopt biology, you

could, Medic. So what made you pick PR and advertising?

I think I was taking a class, you know, those

classes that you take as exploration classes, I landed

myself in one of those exploratory classes. And then

just shout, it sounded interesting. I have a knack for

it. And I have professors who encouraged me in it. My mom is a

nurse. And so I grew up not loving science. So I knew that

wasn't it. And I knew that math really wasn't it either. I had

to get a tutor when I was like a junior or senior in college for

a statistics class. And my tutor was like a freshman. So those

are not my jam. Numbers in that way are not my jam science, not

my bam, so I just kind of landed here.

Ronald Lee Jr.: No, okay with it, because those are vastly

different. Right? You said, musical theater. And that's what

you initially was like, Okay, I'm going to hear from musical

theater. Right? This is what I'm, I want my degree in this.

You said your dad was whispered in the air. Like, that's cool.

But so that but you stumbled across this PR piece, but those

are vastly different. And I hear you saying that you okay, there.

You had you took some classes of some professors and things like

that. But I'm trying I'm trying to put that puzzle together,

like kind of put it together. Yeah. And it's

kind of like, is it vastly different when you think

about it, because technically, to be into the theater is to be

into money into literature is to be writing. So at some point

when you say you had a knack for it is the neck. That was a knack

for because of the communications piece, the

writing piece, the literature, was there some type of like what

How did you know you had a knack for it?

I think I have a knack for words and a story.

There are those two worlds living or those two things live

in both worlds. So I still exist in all those spaces. I'm

directing a show right now. I'm at a theater here in Dallas. And

I just did I do briefs every week for teens to create

commercials as well. So words and story exists in both. So,

Ronald Lee Jr.: so what I hear you saying is they're together,

right? There were some transferable skills, right?

Okay, I have this love and his passion and desire for not just

theater, but musical theater show, right? Storytelling, or

whatever is involved with that. But when my daddy told me, I

needed something else, I was able to find something that

still utilize my skill set that I had based on this other

passion that I have.

Yeah. And that's exactly what I'm saying.

It took really smart people around me to put that together.

For me at the time, I did not have the words the access to

words or the experience to put together what the similarities

were. What I had were professors who said, Come and see who said,

explore this, dig into it, I'll show you how to do these things.

And eventually, long into my career, I realized that there

was a collision point. There are some some incredible

similarities between being like a stage performer and a

storyteller as well as a comms expert or comms, whatever, not

an expert. Tom's professional. Let's call it that.

Inside No, ladies and gentlemen, this is how you stay

humble you, those of you who are calling yourself experts, yet

she says just professional, just specialist yet she has an

agency. The agency piece, okay. So, okay, so along the way, you

are you you have these people that are telling you that okay,

this is what you listen to this, you have this, your brain works

this way. Right, the transferable skills. Okay, so at

some point, when did you like start being paid for it for for

the communication side? Let's start there. Yeah,

I love that you guys say transferable skills,

like it's a normal thing that you talked about? Like that a

lot. I didn't start a business on purpose. Like that didn't, I

became an entrepreneur. But I think a little before it was

like a cool thing to say that you were an entrepreneur. So my

company, I started it in 2012 row. Does that right? That feels

right, so like 11 years ago, and I started because I couldn't

find a job. I very clearly after four months of being unemployed,

heard the good Lord, say, Use what you have in your hands. At

the time, what I knew how to do was graphic design. So I knew

how to, like provide a tangible product. Thankfully, I kind of

been out here in the streets doing some other stuff for some

people. And so I had access to friends who worked for some

cities. So I've reached out to my friends who worked with these

cities, I knew that their graphics were lacking. And I

said, Hey, can I start making stuff for you? And they said,

Yes, they had budget for it. And so they could pay me I've done a

little bit of research to figure out like, what are people

charging for this kind of thing. And so for a little a long time,

not for a long time for a little bit. zoic comm was just

graphics, it was just like, postcards, social media, posts,

newsletters, things of that nature. And like, I think

2012 2013 We're on like one or two social media platform forums

at that time. Like we're not all over the place. It was just a

couple. So that's how I got started. Okay,

Ronald Lee Jr.: how long so? You said you were unemployed? Yeah,

couldn't find a job. And I was a mom, I was a

single mom.

Ronald Lee Jr.: Wow. So in doing that, he was like, Okay, once

again, I'm going because I'm big on I'm big on skills, right?

Yeah, you had this skill set? Yeah, listen, I can do this. And

I'm noticing that there is a gap, but there's something

lacking in the the cities that have you know, once again,

cities, they always need grants for stuff, whether it's

brochures, this kind of communications, right. So it's

like, I can create something for you provide you a product or a

service. And that's kind of how it started. Yeah.

100% That's how it started.

Ronald Lee Jr.: Okay, okay. How does it go from? I'm just doing

graphics to once again so we can, yeah, I there were and I

might get ahead of myself shot I know, we got to spread. But you

know, sometimes I gotta go off because I'm just trying to kind

of put the pieces together.

That's true. That's true.

Okay, I'm really curious of your thought.

I'll give you a little bit of an answer. I won't stay on it long.

I'll throw it back to Shai. I asked myself a question. I was

bothered that I did not know if the graphics that I was making

were working. So at the time, like I didn't know a whole lot

about, like, click through rates, like, all that stuff

wasn't a part of my thinking. I was just making stuff. But I

just started to wonder, like, are these working? If we give

this flyer if they pass this flyer out to people in the city?

Are people going to want to come? If they see the flyer? Or

if they see it on social media? Are they going to want to come

and they see it on social media are the flyers working? And so

then I started going into this deep dive about like, what

strategy that like how to start making strategies. So our team

expanded by a little bit, there were a few folks who were like,

Yeah, I'll come alongside of you. I figured that at the time,

graphics weren't enough. So I had a guy who did photography

and videography. I brought on another graphic designer. And we

and I had another friend who was broke with me for a while, I

will never forget her. She went in deep for a bit. It was rapid.

But she had some background in advertising and account

management. So we kind of just locked arms and started trying

to answer that question, like, how do we make sure that the

stuff that we're making is working for people? So the next

evolution of it was just a question? Okay.

Ronald Lee Jr.: But I love it, though. So that because I'm very

big on intentionality. So you so you approached it with a level

of intention? Yeah, this question, whereas like, Okay,

I'm doing this. And I know, I know, I'm good at it. But just

because I know I'm good at it. Is it working? Yeah. And as a

result of you asking, is it working? Then you started to dig

delve deeper into that? And like, Okay, I want to figure out

if it's working. So what do I need to figure that out? That's,

I love it. I love it.

It sounds it sounds like you're laughing like,

because it sounds real regular. But it's kind of like, people do

things without ever asking themselves. Is it? Yeah, sure.

Right, which is how you started doing graphics. And because they

were just making graphics to promote whatever they're

promoting, to make announcements about wherever they're making

announcements about, but they may not have been, you said they

were kind of lacking in some ways. I'm not sure if it was

statically, or just feeling like you feel pulled into it or

whatever, wherever you feel like there was some room for

improvement. They were doing it that way, right. And so long as

these could be improved, and they were improved. That's a

different. That's,

I gotta say, like, you know, hindsight, 2020,

I'm looking back, Sam. And God really set that up for me,

because I was not smart enough to know what I was doing at the

time I happened to so the people that I worked for that were

paying me contractually to do this work. I had relationship

with them because I'd been a volunteer. So I've sat on like

boards and I've been a part I was like the young person in the

community who got voluntold to be a part of the Chamber of

Commerce to be a part of this these Commission's that I didn't

know anything about. But I loved being a volunteer. So I've been

volunteering my services first. So they knew that the things

that I was that I did for them that were fruity, they knew that

they were good. So when I then started asking them to pay for

the same services, they were happy to do so because I'd

offered them for free for so long. And then my name started

getting tossed around the community for you know, you can

trust with each year to do ABCD EFG.

Wow. So, Ron, are you over here? Oh, now

Ronald Lee Jr.: it's so much in what and I think a lot of times

us creatives, we miss out on that right? You said okay, I was

voluntary first. Like I was in I was in these environments. I was

in the rooms free of charge. Yeah. There once again, I was

there just to offer you know, my my my thoughts and my ideations

or whatever the case may be, I was just there, but me being in

these rooms, I saw a need that they had and because not only

was I in this room, but I was in these rooms with integrity. So

my name carry some weight. Knowing that Felicia, she does

good work, she good people. And then when you started to now

present them with the opportunity to fund you know,

saying the services that you have, they were willing to do it

because of who you were prior phases.

Lower. Yeah, there is a passage of scripture

that I live by and it is a good name is better to be had and

great well, they were better than silver and gold. So there

are opportunities that I will not take or that I will, like

pull back from our even take the l like, I will take the L to

keep my name. As long as like I walk away with my name, it might

take a hit, you know, it might take some bumps and bruises.

It's not going to be unscathed. But I want to try to maintain as

much as my name and my integrity as possible. So yeah, name is

really important to

me. All right, another thing that you said was

important that we went by earlier, you said that you was

wondering what was in your hand? So he's like, Okay, I have

what's in my hand? And where's the need? Where have I been

offering free samples? Where can I offer him? Right? But you said

that you had done some research on the going price for like

graphic designers in that space. So you went, we went straight

into, you know, the people who are contracting, so you went

straight into like, contracting, right? Which is different,

because like, there are some people who start offering a

service, and they kind of do it on the individual basis. They're

working with, like, people who do, you know, like, hey, a $50

flyer and a $25. Logo. And so you said you were doing

graphics? But you were kind of doing like, graphic spreads or

something? Because yeah, not right. So tell us about that.

Yeah, I would just try to figure out and still

to this day, I'm usually trying to figure out what the client

needs, because they normally don't know. So they I would

listen to, like, what it is they were trying to accomplish and

say, Okay, I can I think you need ABCDEFG. And that will cost

about this much. And of course, like I'm thinking like, I gotta

make as much money as possible, because I got to pay my rent.

All I have to pay my bills, and I have a child. So I'm thinking

about, like, how much can I put inside of this thing? So it

feels more like a package than it think feels like a like a one

off? You know? Package?

Okay, yeah, go here. I know, you kind of thought

Ronald Lee Jr.: I was gonna question. So I want to I want to

kind of rewind this a little bit, right? Because I do not

want to miss the fact that once again, you went to school for

musical theater. Sure. So you came out with a degree in that.

But you also came out with a degree and PR and advertising?

Yeah. So when you decide, okay, I'm unemployed, and I am. I got

I got bills to pay, I got a baby, I got bills to pay, I got

bills to pay. So let me utilize the skill set. Did that other

side of you that musical theater side? Was that site laying

dormant? Or? No? Okay. Was it laying dormant? And if so, how

did you deal with that, because I'm dealing with a lot of

creatives. If we're not expressing ourselves creatively,

the way that we want to create, then we feel some kind of way.

And we have some challenges, some system struggles there. So

my drive was just coming from a different

place. So I didn't feel compelled to push myself into

musical theater. Thankfully, the opportunities have just

consistently come for the past. I graduated in 2006. So, you

know, 14 or so? Oh, 1717. Yeah, my oldest nephew, my youngest

nephew is 17. And I graduated the year that he that he was

born. So yeah, for like the last 17 years, the opportunities have

just they come pretty consistently. So my motivation

was not like my creativity. I gotta get out here and express

myself, because that isn't very, my motivation was my child. So

like, it was, I was, I've always been blessed to do the things

that I love to do. But I was passionate about making sure

that my child was taken care of. Yeah, so that's

Ronald Lee Jr.: why you got you had you had a very, very strong

why. Yeah.

Why did you just know that? Had you pursue musical

theater that it would not have paid the same as 100% Okay, or,

yeah, just 100 Yeah, I get to it as quicker like because you knew

you know, graphics I can get to this quick. I've already been

volunteering here. Was it a matter of speed? Or was it a

matter of like, it just won't pay? I probably won't make as

much doing both.

I have a lot of friends so I would go the

Broadway route. I'm gonna musical theater performers. So

our are high as Broadway. There are a lot of musical theater

thankfully, opportunities now in film, but the trajectory has

been for most musical theater performances Broadway, that life

is tough, brutal, fulfilling for many life. I started believing

like when I was in my early 30s, that if I stayed in Dallas, I

could probably, like, get my fix, get paid well, because of

theater performance here professionally still get paid

pretty well. I don't think it's enough for the kind of life that

I want to live to be able to do that exclusively. And by kind of

life I want to live I don't just mean financially, but like in

Dallas, we rehearse at nighttime. So it means that I

would be away from my kid and means that I would have to like,

change how my day was structured. And so it was just

like, which kind of like what I like to have. And so like you

just like you weigh it up, and you count the cost. And you

determine which one is the better buy. All right. And I

know

the reason why I run why you ask that is because we

always figure out when people are multi. Multinational. You

Yeah, multicast. So how do you? How did you decide which one to

pursue? Like, at the time you were hungry? And you had you had

a strong why, but it's like, I could easily just go hard after

this. Yeah, you know, or I can focus on this. So sometimes it's

like a matter of, it's not that like, Hey, I'm deciding, I'm not

going to focus on theater, it's, I'm deciding to focus on the one

that's given me, I'm having in the vehicle that's going to give

me there faster, right? One that's going to, so not

necessarily that you lost focus on it, but it's like, the energy

that I'm putting inside of it, like, Yeah, I'm gonna put more

energy here than

some of that. I, and I've been a big believer

of two things. One, I'm, I'm a big believer in timing. So in

my, the more I've matured, the more I've kind of learned how to

just rest in timing. If I don't, I try not to like force things

to happen. If it doesn't seem like they're supposed to happen.

I don't force it to. But I will continue to, like, ask the

questions and unpack it until I land at a resolve. So I'm a big

believer in timing. And I'm also a big believer that the answers

usually exist around you somewhere. So like, if you have

to jump way over there. Now, you kind of have to, like look

around you at the time, see what's going on. And like

calculate, consider counted up and figure out what happens. Now

I say that because shy, I that's all I was doing. It wasn't that

I was like, Oh, I think this is gonna get me there faster. It's

that I've done the things that made spiritual and mental sense

at the same time. So for me to make jumps into like, going hard

in the paint in the Broadway, like, there's never been a time

that that made sense. There's never been a time that like, I

had the right deck of cards, the timing was work, it's just never

been that way. And I just have never, I've never been the kind

of person that's like, I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna

consider everything going on around me, and I'm gonna go do

something polar. I know that. That's not my MO. So maybe I'm

calculated, I don't know, know, that

Ronald Lee Jr.: level of self awareness that I think is key in

creative partnership, right? Just I think in life in general,

but especially if you are creative, and you're going to

take on an endeavor of creating a business. So the fact that you

have that, and you were able to get to this point, I think is

phenomenal. But I know we got you know, yeah.

And that was gonna say and on top of that, like you

Okay, so you didn't say I'm abandoning this because you said

earlier that you still do it and you understood that hey, going

to New York's Broadway or going international right like that

probably was out of the scope for what I have right now. But

if I stay in Dallas, which is a pretty large market, I can still

make some funds here but I'm going to put my energy here

because this energy is going to give me this lifestyle so the

fact that you just chose where to place your energy based on

what you were trying to get out. I also want to bring up

something you said earlier you said his word like all over the

place like like it could kind of seem like for people who are

multi talented that they're all over the place sure. But then I

like maybe it's the rapper and me No, it is as good as literacy

to me this is I like how all over the place. It's kind of

seemed like a bad thing. Like you're all over the place with

all these different talents. But when it comes to what You do,

right, which is we're gonna get into that here in a second.

After we take this quick, quick, quick, very quick break to pay

the wheels. We're gonna talk about how you do PR and

marketing and you help people with find a niche. But then

eventually you help them to be all over the place, which is

surely President marketing. Right. So we'll get into that

here in a second. But for you guys, don't you want to say

about that? No, I

just want to say okay, sounds like fun. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, fun. So

alright, so we get ready to pay these wheels. Give

me one second.

Ronald Lee Jr.: What's the irony is because

it's us in different color clothing. I mean, listen,

we've been doing a lot of talk. And we want to make sure that

you have an opportunity to make a statement as well, because

Ronald Lee Jr.: we've seen people make statements with

their athletic apparel. We've even seen people make statements

as entrepreneurs. But one thing I haven't seen is somebody make

a statement as a creative entrepreneur. So none is we have

given you an opportunity to make a statement as a creative

entrepreneur.

Oh, okay. Okay. So if they want to make sure that

they're rocking that creative printer gear, where can they go

get that? You

Ronald Lee Jr.: can go get that gear from? What's the irony.com?

Oh, you love it? The shoulder? Whoa, oh, my gosh. So

okay. I said that we were gonna be talking about how you are,

you have a communications agency, and you have a boutique

communications agency, and you actually help people to ensure

find their story and then put the words to communicate what

their story is. So they can sell whatever they're selling, or

serve whoever they're trying to serve. Right. So I'm sure that's

how they go. So this part is for people who are interested in

having an agency this themselves and they're going to take their

PR side their word side, their love for graphics, their love

for videography. How do you turn this into an agency? So I want

to talk about that? Okay, so let me let you put it in your words.

That's how I said it. But how would you say what you do at

your agency? What do you guys do for people?

I mean, I think you did a pretty good job. Try.

Well done. It's like you've been hanging out with me for a day or

two. So slightly

been hanging out with you for some years, but the way

we take we help people find their story, you fine.

communicate that. Okay. Yeah. So you started off using video

graphics, but then it has expanded. So tell us how could

you say you feel you want to change strategy and graphics and

more?

Yeah, so we call ourselves a full service

strategic communications company. And we call ourselves

strategic communications as a differentiator between like an

advertising agency or a marketing company. So both

advertising and marketing, those kinds of agencies operate very

differently. So strategic comms really does begin with, similar

to the other ones, but it begins with like, who are you? Why are

you here? Who are you serving and why. And we dive deep into

that work. And then we also serve as kind of a different

kind of client. So a lot of the like bigger advertising agencies

and marketing companies, some of the folks that we serve as can't

necessarily afford those big agencies. Those are fantastic.

If you can afford it, they're great. But if not, the idea of

trying to understand who you are, why you exist, and finding

the words to tell that story can be costly. It can be time

consuming. And like if you don't have a guy to walk you through

it, you'll end up spending a lot of money in a lot of different

places without really landing on on success. So we're a strategic

communications company. We've got all the tools in our toolkit

when you need them to help you tell your story. So that's,

that's a little bit of of who we are what we do. Our company is

named after Zoey, the little girl I was talking about

earlier, who's not so little anymore. She's, she'll be 14 in

September. It's bananas. She's 14, but our company was named

after her because so he was born with Down syndrome. Um, so if

you know anything about people with Down syndrome, and you know

that many folks with Down Syndrome have some challenges

with communication. So Zoe has helped us to learn how to be

really good listeners. And she's helped us to learn that

Everybody doesn't communicate the same way. And sometimes

people need a little help to understand what it is that

you're trying to say, even as a human or a business owner. So

she's kind of the foundation of the way that we think about an

approach strategic communications. Oh, I love it. I

Ronald Lee Jr.: love it. Because it's its purpose as well, right?

You've you've taken this, the skill set the talent that you

have, right, the formal education that you have. Now you

have this strong why, but then you were able to merge it in

purpose. And now you're just doing the same thing. Yeah.

Okay, so that's so you realize that everybody won't

get it with just a graphic like, just need to get it in other

ways. So you talked about earlier, you want to bring

somebody onto the team, right, which now you have a team. So

you have you guys are trying to come up with strategies? What

are some of the strategies that you're doing aside from, hey,

we'll make this graphic to communicate this thing? What is

that?

Yeah, so we have like, the strategy that we

have for our company. And then we have a strategy that we have

that we deploy for various clients. So at this point, we

have a little bit of a reputation for the kinds of work

that we do, thank the Lord. So folks usually come to us for one

of three things. One, they come to us because they have an event

and they needed to run well look good, be sharp, be branded well,

and then they need the visit the brand of the visit, to match the

reflection of their brand itself. Um, so people coming to

us to manage that kind of I'm glad y'all shake your head is

like, Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, so they'll

come to us for that. Some folks come to us, because they need us

to be like their marketing company, their marketing team.

So there are several folks that we work for that we manage all

of their stuff, if they need PR, if they need social graphics,

whatever the case might be, we're with them, like we're part

of their team. And they treat us as such. And then the last kind

of client is probably my favorite client client is the

one where we dive deep, and we get all up in the business.

They've been like saying words, they've been doing stuff out

here in the streets, and like it's not working. They either

have confusion on their teams, or they're like putting stuff

out in the world. And like it's not working people are not

coming to their whatever, or buying their stuff. So we do a

deep dive into the words that they're using as well as their

organizational structure. And we see where the mismatches are.

And sometimes that process takes us like six weeks, sometimes it

takes us six months. So those are my favorite kinds of

clients. So for each of those kinds of clients, we have we

deployed different strategies for each. But those are really

kind of the buckets that we stay within. I don't know if I

answered your question.

No, no, that's great. That's, I mean, okay, it does,

it does answer the question. All right. Yes, yes. I'm gonna ask

you a more specific question. So at some point, you first

started, you had this, you then you had this other person that's

kind of help you work on the strategy, I'm pretty sure. Three

different buckets you just described, like, this person

needs this, we need to make sure that they don't just have a

graphic for the event. Okay, here, here's the thing that

comes to the event, but they need other all in. So So you

have this. Okay, so yeah, this person. So at what point do you

go from making like, hundreds of dollars to 1000s of dollars?

Right? What like, so you started in 2012? So but like, what did

it take, like 2000, like three years before you start having

other people that you're working with? Or was it like quicker?

Like,

it was pretty quick? Yeah, I didn't mean for

it to be quick. I had a season where I fired everybody. So

like, I haven't always just had everybody there was a season

where I was like, I cannot do this. And everybody was gone.

And I solo produced that thing for like, two years. So I jumped

in. So entrepreneurs you can have whatever season you need.

Permission to have whatever season you need. So jumped in,

it was me for a little bit started recognizing these

different needs, had a team could afford a team and the team

was there to support the different efforts that we saw

existed at the time. So I was probably 2013 2014 like a year

or two in where I started to collect some additional folks to

work alongside. There was one other person who was full time

with me, one person who was contracted to people who were

contracted and another person who interned so we were like a

team of four

or five. Okay, so, four or five. So at this point,

are you in like, this is to you started it two or three years

later, you got an employee contractors and some other. So

are you like still in like, a five figure range in that couple

of years? Or did it like explode? And it's like, oh,

we're in a six figure range as a company, like, Yeah. Were you

still like in like, because you know, contracts could be like

5010 1000 5010 and 20,000 for, you know, different cities or,

you know, so where are you figure wise and these couple of

years?

Yeah, the first few years, I was tapping on six,

like, it was right there at the door. That's where you were

scrappy. We were super, super scrappy when we start it. And

then when I realized what kind of load we needed to carry, we

changed the way that we structured our contracts. I

didn't realize it at first, like, just remembering our

context here. I started on accident. I did not start, but I

shall make a business plan and know exactly what I will do

tomorrow. I didn't do that. You know, I didn't do that until

much later on. So it took a few years. But yeah, we started

tapping into six figures, like four years in. Okay,

Ronald Lee Jr.: so you just said something you said, the way we

structured our contracts, once we restructured our contract, we

were at a place where we were not going to tap in on it. But

once we restructured something as simple as restructuring your

contracts, puts you over the hump. I need you I need you to

elaborate on that just because once again, sometimes we think

we need these huge quantum leaps. And a lot of times, it's

just something simple as restructuring of a contract. So

yeah,

well, this so that it's different. For every

scenario, I'll tell you about our specific one. There were a

few things that I realized when I looked at our contracts, there

were a lot of things that I was not factoring in to the bottom

line, like I was not factoring in use of equipment, I wasn't

factoring in purchasing the photos and the videos, I wasn't

factoring that in, I would factor in the hard costs to get

it done, I wouldn't factor in licensing. So there were a lot

of things that like just these little tiny things. I was

initially structuring contracts, like I was the only person who

was working, I wasn't taking the different costs, or the

different people who were involved into account. So every,

if you're working in advertising or comms or as a graphic

designer, there are a lot of costs to take into account, if

you're going to find yourself profitable. I wasn't even really

thinking about how to factor in profit into my bottom line.

Because I was just trying to cover the costs. So every

everybody needs a formula, you got to figure out like, what is

your formula, if I want to go from being just a single

solopreneur, even a creative printer to structuring myself

more like an agency, every agency needs a formula, you got

to have a formula for your bottom, you got to have a

formula for how you're gonna make money that have a formula

for your contracts. So yeah, that's the short answer. I don't

think I was short.

Ronald Lee Jr.: No, that's perfect. That's perfect.

No, that's good. Okay. So when you say, Okay,

some of the expenses, because we wanted to think people need to

know about that, like how to, when you say licensing, are you

talking about like, you know, give us give us some specifics?

What are some of the expenses that someone needs to consider

when they're having when they have a communications agency

that, yeah, you may not realize, hey, this person asked me to do

this. I think that it's gonna take me this much time, and I'm

just gonna charge them this. There are some other thing, what

are the some of those things that they may be missing? Yeah,

the first thing to take into account are all the

platforms you're using to make it happen. So are you using

Illustrator or using like the Adobe Creative Suite? Are you

using Canva? Are you using HoneyBook? Like, what are all of

these things that you're using in order to make this thing

happen? Are you paying rent somewhere? Like, are you paying

using an oil corner of your home as an office and you're using

that for X amount of time? Well, that's use of your space that's

using your electricity that's use of like your resources. So

you have all of these other costs that are factored into

ultimately getting this thing done. But when I say like,

agencies ask people to help them figure out the formula for their

agency, because it can start to get really complicated. So if if

I were you, I would at least start by factoring in cost that

you understand. So look at all of these places that you might

be utilizing to make the graphic happen, or make the photo happen

or make the video happen and figure out how much you pay it

on that every single month. You can add it as a service Speed,

you can integrate, you can slightly notch up the amount

that you're using in your hourly fee. There are a lot of ways

that you can structure that inside of your contract. So

that's one thing to think about. And if you are making a graphic

or if you're making, if you're shooting a photo or a video,

does the client own that outright? Or is that going to be

licensed out to them? Are you going to be the owner of it, and

then they're able to use it for X amount of time or a certain

fee? So lots of lots of things to explore when you're thinking

about how much to charge?

Got you. Got you go Yeah, right. You got

Ronald Lee Jr.: me because I think that's I think that's key

when when it comes to photographers and videographers

specifically, like, I don't know if they know it. I know the

clients don't know that whoever clicks that shutter. Is the

owner footage? That's yeah. Yeah. So to be able, I can say

to have that in the contract to where they know. And once again,

that might be something to where, okay, are you leasing it?

If you're leasing it, then this, this, this, this, this fee, if

you're if I'm giving you ownership of it, then it's this

fee, but that comes with a cost as opposed to just okay, you

hired me to come in? I charge $250 an hour? And then I'm

giving you everything on my SD card. Yeah, nah, you missing out

on a lot

of internet. Yeah, you can also agree to a

certain number of photos. So whenever whenever we ask

photographers to come to us, if we want to own it outright,

we'll say, sometimes we work for photographers, when they don't

know how to work for themselves. So we'll say we only want 25

photos, even if you shoot for, you know, eight hours will pay

you hourly. And then we only expect X amount of photos, we

want to own them outright. And this is what will pay for that.

So if you don't if you don't have a plan for your work, your

client will have a plan or your work. And they don't know what

they don't know, or they do. And they'll negotiate without, with

more knowledge than you. Yeah. Wow.

So when it comes to communication, there are so many

different variables, like, you know, there's visuals, so

there's photography, that's videography, and both of those

have their own world. And then there is the graphic and like

the design aesthetic, and then there is the copywriting, right.

And so who's writing the copy that goes on, say graphic, or

says website or on the bottom of the video, or et cetera, et

cetera. So there are so many different pieces. And I know

that you are a boutique, so to speak, is strategic agency. So

you kind of work with people, you have these two clients that

are like the same. And then this third piece where it's like,

you're really tailoring everything for them. So how do

you come up with a process? Like what's your process of coming up

with a process? To like, make it where you have a so it's not

like so all over the place? Like, I'm working with a client?

Where do I start? I have where, and I have to get them

somewhere? So how do you come? What's your process of coming up

with a process when working with people on a custom level? Well,

I've

been doing this for a couple of days. A lot of

the process has come with experience. It comes with a

heavy listening air. So I know what our team can provide. I

know what our services are, I know what we do well. So my

intention while I'm listening to a client is to figure out how do

they fit well within our structure? Like how do they fit

well within the things that we are existing process? If I throw

our team a curveball, and say we got this client that is left of

center, but what we traditionally do after factor

that factor that into our costs, because it's going to affect how

I paid them or if we're going to have to bring somebody else on

for it. So I'm trying to figure out the simplest way to answer

your question. I guess, ultimately, when I've done it

long enough to know how to listen to I listen, really, I

try to listen really well to what their needs are. And three,

I am not going to create a process that is going that is

against the way that our team operates. So it's not going to

be something totally different. If it is completely different

than I asked him to go somewhere else. Or I will say we can do

these things for you. But this isn't this we cannot do. So we

we avoid doing the things that are outside of our realm of

knowledge.

Ronald Lee Jr.: I love it. I love it. Listen, I can I can go

on and we're glad to have you back because there's so much

more I want to know. But this has been a phenomenal interview.

I'm hoping that our Our audience has gained some value from

listening to you speak about just your journey starting off

once again, like, Okay, I started off here, right, I was

going to school for musical theater, my dad was spinning my

head, you're gonna need some a little more than that. We did, I

listened. But then there were other people in my ear. That way

I kind of helped guide me because once again, I only knew

what I knew. And they could see some other things in me that I

couldn't see. So just the importance of having that

coaching and mentorship and things like that, and then just

having a I had a necessity. So I had a certain skill set that I

that I had, and I needed to, you know, be able to provide for

myself for my child. So I put that I put that skill to work,

but even started off as a volunteer. So just this whole,

this whole journey. Right. And so now you are, you have this

phenomenal communications company. Yeah, I have more I

have a man that is that the time has gotten away from I have more

questions.

We're getting ready to wrap it up. But let's give

them some bonus. Even my own real quick. Okay. So basically,

you said earlier, you came up with this whole idea of

strategy? How do you like like being like, how do I know if

what I'm doing is working? Right? Why are you trying to do

a communications agency in any type of marketing, whatever,

rattle off a list of tools, or sites or wherever they can go to

actually track the effectiveness of what you're doing? Yeah,

if you are a well, any kind of brand, can ask

their people, they can ask their customers. So if you are an

artist, if you are a photographer, if you are,

whatever, ask the people around you, as the people who are

buying the services, is the stuff that I'm doing doesn't

benefit you. So get feedback from your customers. That'll be

thing number one. If you are in comps, you need to look at your

analytics, you need to look at the backside of your website,

you need to look at metal platforms, yes, and see what the

numbers say. And then the final thing I would do is look at your

bank account, evaluate the numbers, what are they doing,

and I would track I would literally write down the things

that I'm doing month over month, I keep a million notes inside of

my notes on my phone. As I'm like thinking of ideas in the

middle of the night, my bank account will reflect whether the

things that I'm putting out here in the streets are actually

making me money or not. So like it's all of it is actually quite

simple. It's a matter of evaluation, paying attention to

the things are going on around you and not being afraid to

look.

Okay, I'm gonna let you off the hook with that. I'm

gonna let you go. That was a good answer for how to know your

business is working. I was saying how they can know if what

they're doing the work they're doing is working like yeah,

that's relative. Like, it depends on

what kind of work they're doing.

Ronald Lee Jr.: I like the fact that she said definitely serving

and asking your client to they know so yeah, definitely survey

and you got to pull your clients and see. So I like that.

Y'all, I'm you. I'm assuming y'all are both

musicians. Yeah. I mean, I know about Sharon, I don't know. I

see the records back there on the wall. I'm assuming I'd

Ronald Lee Jr.: be able to dabble in music production a

little bit. You know?

What you guys, y'all look at them Spotify

numbers right now when you like post something, and you can

click on insights to see if people are engaging or not.

Sometimes we have like a fear of looking like we're just afraid

to look at the places that we already know. So I know it feels

like an easy answer. But it's true.

No, it is true. No, you said that what you say what

you ask for feedback. And also check those analytics and meta.

You know, that's Google, Facebook, Instagram, all those

things. And once you start checking analytics, you'll just

start checking the analytics. Yeah, most important one was the

numbers don't lie check the check the bank account check the

revenue. Okay, I just wanted to give people a little some extra

before we get out of here. I want to say thank you so much

for hopping on with us. unpacking your story and sharing

your tips and tools for other people who are looking to have

agencies and how to like navigate the multitalented world

Ronald Lee Jr.: Yeah, you got it right you guys don't know this.

This was great. I said we're gonna have to have you back

again cannot cannot cannot please actually, I'm getting you

here as it's recorded. So, you know said kick. Can we can we

can we trust that you're going to come come back in and have

another episode with the future.

In the words of my daddy, Lord willing and the

creek don't rise.

All right, and then I actually want to thank those of

you who are tuning into this watching who stayed around all

the way to this point, thank you so much for tuning in to the

mind and my creative business podcast. We really, really truly

appreciate it. One of the things I like to say before we get out

of the podcast is a mantra for us to quote and so here's what I

want you to do. I want you to repeat after me I want you to

say this out loud. All it takes on it takes all it takes is

intention, intention, consistency, consistency, and

laser focus and focus. So my my creative business alrighty then

thank you guys so much for, you know, for saying that with us

and we look forward to seeing you in the next episode.