In this episode of Business Inspires, host Brett Johnson and co-host Katie Ellis sit down with the dynamic Yasmine Robles, owner and lead (self-proclaimed!) digital nerd of Robles Designs.

Yasmine shares her journey as a solopreneur to becoming the head of a growing team at Robles Designs. She dives into the ups and downs she's faced as an entrepreneur and how personal and business challenges have intersected along the way.

Yasmine emphasizes the importance of networking, building relationships, and creating drool-worthy websites for small businesses "hell-bent" on taking over the world.

She also discusses her strong values on education, team management, and the future aspirations for Robles Designs.

Networking and Business Growth: "I create relationships with people, and I get to know people around the community and in all the networking events, and my goal is to make friends because we all know that it's really hard to make friends when we're we get above a certain age. So I'm, like, if I can just make friends, I'll call it a win. And that has actually helped spur the referrals and the sales that we've gotten, and now we've grown." — Yasmine Robles

Top Takeaways

1. Personal and professional challenges are often intertwined. Yasmine Robles highlights how personal ups and downs influenced her business journey, emphasizing the importance of resilience and determination to reach business success.

2. Networking is key. Yasmine's commitment to networking has not only helped her business grow but has also enabled her to support and inspire others within her community, emphasizing the power of genuine connections.

3. Business values matter. Yasmine emphasizes the significance of providing support and education to clients, prioritizing relationship building over sales pitches, and striving to empower clients with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions for their businesses.

4. Embracing a progressive work culture. Yasmine values her team and demonstrates this through flexible work hours, unlimited PTO, and by offering comprehensive benefits, portraying a people-first approach to business management.

5. Multifaceted inspiration. Yasmine's background as an industrial designer has imbued her design process with a focus on diverse sources of inspiration, from physical objects to user experiences, driving the creativity in her work.

6. Continuous learning and adaptability. By being attuned to the latest tech trends and relying on her team for input, Yasmine highlights the importance of staying relevant in a fast-paced industry.

7. Long-term strategic planning. Yasmine's participation in the Goldman Sachs entrepreneurship program reinforced her understanding of her balance sheet and strengthened her strategic business planning abilities, providing invaluable insight into financial management.

8. Pursuing diverse projects. Beyond her passion for serving b2b clients, Yasmine is open to a variety of projects and clients, reflecting her adaptability and ability to find joy in new experiences, particularly in product-based businesses like seasonings and coffee products.

9. Ambitious yet grounded aspirations. Yasmine's vision for the future combines business growth with a balanced personal lifestyle, maintaining a remote work environment and a focus on recurring clients.

Memorable Moments

00:00 Personal ups and downs affect business success.

05:16 Corporate culture breeds competition, unlike business ownership.

08:50 Flexibility and benefits matter more than pay.

12:38 Using user feedback to improve website usability.

15:52 Personal connections and budget flexibility for projects.

18:18 Team ensures staying current with AI and design.

21:40 Exceeding goals, surprised to be a business owner.

24:19 Passionate about crime podcasts and design marketing.

To run a successful business, you need resources, valuable connections, and community recognition. Business Inspires will provide you with the tools, resources, and examples to inspire you to create the business you envision.

With more than 60 years as an integral part of the Grandview, Upper Arlington, and Marble Cliff communities, the Tri-Village Chamber Partnership is dedicated to a singular purpose - the success of the business community.

Thank you for downloading, listening, and following Business Inspires, a Tri-Village Chamber Partnership podcast.

This season is presented by: 

• City of Upper Arlington.
• Robles Designs
• City of Grandview
• LBB Edutainment

To schedule a guest appearance, or find out more about sponsoring Business Inspires, send an email to:

Katie Ellis, President/CEO, Tri-Village Chamber Partnership

katie@chamberpartnership.org

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Copyright 2024 Tri-Village Chamber Partnership

Mentioned in this episode:

Be Your Best Self 2024

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TriVillage Chamber Partnership link

Welcome to Business Inspires, where our goal is to inspire you to create the business you envision. I'm Brett Johnson, Tri Village Chamber Partnership board member and the owner of Circle 270 Media Podcast Consultants. Thanks for following and subscribing to the podcast. With me is Katie Ellis, president and CEO of the Tri Village Chamber Partnership and cohost of the podcast. Great to be here with you, Katie.

Great to be here too. And today, we have our most wonderful guest, Yasminee Robles of Robles Designs. They do web design, graphic, and brand design. And, Yasmine, one of the things that I most love about you is your sense of humor and the way you vibe with the wordsmithing, if that's the word. But, I love that when you get up and introduce yourself, this is one of your famous quotes about Robles designs that you create drool worthy websites for small businesses hell bent on taking over the world. And you also describe yourself as the owner and lead digital nerd of Robles Designs. What else would you like to share about, how you got started?

Yasmine of my other titles is officially the lead nagger at Robles Designs. I nag clients to get me stuff, when my employees don't get it. So, I have many titles. Yeah. We got started I got started as a solopreneur years years ago. I think that I created the first the first time I officially created a business was 2014, and then pivoted to naming it Robles Designs later on, left corporate around, like, I wanna say 2017, 2018, and haven't looked back really yet. There's been ups and a lot of ups and downs in the business, but it's looking like we're growing. We're growing a team.

I actually have people now that allow me to nag them and, and who enjoy also going out and getting tacos. So it's it's pretty cool team, and and I'm happy where with where the business is going.

Well, let's talk a little bit. I wanna expand on that ups and downs. So without necessarily getting specific about talk a little bit about those ups and downs, how you got through those up ups and downs. As as an entrepreneur, we all go through them. And sometimes we just like, I cannot see the light of day at the end of this tunnel. Can you talk about a little bit how you got through them at least?

Yeah. So our, the business ups and downs, and it's funny how personal tends to interweave personal issues tend to interweave with business. Whenever there's been a hiccup in personal life, whether it's someone's health, taking a turn, usually it's help with our family's health related, but it's it's always those ups and downs that then affects the business, especially as a solopreneur. And so looking back at the if you just look at income for the business, every time there's a dip, it's usually something happened in in our purse in Microsoft life. And then about 2 years ago, I wanna say about a year and a half ago, I was like, you know what? There's there's currently a down in the family dynamics, but I'm going to try to make this give it a go, give it a just a final push and see if, if I can do this. Because at that moment, I had a part time junior designer who's who's still with us. She's full time now. And she was managing a lot of the stuff, and the business was still growing without me in it as much as as I used to be because of those personal issues.

And I was like, this is a sign that I can make something out of this. So I pushed through a little bit and just started networking again like like heck, and it worked out a lot, and I also credit it to just I'm not a salesperson. I I create relationships with people, and I get to know people around the community and in all the networking events, and my goal is to make friends because we all know that it's really hard to make friends when we're we get above a certain age. So I'm, like, if I can just make friends, I'll call it a win. And that has actually helped spur the referrals and the sales that we've gotten, and now we've grown. And I've also started to delegate. I think one of the biggest weirdly, one of the biggest things that has helped the growth of the business has been investing in people, and I've I'm so excited to say that I have, knock on wood, but I have one of the best teams. They they put up with me.

They they are incredible. They if they don't know something, they will go and figure it out and and report back. So I've been blessed with this incredible team of people who can help push the business forward. It's the delegation has been really helpful.

That's great. Yeah. And and what you described, everybody goes through. You know, you can't you can't take personal out of business. You just can't. It's gonna affect you somehow. It is. Yeah.

And and, you know, I know Katie and I were both super lucky to get to work with you on, well, on two fronts, receive the benefits of your expertise. Oh my gosh. And because you give it so freely. I I love that, but at the same time, you know, you you know where to stop. And then, you know and and see how you care for people who reach out to to pick your brain as well as how you manage your team. Can you talk about how your values influence the way you run your business and work with your clients?

Yeah. So I would say I don't know if it's really a values thing, but it's when I was in corporate, it felt a lot of at least it might not it might have been just my perception of it, but it was a lot more competition. And you wanted to keep your job, so you had to do, you know, you might keep things to yourself, or information was siloed and depending on your role, you might not receive all of the information you wanted. And then as a business owner, I realized that people are really nice and they are sometimes they need support and then they will try their hardest if you give them support, whether it's a year from now, 5 years from now, they will send you a referral. They will, in some way, try to thank you for that. So just when you say that I give information freely, what number 1, it's to overwhelm you, and that way you can hire us. But number 2, you're you're gonna come back to me, in some way. Right? So if I if someone needs to just chat for with over coffee and talk about social media, that's totally fine.

And eventually, it'll just come back in some way, shape, or form. Just it's it's hard out there. And hopefully, I can make it a little easier, especially for businesses that are starting up, just giving them some of that information, whether it's through a workshop, a coffee chat, taco chat, whatever they wanna whatever they wanna do. And then with current clients, it's really about education. So when I got started, it was a lot of, you know, some some people kept the the information of what's going on behind the scenes of a website to themselves, and they would just present the final piece to the client. And I really wanna educate the client to make the best decisions for their business. So I will break down the jargon and just, again, education. Just keep giving them the information.

If they wanna continue with us or that's great. If they feel like they can do it on their own after we educate them, that's great too. But I know that I did my part and that they have they're making the decisions based on knowledge and not fear.

Mhmm. Yeah. I love that. And just to circle back a little bit about your, networking prowess, you are everywhere. You really are. You're out and about. And I think that, looking back, you've probably introduced me to the most people and, the people that I was able to make the most connections with, to push things forward in a direction that's really beneficial for the chamber. So thank you for that.

And I've just heard from, a myriad of people that have met with you 1 on 1 that you've helped and supported, and just the things that you've said to inspire and encourage them, to keep them going. And then also, again, just giving them, like, really wise and beneficial information that they can they have, like, something to, go and do right then whether they hire you or not. So thank you for that. And I think, I learned when we were doing, something together, we were in an event together, and you had said that when you hired your people, that, they don't have, like, any PTO. It's just, like, whatever or how how would you describe it? Unlimited, you know, I guess.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Can you just speak a little bit about, like, where your head was when you decided to do that?

Yeah. So number 1 with the events, you can get me to an event if there's food. So

The secret's out.

Yeah. The secret's out. Like, if you if you say it's a it's a morning event and a specific time in the morning, I'm like, okay. So apparently, there's gonna be pastries or something, right, bagels? But, when it comes to the my employees, I was you know, I'm a small agency. I can't pay the big bucks that a large large corporation can pay, but I can offset that with certain benefits. So for me, I I'm also kinda lazy, so I don't wanna be micromanaging someone and counting how many hours to be minute you took off because it's not I I really, I don't care as long as you get the work done. If I'm paying you a salary, just meet your goals, meet the deadlines, make it to a meeting. But if you're gonna have off on a full day on a Friday because you finished all your work, that's great.

I'm excited for you. You do not have to work the 40 hours. So when it came to the PTO, I was like, I I don't wanna be counting people's hours of how much time they took off. So I did the unlimited PTO. We're offering, a health insurance because as a small business, I know how expensive when I was a solopreneur, I knew how expensive it was to have your own, insurance. And so helping them out with health insurance is important to me, and not just, like, health, but health, dental, vision, all the all the things, mental support. And then right now, we're trying to figure out how to get retirement into that package as well. So retirement just really from all the mistakes that I've made as a, when I was starting out in life, I'm like, okay, I really needed somebody to give me retirement.

I needed this and this. So, I'm trying to provide that. We're fully remote. So, again, I don't care when you work. We're asynchronous as long as you make it to meetings and our meeting deadlines, I don't care when you work, if it's midnight or if it's, like, 5 AM. Whenever you feel most creative or comfortable to to get that work done, that's that's fine. And I do try to limit meetings to just Tuesdays through Thursdays or especially for the team. I might take a meeting, but they're not obligated to take those meetings because, again, it's it's really about, making sure that they have benefits and that they feel excited and happy to work in at Robles Designs.

So where do you get your inspiration? I mean, you you you are always energized. Always. I mean, I've never seen you down and you know, unless you're just really tired or something like that, but just you're always on. So, I mean, where where do you get your inspiration just to keep going?

To keep going or or inspiration for design?

Well, you know, both. Let's go with both because, design is always something you had to have amused. Yeah. You know, that sort of thing. Let's look at both, you know, and I because I think that makes a big difference in regards to, okay, where does where does this where does this person get her creativity from? Yeah.

Yeah. So when it comes to design, it's it's a lot of different things. It can be so I was trained as an industrial designer. And in industrial design, you really focus on the user, whether how they're holding a stapler, how they're sitting in a chair, how they use a door handle, right? So it's really the user and where you get your inspiration from, it could be the door handle is inspired by, some kind of plant, right? And so you take your inspiration from every everything that's around you in your environment, whether it's something three-dimensional or or a flyer that you see posted. That's really, to me, a a really great source of inspiration and growth in design for strategy, just getting feedback from people. And when people say, oh, I went to this webs usually, it's a government website. I went to this government website, and I was really frustrated because I didn't know where where things were. I like going and snooping on that site because then I can learn from other website mistakes and say, okay.

Well, if the user told me that it was hard for them to find certain information, how can I apply that to the websites that I'm building, that my team is building, and, and not make those same issues come up for for users? When it comes to just how to keep going, I well, my mortgage payment is always due. Yeah. And but really setting, if I'm gonna make a go of this, it's really setting a good example for my team, setting a good example for my my kids who, one of them is homeschooling. So they see me sitting down and working and taking breaks, and just really other than the mortgage, just really being that example of I can do this, especially from the, there are certain things in my childhood that happened and how I've been able to overcome those and and grow, within the community, grow, personally, that's always, I think, a driving force. I'm also kind of a perfectionist and and keep setting the bar higher for myself. So so I'm always measuring up to what I did last month, which is not healthy, but, that's, I think, how I keep going as well. It's that inner competition.

And you just completed well, not just, but a little while ago, did the Goldman Sachs?

Yes.

Was it an entrepreneur? I can't remember exactly who all is invited to that.

Yeah. It's, a a a lot of entrepreneurs have been in there for at least 2 years. There's a certain income, and there's a couple of qualifiers. You go through an interview process, application process. It was it was great. I got this entire plan for the business, for up to, like, what, 5 years from now, like, where how to get clients, what how many clients I need, that sort of thing. And another way of thinking about business, and I actually understand my balance sheet now. So my accountant is really excited because she's been sending that stuff to me for months and I never look at them.

I'm just like, oh, there's money in the bank. But now I understand exactly what it is that's on every sheet and how to make business decisions based on that. So that was the coolest part. It was hard because it was in person for full Fridays every single week. Sometimes also during the week they have homework. And, that really pushed me to understand what the what skill sets my employees had and how incredible they are at. Sometimes I miss information, and they go out there and get that information in order to complete the project. I was gone basically once a day.

I was basically only working Monday through Thursday and trying to catch up on the weekends, and they were still able to make projects move forward. So it was a it was a hard time, but I think it was a great time for me to

Just meandering through your website, you showcase a lot of diversity in the range of projects that you do. Do you have a favorite kind of project? Oh, I know the chamber, but besides the chamber

yes. Of course. The chamber. We I honestly, it's really about how I jive or how the team jives with the client. Those are our favorite projects. It's can we go out and have some tacos, maybe tequila, but some tacos with you and just kind of, if I can go out and have lunch with you and not feel awkward, usually, that's a good sign that we're a good match. Obviously, having the budget, but it we have a range of packages that will fit your needs depending on if you're a startup and have smaller budget or if you need to take that website to the next level. In terms of the I don't know, we work with lawyers, a lot of b to b, but right now we're working with a company that does seasonings and they're a ton of fun because it's a product and I accidentally, on purpose, will also take that product and use it in my own in my own kitchen.

And by me, I mean my husband because I don't cook. But, you know, we've had coffee products as well, creating at our ecommerce sites, and I love coffee. Coffee is what keeps me going and and tea, and so that I've I've loved those product based businesses. But, yeah, usually, it's b to b. I love taking the boring, quote, unquote, boring businesses like accountants and lawyers and really making their websites unique without the Columbus skyline in there because every single lawyer has a Columbus skyline, but really honing in on their brand and making them look unique so that they stand out among their competition.

So it's the taco test. You have to

go to the taco test Taco test.

With Yasmine. That's interesting. Okay. Yeah. So how do you keep up with the constant change in tech? I mean, we all have websites. We all do. And how do you stay up with the latest and the greatest and temper that? Yeah.

It's it's it's starting to get harder now that I'm shifting more into that CEO owner role and I'm out and about and doing things like this, like a podcast. But really there's a couple of sites that I follow newsletters that I get. I have Google alerts where if something, if something new keyword pops up, it'll alert me to it. So that's how I stay up to date, but what really has helped is getting my, these employees. I keep talking about my team. I think I have a crush on my team, but

they are

they're in the weeds. Right? So they will they will alert me when there's new trends or when Izzy is creating social media and she's coming up with a strategy she's like actually this is trending and I'm like is it? Okay cool Ariel will come up with new design ideas, getting inspiration from other places and it's just it's all coming together where, yes, I get to maybe go out and eat more food at networking events and show my face around more that I have to do more cardio, but Izzy and Ariel and the rest of the team, Aaron, and Beth, really keep things going and really make sure that we are up to date whether it's AI, a new design trend, new type of fonts that are coming out. They really help keep the business alive.

Love that. Also, going through your website, I love that you have a favorites list, and something that we'll put in the show notes because I think it's really important is, your top secret website starter checklist, giving out all of the all of the bomb information there. Just looking a little bit ahead for Robles designs, do you have I know you did the Goldman Sachs, like, 5 year plan, but can you share with us, like, those, dreams and aspirations that you have for the future?

Yeah. I I originally, years years ago, I wanted, like, this huge marketing agency, at least 20 people. I wanted to do everything in house. But right now, I see the value in partnerships and whether it's partnering with photographers and videographers in order to really create a cohesive look and feel in the digital realm for clients. I love my team right now, the size that it is. I probably will be hiring, a full time web developer at some point. I love Erin, who's our online business manager and, you know, for, for, in 5 years, I would still be remote. Likely still have the team, hopefully the team that I have having hired some more.

And for myself personally, just traveling around, that would be the bomb. Like just being able to be in a digital nomad with the kids. Probably not in a van that might be a little too small for right now, but, and not in my Mini Cooper. Let's make a taco. Let's say, let's keep with the theme of tacos. We'll do a taco tour maybe of the states. That could be great. But really we want to make sure that we have those recurring clients.

So we, what we offer are when and done websites and branding and that sort of thing. But we also, do offer basically we're a marketing department in your pocket. So we're trying to get more of those clients in whether it's a smaller tier level or a large tier level and ensuring that they don't have to worry about managing 5 different team members. And they know who their creative director is, which would be me. And that my team can handle a lot of the things that they need so that they do feel like they are capable of growing the business. So really getting a couple of more of those clients would be ideal within the next 5 years. But I'm really excited about where the growth is going. It's kind of weird.

It's like we keep I keep setting goals and we keep exceeding them and I'm like, how is this? Wait, am I a business owner now? Is this legit? I have to sign paychecks. Like what is what is going on? And I never would have thought of this Now I was a nerd and I love being the editor of school newspaper in high school. And I did all the things that that I may make sense now. Like I, this is why I love controlling people, not controlling people, but being a business owner. I love being a business owner and managing all these different facets, and I never thought of that in high school. Right? I thought I was gonna be an industrial designer or graphic designer working under someone. And now I'm like, oh my god. I get to maneuver this ship, however small it is, and and just kind of take us to the next phase of growth.

That's cool. Yeah. Well, unbeknownst to many people at at at in at the at the chamber, we we've had a movie production company come to us and ask, hey. We we wanna make a movie about somebody, and we it's gotta be Yasminee. So they're asking us what actor should play your part in that movie about your life.

Yeah. I would say right now, my idol is America Ferrera. Whether it's, I don't, I think I've heard from, from Superstore, but from the Barbie movie, the monologue that made me, like, just bawl and, like, just cry while my 10 year old is staring at me Yasminee me why. I'm like, but it's all true. My lived experience. Right. Yeah. Not only does she have, like, I I I love her on screen presence, but she looks like a real woman.

Like, she looks like she could be a friend. Maybe we could go out for tacos. If she hears us, I would totally my treat, I will go out for tacos.

We'll tag her in social, see what happens.

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. You never know. But, yeah, I think that she just has this feeling of she's a real person, but she's also like this, she's got goals and dreams and she's got a personality and but she seems like she's down to earth. Like, she totally digs some

tacos. I think that's a perfect fit. Perfect. Yeah. Why not match the the the life on screen as behind the screen too? Exactly. Mhmm.

So you probably also make me sound smarter. That'd be great. No. Just my let's. Man. It makes me sound like I know what I'm doing. I listen to you.

Well, thank you so much for your time. Of course, we'll put all of the ways to get a hold of you and follow you into the show notes. And, any final last words of advice or wisdom?

Well, I'm really into crime podcasts, so remember that nobody know crime and always ask for a lawyer, no matter what, even if you're innocent. In terms of design, you can always find me on our website, robosdesigns.com. If you really if you just wanna chat over coffee and have questions about marketing or need to just you need someone to help you decipher jargon, just let me know. I'm more than happy to help. You can message us on there or on Instagram or any of the other other social platforms that we're on. Sounds good. Wonderful.

And I know that we'll do with the, Chamber, we're working on a, marketing workshop that people can attend. So, everyone look out for that.

Exactly. Listeners, thank you for joining us, and don't forget to check out our podcast page on the Tri Village Chamber website. I'm assuming this episode probably will be front and center because, Yasmine controls that. So, you know, you'll be prepared for that. Look for the podcast tab at the top of the home page and tell us what you think about this or any of our episodes at info at chamber partnership dot org.