I’ve been keeping a secret for two months – I have a new venture, The Marketing Greenhouse, which you can check out here!
Why I’m starting a new business
Since taking my business full-time, I’ve missed having coworkers. Camaraderie is super important to me and as a soloprenuer that’s hard to find. I’ve been fortunate to make a lot of friends through blogging, events and consulting, but it’s not the same.
The second reason is because of that last sentence – blogging, events, and consulting. It was too many things under one umbrella! Truth be told, my business is about 75% consulting. I’ve been quietly consulting for a year now and it just didn’t fit with Girl Meets Party. As I was working on how to pull marketing & social media consulting out of my business, this idea came to fruition. It’s funny because one of my last catch up conversations before this was with Jeannine from Ready Pretty. During our chat, she said, ‘Why don’t you just start another business?’ to which I replied, ‘Oh God NO!.’ Well… she was right.
Here’s how it happened
I was having a catch-up coffee with an old co-worker, Tracy Fadden. Tracy was actually my mentor at my first job. Well, Tracy started her own business last year called Reverie Meditation. We were discussing just how hard it is to start your own business. She was also toying with getting into consulting, and I shared my experience. We randomly started riffing on this ‘business boot camp‘ idea for people. By the end of our coffee, we had agreed to attempt creating a business together and just see what happens.
Around the same time, Jessie Barnes Bernhardt had reached out with an idea to start a podcast – just for fun. We met on Instagram a few years back. As we got to talking, I knew she’d be a great addition because of her digital background. I told her I had a wild idea and she went with it!
After a few conversations, we were literally in business with The Marketing Greenhouse and with our first client booked!
What is The Marketing Greenhouse
The Marketing Greenhouse is an agency for companies aspiring to start, scale or structure their business. We design business, marketing, and digital strategies tailored to deliver value and elevate your offering. Our approach is rooted in the balance of methodical, corporate training with a strong bias for action and entrepreneurial thinking.
We accelerate businesses by quickly understanding the landscape and engineering strategies that deliver solutions. As your strategic partner, we invest time with businesses to ensure seamless execution while meeting long-term needs. You can find more about the business here, too.
What’s been the biggest adjustment
Hands down the happiest part and the biggest adjustment for me is having co-workers again. I’ve been on my own for almost two years now, and even before then, my role in corporate was on my own team for about 18 months. Adjusting to other people’s schedules and ideas isn’t a bad thing, but it’s a thing. I’ve also been an efficiency monster since I had Emmie. I like to joke around that I live a HIIT lifestyle where I work in spurts, mom in spurts, run the house in spurts, etc. etc.
Jessie & Tracy have happily slowed me down a little. We have team meetings where we just catch up for a few minutes. I haven’t spent time in that way for a while, and it’s good.
What I’m most excited about
I’m excited about where we’re planning to take The Marketing Greenhouse. We have grand plans with how many businesses we can help as well as how many additional consultants we can hire. One of the reasons the three of us banded together is because we have dynamic lives that don’t support an 80-hour work-week. We’re not the only ones with an aspiration to work on meaningful projects, but not have work be our entire life. Our vision is to keep people (especially women!) in the workforce longer while leveling up businesses through business, marketing, and digital strategy.
How this changes my own business
I’ve been re-working my business for a few months, which will roll out with my new site soon. The only major change is that any large consulting projects will flow through to The Marketing Greenhouse. I also have the ability to partner with people on projects now, which is nice! I have a few changes I’m making to the business (coming soon!) but it’s independent of The Marketing Greenhouse.
My favorite part of the business, which will be yours, too!
If you’ve made it this far, you’re my hero. This is a long post!! My favorite part of the business currently is our 20-minute jump start sessions. There’s more information on our website. We’re taking calls with small businesses for 20-minutes to solve a challenge for FREE! You can book your appointment here. I think during this uncertain time we could all use some extra help, and The Marketing Greenhouse is here for people!! Have any additional questions? Shoot me an email!
Affectionately known to her friends as Millennial Martha for her love of DIY and decorating, Jen can’t help but pour her heart + soul into everything she touches. She’s loved to entertain since acquiring a table and chairs, and giving gifts is one of her favorite hobbies. Jen is the creator of Girl Meets Party. Her dream is to share her passions with the world in hopes to inspire others by making the seemingly unattainable attainable.
