An Agency Story

You Don’t Start Certain, You Become Certain - 30|90 Marketing

• Russel Dubree / Rachel Ledet • Episode 171

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Clarity in business doesn’t arrive all at once, it’s built through decisions, experience, and commitment. In this first ever "Where are they now?" episode, Russel reconnects with Rachel Ledet, Founder of 30|90 Marketing, to explore how her agency evolved over the past few years and what changed once she fully committed to a clear focus.

This episode is a candid look at confidence earned over time, the hard tradeoffs behind positioning, and what happens when an agency stops hedging and starts building with intention.

Key Takeaways

  • Why confidence in your positioning is something you earn, not something you wait for
  • How committing to a clear focus changed referrals, conversations, and opportunities
  • What it really takes to let go of “good” clients to make room for the right ones
  • How long-term thinking creates momentum you can actually feel

Check out Rachel's original appearance on An Agency Story podcast, Episode #40 - When Saying Yes Almost Cost Her the Account

Want a more clarity and control for your agency in 2026? An Agency Story has three coaching spots available for 2026. Let’s see if one of those spots is right for you. Click this link to visit AnAgencyStory.com and click “Let’s Talk.”

Russel:

Welcome to An Agency Story podcast where owners and experts share the real journey, the early struggles, the breakthrough moments, and everything in between. I'm your host Russell Dubree, former eight figure agency owner, turn Business coach. Sold my agency and now helps agency leaders create their ideal business. Every agency has a story, and this is your front row seat. This is an agency story. Welcome to the show today, everybody. I have Rachel Ledet with us with 30 90 Marketing. Welcome back to the show, Rachel.

Rachel:

Thank you so much for the invite.

Russel:

I am glad, can't wait to dive into all the wonderful things since our last episode. And for those listening, you can go all the way back to episode 40 in early summer of 2023. And this is our first, the first ever An Agency Story. Where are they now? Episode. So congratulations and thank you for taking the risk on being number one.

Rachel:

Well, that is an honor. I did not realize I was the first, where are they now? But it's hard to imagine that our last episode was so far back. You know, entrepreneurship is sort of a blur, so I'll have to go re-listen to. Rachel of two years ago to refresh myself.

Russel:

Yes. I know some folks don't like listening to themselves, period. But I bet that would be a very unique look for you, uh, as well. So encourage you to do the same, but like all guests on the show, first time or otherwise, uh, just if you don't mind, share with us what 30 90 Marketing does and who you do it for.

Rachel:

So we are a woman led marketing consulting firm that focuses most heavily in professional services and technical services. And what that means for us is that our teams heavy background in design, construction, and projects that are around the building construction industry, especially where it hits community development is our secret sauce and our specialty. A lot of that has to do with our individual backgrounds and where we worked before, we were working in the consulting world, and so that service offering, it's really a passion of ours to work with people that are in and around economic development and community development is at the core of what 30 90 does. We're a New Orleans based company and we're working very hard to be a national marketing consulting firm, and I'm happy to say that we are cracking the nut on being able to say that we have clients around the country now. So it's very exciting time for our team and I'd say lots of growth in first quarter 2026 that we're expecting.

Russel:

Very nice. Very nice. Well. Now there's all kinds to break down just from what you shared there, and we'll certainly get to all of that. But just for some fun from the last episode, I have a clip of how you introduced yourselves then and I want you to take a listen to it and then I can't wait to, to get your reaction from that and compare it to how, how you introduced yourself today.

Rachel:

We are a strategic marketing agency based out of the greater lowlands area, and our service offerings are broad in the sense that we jump in and become part of the leadership team of small and midsize organizations. Sometimes that can range between doing slight rebranding work. It can be something as simple as making sure they have promotional materials so that their sales team can continue to do their jobs. Or it can be as large scale as an entire commercial development project that needs a website, a social media campaign, a rebrand, apparel and event planning for their grand openings. We like to say that our firm acts as an in-house. Marketing departments and we collaborate so well with the team that's there. We joke that they sometimes think we work there because we like it that way. We like to be part of the strategy and the implementation from large scale planning to small stuff.

Russel:

What's Rachel's reaction to that and how you were speaking at the business a couple years ago?

Rachel:

Well, it's a slow form of torture to have to hear your own voice back to you. We still do all those things. Russell and I would still say that working with us feels like we work within our clients' companies and we still have that closeness and that relationship that we develop with our client teams. So the actual services and performance is similar. I think just hearing myself ramble a little bit about it instead of being able to sort of button it up and say, this is what we do and this is where we're experts at, is the biggest takeaway. And you and I were doing a lot of work at that time on identifying our core focus in our niche. Um, even though I really don't love that word, I think us. Coming to the realization of what we do really well and what we really love and how we stand apart is the biggest growth takeaway from 30|90 of two years ago. And we were eding towards that, but now we've really embodied it and being able to say, this is what we do. And this is why we're great at it and this is what we can bring to you. And your company has just been a lot more solidified since then. So I am proud of the fact that we know who we are, we know what we wanna do, and we know why we are a great option for our clients because we have expertise in an area that a lot of people don't have. So that specialization be able to say that is probably my biggest takeaway from the then and now. Torture that you just led me through.

Russel:

Well, I always say I'm not trying to torture guests here, so my sincere apologies that, uh, uh, I had to do that. But, you know, one of the things I just love about your journey is that progression of that kind of slow, maybe like you're saying back then you had your toe in the water ever so slightly. You mentioned a couple words there that leaned into that. But where you're at today and, and pretty much fully embracing that. Which we'll get into all the things that that looks like. I think it's a pretty cool journey and also a reflection of, and that it doesn't happen overnight. And what I always say to folks, positioning as a journey, not a destination. And I'll just say it's really cool to see where you're at today. But a question, I guess just in, in hearing all that, it's like how does that feel? I mean, I don't know if you can really remember being in your shoes back then, but I guess maybe give us just a sense of where you've thought of your business back then and where you feel like it's at today.

Rachel:

I think two years ago, three years ago, we were generalists in a lot of ways because there was fear around. Who will be our clients? How will we serve them? How will we make money? Who are we working for? And there is some sort of survival and growth of a young firm where you're just trying to get work in the door. And that is part of it that's very real. And I think a lot of agency owners would say that, especially in the beginning if you're just trying to have work. So there's that fear. There's also a lot of question around how can we work for people in different markets and is our local market enough for us? And so I think figuring out what that is, especially for a company that does a lot of hand in hand consulting work, we're not just selling digital websites or digital products. We do a lot of conversational strategy. We do events, we're there with our clients. Of course we do zoom calls and teams meetings and fly when we need to, but a lot of our work is with people. So that was a big fear of how that was gonna work if we went into a specific target. And so us figuring out how will that work financially? What do we need to do? What are we really good at? We're working through at that time. In the design and construction world, a EC is architecture, engineering, and construction. We've added D because real estate developers are very close adjacency because those are the people who are funding and seeing the entire building projects end to end. It also heavily leans into the community development part, which is where the passion projects come in for us, because we get to see world change in communities. So 30|90 that wasn't sure. If we could say, this is what we do. It's a 30 90 now that says this is what we do. I think the two big takeaways that I would offer now that I've just learned is that we still have the right to work with anyone that we like and wanna work with. And so that fear is not there. If you like us and wanna work with us, and it's a good, still do great work. Messaging, brand development, web work, event planning. We can do that for anyone, but that doesn't have to be our target and our messaging strategy. And so there's some maybe confidence in releasing, we don't have to be all things, all people. People who wanna work with us to figure out how us

Russel:

Yeah.

Rachel:

So there's some growing and stretch. I leaned into what I really doing and people who are impassioned by similar things sort of in a woowoo way have found me. And we're only five people, small firm, but at that level, I can really use gut and connection. How people feel to work with me and how they approach me when they wanna work with our team. That doesn't work when you have 50, 60, and a hundred people. But our level, how many staff that we have and our plan to grow to probably 10 or 15, and the next, I'd say two to five years, I can still use gut. Passion and alignment to hire, and I really would like to keep it that way because the right people who wanna see things develop and built and part of this construction process that we're so in. And then because of that you sort of sort of attracting people who are equally as excited about those things, and that was very clarifying for me. It was almost like an answer that hit me in the face. You know, you care about this, you like this, you have fun with this. Here are these other people who want to do this with you. Light bulb moment. This is what you're doing. And so being able to say, this is what we do, we retold our website. You and I had a conversation probably, I don't know, two years ago about when is the time to change your website to say this is what we do. That was a hard transition

Russel:

for me. Big, big

Rachel:

red button button in front, front of

Russel:

you there to,

Rachel:

it was not an easy button. No. Like that commercial, you know, it was not an easy button. Physically changing the, which one was fine. It was figuring out if we were ready to say it. And since we have set it, I can't even really explain how different our networking. Owning up to things. Our opportunity, um, our referrals, all the things that are really lead sources for us in our world. You know, we don't sell a lot online. It's not the kind of business that we have. I'd love for us to have 20 great leads a month through our website. I think the reality is that in this. Reputation, heavy business you're selling as the expert and the people who want the expert find you. And so it is a different sales system Yeah. Than maybe other marketing firms.

Russel:

Yeah. You're the embodiment I feel like of this, but a lot of times when having that positioning conversation with folks that. Where the best place to fit is. It's, you know, I always say there's three areas of passion, opportunity and expertise. And sometimes we can find the center of that, or sometimes we can just find the extreme of one or the other. But I feel like you've really leaned into the all three central piece that, you know, you've done your own development experience. You've obviously had some case studies and experience in this space. And then when you talk about just community, and I know right? Your name of your business and how passionate you are about your community and things like that, those all really just came together in this perfect, confluence of opportunity. But what I also remember about your journey, I think this was a, a lesson for me really too in working with folks is that it seemed like back then that when you were kind of starting to move in this direction, before you hit that red button, that you were maybe running two separate businesses. The business you were and the business you were trying to be, and that seemed like it maybe was a tough thing to do, or how do you remember that those early stages of moving into this transition?

Rachel:

Yeah, maybe it was kind of like two businesses. We were doing work in this A ECD sector, but we're maybe limiting ourselves and we started saying. Words like strategy, like long term planning. And instead of doing one off, we leaned in heavily to, we really are strategists. You really do need us for the entire year or the entire project duration, which in the construction world could be 12 to 24 months or more. And we were seeing where gaps were coming up for our clients and how we could fill in. And that changed. The trajectory of how we should be offering services because a one-off solution, while it might help patch, you know, something a client needs in the short run is not the best use of our brain capacity in our experience. And so figuring out how to go from this sort of like rapid fire, let's just show up for people where we can. Mm-hmm. We started just asking. How else can we help you succeed? This is what we see. And so there was a lot more consulting, I think that was starting to come out of it. While that was also happening, we were taking a harder look at financial objectives and profitability. I went through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small businesses program at Delgado Community College in New Orleans, which was one of the founding, locations around the country. A lot of what they teach is sort of this holistic, you know, business practice for any business, and they are heavy on positioning, understanding your target audience, getting a grasp on your finances, looking at profitability and things that I knew in my head but maybe weren't taking the time to really comb through. And so with that, I call it. Growing up in business growing. You know, it's like you go from being like a toddler to a awkward preteen to like maybe a teenager at some point, and then one day you get to be an adult in business one day. But one day, yeah, we're working on it. There are some people who you are serving'cause you like them, but they're not profitable for you. And you want to help them, but they are not your ideal target and they're not your ideal client. Nothing against them, their work isn't worth the time that you spend to invoice. And so we had a lot of conversations about what our ideal clients type is like, what type of people they are, how they like to work, how responsive they are, if they are growth-minded. If they are terrible business owners on their own accord and can't get their own financing in shape, that they're probably not the best people for us. And some of this was just living case studies of like, we like you as a human, you are not a good client, you know? And so we had to kind of come out of some of that part of it. When you decide what you wanna be, certain things fall away a little bit, which is maybe painful in the moment. But ultimately it's the best thing for you because you're stepping into the shoes that you wanna be. And so maybe there was a period of time where we were trying to grow up, but also not knowing how to fold away the the humans that we liked. But they really were not where 30|90 needed to be going. And so there was probably about a year that we were, yeah, dancing in both ponds. And if I'm gonna be really honest, selecting team members who were senior level and really strategic and creative in their own accord was probably the biggest game changer for me because they were asking questions about where we need to be going and people they wanted to work with. And. Maybe that gave me a little bit of a confidence boost to say, no, that really is who we are and I owe it to you to get us there. And so I think that was maybe kind of part of us transitioning is having people around me who not only wanted to do great work, but who are really trustworthy and who I really wanted to see be able to get these opportunities that we were talking about and dreaming about because it's been a ton of fun. To experience that as a team and to really lean into, you know, the passion side. As you said, we really just get a kick out of walking through buildings that our clients have worked on and touched. It's a special thing that a lot of marketers don't get to touch and feel the products that their clients worked on. Run our hands on the wallpaper and say, I remember when we talked about these pieces and people are living here now, or there are events in your building and you saved something historic, or any types of, you know, developments like this.

Russel:

You're dropping so many great nuggets here, Rachel. I don't know how we're gonna break them all down and we probably won't, but it's just really cool to listen. One, even just kind of what you were sharing there. You know, this, your space is just really cool that you get to see something that was nothing but like grass or a rocky field, and then you get to be, in some cases, be there all the way through, like you're sharing of events and people living there. Like what a cool evolution in the space you're in. But something that kind of caught my ear is just this idea, and I think this is common for folks that go through positioning, is you were starting out having your handout. What we'll do anything you need us for? What do you need us for asking? And then moving into with the right people, this is what you need us for and this is how we're going to work together is a very, very different, uh, right handout versus, you know, grabbing someone's hand, taking them through that process.

Rachel:

You know, there's a lot of humbleness that comes in starting a company and asking people to trust you, right? I mean, a lot of it is just saying, I wanna help. I think I know the way. Give us a shot. Right? So that is a lot of what it is, especially in the beginning. The hard part is when you decide that you want to do a thing. There's a time period where you're trying to prove yourself and you're trying to find those case studies to say, you should trust us because

Russel:

mm-hmm.

Rachel:

And you and I did talk about this, and I think being creative about how you show proof in the pudding while you're building the thing, that's the hard part is you're trying to say, no, we really can do this and here's why. And so, number one, having people who will trust us to do it has been huge. And most of our clients are really good friends of mine at this point because we do talk so much and because I care about their businesses so much and I want to know what's happening. I think the other thing that's really unique and special about what we've been able to see is when you do great work one time, those people tell their friends. Watching some of the trajectory of how that has affected even our leads is maybe the most magical part because we do get work through word of mouth so much and starting in a spot where you can say, we're gonna deliver this service or product to you. For us, it's usually a mix of strategy, creativity, and deliverables. And letting those things show for themselves so that our name keeps ringing, brought up in conversations. That's where when you position yourself, well, it can help and you can start selling as the expert and. I'm thinking about our book review that we just did with our mastermind team, and so much of the book, the four conversations, is about getting into the positioning where you can be trusted for your craft and how do you get to that point. Yeah. A lot of it's putting in the work to show that you have the case studies to get to the point where you can say. We have enough case studies, you know? Yeah,

Russel:

This is hard work if this was easy work, right? And when you look back at that, I mean, I always kinda come to place, look how many case studies do you need? You just need one exceptional case study and you can build so much from that. But. Obviously, you're mentioning having numerous case studies on the on your belt, like what is enough in your world, in your mind, or where's the right amount, or what does that look like for you?

Rachel:

I mean, truly one or two good examples of good work carry you far. The other thing that I think I would offer as maybe advice or takeaway is I started to tell people this is what we wanna do. Is what we're be known for. So much so that we drafted this sort of like one page mapping of how we thought we could apply strategy through a full commercial development project. We gave it a name, little flow charts. It's the whole thing. Then we went on a three month campaign to invite people to lunch for coffee or anyone who would listen and said, this is what we wanna do, this is what we wanna be known for, and this is why we think it's gonna work. And so we just started calling it something and telling people this is what we want. And we had enough friends in the industry who liked us and knew people that they would hear us out. And so a lot of it was just sitting over lunch saying, this is what I would like to do. This is what I would like to do. This is what I would like to do. This is why I care. And after about six to 12 months of this process, people start to bring your name up in conversations when you're not there. And I really can't thank our friends and clients enough who walked us in the door a few times and said. Hey, you're in this industry. You should meet Rachel. You should meet the 30 90 team and getting into a few of the right rooms. I mean, I can't even really mathematically yet tell you what that will amount to because we're in the midst of it. But I would say, you know, that whole thing of getting in the right rooms and asking for conversations really was. Four in the beginning of 2025 was, Hey, we wanna do this. This is what we wanna do. And giving it a name and a space and asking everyone who would listen to hear.

Russel:

I mean, I, I'm sitting here. My, I'm just getting excited listening to it.'cause I mean, I think it just hits on so many wonderful things of, you know, the consistency of that story versus maybe there was a time when you were, you know, you might have a different version of your story depending on who you're sitting in front of. And, and now that's consistent and you're telling it and you're giving it a, a vision and a, and a picture. And branded elements, like you said, naming it, are all the things that. You know now are right. The pieces are seeming like they're lining up of why someone remember you to bring you up in a conversation because they've heard the story, they see the passion. Even if you don't even have a case study yet, what you already do, some people just wanna take a chance on someone that seems like they know where they're going, why they're doing what they're doing, and that they at least have a sense of that they can do it.

Rachel:

Yes. I think it helps that we have a few really wonderful local business organizations here in Greater New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast that focus on these areas. And so once we figured out that this was our nut to crack, we just started showing up a lot and we're really working with both of those organizations now. They're clients of ours, which is hugely beneficial for networking. But what we figured out is that if we gave a little bit and showed up frequently, people would start to know who we were. That was one of our, you know, strategic moves is what rooms do we need to be in and how often do we need to show up? And so I think just getting to know people in the industry at face value and being a service provider and, and being. Oftentimes just lending a hand when, when not something needed to be, helped or an event needed, set up help or something like that. We said we wanna be here and we wanna be part of it and let us in essentially. And, and then at some point, you know, people see you enough and they believe you. So consistency, being really honest about what we know and don't know and saying, Hey, we wanna learn. Will you teach us? Being vulnerable in that has been really huge because I've had some amazing conversations with people who have taught me about their skill, real estate law, real estate, finance, tax credit programs, complicated things that impact our clients. And when I say I don't understand what you teach me, just the amount of knowledge and time that I've been able to spend with people.

Russel:

That's amazing. You know, your personalities. I mean, I remember from the first episode of, as I was going back and listening, prepping for this, uh, jumping in people's cars to get to know them or find out about them. That's, that's certainly part of your personality. But it's like you get your foot in the door, but then you listen and, and you ask good questions. And, uh, I just love that about your personality. You can see where that's benefited even more on this journey. But it also just speaks to, there's so many ways you can go about this, but that ultimately you're leveraging your skills and talents and strengths. And that's what I encourage a lot of folks to do is just say, you don't have to do it this way, just do it the best of you. And that will probably come out really good. And you seem to have done amazing at that.

Rachel:

Well, thank you. I think I'm just a big nerd. And so when someone knows something that I wanna know, maybe it's old age, but I just start asking questions.'cause then I wanna know too. Interestingly, people like to talk about what they do, and if it makes their deliverable better because you are smarter and you're writing on their behalf, then they're even more excited to teach you. And so that's really been, you know, a circular thing that's worked well for us. So

Russel:

I can imagine,

Rachel:

I do love learning about these things and it's part of the passion. And selfishly, you know, I wanna do what they're doing one day. And so. I use that as a launchpad and I, I do joke with a lot of our clients that I wanna be a commercial developer when I grow up. And so a lot of it is like, I just really like what you're doing. Yeah. Can you tell me more? And so whether that works for everyone or not, I don't know,

Russel:

Well, it speaks to, I mean, the power of curiosity, and then anything that's saying, even going back to four conversations and just how you. You're not in such a place of scarcity. You can show up to conversations and listen more. And that is actually, that's how we should be doing it either way. But I get it when it's hard, when we want something so bad or need something so bad, it's hard to show up in that way. But yeah, it's really being curious. I wanna talk more, but I got one more question'cause that's something I feel like is really important, But this idea, when you're thinking about your team and you know, who was on the team in the earlier stages and who's on the team now, and it, it just makes me think of what, you're just trying to make all the pennies work to get what you can get, but. The statement seems to be like where you got to is, you know, I can't afford the right talent or better talent or something like that. And what it seems like you maybe got to is the realization, which is true in the agency space of you can't afford not to have the right talent around you. And that seems like that's, you know, as you've alluded to, been a big transition for you.

Rachel:

Yes. And I think it's always hard. I told you you should do a whole course on this. But knowing when it's time to pull the lever, it's hard to afford staff. We have a very low overhead business. We sell brain power. We don't have equipment. We don't have forklifts. We don't have fleets. You know, we purchase people's brain power and so. It's always scary to know when is it time to grow. I think some of it is being able to be a little, risk taking, because sometimes it's literally, I'm going to take some money out of my pocket for six months to see if this will work. There was also a period of time where I was working around the clock and my husband was like, how much longer is this gonna be like this? Because you cannot keep going at this level. Like the money's great, but you need to go to bed. And so I think being honest about those highs and lows and about what it means to. Run a business and what you physically are able to do. I'm also a mom of four very active kids, and I don't wanna be at my laptop at nine 30 at night. Yeah. You know? So I think there's honest conversations that you have to have with yourself every time I've hired the right person who has a nice salary, they have paid for themselves because they're good at what they do. And so I would just. Challenge anyone who's going through it is to, you know, really write down like what's the first 90 days gonna cost you and what will you win if it works?

Russel:

Hmm, I like that.

Rachel:

And then figure out a way to save enough to make the first 90 days work. And I think that that's how I've had to approach it. Our team now, I mean, every business owner I know says hiring is the hardest part of any. Management position, ownership position. Our team is so rock solid. You know, nobody come after my people now don't go to my website and figure out who I have. But we have so much fun working together and just the trust that's there, the creativity, you know, just being aligned on our values. I can't say enough about. How well we're doing with our work product because that part of our business is in place and because I have been willing to take a little bit of a risk, um, even when I wasn't always sure how it was gonna work out.

Russel:

Absolutely. I mean, again, nothing good comes without risk. If you want safety and security, put your money in a cd the same way in business. You want safety, I won't do this. Yeah, safety and security. Go, go work, a nine to five or whatever. But it doesn't take investment and it does take risk. And the universe owes us nothing. I think is a great lesson there. Tell us more about this. I want to be a developer someday, and I know so much about your story, but you're living this to some degree, I think it's just even a great story of when you go play hard in a space and you show up well and you're an expertise, that there becomes more opportunities than just doing work for others. And that it can compound itself in so many different ways. And I feel like your story is even, again, more of a testament to that.

Rachel:

So. I think just living in and around construction companies and architectural designers and people who are building buildings coming out of the ground. I've gotten to do a lot of job tours. I've done a lot of job shadowing. I've listened to these conversations. Personally, I've worked with a few builders for my own home. Have been involved with that process a few times, and it's always just something that's been interesting to me. I think that whole like prize at the end part is what drives people in this industry because you get to live and breathe in the thing and so there's, there's sort of like an addiction to that process and it's hard and you. Appreciate the end product so much because you know what it takes. So just having a lot of friends in the industry and asking a lot of questions and wanting to have the financial reward of doing something well and also have the sort of emotional reward of watching a project come to fruition, I think is what drives people in this industry. And it certainly is sort of this like. Crystal ball of wonder to me. And so a few years ago, my husband and I have some rental property and we're making some life decisions about what to do with those properties. And if you've ever landlord it before, that's a whole other podcast. I could tell you tell all kinds of stories, you know, case stories that you shouldn't say out loud. Yep. I have those too, but we just were kind of pivoting for our own family and what we wanted to do, and an opportunity presented itself to develop a residential assisted living home, which is a small assisted living home for seniors. And because of our property management experience and my construction experience and my husband's healthcare experience, this. Natural fit and wonder came from that. So we did our own research. As you know, I, I sort of spent 18 months gobbling up every bit of information I could about that industry and statistically what's happening, with the boomers as they age. And I had done a decent bit of work with developers and building performas and. Plans for these types of projects. And so I just started my own journey to see if we could make this work. So it's been about five years in the making, totally separate from 30 90. But interestingly, all this work with the developer world is happening as this actual 8,000 square foot building is being constructed. Right before our call today, I was texting my because. We're waiting on the, um, front brick to go up. So it's literally being bricked right now this week and having conversations with people who struggle with permitting, have to deal with phases of construction, understand product launch, if you will. The full marketing that goes into launching this project, which you know that I'm. Up to my elbows in right now, having conversations with people who do what I call real development work and just having some amount of humor about the trials and tribulations of doing something like this puts you in a different conversation. Yeah, because there's sort of this empathy, sympathy thing for people who have endured this type of work because it's very time consuming and. You know, heavily financially based and there's a lot of rigamarole to get even finance for a project like this. And in many ways I don't feel like I'm already, but I'm trying. I'm dipping my toe in it and God willing, this project is successful. And then we'd like to, you know, see where this goes. And my husband is definitely an entrepreneurial as well, and this is gonna be an amazing path for him to really lead as his core business. I'm getting to market it and be in the community and tell people about it and try to drum up interest as it's getting built. And so my marketing side and my networking side is a very natural fit to try to launch something like this. I also just love to see it happening and we'll see where this goes and how we'll continue, but. When I, people that I really care about this field and I don't just wanna market it, but I do it, I'm able to say that I trying. Experiencing part of what they might experience in their world.

Russel:

Yeah. That is so powerful. Uh, I mean, you know, in the corny way, the thing that's playing in my mind, you're sharing that as the old commercial of not only am I hair club president, I'm also a client. I mean, to just be able to show up in these conversations as early 90 and say, yeah, I'm living this world with you. I understand this. That, I mean, that has to be so impactful. But then just the opportunity that. Represents what I know for you and your family. Because to the point about, you know, not burning the midnight oil, but if I understand the way you're using the terminology, this is how you can retire your husband into this new venture from a work that's been pulled him away from family and whatnot. And how freaking cool is that?

Rachel:

You know, the other thing about it is that I really love what I do and. I get excited on Monday mornings because I get to start and I get sad on Friday afternoons because I still have two more things I wanna do. And so I wish that everyone could have a job that they just really love doing. Not that there's not some days that are, I always joke with my team, I'm like, if there's one thing I don't wanna do, it's invoicing. You know, like it's, no job is a hundred percent perfect all the time, but I really do love what I do and I think that everyone who's smart and motivated should get to love what they do and, bless all the healthcare workers. It is a rough life out there. And I've seen, what happened during the pandemic and how hard it was on. Many, many, many doctors and nurses and healthcare workers and what they went through and, it was a living nightmare Russell to watch what they were experiencing. What I want to give my husband and what I'm so excited about, this is the same type of sense of ownership and pride of work and passion. And he loves people and he loves elderly people, and I'm just so excited to not only have financial benefit for our family, we got a lot of college and weddings and cars. But I wanna give someone who I care about so much. Yeah, the same sort of enjoyment with having something that's your own. There's such a sense of accomplishment and not even pride, but I don't know, like sense of accountability in the world to be able to see something that you've built that's yours, that you can be proud of that can serve other people, and that gets to be your daily work. So I am a hundred percent putting out there that I am retiring my husband out of a daily healthcare, grind so that he can be an entrepreneur also.

Russel:

What an amazing story. I don't know any other way to put that. That's what, what an awesome story. And it's

Rachel:

been fun to do together. I bet. You know, not everyone can work with their spouse, but it has been really fun to go down this road together because it's just been a. You know, faith testing and a lot of not knowing and just taking the next step. So doing that with anyone in life, there's a lot of resilience and trust that has to come into play.

Russel:

Yeah. How many more hours can we have a conversation and we keep going? Yes. That'd be,

Rachel:

Nope. Get a sandwich and keep going. Yes.

Russel:

I mean, that's just. I'd love to have your husband on the podcast and just talk about what it's like to be on the other side of this journey to what you mentioned earlier of like, Hey, how, how is this working? Are we gonna, you know, is this gonna work out? And then just to hear it culminate in, in the story you shared is, is amazing in itself. I'd love to just hear, you know, you've kind of dropped it here and there, but what are all the things you've got on the horizon? What is just glimpse this into the future? All. All the wonderful stuff. I know you've just got irons in the fire on right now, not to mention the whole development world

Rachel:

for 30 90. We are really seeking to build out our full team in the next, I'd say. One to three years. And so finding those high quality individuals who can be really strategic but in a creative way, I think is a big goal for us as we build out our client, you know, portfolio. We have a lot of Louisiana based clients, of course, because we're rooted in the greater New Orleans area. But we have several coming online December, January that are. Outside of the region. And I think that's really important to us, not only because we get to learn about different communities and how community specific issues do drive the messaging strategy and how people show up in their community. And so we've got to get into more communities. So that is a huge part of why we're traveling more while we're attending more conferences, while we are stretching our wings to serve a national clientele. Part of it is to just get challenges in different areas, and part of it is that the networking circle instantly gets exponentially bigger when you're talking to people who are. More regional or more nationally based, and that transition has maybe been a little easier than I even thought it was gonna be. But we have to show up and we have to be in those rooms. So I would say, just leaning into that positioning of what we do well while we're the experts in this field, that's part of what we're figuring out and really what that amounts to is. Getting in front of the right people and getting on a few airplanes to do that, and positioning ourself as a thought leader in this area. So that has some projects that comes outta it as well, but it's that whole establish yourself as the expert so that you can be, is really what 2026 is gonna be about. Nice,

Russel:

nice. Racking up those miles and upgrading that status. Hopefully, so, yeah, where it's, uh, the AA lounge. Here we come. Well, very cool. I mean, gosh, there's, there's what a wonderful story and appreciate your, your candidness and honesty in sharing that. So as much as I hate to wrap this up, I suppose it's necessary, we'll have a part three here down the road as well. We'll, we'll go back and compare your answer to last time, but I'll ask the question again. Are entrepreneurs born or are they made?

Rachel:

I think I told you last time that I think it's a mix. You have to start with enough curiosity to say, could I do this better? And then you have to make yourself have enough guts that on the bad days you can keep going. And maybe that's a blended answer and I, I'm just gonna stick with both. I think if you aren't curious, you can never do this. And if you're not resilient, you'll never make it. And so for me, I think the continuous question of what else is there, got me to this point, and then what else can be, and how can we survive the hard times and rejoice in the great times is what keeps us here. So. Hope that's an answer

Russel:

always. Yes, definitely an answer. You're certainly resilient. You've certainly made yourself, I, I know all the investments you've made in your own personal growth and development in this journey, and, kudos to you for doing that. And again, what a wonderful story. If people wanna know more about 30, 90, where can they go?

Rachel:

Our website, 3 0 9 0 marketing com can also find us on LinkedIn, Facebook. Instagram and YouTube, and we actually have a fairly new podcast on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube called The Comms Exchange, which is an ongoing conversation with designers, community developers, real estate developers, and people that are in and around community development and economic development, which has been a ton of fun. And we have really enjoyed the podcast platform. So. Thank you for inviting me today on this one. We're definitely investing our time in the value of these conversations.

Russel:

Absolutely. And those are fun conversations too, so definitely encourage folks to go check that out. Well, Rachel, I have too many notes that I was writing down on my paper to encapsulate this episode as we close out here. One just really appreciate you walking us through the. Positioning journey, the highs, the lows, what that's meant for you and then just some of the raw things that come out of that and the feelings. But really all the lessons learned and takeaways that are amazing, and I have no doubt are gonna inspire folks that are listening to this today. So, all in all, thank you so much Rachel. Appreciate you taking the time to share that with us today.

Rachel:

Thank you so much. See you soon.

Russel:

Likewise, likewise. See you very soon. Thank you for listening to an agency story podcast where every story helps you write your own, subscribe, share, and join us again for more real stories, lessons learned, and breakthroughs ahead. What's next? You'll want to visit an agency story.com/podcast and follow us on Instagram at an agency story for the latest updates.

Rachel:

It was sort of a team goal to have a physical office. Which we're all pretty hybrid workers. We see each other in person, some, but we all work from home too. And so there was this really adorable house that I would pass on my daily commute, and I swear Russel, it was like talking to me. And so it's a good location outside of New Orleans for us as a sort of like a launchpad for our team. And so we are ing out of this, uh, little house, we've been there for a few months. It's been a great asset for our team. But one of the things that we recently did that's. Just funny to us, we have a group text whenever we land a new contract where we send a bell emoji because it's like ringing the bell or like dinging the gong that we, it's our celebration, you know? And because we're all hybrid, we don't see each other every day. We don't get to like high five at the, you know, coffee pop. So we've had this text joke for a while with this bell that we. Text to our team. So recently Christian, who you know now was in a antique store and found this gorgeous bronze antique dinner bill. So she surprised me with it, um, at our holiday party last week, and we had it installed and it's like old time dinner, be with a string and there is a Latin engraving on it that says Here my call. And so it's just this like full circle moment where I'm like, that's a pretty awesome tagline for a marketing firm, right? Like, we're like. Holding the megaphone up, like listen to the message. But now we have this physical bell that is in our office. So when you're in New Orleans next time, I'll let you come ring the bell. Oh, yes. But now when we say ring the bell, there actually is a physical bell and it's so silly, but it just means a ton to our team and we're getting a big kick out of it. And I think so much about. What people forget to do is be silly and celebrate with each other. And it's really important to me and to our team that we have these moments where we can just, you know, laugh about stuff. So that's the story of the bell and you should definitely come ring it next time you're in town.

Russel:

Booking trip to New Orleans right this second? Yes. Can't wait. Thank you. I, I will gladly do so that's awesome.