Today marks one year that I left Corporate America and began consulting full-time. If you’re familiar with how Promise Consulting Group came about, you’ll remember I started in July 2010 with only a Vistaprint website. At the time, I was working there managing US digital marketing, and creating the PCG URL was nothing more than a whim. By the end of the fifth year, I was generating enough business through referrals that it was a full-time job on top of my full-time job.

Seven years later, I’ve now consulted with more than 20 brands, everything from pre-revenue and beta start-ups to multi-million dollar businesses. 75% of these were in 2016! I’ve created, implemented, managed, analyzed and optimized across almost every marketing function imaginable – marketing and business strategies, customer acquisition through ad and e-mail campaigns, blog content, social media and editorial calendars, press releases, website launches, brand messaging, CRMs and more.

I am so thankful for the relationships with my wonderful clients. While by title, I’m a consultant, by trade, I’m a member of the team. I consider myself and Promise Consulting Group a unique hybrid: the direct and responsive point of contact of an independent freelancer with the depth and breadth of expertise of a larger agency.

Over the last year, I’ve been challenged in a uniquely fulfilling way. While my corporate experiences led to where I am today, I could not be more appreciative to now be self-employed. Luckily for me, I don’t just love marketing and relationship building – my business background prepared me for business development, financial management, taxes, contracts and the many other aspects needed to run your own business.

I no longer care about raises or promotions or titles – I care about delivering value for my clients…my partners…and building relationships that even when the consulting engagement inevitably ends, the alliance continues. It has been an exciting year and I can honestly say, I haven’t had one regret about my choice. If you take away two things from this: 1) Always believe in yourself, and if you have a dream, go for it. You’ll be more disappointed if you don’t, than if you do and fail. 2) I welcome referrals! I’ve developed a great network over the years who have been incredibly supportive and recommended me to potential clients. If you know of someone who may be in need of marketing or strategy, please feel free to recommend me!

Lastly, if you need a bit of inspiration or a friendly push in the right direction, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m always happy to share my story and encourage others to write their own!