Today we’d like to introduce you to Benita S. Samuels.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Benita. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was destined to be a marketer. Growing up in a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania, I started my marketing career making homemade purses and selling to my school friends and marketing my MDA Carnivals. I longed for the city life and shortly after graduating from Penn State, I headed straight to New York. My first job? Working on the now famous, I Love NY campaign.
In the city, I grew my marketing skills on consumer brands including Tyson Chicken®, Nestle™, and ChapStick, and for entertainment giants like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Warner Bros. I worked with a broad range of artists, including Richard Simmons, Billy Joel, Cindy Crawford, Mark Walberg, and U2, among others.
As a strategic thought leader, I have focused the majority of my career on brand and health and wellness marketing. I have overseen countless traditional and digital campaigns, from complex website development and social activations to integrated campaigns including corporate events and consumer promotions.
After moving to Colorado and spending a few years supporting the marketing efforts of other’s business, I found myself unable to move after my back went out. I spent two weeks with nothing to do but to think. It was then that I knew what I had to do and the next stage of my career, as an independent business owner began. When not supporting the needs of my clients, I enjoy spending my free time with my husband, two teenage daughters, two dogs and visiting and cooking with my 90-year-old Mama.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think that starting any business will have its challenges. To me, it is more about how you navigate the challenges that ultimately determine your journey. All businesses encounter some challenges at one point or another, for me, my first big challenge was losing my first client. At first panic set in as I paced around my office, then escalated over the next few days as I spoke with some of my mentors and other entrepreneurs who had also gone into their own business over the last few years. One said to me, “Benita, maybe this isn’t the right journey for you. You really have to think about it and consider if you are better suited for a full time job.”
This was a kick in the stomach I didn’t expect. Really, did they think I didn’t have what it takes to be an independent business owner? Once I decided to double-down, I needed to figure out where to find my future clients. That was my next big challenge, learning to leverage the powerful resources and many networking organizations that the Denver business community offered. Needless to say, I continue to expand my reach and opportunity through these networks of amazing people.
Please tell us about the company.
Leveraging my years of global marketing experience, I now share my knowledge with entrepreneurs and small business owners to empower them with the skills to use digital marketing to find, engage, and convert connections into clients.
Unique to the agency category, I utilize a hybrid-agency model. I access my personal network of seasoned marketing professionals with focused expertise, and match them with specific clients, to meet their individual needs. I manage all aspects of every project, executing in my areas of expertise while utilizing my team for their expertise. The result; I am able to offer a breadth and depth of expert resources without the overhead of a full service agency.
A self-proclaimed LinkedIn junkie, my interest and expert understanding of LinkedIn and social media are often where my work begins, but my clients quickly recognize the depth of my experience and expand their relationship into broader marketing, strategy and business-driving initiatives.
Unlike traditional agencies, this hybrid model provides unmatched value and business efficiencies. By leveraging both my experience and my network of experienced professionals, I am distinctively positioned to meet the unique business needs of my clients ̶ how and when they need them.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success for me isn’t defined by the number of clients I am helping, or their recognizable “names”, nor how much money I am making. But rather, I view my business success in terms of relationships, referrals, and my happiness.
Relationships are the foundation of my business success. Relationships are how I learn more about my community, how I learn how to be of service, and about being the best person I can be. By showing up and being there is what establishes and grows great relationships. Those relationships ultimately produce something good and sometimes it is business or referrals.
Referrals are a validation of my success in building relationships and the work I have delivered to my clients. I love what I do and my “magic.” A referral fuels my drive and determination.
My greatest success measure however, is my happiness. Having experienced my own professional challenges, as many of us do during our lengthy careers, the joy I get from being my own business owner and bringing my best self to my work and family give me pure happiness. It comes in a wave of self-awareness and sometimes, I simply what to tell everyone, “I’m Happy.” That’s pretty successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: benitasamuels.com
- Phone: 2032414406
- Email: benita@benitasamuels.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BenitaSamuelsMarketingCommunications/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benita-samuels/
Image Credit:
Sara Karam Photography
720-232-3390
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