Latest / Unstuck Pod / Three Days That Changed Everything (Jessica Teper and Jamie Schneiderman)
Transcript
- Jamie: Hey Jess, how you doing? So it's great to you here and I appreciate you taking the time. Listen, this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to go through the time you and I spent working together and kind of get into that and share a little more about that. But before we jump in, I think it'd be great to share with everybody who's listening just more about you. Jessica: How are you, Jamie? Jamie: ⁓ your career, what you've done and how you got here or what you're doing now. Jessica: Absolutely. I'm Jessica Tepper. I'm based out of Toronto. I've been an entrepreneur for over 15 years. I worked on the agency side as well. in the marketing side, but really kind of decided that I really wanted to be my own boss. I really wanted to go down the entrepreneur journey. So I started working with different e-commerce brands. I started working with different service brands, just some consulting, ⁓ learning their business, helping them grow. And it started off quite small. just had a couple sort of clients that I got by word of mouth. And as I kept working with them, I realized that there's a huge need. out there for marketing support that's genuine, that's going to help people grow, especially from an SEO and paid ads perspective. So many entrepreneurs that I was chatting with, like their first big thing was as well. I've been burned by big agencies in the past who were quite happy to take my money and I saw no results. And I just kept hearing that over and over again. and it's not that all agencies are that way. It just happened to be some of the clients that I were working with just had really bad experiences, felt like they had spent a ton of their budget and were just really not seeing results. So because I was working closely with them, I was ⁓ getting to know what their actual issue was. And I saw that there was ways I could help, but I say that my big issue was is that I was helping them with all of their issues. So not just paid, not just SEO, ⁓ I kind of a jack of all trades, wearing all the hats, running myself thin trying to help these brands. Jamie: Yeah. And I'm sure they were, I'm sure they just kept asking for more, right? Like, please help more anymore. Jessica: Yeah, yeah, of course. They were happy that I cared and that I was working with them. But they were small brands too, so they didn't have a ton of budget, but had a lot of needs, like a lot of brands that are trying to get off the ground. They're doing their best, they're trying to figure out, what is the next big thing that they can try to get over that hump. And so I working right alongside with them, sort of tackling all of their issues, trying to manage things, trying to have my team manage things. And I just found that I was just running myself thin. And I was very quickly that, we doing a ton of work to help these brands, we weren't actually helping them grow fast enough. And I wasn't actually really profiting. And it all just felt like I was kind of running on this hamster wheel and not really getting anywhere. And it started to get really discouraging. And that's when realized that I really either need to stop what I'm doing completely, pivot, figure out what I'm doing wrong and start getting on a better path to actually being profitable and actually being able to help my clients in a more substantial way. that's kind of where I was at. ⁓ you and I first started chatting about it, I was very discouraged, really feeling like maybe I had... Jamie: That was where you were at before when you and I first started to talk. Okay, Yeah, ⁓ I remember. Jessica: was just in the wrong business. Maybe I needed to completely do something else, but really feeling sad about the fact that I really do generally love what I'm doing, love the clients that I'm working with, but I felt really stuck. So that's kind of my story right up until you and I started chatting. Jamie: Okay. No, no, listen. And I obviously, I remember, I know it well. I think that's a good share, both in terms of, think the value add, the idea that you were busy, like just crazy busy all the time, but not really moving forward. Okay. So let's jump forward. So you and I started talking and I think you've described a little bit about what it was like before. Maybe we can talk a little bit about... Jessica: Yeah. Busy busy. Jamie: sort of the process we went through, what it did for you, both in terms of ⁓ the process itself, as well some of the results, like where we got to, or sort of how it changed where you're at. Jessica: I think first and foremost, it really forced me to take a step back and really look at my business as a whole. I had been running so fast just trying to execute that I was not really thinking strategically about the business. I was missing things. I was not thinking big picture. I really was tired and exhausted from just through the business. Even the people on my team were feeling the same way. So I think first and foremost, you helped me really step back and say, okay. Stop ⁓ just checking off the to-do list of things that I need to execute. ⁓ look at the business from ⁓ higher level. Where do I want to get to? Am I even serving the right clients? Am I doing the right services? Am I charging enough? Am I under charging? are the opportunities that are out there that I'm missing? And ⁓ able to kind of stop and start thinking about the business from a strategic perspective ⁓ terms of what I was selling, who I was selling to, what their actual problems were, did they even know what their actual problems were, or did they just assuming? ⁓ of those things I hadn't really taken enough time to think about. ⁓ you sort of walking me through that step by step and saying, okay, well, have you thought about this? And maybe we need to brainstorm, you know, how you're going to scale this faster with less effort and all of that. really, in just three days, it really gave me such a better perspective on why my business was not scaling, why it was not growing. And even just, it gave me clarity and confidence to be able to say no some project. and even to some clients that were draining the business and that were just not a good fit. So that really, really changed my perspective. It really gave me a second to pause, well, a couple days to pause at least, to really think about it strategically, whereas before I just thought if I can execute fast enough, then we'll grow, and that wasn't the case. Jamie: Yeah, and that's helpful. I think it's all there. It's just a question of, again, it's always the repackaging idea. So maybe for others who are watching, what was it? What were you focused on? What did it look like? I know you gave a basic summary before, but maybe more specifics before and after. think that would be helpful. Jessica: Yeah, so I can kind split this up into two parts. One was the type of clients, and one was the type of services. So before working with you, like I kind of mentioned earlier, I was the jack of all trades. I was like, you want help with social media? I'll help with social media. You want email marketing? You want landing pages? You want SEO? You want PPC? All of these things. You want help with finding influencers? I was basically saying yes to everything. I really wanted. I wanted to grow the business and I believe that saying yes to everything was going to get me there. So that was before. And then also with the clients. I was kind of accepting type of client in any type of market. So everything from SaaS to e-commerce to local businesses, service-based businesses, all of that. ⁓ I was doing a lot, a of different services for a lot of different types of clients. And after working with you, I was able to really drill down and say, okay, who is my dream client? ⁓ what are their What are the things that they're trying to accomplish? What are their challenges? And also, are my dream services? What are my profitable services? What are the services that I love doing the most? What are the services that actually move the needle faster for my clients, resulting in moving the needle faster for our own business? So you really helped me narrow down to say, OK, you know what? I want to focus on PPC and SEO primarily. Everything else? is off the table for now. because I know that those are the two big things that. short-term and long-term really, really can move the needle for businesses, business getting off the ground because you've got PPC, is immediate or ⁓ near future conversions for businesses ⁓ Google Ads, through ⁓ Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads. And then you've got SEO, which is more of a long-term play, but really gives businesses a lot of ROI in the future where they can actually step away from ads because the organic growth. So you help me realize that those are the two big things that are going to help move the needle for my clients. Those are the things that I know that I can be profitable on that my business does well. So I narrowed down the services and then I narrowed down the types of clients that I want. And I have a lot of experience with a lot of different types of clients, but where my passion really is, working with wellness and health and beauty businesses. And I love working with female founders. So I'm not just working with female founders, but ⁓ I've a focus on really my outreach being to those types of clients ⁓ and able to provide them services that I know will really help them. that's sort of how I narrow things down after talking with you, after going through your framework, understanding, what their true needs are and understanding what challenges, again, like being burned by other agencies, like pouring money into things that weren't giving them results. And then also my messaging, making sure that my messaging was consistent with what their pain points were, as opposed to just pushing my benefits out there, pushing what I can do. you really helped me narrow down the language around pain points and how we can actually help our clients get to the next level. Jamie: So, okay, so now let's talk, I know you made the transition. It was a shift. I've got a couple questions. So the first one is, talk me through a little bit about what that change meant from a business results point of view. where were you before? Where are you now? And then I also want to know where do you expect to be in the next 12 months? Jessica: Yeah, I think from a results perspective, there was definitely a transition phase. There was a transition where I was realizing I needed to off board some clients that just weren't a good fit. And then also ⁓ and restructuring things ⁓ my own team to make sure that everyone felt really ⁓ on what goals were, how we were pivoting, where we were aligning to. So there was definitely a bit of a transition phase in getting that all reorganized. ⁓ Jamie: Yeah. Jessica: But after that, being able to say no to the opportunities that weren't right for the business actually opened me up to being able to say yes to so many more opportunities. So after that transition, it was quite amazing, even from a psychological perspective, once you're mentally able to clear that space to open up, to network, to have the right language, to talk to the right people. Even in the first month, we saw significant growth. the last six months, we've probably at least three times ⁓ revenue. We've brought on 15 new clients that... ⁓ are very specific in terms of wanting SEO, wanting PPC. And we're seeing amazing results with those clients who are, you know, really excited ⁓ with results that they're getting from our team. And we're able to, we've been able to automate a lot of things with these clients as well, which has helped us be able to scale, which has helped us grow, but also support our clients in a really fast turnaround because this automation that we've been able to implement has just really helped our clients get the answers that they need fast. Jamie: That's awesome. Jessica: where they're not just waiting on someone from our team to get back to them. So I think sort of that mix of bringing on new clients and being able to service them in a much more effective way has greatly contributed us to scaling much faster than I expected to this year. So I think in 2026, like I know that will be at least, ⁓ projections will be at least doubling that if not triple because I've been able to hire more people. Jamie: Amazing. Jessica: And our clients have referred us ⁓ other people. ⁓ growing from a word of mouth perspective, which is great. ⁓ definitely feel very good about 2026. And it's been a huge difference from where I was about a year ago. Jamie: Amazing. Fantastic. Good. No, that's, listen, I think that's fantastic. most exciting thing for me hear. question, so you talked a bit about what we together. And so How much of this do you think you would have gotten to without working with me? Jessica: Yeah, I really don't think I would have gotten there. think, like I kind of said before, I was spinning my wheel so much and I was feeling really discouraged that a big part of me was like, am I just failing at this? Is this just not gonna work? Do I need to change career directions? And I think that you being able to kind of take me through those steps and help me see how much opportunity there is and of where the leaks were. you know, Really helped me to not just grow the business but feel confident about it. So I don't think I would have gotten there at all. I that ⁓ I'd still be spinning my wheels and, really questioning my life choices right now. But ⁓ I don't feel that And I think that the speed at you were able to help get there was amazing. Like many of my clients, I've been burned in the past by consultants. I've been burned in the past by agencies that, promised me things over a certain amount of time. And I just felt like I was in the same spot after where after three or four days, I was like, okay, I have it all here. I have the full package. I know what I need to do. I can see, where we've been kind ⁓ of screwing things and how we can fix things. Jamie: Great, I appreciate it, that's great. Okay, so let's talk, so let me just, I'll just, let's jump into, I just have only one question left for you. So is it for to ask, like, would you recommend me to other people? ⁓ and I guess the question is, if so, why do you think, why do you think that they should ⁓ work with me? Jessica: Ha ha! Yes. Yes. Well, I think the results speak for themselves. think my business has grown ⁓ and I can definitely recommend you to. anybody, especially companies that are feeling stuck, that know there's a problem but can't quite identify what it is. And I also would say, for companies that have considered consultants and stuff like that in the past and felt frustrated by that, I would say, you helped me get there quickly. You didn't phase this out over a year with big charges and big things like that. For me, I was like, I know I need to get to an answer fast. I don't have time to spend a year trying to figure this out, to spend six months. So I would say the speed and really just, you you cared about me as a person. You cared about the business. You cared about what I was trying to achieve with my clients. And you don't often get that. And I think that that's really important. So I felt really supported through those three days, even in the times where I've, since we've had those initial chats where I've been like, Jamie, what do you think about this? your responses have been really great ⁓ I can definitely say that I wholeheartedly recommend you. ⁓ Jamie: So thank you. All right. Well, I think that unless there's anything else you want to add, I'm that that's this is great. Jessica: No, I think it's great and I really look forward to seeing how you help a lot of other businesses like Monroe. Thanks, Jamie. Jamie: Thank you. All right. Thanks very much, Jess. I appreciate it.