MAD LOVE MONDAY | Joanne Bartolome
YEG Marketing is an agency that focuses on brand development, marketing and social media strategy. It can be as simple as creating a content calendar for your social media or doing a full brand refresh.
Photography | @pink_blush_photography
As a brand strategist, I see projects through from start to finish. My business values community engagement, giving back, and educating the public with useful marketing advice. I’m also big on integrating trending tactics into my strategy and am passionate about providing my clients with useful analytics and research.
Marketing and social media is very interesting, it’s a place where you can share ideas and create communities around you.
I chose marketing because I loved the idea of making an impact through storytelling. Growing up, I’ve seen how connected this world is and how everyone has a unique story that needs to be told. Every business I work with has a unique story and I want to be part of crafting it.
YEG Marketing started off as a side hustle two years ago. It was a creative outlet for me to try my marketing techniques with other industries in Edmonton. Choosing to go full time with my business was daunting and scary. If it weren’t for the amazing people who surrounded me and supported me, I don’t think I would have taken that leap. Also must make a special shoutout to my fiancé, who for years, kept saying “so are you going to go full time with your business yet?” and continuously believed in me.
I think what inspired me to start my own business was when I started participating in marketing competitions. At the time, I always thought I knew “Edmonton” marketing. When I finally started ranking in national and international competitions, it gave me the boosted confidence that “hey Joanne, your ideas are great!” and having that confidence to implement those ideas.
Another thing that inspired me was when I saw people around me doing it and absolutely loving what they do. Seeing Valerie start Pixels & Relish, Scott start Entrepremillionaire, and see a close friend become a Realtor after so many years, it made me start thinking – I better take that leap of faith and start providing people with quality marketing and social media services that fit their needs.
Also, I realized at a very young age that life is too short. Just this year, my sister went through a difficult time of chemotherapy. At the same time, I saw my mother-in-law have a passion for baking but now at 60+ years old she’s taking that chance at selling in Farmer’s Markets. It’s amazing how fast time flies and taking advantage of each moment because we never know what would happen.
Quote/Motto: Courage over Comfort – Brene Brown
When it comes to my persona goals, I have many goals for myself. But I think my number one goal this year is to be kind to myself. As entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed a lot of us are VERY hard on ourselves. We feel guilty taking the time to watch TV or read a book because we are told to always grind and hustle. While I do believe in working hard, I find that practicing gratitude can go a long way.
Photography | @pink_blush_photography
Believe me, I used to think that this didn’t work. I used to think journaling and meditating didn’t do anything. But now, I try to practice gratitude. Every day, my personal goal is to think and write down 1 thing I am grateful for that day. I got the idea from Paris Jewelers when they were giving out their gratitude journals. The idea is to enjoy the moment and find something to smile about. If I can do this consistently the rest of the year, I would be a very happy woman!
Professionally, I think the biggest goal for my business right now is to start providing resources through videos, podcasts, blog posts, or workbooks that are industry specific. While I absolutely love helping everyone, I think that these resources will allow me to help more people who may not be my client but are still looking for advice. Another goal would be to eventually have enough money to go to a marketing conference in the US, Europe, or outside in Edmonton in general. I feel like it will fuel my creativity and allow me to become a better person of myself.
The journey of entrepreneurship is incredible and the relationships you build is out of this world.
You decide your own fate and while being an entrepreneur isn’t easy, it is fulfilling and continuously pushes you to grow and learn every single day. The interesting thing about wanting to give up is because of that feeling of failure. Klarissa Paradis once told me, “there is no failure, it just means the outcome you expected didn’t happen.”
The scary thing about being an entrepreneur is that some days are great, and some days, you worry about where your next paycheck will be coming from (or, at least it was for me). I remember I was on the phone with a potential client and that person grilled me, made me feel inadequate because of my lack of experience, made several rude comments, and I still had to work a trade show after that phone call. I remember thinking to myself, “maybe you’re not cut out for this”. Maybe I wasn’t cutthroat enough, maybe I wasn’t strong enough, or maybe I didn’t have what it takes.
The amazing thing about a gratitude journal is that you don’t have to just write up what you are grateful for, but you can also record past testimonials, past compliments people have given you, and past e-mails that made you smile because of something you did that they recognized went above and beyond.
Support of friends and family is important, but having that documentation to remind me, yes – you are a badass lady that knows her stuff that will go above and beyond for her clients. After reassessing my values, this situation just meant that this client was just not the right fit for me.
Photography | @pink_blush_photography
However, even though I have my fair share of good and bad experiences, I still push myself to take on another day. The funny thing is, no matter what meetings I attend (and this will sound REALLY simple, and I absolutely love it) whether that person is male or female, and they say “damn. That’s a firm handshake”. It’s amazing how powerful and confident you feel. It sets the tone for the meeting and shows that I mean business. I feel like that gives me the best “BOSS BABE” moment especially after pushing myself to move forward.
When I first started attending events and people started to coin the term “The Joanne”. I remember Valerie and Scott would start introducing me as “The Joanne” and it instantly started catching on. The best moment was when I was going to a social media conference, and people would go up to me and say “wait, are you THE Joanne?”. At first, I was a little embarrassed to have the spotlight on me. But that showcased and made me realize the power of Instagram at the time.
However, I’ve lately gotten a lot of traction on LinkedIn through articles and recommendations. It’s a great platform to connect with people professionally and I do hope to continue using it in the future.
When it comes to dealing with work-life balance, I will always have Friday date night with my man.
That’s the time that I don’t answer phone calls or e-mails. It’s the time I give to myself to be selfish and get away from constantly being on my phone or thinking about work. It allows me and my man to do what we’ve been doing since the beginning we started dating – cooking together.
What are you looking to learn from other boss babes in the community?
I’m just looking to just learn about how they do it. How they run their businesses and any tips and tricks that can help with efficiency or keeping a level head during difficult situations. I’ve really enjoyed this community and seeing everyone come together to support each other to help local businesses grow.
Joanne Bartolome | YEG Marketing
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