The Charleston Marketing Podcast
Welcome to The Charleston Marketing Podcast, the podcast that dives deep into the world of marketing, with a specific focus on the vibrant city of Charleston. Join us as we explore the strategies, trends, and success stories that shape the marketing landscape in this historic and captivating coastal city.
Each episode of The Charleston Marketing Podcast brings you exclusive interviews with local marketing experts, industry thought leaders and Charleston entrepreneurs who have harnessed the power of effective marketing in the Lowcountry and beyond. From strategic communication, social media, PR, digital strategy and everything in between, we uncover valuable insights and actionable tips for our listeners.
The Charleston Marketing Podcast
The Art of Transition: Building a New Business from Lifelong Passions w/ Jennings King
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What happens when your lifelong passion suddenly feels more like a burden? For Jennings King, the realization came in a moment of clarity while scrolling through Instagram—after 15 years of capturing wedding memories, she texted her marketing strategist: "weddings make me want to vomit." This brutally honest confession marked the beginning of a remarkable professional transformation.
In this candid conversation, Jennings reveals how she pivoted from wedding photography to founding Spacemaker Professional, a business focused on creating physical, digital, and mental clarity through professional organizing. With marketing strategist Taylor Yeun by her side, Jennings details the emotional journey of walking away from a successful career and the strategic steps that made her transition both possible and profitable.
The episode explores the surprising power of authenticity in business transitions, as Jennings managed to maintain her social media following despite completely changing her content focus. We dive deep into the emotional significance of her work, particularly in preserving family histories through digitizing photographs, slides, and even handwritten recipe cards—creating accessible digital libraries from boxes of deteriorating memories.
For anyone contemplating a career change, Jennings offers practical wisdom: delegate to professionals, find your community, and honor both your passions and market demands. Her journey reminds us that professional reinvention isn't just possible—it might be exactly what you need to reconnect with work that truly fulfills you.
Connect with Jennings on Instagram @spacemakerprofessional to learn how she can help transform your physical space or preserve your irreplaceable memories.
Presenting Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Title Sponsor: Charleston American Marketing Association
Cohosts: Stephanie Barrow, Mike Compton,
Produced and edited: RMBO Advertising
Photographer | Co-host: Kelli Morse
Art Director: Taylor Ion
CAMA President: Margaret Stypa
Score by: The Strawberry Entrée; Jerry Feels Good, CURRYSAUCE, DBLCRWN, DJ DollaMenu
Studio Engineer: Brian Cleary and Mathew Chase
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Welcome to the Charleston Marketing.
Speaker 1:Podcast brought to you by the Charleston AMA and broadcasting from our friends at Charleston Media Solutions Studios. Thanks to our awesome sponsors at CMS, we get to chat with the cool folks making waves in Charleston, from business and art to hospitality and tech. These movers and shakers choose to call the Lowcountry home. They live here, work here and make a difference here. So what's their story? Let's find out together.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to the Charleston Marketing Podcast powered by the Charleston American Marketing Association, where we have conversations with the who's who of marketing in our great city of Charleston. We are recording in the Charleston Media Solutions Studio. What's up to our boy? Jerry feels good for the beats. I'm Margaret Stipa, president of the Charleston American Marketing Association.
Speaker 2:Today we have two very special people in our studio. We have Taylor Yeun, former Charleston AMA board member. She is a marketing strategist here in the low country and the founder of the TMI Co. We also have Jennings King, founder and owner of Spacemaker Professional. We also have Jennings King, founder and owner of Spacemaker Professional. Jennings is a lifelong lover of organization and transforms workspaces into efficient, inspiring environments. From digitizing photos and documents to crafting personalized systems, she creates physical, mental and digital clarity for her clients, including solopreneurs, corporate businesses or family workspaces through the Charleston area. The fun thing about the episode today is that we have Taylor here on the podcast. She supported the marketing for Spacemaker Professional and today we're focusing on the importance of marketing and business success. Jennings, can you tell us a little more about who you are and how you got here?
Speaker 3:I sure can Thanks so much for having me today. This is so much fun. I sure can Thanks so much for having me today. This is so much fun. So let me start off by where I was born. I was born just kidding. I am from Greensboro, north Carolina. I went to Clemson University. I majored in commercial printing there and from there I moved to Charlotte. I was in the commercial printing industry for about five years, then I switched to pharmaceutical sales for seven years and then I got into photography wedding photography and family photography and just recently I was in that for about 15 years. And just recently I made the switch over last year to professional organizing, including digital organizing. And here I am, a year later.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like literally a full year, a full year of Spacemaker Professional as of like this month, a couple weeks. Congratulations.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 4:So a little bit about what we're talking about today, which I think is very important for a lot of listeners, especially marketers or business owners, is talking about the pillars of marketing that are so important to basically any business, but also thinking about Jennings' situation, where we took a lifelong career essentially, which felt like a lifetime, I'm sure 15 years of photography, and then kind of making the switch and what it took to get there. So can you talk to us a little bit about that switch and why you felt it was time?
Speaker 3:So I began to feel like it was time when I was looking through Instagram, scrolling through weddings Weddings have a huge presence on Instagram and I just started thinking oh, this is not what I need to be doing right now. On a side note, I also felt like I was becoming closer in age to the mother of the brides than the brides themselves, and I didn't think I would be in this industry for a really long time. It's very physical and I felt like me personally I prefer to have a passion in what I do, and I didn't feel like my passion was there any longer, and so I said to myself let's make a change.
Speaker 4:I remember and I was talking to you about this before Jennings texted me and she's like Taylor. I woke up this morning scrolling through Instagram and weddings make me want to vomit. She's like I don't want to do this anymore, like I need to make a change, and I feel like so many people have been there Like I don't want to do this anymore, I no longer care. I want to do something else. There's more to life than my legacy of what I think I've been doing and I want to explore other passions.
Speaker 4:Legacy of what I think I've been doing and I have want to explore other passions and that that's a hard thing to come to realize and then want to do something about. Because once you've let that idea seep into your head, it's all you're going to think about, it's going to affect your current work and you also are like what am I going to do? Like how do what do I do now? What, what happens? And what I think has been so important for Jennings is throughout this process, from the beginning, she's always been like Taylor I, I still need you, I still need marketing, because when I got bad text, I was like and I'm out of a job like I no.
Speaker 3:Longer. She was not.
Speaker 4:I'm no longer going to be working with Jennings because she needs all the space, all the time to go and do this next career, whatever it ends up being. But Jennings, like I think a lot of people, but also maybe not like a lot of people knows that marketing is a true bill, like pillar of your business and you need that from the inception to, you know, through the long haul. So, yes, I was able to keep my job and we are, you know, maintaining our partnership. But also, like it was so important at that pivotal point for her to be like I want to do something new and I want you to continue working with me on it. Let's figure this out together. So I think that's a true testament to who she is and the work she does. But also a lot of people go through that Like what do you do now? So actually I think that's a good segue.
Speaker 2:What did you do? And so when you woke up that morning and knew you wanted to make a change. Did you know that that change was going to be digital organization?
Speaker 3:No, I did not, so I would say it was probably summer of 2023. I just started on my notes app on my iPhone. I would just jot. Whenever I thought of anything I would jot it down, and I kept that note digital file and then came to I had written a lot down.
Speaker 3:I decided to talk amongst my wedding industry people of who is out there that can help get all these bullet points down into an idea of a company, and so I found Brittany with the helm up in Chicago and I called her up and I said I want to hire you to help me get all of these ideas and to initially create a company for me. And she did that. It makes me want to cry because it was so important to get something on paper of all of my ideas. And she did it and she created this awesome presentation and I watched it on the computer and I just was crying. And I just was crying because it was six to nine months of all of my thoughts into what we now call Space Maker Professional.
Speaker 3:And that was when I said, ok, taylor, we've got this. It's going to be called Space Maker Professional. These are basically all of the things that I am good at, and that is what Brittany really helped me. And I said, brittany, I'm good at organization, I'm good at just digitizing, I'm good at technology, I love accuracy, I'm very methodical, and she put all of these things into this idea and it's basically a culmination of my printing experience, my sales experience with pharmaceuticals, my photography experience, which really helped me with digitizing images and renaming, and then my organization, and we just hit the ground running, didn't we, taylor?
Speaker 4:We did, we really did, and I totally agree why you're getting emotional, because I did see the deck which happened. What felt like overnight? Like it, I think the other I mean it was very quick from the initial wake-up text of I'm no longer doing photography Now, what? To, two months later, the inception of Spacemaker Professional, and shout out to Brittany because it really was an incredible thought organization into a true business plan that made sense. Like I read the presentation, I was like this is Jennings, like this is so Jennings. I can't even handle how much Jennings it is.
Speaker 4:It's almost like you should have been doing this the whole time, or maybe you were, you know, like subconsciously, like this I feel like space maker professional always existed, because it is such a true Jennings blueprint of everything that you're good at, and I mean I mean true testament to like her clients have can agree, she is very good at it too, but it was such a natural place where we ended up like it really was.
Speaker 4:There was no forcing, like I guess I'll do that now Like it was truly. Like everything you've always done has now become a business opportunity, and that's, I feel like, where some people in the marketing world or even business world get stuck, like that's where it's like I don't want to do this. But now what? Like I'm good at these things, I like to keep fish in a fish tank and I like to make designs on a computer. But but like, how do I make that something into something I can continue to do and make money doing? So that was a really pivotal moment. But came together seamlessly and and quickly and truly was like, oh whoa, here we are, this is, this is Jennings, like for sure. So, yeah, great success from the strategic blueprint front. So like I think that's a really good tip is like find your community, tap your community, ask you know the people you trust and love and then kind of work your way up to contacting someone to help you get there.
Speaker 3:And that was another thing. Throughout the planning process with Brittany and I would have lunches with all of my girlfriends that were entrepreneurs or successful business people and just ask them hey, what do you think of this, what can I change of this? So I had a lot of other people helping me with the process to get where I am today.
Speaker 2:And so I have a question this will be for both of you. You had created such a strong brand with your photography. How did you then take that audience and strategically take that to this new company?
Speaker 3:Okay, well, thankfully and Taylor can help on the back end of this but thankfully Instagram was able to switch my account over without losing all my followers. That was like number one. I feel I'm very strong on Instagram and so the switch. Taylor thought we were going to lose followers, but when I'm on Instagram and when I'm in the presence of people, I am myself. Obviously I'm very emotional. I speak from the heart. I am who I am. I'm unapologetically, Jennings.
Speaker 4:Yeah that's very true.
Speaker 3:And I think that's just important. I think it's very personal, but it's also very good in the business world to do what you love, because the engagement of the people only lifted me up and they were just a huge support, so I felt very good about it. It was scary. It was very scary Because I didn't know what was going to happen and I felt very good about it. It was scary.
Speaker 4:It was very scary because I didn't know what was going to happen and I was very skeptical in the sense that we, the way we were working on Instagram, was this true kind of small little digital portfolio of of her work and the themes surrounding it and supporting it.
Speaker 4:We would feature.
Speaker 4:You know fun wedding dresses that you know the 2025 trends of, you know such and such, or you know why black and white photography is such a great option for you know new couples to preserve their love and you know things of that nature so truthfully, in the marketing world and all of the data that supports going from one business to another and keeping that platform. Naturally, she's built this amazing audience, highly engaged, literally to this day, the highest engagement rate I've ever worked with. Because, like Jenning said, she is very authentic on the platform but also very anecdotal and I love people and the people loved her. So I was like what is going to happen? But in my heart of hearts, that part was never going away. Like Jennings was not going to all of a sudden turn into this different person just because she has a new business. So that I knew was going to stay the same, but it was more of like the engaged followers who were potentially looking for that content of wedding inspiration is now going to be have a completely different feed you know of.
Speaker 4:But the people loved her. In fact, she did not, upon inception of launch, did not lose a follower.
Speaker 3:That's amazing I mean it truly was. I had some people switch over too, so they were my clients in the photography business and now they're my organizing friends and clients.
Speaker 4:Yes, and that was the goal. I mean, that was, of course, the best outcome. But ultimately I always try to present the risks too, because we don't always know what could happen. But if your followers did plummet, if they did decide, I no longer am getting inspiration for where I originally came from, I will go elsewhere. But she converted I mean quickly too. There was like a night and day and like huge support from everybody, not just like the friends and family on social and when we're speaking about Instagram specifically, like it's just such an image forward platform. So obviously a wedding photographer where brides find their wedding photographers, it was just a hub for us at the time. We've now and are going to diversify that portfolio, switching from just Instagram to others, as she, you know, goes on to more experience in her next year, so more to come.
Speaker 2:But I think that was the biggest thing too, was just like seeing the support, was like let's go, we can continue what we're doing, and that's a huge testament to you, jennings because, like you said, you can completely change your niche and expect to lose all these followers, but if you stay authentic and true to who you are, then that's just a huge testament to you, thank you. So, Taylor, you mentioned obviously as you transitioned, Instagram was a huge platform for you as you were getting started, because you had been in that wedding industry field before. What platforms do you see now being very successful with this new business and what are you? What other platforms are you exploring?
Speaker 4:So we, I think the biggest question, too, was do we stay here on this platform that if you were to scroll for over the past year, you will see wedding content Like or do we start over and tell people to move? Because that, I would say, the answer to that would not be the same business to business, but because this was like a solopreneur service industry business where it was just herself, like there's also her personality on this as well. It was not true like cut off business opportunities. So I think it made sense for her to stay there, because this is Jennings Like this is. We had personal posts about her too. This wasn't just strictly business. So we ultimately decided to just switch the name um and keep on the same platform, um, whereas other businesses that might make sense to just start over because, it's no longer necessary.
Speaker 4:So I do think, as we have come to now see Instagram for her business as more than just an image or repository for your photos, we're truly trying to convert people, to get to understand why they need organizing, why it's important, the emotional, mental, physical aspect of those things and now kind of being a part of it, I fully understand. I mean so much so that I, every time someone's like, oh, this photo, I'm like you need to digitize it because there is, you know, significant need to it. But, um, I think we have to be strategic about the other areas that we are gonna explore, which includes LinkedIn, for sure. Um, and then we're also talking about Google, my Business and essentially following our audience and knowing that social media platforms and basically all of the major marketing tools are now converting to search opportunities. So one of the biggest things we did last august was we introduced, we completely changed her captions, um, literally a month after you launched, and we I completely changed how I wrote her captions on Instagram and included keywords like just like words. It wasn't like no, I mean, it wasn't a hashtag strategy, it was just like words at the bottom of the page because it was supporting what people were searching for, which is completely different than a hashtag strategy, and also that doesn't exist anymore, so don't do that.
Speaker 4:But ultimately, within I think it was like two weeks, I texted Jennings and from my husband's phone I literally was like let's test this theory to see if it's working.
Speaker 4:And Jennings was the second post upon a very easy search keyword.
Speaker 4:It was like desk organization and at that point we're really really focused on workspaces and office organization, and it was the second post on Instagram and I like almost threw up, like I was like, oh, like, because you don't always get those results in marketing like that fast or that easy, unless it's like a true stat or number. But I took a screenshot and was like look this up now. Like everyone searched this because you know, I was like my IP address, of course, but I mean it worked, you know. And so that was also very rewarding to see, like all of this work that we're now shifting and changing and following the trends of what social media and audiences are doing is working and that to this day, I've been extremely proud of the fact that we decided to make a switch and when it did, it worked. And when it did it worked. So that I mean I think is a very interesting data point too is like diversify where your audience is, know what's working, why it's working, and then do everything you can to support that.
Speaker 3:I'd also like to say the age. Average age of my clientele has increased, and so, whereas my average age was 25 to 35, now it's pretty much increased to probably like 40 to 65. And so you have to, you know, consider the age group of your clientele, and 65 year olds are not scrolling Instagram, and that's a whole nother story.
Speaker 4:But you know, some might be shout out to my mother.
Speaker 2:So on that topic, outside of focusing on just social media, are there any community partnerships or collaborations that have helped you leverage your reach? We are just getting started on that sounds, sounds exciting.
Speaker 3:So TBD, but we've got some great partnerships coming that we can't really say now. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'm sure, just word of mouth, like if somebody's utilizing your expertise, I'm sure they walk away from that feeling just so amazing and organized and I'm sure word of mouth helps a lot as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, word of mouth is probably my number one thing besides. Just, I don't a referral from a friend, you know. That's why it's so important to do a good job the first time, so that it reaches.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I agree, I mean, I think our first year was really just kind of reaches. Yeah, I agree, I mean I think our first year was really just kind of tapping into who would listen like who needs this, asking for people to share.
Speaker 2:Which is so cool, because everybody needs this. Like you're in a field where I mean everybody is using technology, everybody needs these services, so it's a really unique opportunity.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Digitizing photos is so rewarding, especially the older photos of people's families. Here I go again. When you have a client, they are coming to you because they need help and they don't know what to do, and they may have had a family member pass away, person that has passed away. You know that you are, you know you need to do the best you can to preserve these memories for this family, and that's what is so rewarding about my job, because anything can happen.
Speaker 3:We know life is short, and preserving old photos of your grandparents or your great-grandparents and I've always said family, you know why do you do this? Well, the number one reason is to preserve your family history and the story that your family tells, because it's different for every person and it's different for every person in that family. You know you could have your sister. Her story is totally different than your brother would tell it, but the images stay the same. And I just think it's super important. Because another reason is this day and age, everybody's lives are all digital and their photos are all digital. And what's going to happen if you lose your cell phone? It's not on the cloud. All of these images are going to disappear, and then what story are you telling your children after that, when they're gone? It's just, it's a semi-crisis right now.
Speaker 4:To be honest, I'm trying to help solve the problem yeah, and to support that too, just in this part of my life. You know, looking back at the, let's say, printed photos, for example, you know, when we get the used to get the free doubles when we used to develop our cameras, I have a horrific memory. So there are moments that I can only relive through those photos and I don't look at them all the time. I don't remember the last time I looked through that stuff because it, as I'm sure anyone could relate, you almost have to reserve the time to like prep. I'm going to do this and then go through it. I'm crying and then recover. You know, because it's just such an emotional time, whether it's family recipes or, you know, literally any ephemeral or piece that has become such a part of your life and your legacy. All of that could be gone, like all of it could be gone, and you might not be thinking about that now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of one of those like when it happens then you kind of kick yourself for not handling it earlier.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and you know or what happens when someone else in your life wants them, because I feel like there's a lot of families it's like the keeper of all things family that potentially gets like passed down for generations, generations, and so, like Jennings said, this becomes your legacy. These moments in time were captured for a reason and so why not preserve them and make them safe? The other thing is, because it's such a delicate process, jennings has done such an incredible job of maintaining that emotional support because it's very therapeutic. I mean, there is trauma, like heavy stuff that you know these photos capture, and I think that is just like such a testament to even like her photography business, because she was on the other side.
Speaker 2:I know it's so cool that this is such a full circle. You know everything you did led you to where you are now you did led you to where you are now.
Speaker 4:It definitely did it. It's been really fun, though, and even to see, like she I mean, obviously, when you're talking specifically about digital um transformation and scanning, I mean just the machines like you have to obviously invest in some of those like I was like what is this? And she was like that is a slide. Um, it has a photo on it. Like I don't know what these things are, you know. So like even from like VHS tapes to CDs, to like what we now are thought. Or I was like this is it? This is digital technology right here, babe, and it's not anymore that's a very fleeting thought.
Speaker 3:So, um, yeah, she's like scanning these little slides there yeah, they're slides, kodak, slides from back in the day and you know, or negative, negatives, yeah, yeah, and the good thing is when you know you take these, the hard copies, and you digitize them. The best part, or one of the best parts, is you can make multiple copies. So you can can. I can give you three zip drives, you know flash drives, so you can give one to each sibling of the family so that everybody has it. And there's now some new technology that I'm getting ready to invest in that will let you view all of this on your smart TV just like you would, a Netflix show, which is super exciting.
Speaker 4:So you can get all of like half of your garage right, like all of the family mementos, and turn it into a Netflix special.
Speaker 2:So there you go. That's my parents should do that with everything they have in their basement. So that's what.
Speaker 4:I'm yeah, I mean I literally, there you go, that's. My parents should do that with everything they have in their basement. So that's what I'm. Yeah, I mean I literally she's going to kill me. But I just talked to my mom about this, like, truly like it.
Speaker 2:She doesn't want to touch it, and then that way it's actually something that's accessible, because what my parents have in their basement is just boxes and boxes of photos and then nobody gets to see. You cannot throw this away.
Speaker 4:And I was like well, now it's becoming a personal thing, I don't want you to throw them away, because I've got kids and I want them to see myself in a car Very tan.
Speaker 3:One of the coolest jobs I did was a family recipe box. And it was your traditional wooden box with all of the stained and brown and messy recipe cards that were all handwritten by the great grandmother, and I was able to scan them, and so now each child again going back to the multiple copies has all of those recipes and they can now cook them.
Speaker 2:That's so special. That's amazing. Yeah, it's and again.
Speaker 4:Like you might not be thinking about that, Like I don't have time to think about that, yeah, but when I do, I was like, and that's why you hand it off to me Exactly Truly. And that is very important too is like you're not going to do it. You and that is very important too is like you're not going to do it. You're not going to sit there and go through it.
Speaker 2:It's going to just. That's why you hire someone to do it. You hired the technology Correct yeah.
Speaker 4:Optimize your time and the know-how. And you know, not only am I just physically doing the work, I'm going to show you how to access this. I'm going to put a system in place so that you know where everything is. Everyone in your life knows how to access these things and, as the next generation, or as somebody you know who will be stepping into the role of taking care of people, I need to know where those things are. I'm going to be the keeper, so why not keep it easy, effective and you know, like this small? I'm showing a very small box to half a garage.
Speaker 4:Like I said, you know, it is a no-brainer, but it also takes time to like accept that. You know I'm ready to do this and that's just the digitizing part. Obviously there's very essential needs like uncluttering your office space and why that is so important, but truly in the digital realm, that's like I feel such an important thing to talk about right now, like today, because it's like Jennings just wrote a blog post and it was like we are capturing everything. It is effortless. We just capture, capture, capture. Where do those go? You don't develop them anymore.
Speaker 2:And so, Jennings, what would you say is one small thing that somebody who's listening to this podcast could do, just one small step aside from hiring you, that they could do to organize and digitize their life.
Speaker 3:Okay, so we've been talking a lot about emotion, and the first step is the emotional step is you have to be ready to make this a process, and once you get over that hurdle, after that the first step is OK. Now I'm going to talk about physical organizing. You would take everything out of your office or your desks so that you know what's in it, and then you know we place it back in. The digital side of it is get your emotional self ready, and then the second step would be to get it all in one place. So get you a really big bin and put everything in there photos, slides, hard drives, flash drives. You know, you see it all. Get everything in one spot and then you call me, or at least you know where everything is. Put it all in one spot, it's just getting started.
Speaker 2:Getting started.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And from like a marketing perspective. Like let's just start there, people, because that alone takes some time and effort. Like, again, this isn't something that like making breakfast, make your bed, brush your teeth, that's this is not what that is. So we are truly trying to connect with people from that emotional perspective of like you do need this, like, and this is why. Or, you know, come hurricane time, you need this. This is why. So I think from like and this is why. Or, you know, come hurricane time, you need this. This is why, so I think from like a messaging perspective. That has been a resounding, you know, theme throughout. What we talk about is what if, one day, all these things are gone? And not to spark fear, but it is a hard truth that some of her clients have gone through.
Speaker 3:And the other thing I would say about that is most of the people that are my clients are those that have experienced loss or the fact that they've lost something that they can't get back. It's not your everyday person that says, oh I'm just going to digitize my photos today. It's usually something that has sparked the action for it to actually happen.
Speaker 4:And I also think this is a realm that we didn't really expect to feel so wowed about. I mean, I think ultimately we were very excited about, like the sensation of cleaning offices and making them look and feel and work the way we want them to.
Speaker 4:But I think once that started to come to light, we were like this is an immediate focus, we can organize offices all the time and workspaces like whenever you need us to. But we need to do something about this right now because this is an opportunity not only for business but to help like and to make that mind shift.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's kind of one of those things that's always on your to-do list. You're like one day I'll get around to this. So just that mental kind of clarity of checking that off your to-do list, getting it done is one thing, but then also the emotional side of that, knowing you have it there forever, right yeah.
Speaker 4:So that I think has been a huge opportunity for us moving forward, especially as we go into year two.
Speaker 2:Another question I have for you is what advice would you offer somebody who is in a similar position where you were a year ago, where they want to make a career shift but they don't know where to start or the next steps?
Speaker 3:to take. I love this question because I love giving direction. The first step would be to hire professionals. When you're working, you always want to delegate things that you know you can do, but somebody else can do it better. And this is the same thing Pay the professionals but at the same time, really collect your thoughts before I feel like that's one thing I've done. A lot is paying the people that are the experts in it. It goes faster and it's more clear. My brain does not function with a lot of things in it and I need to get it out, so they help me with that.
Speaker 4:I mean that's a good point of view and ultimately, I think that speaks to like there are people out there like your community, other people's community, who know what they're talking about. Like you don't have to do this.
Speaker 2:And it applies to every field. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean, like in the wedding world, get a wedding planner. Okay, do not do it yourself, they know what they're doing.
Speaker 2:It's the same thing here Same thing with why you hire a marketing professional. You can't do everything yourself, unless that is. Your expertise is marketing, then sure go ahead. But if you know you have somebody like Taylor that you come across that can handle it for you and do an amazing job, and that's the other thing.
Speaker 3:I love being creative. I got a creative brain but and I love sitting on Canva and you know decorating and designing things. But I'm going to tell you what? It's's a rabbit hole. If I go down that rabbit hole, I'm never coming out and I will have one single sheet you know just designed and I'm like where was that six hours?
Speaker 4:yeah, it's the other. Yeah, I was just gonna say too, like sometimes, like as much as you love it, like just let it go. You're still a part of it. No one's taking anything away from you, so I mean it. You have to. That delegation is so important.
Speaker 2:Jennings, if you're the one sitting on Canva designing, then you don't have that time to actually that's exactly right. You're not in the field, you're not working right right making your hourly rate, yeah, um, and then what would you say, are some of your biggest lessons learned from this?
Speaker 3:Besides delegating and hiring outside. I would say be true to yourself, life's too short. Do what you're good at. I know this is so cliche. Do what makes you feel good. Right, well, I was able to do that. But be smart about it and also know what the market is asking for and find a need and meet that at their level to shift and that's okay.
Speaker 4:I mean, jennings, didn't just pick up a camera one day and then be like I'm really really, really good at this and I can charge so much money because I'm amazing, like we all started somewhere. But I think it's just scarier as you get further into your life or when you have had such a successful career doing this one thing and then accepting I need to move on. But now feeling a little bit older and wiser and we can understand what fear does to us, and feeling like how do I, how do I shift?
Speaker 4:and I think everything and anyone would say like, just like you, gotta, you, just gotta do it like you just have to do it, because the downside is you are miserable or you you no longer have the passion.
Speaker 3:So you can't go back, you have to move forward another thing I found is if you find the job or the industry that you want to be in is to research it. Facebook has so many groups of different things, and that was how I found one of my first outlets was the Inspired Organizer is a great Facebook group, and Melissa is head of it, and she has an entire online course of how to become an organizer, so there's a lot of education out there, too. That is not as expensive as hiring people, but at least that way you can learn about it before you invest a lot of money into outsourcing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's such an important point. Did you have any mentors along the way as you were making this transition?
Speaker 3:I had one of my great friends, logan Alderman, with Orderly South Carolina. She and I were friends during my photography career and I saw a summit that she went to one time and I was like whoa, there's a summit for organizers, like can I just come? And this was two or three years ago and anyway, I really I talked to her on a friend basis. You know it wasn't like I'm coming into your territory. I made it really clear to her that I'm doing what you do not want to do. And there are a lot of organizers in Charleston and beyond that organize physical spaces like kitchens and closets and homes, and they do not want to touch the digital side. And I said, okay, I will do that, send them my way yeah, and you have built since then.
Speaker 4:I mean Logan's still a part of the community. I mean now she has like a little community where that's so important, no.
Speaker 2:Matter what field you're in to have people to bounce ideas off of, or mentors, or even just say I'm not doing this, someone else can, like I was.
Speaker 3:You can get very money hungry and just be like, yeah, let's do it, let's do this, but if you don't love it, if you, that's the whole point of starting over we have a Charleston organizer group and we're actually meeting tonight and we're getting together and it is a group of women in Charleston that are all professional organizers, and so we talk about a lot of fun stuff and share like this is where I'm at with my business, do you guys?
Speaker 4:how do you feel? I've been there, I've taken some BTS and these women are wonderful but but fascinating, truly fascinating, where they are able to share so much but also delegate, share opportunities, you know, and it that is. I would say that's a top recommendation to find your community, find your people, for sure, absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 2:So, now that you have your company established, what's next? What are your goals? Where do you see yourself a year from now?
Speaker 3:so my goals are to definitely dive into the digital realm, more um, but also just get my name out there. I mean, it's a continuous um, continuous journey. Some are slow, some are fast. My photography career was very fast taking off. I feel like this one is going to be slower, but I'm okay with that. Some days, some days not, but it's going to be a slow journey and I would just say getting my name out there and partnering with other communities and partnerships.
Speaker 2:I think Charleston is such a great place for that. We're in a city where everybody wants to support one another. I think you're in a great place, charleston has so many women entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3:I love it. I mean just there. It's a great town to be in, Not for the ocean and everything.
Speaker 4:But to.
Speaker 4:Yeah, doesn't hurt, which I never see when I'm here. Yeah, I agree, I think year one was a lot of learning and growing and ebbing and flowing, and I didn't mean to. But I think, year the end of this year, especially like where we are now, I was like, oh yeah, we have got a much clearer focus of what we can do, why we should do it and where and who we're going to talk to to make that happen. And some of those things you cannot plan. You have to trust the process that they will happen. And this isn't like, oh, I'm putting it out there and it's manifesting, like, no, you're going to live through this, you're going to go through the growing pains, you're going to do the work and things will happen and shift and change. And I think this next year we have much more of a laser focus of what we're going to be doing and, yes, very fun partnerships coming up.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to follow along and congratulations on everything you've accomplished. Yes, please follow along, um, do you? Can you announce your social media handles?
Speaker 3:where people can find you. Absolutely so. My instagram is space maker professional, my facebook is spaceessional and my website is spacemakerprofessionalcom.
Speaker 2:Find me there Very consistent.
Speaker 3:I love it. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for being here today. Before we leave, we just want to thank our sponsors Charleston Media Solutions, jerry Feels Good and, of course, charleston american marketing association. If you'd like to sponsor or be a guest on our show, please reach out to podcast at charlestonamaorg and we will get back to you and thank you for being with us today. Until next time, charleston, thank you, thank you.
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