From Marketing Director To Small Business Owner
The Origin Story of Miller Marketing Group
From Marketing Director to Small Business Owner, my vision was simple. To be the trusted Marketing Advisor Small Business Owners could rely on.
After working in every position from an Executive Assistant to a Marketing Director and having first hand experience on what it was like being the client of multiple Marketing Agencies; I wanted to fill the gap in the market I saw.
I wanted to create a boutique marketing firm that was able to help Small Business Owners in a different way.
See, I was always hesitant to use the words marketing agency because although they could deliver a good sales pitch, they seemed to fall short on following through on what they said they would do.
- From producing commercials with a large ad spend, and having plenty of lead time before the commercial schedule went live… I only received one of the five on time.
- To working on new logos and receiving a logo mockup, to never actually receiving a complete logo but still costing a few thousand dollars.
- Experiencing an agency owner talk down to me while giving me the run around, little did he know years before that, I was in google trainings going over the exact thing he was providing a service for. I just didn’t have the bandwidth to do it.
- To being sold on the promise the job will be done in a day or week… to that actually not being the case…
My vision was to be THE marketing business… the strategist… the consultant… the trusted advisor … whatever you want to call it… that Small Business Owners could trust and rely on to be honest, loyal and be in their corner.
I wanted to do this because deep down inside, I knew I was created to serve people in a deeper way, than a 9-5 employee ever could. Yes, of course I wanted freedom that many of us think comes with being your own boss, but ultimately I wanted to feel fulfilled, appreciated, have a life of my own, and to be able to use my knowledge, skills, and abilities to help more than one business.
When I received my promotion from a Marketing Manager to a Marketing Director I thought I had hit the jackpot. A director level title, overseeing all marketing functions for two million dollar Small Businesses, I thought this was what it meant to really make it in my career.
Turns out, the title wasn’t as fulfilling as I thought it would be.
Sure, there were great days, fun projects, and it allowed me to mentor some great young marketers, one who in fact I still talk to regularly and am very proud of. But I also seemed to be the scapegoat for everything that went wrong within the company including the sales department. Any project, plan, promotion or event that was executed and showed a ROI, still didn’t seem to be good enough.
Let me ask you this… have you felt undervalued within your career? If you’re like me and the answer is yes to that question, then you can understand how I was feeling as a Marketing Director.
Stressed out, under-appreciated, and no personal life.
Before starting with this company, in my previous position, I was asked to speak on national and global stages in regards to marketing topics. Yet, in this position I could never seem to get it right according to some others.
I’ll never forget, I was working on a Saturday which was a usual thing in this position. My husband came up to see me, and I overheard someone say to him, “man, you sure come around here a lot, don’t you.” His response was, “yeah, its the only way I ever get to see my wife, she’s always working.”
At that moment, I realized something had to change. This was not the life I had imagined living, especially as a young married couple.
You can call it an epiphany, or daydreaming, but I was thinking back to earlier on in my career. I remembered I was mentored by a great Marketing Consultant.
And then this idea hit me, why don’t I become a Marketing Consultant?
I started creating my business plan. Figuring out who the ideal client was, what services I would offer, if I was going to serve only local businesses or work with clients online.
Soon after, I met with a small business lawyer, to create my LLC contracts.
February 1st, 2017 was the first day I became an official Small Business Owner, offering Marketing services to other Small Business Owners.
I’ll be honest, owning your own business isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a bit like riding a roller coaster, there’s ups, downs, unexpected turns and thrills along the way.
I remember being about three months in and feeling like I was failing. Telling myself, if I didn’t take on more clients soon, then I needed to give up and go back to being an employee.
But you can either walk with fear or walk with faith; you can’t do both.
A few months later a new opportunity presented itself; and I was asked to be the Director of Operations for a local bar and concert venue.
I said Yes to that opportunity, while running my boutique marketing firm.
And shortly after my first year in business I took on my third retainer client, a financial firm, while also running the operations, marketing and producing concerts at this venue.
Days were long, but I actually spent more time with my husband than previous years. I wouldn’t change my first few years in business.
My knowledge, skills, connections, and abilities grew so much during this time.
I’m grateful to my younger self, for not giving up and choosing to walk by faith.
In some ways, I’ve been a piece of the puzzle to helping launch other careers and grow businesses.
In 2020, and 2021, I was recognized as a Top Marketing & Advertising Agency in one of America’s fastest growing regions.
And in 2022, I was named One of The NYC Journal’s Top Entrepreneurs to watch.
I didn’t start my business for the accolades, or fame, I started it to make an impact.
The Marketing Director version of me, and the new Small Business Owner me, would be proud of the today experienced business owner me.
In 2025, I am looking forward to new opportunities, small businesses to help and young marketers to mentor.
If you‘re a Small Business Owner who needs a trusted Marketing Advisor then lets chat!
Let’s get your first call on the schedule!
Are you curious as to what Marketing Services we offer here at Miller Marketing Group?
Check out our Services here!
