Hi, Andrea! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business:
Andrea TheoJohn, MBA is a marketing and branding professional with over 15 years of global and corporate experience. She's managed over 70 brand professionals in 17 different countries, handled the branding and communications efforts for 160M Euro M&A ventures and now brings that savoire faire to her small and medium-sized business clients with The ADS Agency. Her firm helps brands figure out how to move through this world.
Who are your customers?
ADS customers are established small- to medium-sized B2B/B2G business owners who have no marketing expert on staff. They are generally college-educated, corporate-experienced African-Americans in their 40s-50s, 40% women to 60% male. Their verticals are varied from staffing and legal to science-tech and CPA firms.
What made you take the leap to start your own business?
I originally wasn't going to become an entrepreneur until I was well into my 40s - at least that's what I thought when I was in my young 20s taking entrepreneurship classes in my MBA program. I thought being a business owner was something I would do for fun in early retirement. However, a few years back (in my mid-30s), I found myself in a toxic boss situation at a new job in a new city. My ego was crushed because I prided myself on being able to get along with everyone. It hurt to learn there was a personality out there that I couldn’t work with. It was killing my health. I never even knew physical stress could affect me, personally, until that job. The situation, thankfully, didn't last too long. I'd only been in Atlanta for 10 short months but had already started building my new professional network here. Everyone I ever met who ever asked my advice in marketing or branding over coffee or some chance happy hour told me the same thing when I told them I was looking for my next role: you should just do your own thing. I wasn’t going to do that at all until a friend essentially shoved money into my hands and said “For the 50th time, please do your own thing. And if you will do your own thing, I’m going to be your first client and TELL ME WHAT TO PAY YOU.” Who says no to money in between jobs? That was October 2016. By the holidays, another friend asked what I was up to. I said I was looking for my next job but also I’d started this company and had one client. They said they had 5 companies. “What can you do with them?” Even with vastly undercharging, those first two clients were starting to cover my bills. By that January, when corporate roles and budgets were starting to open up again, I was faced with the choice of taking on my next dream job or perhaps pursuing this new, exciting adventure of entrepreneurship that lay before me. I haven’t looked back since.
Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
At some point. But I thought that wouldn't be until well into my 40s+ (at least that's what I thought in my young 20s when you think your 40s are so very far away, LOL). I thought I'd start either a small non-profit or boutique agency as a form of retirement for fun. Happened a little earlier than I thought (in my mid-30s) but, as Maya Angelou puts it, I wouldn't take nothin' for my journey now!
Take us back to when you first launched your business; what was your marketing strategy to get the word out and did it go as planned?
There was no marketing strategy. I didn't even want to start the business. As explained in my story above, it was just at the pleading of one of my clients — essentially shoving money into money in my hands to take this leap. But I didn't take it that seriously. Didn't believe in it. I thought this was just going to be something for nice side money. Shopping money on the weekends or something, nothing serious. It was a fun exercise in starting an LLC — for when I truly chose to do it in earnest several years later perhaps. Everything was word of mouth. Purely people who learned what I was doing. People in my networks. And the more they found out, the more the word spread, the more I kept getting clients. I've been "lucky" like that to have such a strong network that I've never really had to market — other than putting up my own website and social media channels. However, I will say that starting my YouTube channel was the best thing I ever did as a small business — and I highly recommend it for all my clients who are bold enough to give it a go!
What is the biggest challenge you have encountered along the way so far and what have you learned from it?
The biggest struggle has been figuring out how to remove myself from the business as much as possible: to make it a leaner, operatable machine that can move without me if/when needed.
What accomplishment are the most proud of to date in your business?
Won the 2022 Backing Black Business Small Business Grant from Meta and a host of other partners like The Women Entrepreneur Leadership Lab, US Black Chambers, etc. Also accepted into the Leadership Cobb Class of 2023 with The Cobb Chamber and a host of other recognitions like that. But one of the most recent small wins we haven't even told anyone yet was this: a client letting us know that the people who never regarded them as competition before have now stopped inviting them to their events as they have in the past. When asked why, they said, "Because you're our competitor now." These are BIG, major corporations. All a result of their new marketing and branding efforts to help them appear like the major player they truly are and are becoming. That's one of the best wins I could ever hope for. You know you're doing something right when big companies start seeing you as a force to be reckoned with!
Such impressive wins, Andrea! Do you have any recent wins from the last year that you'd like to celebrate with our community?
Got my business DBE-certified and native-owned recognized. That's big because it opens the door for bigger corporate and government contracts!
What's next for your business? What can we expect to see over the next few years?
Working on a course for the startups who can't afford us yet. That should be a major new offering that will help thousands get the right footing in their business from the start from a marketing and branding perspective and help them have the confidence that they can truly compete in their market space. Other than that, we plan to win some major government and corporate contracts for the first time!
What is your top productivity tip?
Put the big rocks in first — as Steven Covey would say. As a business owner, we have a million things to be done every day. What MATTERS is what moves the needle. Everything else will fall into place. Focus on the things that move you closer to your goals on a daily basis. You'll be happier for it. And don't forget to build in time to take care of you — to eat, to take a break, to breathe in nature. You think you don't have time for it, but it's ultra-critical. Burnout is real, and no one wants to work with a burned-out entrepreneur!
Are there additional ways you avoid that burnout?
In addition to what I said, I'll say you need to learn to listen to your body. Use a journal app on your phone. That can sound fluffy and unnecessary, but it truly helps. If you're an entrepreneur, data should be your friend. My journal app prompts me to pause to check myself randomly throughout the day. How am I feeling right now in this moment? Frustrated? Frazzled? What things are affecting that? If you happen to feel light, happy, relaxed ‚ what brought that on? They're great clues to help you figure out how to balance your world a bit better, so you have enough insular joy to guard you and fuel you through the stress.
What is your approach to work-life balance / integration?
Schedule it. If it's not scheduled, it doesn't happen. Unless you're a "pantser" (flying by the seat of your pants). But that doesn't work too well in business. Don't view your self-care time as negotiable. You matter just like your clients matter. Even more so — nothing happens without you pulling the strings. As my grandma always says, "Take care of yourself. No one else can do it better." You really have to do that. Staying hydrated, getting fresh air, fueling your body with foods that are going to energize you well, and doing things that bring you joy. It's so critical — especially for those of us in the creative space. If we're not happy, our work shows it.
What is one thing you wish you had known when you started your Entreprenista journey?
Connect with people in real life sooner rather than later! Recently met with a fellow Entreprenista in the area and it was fantastic! So cool to have so many things in common. You already have entrepreneurship and Entreprenista going for you. Kind of a recipe for instant friends!
What's the one app on your phone you absolutely cannot live without and why?
Oh, there are too many. But I'll pick one: which is FaceTune. Fab way to quickly edit photos on the fly.
What is your favorite business tool or solution and why?
ClickUp — fab way to stay organized and accountable.
What advice do you have for aspiring Entreprenistas?
Entrepreneurship can feel very lonely. Most people don't have droves of friends who are in the same boat of business ownership. They don't face the same challenges. They don't understand the same struggles and dreams. It doesn't have to be lonely, though. Seek out your communities. Entreprenista should be one of them to connect with other women entrepreneurs. Also check out your local chambers, anything you can find with pockets of people doing the same thing you are. Mentors are invaluable. You NEED people - and a whole lot of faith - to survive and thrive in this business world. You can do it! Just know it doesn't have to be alone girlfriend.
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About the Author
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