The Unsure Entrepreneur

The Unsure Entrepreneur Podcast
Guest: Faith Seekings, Rapportinc.ca

SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Entrepreneurship, pivoting, business model, adaptability, content marketing, brand storytelling, strategic content, graphic design, client relationships, marketplace opportunity, creative refresh, business evolution, collaboration, entrepreneurial journey, business success.
SPEAKERS
Roger Pierce, Faith Seekings

Faith Seekings 00:00
This isn't your lifetime business necessarily like things are going to change. We're going to change.

Intro 00:05
You're listening to the Unsure Entrepreneur Podcast with Roger Pierce. Whether you're scribbling business ideas on a napkin or wrestling with the should I shouldn't I question, Get ready to explore the realities, the risks and the rewards of entrepreneurship as we share the stories, scars and successes of small business owners,

Roger Pierce 00:27
Welcome to the Unsure Entrepreneur Podcast show that helps you sort through the doubts, risks and realities of starting or running your own business. If you're sitting on a business idea or wondering whether to evolve your current venture, you're in the right place. Today we're talking about pivoting, that moment when an entrepreneur decides to shift their business model, focus or audience. Some pivots are inspired by burnout or the need for a creative refresh, while others are driven by changes in the market. Either way, they can be game changing. A study found that 70% of startups that achieved success had pivoted their business model at least once, which speaks to the importance of adaptability in the entrepreneurial journey. Netflix, a business that started as a DVD rental by mail service and competed with traditional video stores, famously pivoted into a streaming model, and we all now Netflix and chill. My guest today is Faith Seekings. A longtime friend and someone I've known professionally for decades. Fun fact, I once rented an office within her agency. Faith is a veteran entrepreneur, brand, storyteller and content strategist with nearly three decades of experience helping service based businesses communicate their value with both clarity and confidence. She's the founder of rapport Communications, Inc, where she has served as both creative director and lead writer while she began her business as a graphic designer. Today, she focuses her talents on helping B to B professionals and entrepreneurs craft stand out content marketing, from web copy to thought leadership, articles to email campaigns. Her website is rapportinc.ca, Now faith built her successful marketing and branding firm from the ground up, and more recently, made a bold pivot to focus exclusively on writing and strategic content. Today we're going to unpack what led to that shift and how other entrepreneurs can navigate a similar reinvention with purpose and confidence. Welcome to the podcast, faith.

Faith Seekings 02:30
Hi, thank you for having me, Roger. It's good to talk to you again.

Roger Pierce 02:35
It's so great to have you here. We haven't talked for a while. We reconnected on LinkedIn, and I got to and then we had a phone call, and then you updated me, and you said, Yeah, I've taken this new direction. And I'm like, Wow, what a great chance for us to share it all on a podcast. So here we are looking forward to unpacking what you have to say and some lessons for entrepreneurs out there. So let's dive in a bit. So you started as a full service agency, and I know you grew up to a number of employees. You had great space, etc, but now you've reinvented yourself. So you can, can you walk us through your entrepreneurial journey and maybe share a couple lessons you've learned along the way?

Faith Seekings 03:16
Sure, happy to well first, I will say that I reinvented myself twice. So first, wasn't that huge a change, but it definitely goes along with the lessons I learned along the way. As you mentioned, I started as a designer, I grew to a full agency that has 10 employees at the most. At one point, I even bought another agency for the man who wanted to retire. That was sort of the peak of that. But then after a while, I found that I just wasn't happy anymore, and I wasn't happy being responsible for everything and running the show. Over the years, people would ask me, do you miss doing the design? And I said, No, I identify as an entrepreneur. First, I think, which I had no idea growing up, there weren't entrepreneurs in my family. But once I started down this road, I felt like I found myself and my calling. So that was a big important to me, but I wasn't happy anymore. I remember a point where, in hindsight, I feel like I was at the peak, but it kept going on. I like I got past that, and I hadn't changed anything, and I did get to a point where I was really unhappy, so I decided to make a big change. That first one was to reduce the business size to just myself, and it took a while to do it. I, like, a year. I'm not gonna, I wasn't just gonna leave clients hanging or, you know, suddenly turf employees. And honestly, it would have cost a lot of money to do that. So a friend helped me come to this decision, which was a hard one to make, that this is what I wanted to do, and I was actually moving towards shutdown. I did try selling it a couple times, but it was so based on me that I couldn't I. Other man who I bought his business, he had retired by this time, so it was really based on me. I was headed towards shutdown. And as the last people left, or people started leaving, I ended up doing more work again. And I realized, yes, I did miss the design that was part of it. I started liking it again, so I kept it going for a while longer.

So one of my lessons learned from this was that from that first part in that first pivot, is that success isn't always measured in dollars, for me, and even talking about why I did this years later, to people, to especially to even professionals, like a therapist, because it was actually really hard to come to terms with making this major change for this baby that I had raised all these years and felt so responsible for, is that what came out as the highlights for me always had to do with the family that I built and the stories with my team, and I was blessed to meet wonderful people like give a big shout out to Lisa. She was my first hire and my last to leave, but all of them were amazing, and we just had so much fun together, and we created some really great things. And that's when I measure success. Business for millions of dollars. In the end, I couldn't sell it at all. I saw my sold my furniture. I had done some equipment, but that was one my second pivot was also triggered by not being happy with what I was doing anymore either. This is where the creative refresh comes in. But before I go on to that, I will mention my second big lesson learned was that this was really, really early on, and this is one of the things I tell people I like sharing with entrepreneurs right away is you don't have to be miserable doing the things you're really bad at. If you hire somebody to do the administrative work for you, even if they're not billable, that's what makes it hard to do this, because hiring an administrative work isn't necessarily billable hours. Unlike Lisa, who was also a designer, and I could bail her out and make money on it, you'd be a lot happier doing that, even if it's just a bookkeeper to help you organize your documents for taxes, whatever it is. But the moment I had a part time administrative person come in and she set up a stationary corner, felt like a big weight was off my shoulders and keeping track of money and the invoicing and all of that. That's another big lesson I learned that I like to share.

Roger Pierce 07:25
So that is fascinating. So much there to unpack. I mean, I like what you said first, you said entrepreneur first, right? And graphic designer slash writer now. Second, it's so true, right? As entrepreneurs, we all kind of pivot along the way. I've had 14 small businesses. I don't even want to bore people with what all those businesses did, because I've changed so often. But that's the thing, isn't it. We get addicted to this lifestyle. We get used to this lifestyle. We're no good working for anybody else as an employee. If we need to refresh and change our business model along the way, that's cool, isn't it?

Faith Seekings 08:00
Yeah, to keep going. I do remember when I first went on on my own, just really, like I said, feeling like I found myself meeting other entrepreneurial people like you. I felt like I found my tribe. It was just even at times where money was like, I didn't know where it was going to come from next and stuff, it still felt less stressful working for other people, somehow, entrepreneurs have a lot in common, I think, with their personality types.

Roger Pierce 08:28
Absolutely. I don't know whether it's a certain level of craziness, faith or it's just a passion. It's a combination of combination.

Faith Seekings 08:38
There's a sense of bravery, like I used to often say, feel the fear and do it anyway. That was the kind of person I, I always have been, is feel to fear and do it anyway. Priesthood jokes that I'm under. You know, I'm distracted by shiny objects, but like we're excited by things that are new and different and want to try new things that see opportunities, and we're just more motivated by that kind of change and interesting things, and we're afraid of it.

Roger Pierce 09:05
I think shiny object syndrome, absolutely, I suffer from that. One of the guys I listen to a lot shout out to my friend Evan Carmichael, who provides, you know, tons of entrepreneur inspiration and motivation through his 10s of 1000s of self help videos. You can check them out at Evan carmichael.com or search for him on YouTube. But I was watching one of his videos this week about procrastination, and I'm like, Oh, my God, that's me. He provides these really good tips on how to stay focused and get things done, stuff we all struggle with. Back to you, so you're moving along in your business. You're getting a little tired of the graphic design. Staying fresh is important in business, as you talked about. But what was the point faith where you decided, Okay, enough of graphic design, and that end of things, I want to pivot. Was there a moment, or was it a gradual feeling?

Faith Seekings 09:55
I think it was gradual, and it wasn't until I said it out loud, but what had happened was that. Um, I had a an illness and death in the family that kind of took me away from work for a while, and then when it came to time to return, I I couldn't get I couldn't get motivated to do it. I was like, I don't, I just don't really want to do this anymore. And it was the design. But it wasn't until I talked to an old friend, somebody who I I've never worked with, like she actually came in and did some work on planning with my team and did personality tests and stuff, and we had a great conversation. And I said, you know, I'm thinking about doing this. And she said, which was focus on writing, because I realized that that was the part that I liked over the years, and I had started doing it a lot to just fill in for clients. When I got smaller. I wasn't firming anything out. I had time to do it myself. I have always been a good writer and enjoyed doing it. I was kind of just doing it as filler, and not really saying, this is something I do, if you know what I mean. And I said, I think this is where I'm most happy, and this is what I want to focus on. She is very lively and enthusiastic person, and she was like my biggest cheerleader as soon as I said that. And in fact, she was my first client. She's like, can you hire me, or can you help me with my website and my blog posts, and kind of go from there. So she's been really great to help me figure out how to do all this and what I want to do. And I ended up doing a lot more than that for her as well. But that was kind of the moment I would say, sitting there on this patio saying to somebody, I think this is what I want to do, and her saying, Please do it for me. Let's go.

Roger Pierce 11:35
The opportunity came along in the form of a customer of a client, and said, Hey, can you do this for me? Yeah, and you tried it out and you liked it? I did, yeah. I was doing a little bit of research before our talk. And not all pivots are from the marketplace or voluntarily. Sometimes companies are forced to change their hand, just like the case of Twitter right originally launched as Odeo, a platform for discovering and subscribing to podcasts. The company faced a significant challenge when Apple introduced iTunes podcasting feature which rendered Odeo’s model obsolete. Not quite sure if I'm saying that right. In response, the team brainstormed new ideas, leading it to the creation of Twitter, a micro blogging platform, as we know, that allows users to share short status updates. But that pivot transformed the company into one of the most influential social media platforms globally. So sometimes pivoting can lead to great things.
I'm going to ask you that was arguably a shift in response to a marketplace opportunity, because someone came along and said, Hey, can you do this? How did you adjust? I mean, and rarely do I find writing talent and graphic design in one person. How did you approach these changes?

Faith Seekings 12:46
So when I decided that I wanted to do this, I had thought that I would continue to offer graphic design as well. So my new website kind of had both said that I do design and writing. And then I said, I just, I inched towards just writing. And said, I do design for select comments. I felt like I needed to just actually, in order to really focus and dive in, I felt like I needed to cut the design part altogether, removed that from my website completely and changed it to just say, I focus on writing. And the reason is because I still felt this responsibility hanging there, you know, like somebody, because I really didn't have much design work coming in, but I had clients that would come every now and then, and I was facing like an annual project that was coming up, and I'd feel like, like, groaning and banging my head on the desk if somebody asked me like to come and do this design thing. And I felt like that's even if they're not, like, that's hovering there, and it's going to interrupt me from that. So in order to focus on building more business with writing, I felt like I had to how to sort of cut it.

And then the other part of the shift in the marketplace, I suppose, is that is you see, is that I did have a long term client who I started working with them in 2008 and we did their initial branding and designed all of their marketing tools, and we did their website, and I stayed with them, and they're one of the people that I I actually started writing blogs for and the reason is because I've always seen a lot of opportunity to market through content marketing and social media and to be able to better explain what you do. Like, for example, they they wanted to become better known for other services that they did not just the main service, they seem, that seemed to be their bread and butter. And this was a great opportunity to do it was to write articles and be a thought leadership, or a thought leader, get out there more on social media. So that was still a thing, but I realized in working with them and what they need. From me had shifted over the years, like I started writing these for them because they wanted me to do social media, like they had all their marketing and branding in place of their website. They wanted to start doing social media, but I said, I need some fodder here, like, I'm not just going to go out and like, all your client stuff and repost articles. I need some fodder. So we started writing blog posts, and we got on their case study like we created another writer actually create that I had hired. Had created a framework for their case study, and then I took it over, and we since reinvented that framework. They were who I was thinking of that day when I was talking to my client, who is Deanne Kelleher from Chaos Group, by the way, with a K. When I said that this is what I like best, and this is what I think I want to do, I was thinking of this client. They kind of came along with me, and they kind of were the ones that really inspired the change. And in fact, when I emailed clients and said, I'm not doing design anymore, they came over for lunch, and I hadn't actually done work for them for a couple of years because of what was had happened in my family. They're like, so what are you doing? And I explained it, and they're like, so it changes for us. I was like, Oh, nothing, really, because they were sort of already there. Does that answer the question?

Roger Pierce 16:10
It does and raises several more. What's the what's the line? Just what I thought I was out they pulled me back in. That's the line from one of the Godfather movies, Michael Corleone, thinking he's out of the family, but he's not, because there's so much responsibility, so much like you in the graphic design you felt the pull of it. You said there's stuff coming up, there's projects, annual reports, et cetera, coming up. If I don't kind of pivot, make a hard pivot, I'm still going to be pulled back in. And so that's an even braver move, because you built your business on graphic design, you had a team of people to make that swivel. It's not easy to do, is it?

Faith Seekings 16:48
The truth is, the graphic design background and that talent and skill, as well as everything I learned over the years from marketing like I was never sort of just a designer, I would hire all these brilliant people to help me with my clients, and my focus was design, and meanwhile, I was learning so much from them as they went along. So I would say, I know enough about marketing to be dangerous. Like I'm not going to do what you tell me. I'm going to question it and say, Is this the best thing for your market, and do we need help to figure out blah, blah, blah. Basically, I brought all that with me. And the truth is, I am kind of still designing, because if I'm gonna write, you know, a blog post or an article, I'm gonna make sure it's got the best damn picture it can be. There's still really a lot of need for that, like, even with AI and you can go into Canva and just ask for an image. I had a client that's sort of suggested, you know, said, Here, what about an image like this? And it was just a bit, I guess, cliche, like it still takes my ability to come up with a visual concept, I guess, to come even using Canva, using AI, to generate an image that relates. And I'm still going to make sure it looks good. And I can't help myself if I, you know, I was hoping I could turn over the just turn over a Word doc. Yeah, they could put it on their website, but I'm going to go and look at their website and make sure that they put the right, you know, h2 for their in the right places for the sub heads, and that the image is sizing properly. And that's ask them what this gray box thing is over here that has nothing to do with my blog.

Roger Pierce 18:21
Old habits die hard. That's great, though. I mean, talk about writing with a graphic design layout background. That's That's brilliant, because I, you know, I'm a writer. I just write. I love it when a talented graphic designer like you takes my words and makes them come to life in a PDF or a website. But I can't see what you're seeing when I'm writing, obviously, you've got that third eye, yeah.

Faith Seekings 18:44
And I created a an email campaign for a client and a newsletter and, like, there's no question that I was going to go in and design it as well.

Roger Pierce 18:53
So, I mean, you've brought a couple clients, sort of transitional clients, with you, but how is your client base, or your ideal customer, evolved now. I mean, you're targeting a different type of company, aren't you?

Faith Seekings 19:06
I think they're somewhat similar, but they're probably going to be more established. I love working with other small businesses, other entrepreneurs. I'm always fascinated to hear their stories and learn about their businesses. And there's so many like creative and interesting types of businesses, or even if they're accountants, like why they started their own business and how they do things differently. But they're often earlier in their career. If they hire you for graphic design, like I need you know, a brand created a website, all of that sort of thing. So maybe they're further along as this client that evolved with me was they had all that stuff. It was really good to begin with. It didn't need any any further kind of change and how they really just needed content marketing. So maybe they're further along like that. And this was to say for Dan. She has been in business for quite a while as well, and she had evolved and matured and changed and needed some some help with her messaging. But I. The other thing that I'm finding is a is that I really miss working with other people. So I've had a few old contacts, like complimentary businesses, like marketing professionals, branding experts, that sort of thing, that have expressed interest. Like I connected with them to let them know what I'm doing, to network a bit, and they have expressed interest and asked me to help them with their own stuff, and perhaps with their clients. Work coming as well, and I I'm really enjoying being back. It's been a long time since I've worked with other people that are, I want to say, on the same level. But I mean, as far as being in charge, like, not that we're all like gods of what we do, by no means, but like, real collaboration, and not me being the one that has to make all the decisions and figure everything out. So I really enjoy that as well. And of course, just the social like, part of the reason I'm a successful entrepreneur is because I'm 100% extrovert, and I've been working by myself for 10 years in my office, in my house. That's what's changed a bit, a bit as well, which is really nice.

Roger Pierce 21:06
So if I understand it correctly, you're saying, you know, this new business, service, content, marketing, writing, it's allow you to re engage with people and reconnect on different levels. And people are saying, Oh, you can do that for me now.

Faith Seekings 21:19
Yeah, yeah. But, but then collaborate, and to get just more collaborative and not sort of sending me off, like if I'm working with an entrepreneur, I'm probably still taking the lead as far as helping them figure out what they should be doing and how they should be doing it. It might mean I would say, let's bring someone else in. But if another marketing professional is hiring me to do it, it's more collaborative, and I can focus on the creative part, and they can have the oversight and work on the client relationship, whatever that might mean, but also that we can collaborate to find the best solutions and come up with the best execution.

Roger Pierce 21:55
Well, like you said earlier, you're entrepreneur first. You've got a lot of experience in different fields and different aspects of marketing. And of course, people are gonna wanna listen to you and say, Hey, faith, how do we solve this problem? And then you execute right? Then you provide the actual writing service. I can see that working really well for you. So I'm gonna have to head toward the wrap here. But can you give me a good last comment? Where was my question here, how do you know when it's time to evolve your business versus when it's time to double down on what's already working so you had a client come to you and you were also getting tired of the old, the old way of doing things. Maybe some entrepreneurs would say, No, that's crazy. I'm a graphic designer, I'm a marketing person. I'm going to just double down and go go even deeper into that segment. That's that, that's specialization. What do you say to that?

Faith Seekings 22:49
A couple thoughts like both of the times that I pivoted had to do with me not being happy anymore. I think recognizing when you weren't happy anymore, and hopefully before you drive it into the ground or something, because you're not happy anymore, is great, but it can be, it can be really difficult to see that and to admit that. And like at first, the thought of taking apart what seemed to be a successful business like it seemed to be on this on the surface, saying about doubling down on what's working, that didn't actually happen with me, but I can imagine that there might be things that are working well and that things that aren't working well. So you might doubling down, might look like focusing on something and giving up other things that maybe you thought you had to do, like, oh, graphic design business has to also have this, this and that in house. Whatever it might be that could come from a shift in the marketplace, like the effects of AI, for example, that could come from whatever's happening in your life and your own interests as they change. But that also takes courage to double down on what it is, and probably takes recognizing what you might want to give up.

Roger Pierce 23:56
Very important words be happy and what you do that's one of the ultimate privileges of being an entrepreneur, and I'm so glad you brought that up. But you know, you've also got to make sure it's working their marketplace metrics and feedback and Is there money coming in? I mean, I could be happy chasing butterflies all day, I guess, but if I'm not making any money, I'm not going to be happy very long. So there kind of has to be both. There's that intersection of marketplace opportunity and passion and something that's working well, and people are responding to.

Faith Seekings 24:26
Yeah, that is certainly important. And I don't remember who said this for the exact quote or anything, but I think if there was something about being happy and the money will follow. So but yeah, you definitely have to keep your eye on that too. Yeah,

Roger Pierce 24:42
There's so many things to keep an eye on as an entrepreneur, that's part of the challenge. I'm going to ask you in the wrap up here, is there a little piece of advice you can share to someone who is way back at the beginning of this entrepreneurial process, maybe sitting on that fence, thinking about starting a business, wondering about entrepreneurship? What would you say to someone way back. Back there,

Faith Seekings 25:00
I would, I would say, probably, many, many, many things. But entrepreneurship is an opportunity to do the thing that you love and that you get at your way, and recognizing that there is a lot more to it than doing the thing your way, like the business development, the administrative side, all of that. But if you get going and you can put all of the things in place to support you with that, but just know, knowing that it's coming, and understanding that it's part of it, and that there's there's risk involved. In the light of the topic of pivoting would be to say you don't have to figure it all out up front. This isn't your lifetime business necessarily, like things are going to change. We're going to change. Even when I started freelancing, I had no intention of building it into an agency like I just found that I had had way more work than I could handle. So I decided to bring Lisa in to help me with some of that, and off we went. So you don't have to have it all figured out, all figured out right up front. You can build and change and grow and evolve and make massive pivots. If you like.

Roger Pierce 26:04
I love it. That's a great you don't have to have all the answers up front, and none of us do when we're starting out. We might have that passion, that talent, an opportunity, perhaps, but we don't have all the answers about bookkeeping and marketing and people management that comes right, that comes along. So don't stress it. Start with what you know, and the rest will follow. I love it. What's the best way for a listener to connect with you, Faith, if someone wants to get in touch?

Faith Seekings 26:30
Well, I'm on LinkedIn, and my name is probably pretty unique and memorable, so Faith Seekings And my mom was not a hippie. Otherwise, you'll find all my contact information there, probably through LinkedIn. The website is Rapportinc.ca, and I'd be happy to talk to anybody about their entrepreneurial journey.

Roger Pierce 26:49
There you go. Perfect. I'll put that in the show notes as well. Well, listen, that's it for this episode of The unsure entrepreneur. I hope Faith's story helped to you to see what's pivoting isn't the step back that it's often a step forward with greater clarity, alignment and satisfaction, and whether you're feeling stuck or sensing that it's time for a shift, know that you're not alone, and that change can be a powerful part of the entrepreneurial journey. Thank you again, faith for sharing all of your time and your wisdom here today. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Glad to have you. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please leave a review and share it with a friend who's thinking about making a move into their own business. Thanks again for tuning in. Bye for now.

Intro 27:33
That's it for this episode of The Unsure Entrepreneur Podcast. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss other candid conversations with small business owners, and be sure to check us out at unsureentrepreneur.com.