Jessie Clayton

I would say I have a great support system. I live in downtown Buda in a historic district area, and the guidelines for living in the historic district kind of pull you into local government, which leads to connections to local business owners. Creating those relationships, we all start to care about each other because you're doing business here, you're working here, it's your livelihood, your kids go to the same school. I know for sure, without that ecosystem of everybody being close and caring about whether people succeed, it's just not gonna work out. So, it's my support system I have built, whether it's family, friends, my husband, my kids.

I would say it's to just be myself. I am on the autistic spectrum, and my brain works different in some ways than others. I can see puzzles, and I can figure out how to put people in a room that they necessarily didn't think that they needed to be in, or solving issues in that way. A lot of times when you're researching and studying how to do marketing or how to run a business, it's like follow this guideline, this is what you should be doing. Well, it kind of takes out the you, takes out the creativity. That advice of just be yourself, that's what is the magnet that people are drawn to me, is just me being myself. I'm very honest and upfront, but also kind and willing to help. I'm not going to just call out a flaw or say this could be better. It's more of, hey, have you thought about teaming up with someone else? Have you thought about fill in the blank? It's me coming alongside the business owner or the person in the community. I'm never gonna leave somebody high and dry with just a judgment.

My advice is to get your support system. You need to surround yourself with people who believe in you, but they're not also afraid to say, well, maybe that's not the best thing to do right now, like dumping 10 grand into a program online or things like that. Also, you're not allowed to quit year one, ever. Year one of business, you're in it to win it. It's the hardest part, you're digging down deep with your roots, and then you're going to see the fruits later. As hard as it's going to be, because you're going to be doing literally everything to figure out what works for you, after year one, hopefully you've made enough traction, enough sales, enough connections that you can look back and then research and say, okay, where did my money come from? Where did my relationships come from? How am I growing? Then you are able to eliminate all the other noise and lean into that for your year two and three. Get a support system that you can also just tell everything to, like this is what I'm feeling, this is what I'm doing. Don't trust your emotions at all. Trust your numbers, your research, your metrics.

I would say with the advertising and marketing, the biggest challenge I find is convincing mindsets to know that they need to market. A lot of businesses think that marketing is an optional piece of their budgeting sheet, and if you're not marketing advertisement, you're just planning to not grow, really. You're just hoping and praying that someone will find you, and someone will connect, and that the needs out there are being met by someone, and you're hoping that it's going to be you, versus taking an action step and saying I need to do this, I am supposed to put money in my budget towards this. It's not always just straight print advertisement. It's also about sponsoring events and putting your name on the baseball field, and what pet adoption is going on in the community. Letting your community know that you are there, that you are human, and that you care also, is the best marketing, in my opinion.

I would have to say honesty. Just be honest with your yeses, be honest with your no's. Do not overcommit, don't build something up that is not accurate. You're saving a lot of time and money. You don't have to go back and undo what you did, or regret that payment of some sort of commitment. Just be honest and be kind with your words, without having to placate. I'm never a hard sale for my advertisers. I see myself as, this is an option, you are a mature adult, you can decide yes or no for your business, but if you don't know the information, you'll never be able to make that decision. But it's all honesty. If people are asking me to do something beyond my role, I'm honest in saying no, I'm not going to search Facebook and all the groups and tag you on every single group. No, that's not what I do, but this is what I do. I think setting boundaries and being honest, that's the way to go.