Hi Marathoners! For my first post I wanted to share the story behind Marathon Marketing & Branding along with a few pieces of advice for new entrepreneurs out there. For me, I talked about starting my own marketing company for at least two years before Marathon Marketing & Branding was founded. Making the public declaration that I was going to try something new and not know what the end result would be was terrifying.

However, I finally took that leap of faith when I realized I have literally been surrounded my entire life by so many brave entrepreneurs that are living proof that passion and perseverance go a long way. My Papa Clem started a pest control company, Triple S, my Papa Luke and Nana ran two restaurants and a motel, later my dad ran Triple S for almost 20 years, and my mom has been running her real estate business for over 14 years.

Through internships and my first job at Deloitte (shout out to Heidi!), I found my passion for marketing and branding, and loved experimenting to find what messaging and channels resonate with a target audience. In 2015, my boyfriend’s parents, now husband and in-laws, took a chance on me and trusted me to manage the social media for their restaurants, Spitony’s Pizza and Northside 29. And boy am I so thankful they did. I loved it!!! I found something that excited and motivated me. I wanted success and growth for them ALMOST as much as they did. After all, your business is like your baby. Later I took on another client and another and realized I found my passion and thus Marathon Marketing & Branding was born.

Since founding my business, there are a few things this journey has taught me that I hope other entrepreneurs starting out can take away.

• Slow growth is growth – Celebrate the small wins. Networking with a potential client. Sharing your company with someone that didn’t know about it before. Earning a new contract. Growth doesn’t happen overnight, but little steps are a big deal.
• Give yourself grace – Didn’t have time to accomplish that never-ending to-do list and feel guilty for going to bed? Thought things would be progressing a lot quicker? Give yourself grace. Launching my own business has been navigating uncharted territory. Sometimes tasks take longer than anticipated (like building this blog). That clever tagline doesn’t hit you right away. Keep pushing through and don’t get discouraged.
• Others want you to succeed – Podcasts have become my jam! So many entrepreneurs that are further along in their journey have TONS of free knowledge and wisdom to share, and I’m soaking it all in. A couple of my favorites at the moment are The Rise Podcast with Rachel Hollis and EntreLeadership.

Follow this blog as I continue to run my race and hopefully you’ll join my team or cheer me on from the sidelines!