• January 20, 2022
Vatrice Chestnut

“Start with what you do well and you will already be half way to mastery.”

~Roger James Hamilton

The Small Business with Lori Brooks Show

Hear the Journey ~ Find the Challenges ~ Create Solutions

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[00:00:00] Lori Brooks: Welcome back to the small business show. If you’re enjoying, don’t forget to subscribe like and share. This week I have the pleasure of chatting with. Vatrice Chestnut, veterans communications expert and creative project manager for small businesses and government agencies. She’s also chief relationship officer of affinity media consulting located in Washington, DC,. Vatrice, welcome and thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you, Lori. It’s a pleasure to be here with you. I just can’t wait for us to get started so we can help the audience and help them learn more things about entrepreneurship. Let’s get at it.

I’m super excited to have you, and I’m super excited to dive into your journey and your practice as a whole.

But before we do, I want to rewind the clock just a minute. I want to go back to the days of say junior high or high school. Think about the time when like a counselor or an aunt or an uncle would ask you what it is you want it to be when you grow up. What was the answer to that question?

[00:01:54] Vatrice Chestnut: I wanted to be a physical therapist, which is totally way off base for what I became. And then I, by the time I made it to college, I was like, no, let me be a mechanical engineer. And then I landed in communication.

So that

[00:02:19] Lori Brooks: is the first I will admit first time, I’ve heard that line of thought process, that sort of a journey. And that is the beauty of the show. And that’s what I try to get across to that, to our viewers. You know, the fact is every single journey starts somewhere. You may have all sorts of ideas as you’re growing up a physical therapist,

[00:02:54] Vatrice Chestnut: a mechanical engineer, and then you ended up

[00:02:57] Lori Brooks: excelling in communications.

[00:02:58] Vatrice Chestnut: Yeah.

[00:03:01] Lori Brooks: Tell us, please share. How you evolved into this journey and when did entrepreneurship actually become a thought process for you?

[00:03:11] Vatrice Chestnut: I let me see changing colleges. It’s what allowed me to pivot into communications or find that journey.

Mechanical engineering. Wasn’t satisfying for me. I, even though I was at the infancy stages of learning it, it was to structure it and I’m a very structured person. Okay. So I took from that, the process of doing things, making something. And so step one, step two, step three, double check here and things like that.

So I, I embraced that the physical therapy piece, I embraced helping people. But at the end of the day, I loved writing. I’m a words person. I love words. And so when I changed colleges and they had a communications field that back then you didn’t specialize in like PR or radio and TV. You had to learn.

And so I just excelled at every area. And I said, and I’m enjoying this because my grandfather told me something. When I was in the eighth grade, he told me, never get a job, find work, because work is something you can do from sunup to sundown without ever looking at the clock. So as I enjoy writing and enjoy doing these things, I said, I think this is my work.

And I graduated school. I had a job waiting for me in the communications field when I graduated, which was not popular. During that time, I won’t date myself, but in the nineties, when I graduated college, it was not positive for people to roll right into their career position. And I was fortunate enough to be able to do that.

And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since and just growing. So, yeah.

[00:05:33] Lori Brooks: It’s a beautiful thing, how

[00:05:35] Vatrice Chestnut: you took each piece and

[00:05:39] Lori Brooks: really pulled out what it was that was working for you. You started needed the engineering and you recognized, okay. Systems. This is what’s working for me here. That’s what’s really, you know, feeding it for me, but the rest of it, not of any interests I liked.

And I liked how you took that from HBS. And sometimes. There’s a lot of people who don’t do that. There’s a lot of people who don’t take the time to take that step back the trees, and that’s huge that you were doing so throughout the entire journey, you looked at what it was that fed your personality, that who you are, and really mapped all of those together and began taking steps.

So what were some of those first steps? What did you begin doing once you decided, okay, this is my

[00:06:28] Vatrice Chestnut: work. Yeah. So I started really going into each area of communication. So when I started out, I’ve worked in circulation for publicity. There I learned about customer success, marketing, engaging clients, and really listening and understanding their needs.

From there. I moved into advertising with another publishing company. With that I understood. Branding and the customer service aspect became more of an internal customer. So when you support different departments and different team members, there’s another way you need to communicate and engage and support to really Make sure you’re just really applying your skills to the overall mission of the organization.

So I got more into the business of things by looking at the three year plan and the five-year plan and lining up milestones and tasks in ways that. The entire company in reaching their goal. So understanding that piece of it and how that tied into branding from there, I moved into. More of an operations role.

So I understood the under the hood while working with USA today and understanding how things come together across different time zones in the U S as well as international and how to engage with an international client. Is it. So there, I really worked with bigger brains like your Fox sports in, you know, a larger airline or travel industry clients and still understanding this branding and how everything we do supports that.

And from there then I went over into working for a publisher that was an educational publisher. So I got into more writers. And because I embraced systems and processes, I was able to help us streamline everything from editorial to production, to advertising. I was like this hub until I created my own position with that.

And, oh my goodness. That was like the, that was the best job I had ever because I carved out a piece for me with that. And then I had family situations that took place and went back home to support my father who was ill at the time. Well in living now, but he was ill at the time and I was going to just find a job, be closer to my parents, you know, help out do all of that.

And as I went on these job interviews, the salaries, they kept mentioning they were not the right numbers.

And I was thinking, oh my goodness, you just read off a long list of things that you want me to do, which in communications, when I don’t know if this is common, but this is what I’ve experienced. Say for instance, I’m a graphic designer. They also think I can do website design, I can do other things, you know?

And so that was this type of position where this is what I’m hiring you for, but I actually want you to do this, this, this, this, but I’m going to pay you the salary that is paid for this position. And I said that talking to my dad and I said, their numbers don’t add up. And the benefits definitely don’t add.

And I said, I could do this and I could do that because I had learned from these big brands how to do this. And he says to me, well, I think you got yourself a business and that’s when the entrepreneurial light bulb came on. And within two days I was applying for a business license and just putting things into place.

And he was like, whoa. And I said, I’m kind of person. When I see the green light, I press on the gas. I don’t wait to look. I don’t wait for people to say. You know, to, to affirm me.

[00:11:19] Lori Brooks: No, there is so many pieces of your story that I love Vatrice. First, you explained how it is. You pulled out different pieces of each position as we were talking about. But then you began truly applying each of those positions to the job that you were in, which then made you recognize all of the areas that you were capable of doing yourselves at all, the value that you were fighting and you recognized what your true value was and when that value wasn’t being.

[00:11:54] Vatrice Chestnut: You took the

[00:11:56] Lori Brooks: words of those you were surrounding yourself by which is another thing that I always talked to this community about, you know, surrounding yourself with the right people who are going to support you, who are going to help you make those specific decisions. And in that moment, that was a really important one for you.

Recognize you have everything you need. You have every bit of that toolbox wrapped up inside of you, you know, your worth, know your value, those numbers don’t add up and

[00:12:29] Vatrice Chestnut: you don’t need to accept them.

[00:12:31] Lori Brooks: You don’t have to it’s success. And that’s super important because a lot of people go into job offers and interviews and things of that sort.

And they’re so desperate for that. That they accept something. Then he values who they are

[00:12:51] Vatrice Chestnut: when they know

[00:12:52] Lori Brooks: their are, but they’re not willing to stand up for it. And that is something that I commend you for, that it’s super difficult to accomplish for a lot of people. So I commend you for recognizing that for taking the words of your father into consideration and really recognizing, you know, I have it.

I can move forward. I know what I’m doing. I have the tools in my own toolbox. So what were some of those tools that you began taking out of that toolbox and began saying, okay. You know, you, you filed for your business license, you began moving forward. What were some of the next steps after you filed for that license?

Of course, your father was an op what did you do

[00:13:34] Vatrice Chestnut: now? I started searching for equipment to be able to provide services. And I didn’t want to skimp on the equipment because I knew I knew the value that I provided and I knew what my pricing that would reflect that value. So why ask someone to invest in my business when I’m not even investing in it?

So I always committed to having top of the line equipment. Okay. Recognizing that I couldn’t do it all. I set out to determine or identify good partners. So I had to make a list of what that good partner quality skillset would be. Okay. Then. I was able to identify them as I met. And these were lasting relationships that allowed me to expand the reach or the resources for my business without having someone on payroll.

So that was one thing that I was able to do that has really sustained me over time. They’re invaluable relationship that I have with partners to be able to do the work that I do. Then I also invested in myself personally by I’ve had coaches along the way. And I tell people you cannot be in business and not have a coach, no way ever.

You are going to be stuck where I see a lot of people and you’re not going to scale. You will spend a lot of unnecessary money. If you think investing in a coach is not a good investment, you are going to burn a lot of dollars. You’ll cry a whole lot more than you have to cause entrepreneurship. You’re going to, you’re going to cry.

You know, there are pieces of. But you can save yourself a lot of heartache, a lot of time and a lot of money. When you invest in someone is your coach who can help you in your specific area or industry

[00:16:02] Lori Brooks: That is such a hashtag right there, when you believe that investing in yourself and investing in a coach to help you move forward is a waste of money. You’re wasting money in many other ways. You totally are.

[00:16:20] Vatrice Chestnut: And we’ve all been. We

[00:16:22] Lori Brooks: all think we can pull it off. We all think we know better.

We all think we’ll figure it out, but it’s, it’s not until utility begin investing in ourselves and taking that time to recognize the different areas that you truly do mean to help

[00:16:34] Vatrice Chestnut: in, to.

[00:16:36] Lori Brooks: To move yourself forward. You’re not going to be able to move forward. You know, I call that W.I.N.O. Mode when you’re working in and not

[00:16:44] Vatrice Chestnut: on your business, on that’s what it is.

We all

[00:16:48] Lori Brooks: get there. And, , there are peaks and foams of that as well. , there are times when. Fall back into working in our business and not on our business, but it is. It’s truly important to keep that focus in front of you, of what it is you’re trying to accomplish. Take those steps back, invest in yourself, invest in a coach to help you continue moving forward.

So chase, please share with us all about your practice to.

[00:17:14] Vatrice Chestnut: Yeah. So affinity media consulting is based in Washington DC, but we help clients nationally. Right now, my goal is to expand globally to help, but we do three things well in the brand new. We cope. We provide creative project management, which is the visual aspects of any brand.

And we also publish a magazine locally in the Washington DC market. My first love is the coaching piece because I like helping creative entrepreneurs understand what branding is. Get out of the. And get clients who want to pay for the services that they provide that are high value high-end services.

And so I had this eight week coaching program. That’s a hybrid model. There is a portal where you log in, you watch video lessons, but you also meet with me twice a week to get, advice, insight about your specific business and your specific challenges, whether it was some of the training that you didn’t understand, or some ideas that were sparked from that to help you grow as you learn.

So you don’t have to finish the eight weeks to be able to do that. Two to start seeing growth in Your business. Individuals graduate from there into a masterclass where we meet twice a month to help continue growing. But we have this solid foundation with branding, which includes everything from first touch to fulfillment and customer success.

So everything that happens within your business is your brain. From the way a person answers the phone, the mindset. The finding the culture and recognizing who your team members or your partners are going to be. The easy part is the visual piece, but getting down to understanding what portion of your mindset may be causing hindrance.

Then identifying what your needs are and your client’s needs are from a cycle gap, graphic approach. You know, it’s not about demographics. It’s more about psychographics and that’s how you make those harmonic. Attraction relationships because you know what you need and you know, they need, and you can bring these two together.

And when you have that, then you don’t sit around haggling prices. Can you take 20% off of this? Can you do that? Can you do that? You are paid what you’re worth. Definitely

[00:20:14] Lori Brooks: knowing the worth and making sure that you are truly providing that value and moving forward with your clients, making sure that they understand what that was is by making sure that they’re just cells properly understanding who they are, what they.

Who you are and what you need. And I think that is one of those pieces, like cemeteries that is kind of missing on, on certain levels, that some businesses are really looking at themselves and understanding what they need, not just what their client’s needs are, but how that’s going to actually play into who they are.

And that’s something that I thought was really excellent about what you were explaining your journey. You really took the time for Brexit. What worked for you before you had thought about entrepreneurship? What was it that served you as a person? What was fulfilling in you before you started down down the journey of entrepreneurship?

You know, I’ve seen so many entrepreneurs decide that they’re excited to make money on. And that’s the whole, why behind the watch?

[00:21:23] Vatrice Chestnut: Why not? What?

[00:21:25] Lori Brooks: It’s difficult to move the journey and further. And I commend you for taking that time to really understand the why. And that’s where the success was to rise. So congrats.

[00:21:37] Vatrice Chestnut: Thank you. I have to add this one little piece, Lord. Cause once you said that it had me thinking my students have raved over week three.

Okay. We in three in the coaching program is where you go through a process to create a lifestyle by design, not default.

That’s how they build the foundation for how they price their services, because we’re going to create the lifestyle we want first and define that, and then we’ll make sure the value we bring to our clients match. And then we price, but entrepreneurs tend to default to, okay. I have a business name. I have a website.

I have a phone number. Now, let me put my price list together. Right. So they want to be intentional. Yes. Yeah,

[00:22:31] Lori Brooks: no, definitely. They miss the other

[00:22:32] Vatrice Chestnut: hospital,

you know, you’ve got the front

[00:22:38] Lori Brooks: of it and that’s great. Those pieces are instrumental in getting your business up and running. But that’s not the actual business. It’s not the whole of it. There’s a whole entire backend that needs to be put into place and organized in order to actually operate function and serve both yourself and the clients.

So now really, truly appreciate what you’re doing. I love the hybrid model. I think. The standing that you not only provide the course that self paced learning course, but you’re also providing direct access to you to make sure that clients are truly understanding what it is they’re moving through versus just having a digital course and still being stuck within wherever might be.

They are. So again, excellent pieces. And I am sure that you’ll provide a link at some point that we can go ahead and link to from the show notes page. So we’ll be sharing it back for our viewers. So you have the chance for trees to go back and it’s time machine take 10, 15 years and tell yourself just one thing.

What do you think that would be

[00:23:47] Vatrice Chestnut: do it afraid?

Do it afraid because the creative project management piece of my business really focuses on local government and federal government clients. And I took a while before I launched out into that space. Now that I’m in that space, I see I had the skillset to be in this space eight years ago.

So if I could go back, I would, I would already, I would’ve, I would’ve done it afraid. I

[00:24:27] Lori Brooks: then, regardless of where those butterflies are, take that energy and use it to propel you forward. Definitely do it afraid doesn’t matter. So if you had the opportunity to wave a magic wand and change anything at all in your practice, what would it be?

[00:24:47] Vatrice Chestnut: I would want to hire more people because I, I find partners who value what I’m bringing to the table so that they can be brand ambassadors themselves. And I tend to attract people who have been through life circumstances. So this can be something that helps them by catapulting them into their next. And so if I could do anything, I would hire more people.

Who had that same background so that they can understand they’re beautiful creatures, God designed them. Exactly like he wanted them to be, which was amazing. And to be able to really have the opportunity to do things that you really enjoy, where you can find passion and really do what you were wired to do.

That’s what I would do. I would create more opportunities for people to be able to, to do. I

[00:26:04] Lori Brooks: love that grading more opportunities for people to be able to share, spread and serve even more. That’s outstanding. And that is definitely the first that we’ve heard that one. So thank you for being an outstanding guest.

Thank you for sharing your story with the community. So you the best way for our viewers to find you.

[00:26:27] Vatrice Chestnut: You can find me on my website. It’s affinity media consulting.com. I noticed a mouthful. So I say to get vanity media consulting.com and the tabs in the navigation bar can help you get to where you need to be.

You’re looking to work with me from a federal or local government standpoint, if you need coaching or whatever that need may be the navigation bar is pretty intuitive. So fill around, find out more information. The

[00:27:06] Lori Brooks: affinity media crunching. We will be sure to include a link on the show notes page long. So definitely which he’s thinking.

Thank you. Thanks.

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