How Cherise Kennerley Utilized Her Sales and Marketing Background Into Running Her Own Successful Marketing Agenc
/Cherise Kennerley has been President of ROI Marketing since 2001. Prior to running ROI Marketing, she held a variety of successful executive-level sales and marketing roles within various companies working with advertising and public relations agencies. This led ROI Marketing to grow organically focusing its attention primarily on mid-sized to large companies searching for marketing, sales and business solutions that are tailored to meet the goals of the client in a cost-effective way and as result companies on average retain ROI Marketing for 9+years.
In this episode, Cherise talks about how she was able to “Flip the Script” in her 2nd Half utilizing her past Sales and Marketing background into running her own successful Marketing Agency.
“There's only one thing holding you back is just yourself. You just got to go out there and you just have to start doing it. I started formulating our ROI Marketing when I was still in corporate, I knew what I liked, I knew what I didn't like and you just have to put it out there.”
- Cherise Kennerley
Key Takeaways for Second Act’ers: How Cherise prepared for her ‘next big thing’ - running her own successful marketing agency
I went out there and I joined a couple of different associations and such just to get me the feeling of knowing like how do I network, how do I learn to perfect my elevator pitches, and so forth.
One gentleman help me network and I reciprocated by giving services at no charge and it worked out great.
Topics Covered:
04:10 - The various positions she had in her past jobs that led and contributed to what she is doing now
06:57 - That time in her career when she saw it fit to "flip the script" and start her own marketing company
11:11 - What is that one thing that is holding her back from moving forward and pursuing what she really wanted, and what steps she took to move to a new direction that she want
15:21 - Marketing steps she took for her business, and the type of partnerships she's done outside of marketing
Connect With Cherise Kennerley:
Cherise’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherise-kennerley-1981a81/
Cherise’s Email: cherise@roi-m.com
Cherise’s phone number : (847)-201-4300
Connect with Tim Hansen
Transcript:
Transcript
Welcome Second Act'ers. Today we have on Cherise Kennerley. She's been ROI president of ROI Marketing since 2001. She believes great marketing firms offer more than just project work charging fees that result in you not being quite sure what you got.
At ROI marketing they take great pride in delivering the best from strategic planning through implementation with transparency and results. Prior to running ROI Marketing Cherise held a variety of successful executive-level roles within various companies working with advertising and public relations agencies.
As a result, ROI Marketing grew organically focusing its attention primarily on midsize to large companies searching for marketing, sales and business solutions that are tailored to meet the goals of the client in a cost-effective way.
Cherise and her team accomplished this with a flexible retainer program that allows them to do what needs to be done and then some as a result, companies on average retain ROI Marketing for approximately nine-plus years.
Cherise thanks for joining us on the show today. And so can you take a few moments, just fill in the gaps and tell us a little bit more about who you are, your business, and what you're looking to do
Cherise Kennerley: 01:47
Thank you very much, Tim. I really appreciate your invitation to be able to say to your audience today, you know, a lot of people kind of look at it and say, that's a little bit of a different introduction when you're talking about a marketing agency, right? So, a lot of times people are just like, well, what is it that ROI Marketing does?
Well, you know, it's very true. We work with lots of different kinds of sites, companies, a lot of them are within the B2B marketplace, but, you know, a lot of companies are very different and they say how do you know what to do or how do you know how to handle companies of various sizes, meeting all these different kind of needs that they have. You know, one of the very first things that I do, which I would say is a little bit different than what most agencies out there do, is that we always start with why do you feel you need marketing, to begin with?
You know, what's going on in your business? You know, why, why do you need marketing to be able to answer one of your questions? Is it because you're trying to expand your business, are you trying to fix some problems?
There are all those different types of things that are going on. So once I do have a good understanding, then what I'll do is put together like a little bit of like a six-month plan for them. This way they've got a more of a clear understanding of what it is that they're buying.
That's really something that a lot of companies don't realize and why they don't move forward even in marketing is there's just not even quite sure what they're purchasing. Am I getting exactly what I need or not? And so that's why, you know, part of the complimentary process is to show them, hey, you know, this is why that we're always chosen is because we're letting you know right off the bat what it is that we're going to do and why we're gonna do it.
And how is this going to help you with answering that question of here's what's wrong with my company, here's what's going on in my company and how do I fix that.
Tim Hansen: 03:44
Excellent. Well, prior, what I'd like to do just a moment for the audience. So prior to you starting ROI, I noticed you've held a variety of senior executive-level roles working for other people and whatnot.
And so let's talk a little bit about that, just on how your past expertise in your progression, some of the things you did in the past and how that led up to what you're doing now. We could talk a little bit about that. I'm sure my audience would love it.
Cherise Kennerley: 04:10
Sure. Yeah. When I first started out I actually started out in sales and it was a conversation I remember that I was having, and someone said to me that if I wanted to be a good marketer one day, you learn how to sell, and, you know, believe it or not, it was a little limited conversation that I had.
And for some reason it was one of those, you know, little phrases that stuck with me. So actually I did that and I learned how to sell for the next few years and I sold them to the high-tech. I sold actually for high-tech companies and to a lot of different industries.
But you know, sometimes then you kind of get to the point, you have to try to figure out what it is that you want to do next. And I always knew that I wanted to go into marketing now that I had some sales experience under my belt that that's exactly what I did.
So then this, my next steps were I just went into various companies. But I noticed one thing, you know, once I kind of get a few more years under my belt was that I really enjoy going into companies that were hurting, that was backward and backward, meaning that I would walk in and it would check to mean absolute disaster. They either wouldn't have any marketing or was they didn't have a really good marketing department or the people they had there, they had let go.
And I remember one time, the very first day I sat down into my brand new office and I was just, you know, trying to even unpack my briefcase and I already had a line of people outside my office with a complaint. And you know, a lot of people would get kind of freaked out about that and, but not me.
You know, I noticed that where there were a lot of problems, I knew that there was only one way to go and that was up from there. So that was kind of like the attraction for me is as I always followed it, I always like companies that needed marketing that were really backward or needed a lot of help. That was kind of like, I guess my drug of choice, right?
Tim Hansen: 06:26
Yeah. Well, let's talk about that for a second. So you know, you obviously had an extensive career in sales and marketing working for other people. When at what point did you determine, I'd say it could be either you're at the worst career moment or what I like to call the flip the script moment of when you figured out that, you know what, maybe now I've had a great time, you know, working for other people and perhaps now it's a time to move on. What were some of those things that kind of encouraged you to go out on your own and try a different way of looking for new work and income opportunities?
Cherise Kennerley: 06:57
Gosh, that's a loaded question cause it's not like one thing. It's kind of like a progression that happened. And one of the very first things that happened was when I was in corporate, I worked with a lot of different agencies and if there was anything that I noticed was what they were doing wrong and you know, if they actually delivered to me, that would be great.
So you're always constantly working with the agencies to try to figure out how can you get the best out of them. They're not really delivering what they're supposed to. And I remember that that was, you know, I started formulating things about how would I really want to do this? Lo and behold, not thinking that a few years later so that I would be starting my own company.
Like, it's finally really kind of came to me when I was working in one of the very last, you know, corporate companies. And boy I really picked one that was backward, ended up like after a month that I was there, the president quit and he was no longer at the company.
The VP of Sales took over as president and now I was saddled with both responsibilities, being the VP of Marketing and now the VP of Sales. And I'm like, holy cow! So what does it give me access to some information that I wasn't so privy to before? So I have taken a look at all the different stuff going on and found that, wow, this company is really not salvageable.
They were factoring out their invoices. They were absolutely and saw that the writing on the wall with a company and with their customers that were starting to want to leave and they weren't leaving. I'm like, you know, this is an opportunity here. You know, and that's just a bad thing.
But maybe this is actually an opportunity. I've already started three marketing departments in a sales organization and corporate, you know, just kind of like what more am I going to do? More of the same?
So that's when I really said to myself, maybe this is the time when I need to really start my own company. I know it at this point from thinking about it for a few years, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew kind of a vision that I had for. How do I really want to have this company formulate?
I don't want to be like an agency where I'm running from project to project. I knew that if I was going to take on a client, I wanted them to stay for the long haul.
I really wanted to be an extension of the company. So it was scary, and I'm telling you that it was a really scary time. I went from a six three-year income down to zero overnight.
Tim Hansen: 09:49
Well, I think that leads to the next question. How's that for a segue? So the next question I always like to ask is what was holding you back from what I like to call flipping the script and pursuing a new work in income directions sooner rather than later.
I always say some of us have planned exits, some are forced, but let's elaborate just a little bit more on that. You already alluded a moment ago that you know, you were a six-figure earner, obviously very successful, and you're now going into a different way of doing things.
You're going from a six-figure income to zero. And I know a lot of my audience at this point in their lives and their careers, that's a big concern to a lot of them.
Like to have people elaborate a little bit more on a couple of things. Number one, how did you handle the emotional state and going through that, because I've found that mindset in addition to knowing what you do, mindset is absolutely critical to being successful when you're making this what I call a paradigm shift. And then the second thing, talk a little bit more about some of the practical steps that you took. If you don't mind elaborating a little bit more on that.
So what was going through your mind? How did you overcome that? And then what were some of the practical steps you took leaving a six-figure role to move on in a new direction.
Cherise Kennerley: 11:11
There's only one thing that's ever holding you back. And that's generally yourself.
If you think, if you take the time and you think things through, you know, what is the story that you're going to tell, and you know how you want to be able to move forward and be able to present your service and you know why that you should be doing it and why you're better than everybody else doing this. There's only one thing holding you back is just yourself.
You just got to go out there and you just have to start doing it, you know? And it's like good. You know, I started formulating our ROI Marketing when I was still in corporate, I knew what I liked, I knew what I didn't like and you know, you just have to put it out there.
Now, the emotional of it, it all depends on how you want to handle that. There's one thing that I always said that I believe in myself and that I have taught other companies as well, and a lot of presidents,
…there's no place for emotion in business. If you bring emotion into it, you'll always make a mistake.
If you think things through, then the percentage of times you're going to be making mistakes is going to be a lot smaller.
So if you believe that you are ready to move forward and you've already thought things through and you've got your foundation in place and you've already started testing and get out by networking, talking to people, explaining what you have going on and you're noticing a genuine interest, you know, you still have to make adjustments along the way.
If somebody's going, well that's really nice and what is it that you think you really need? When you've gone through that and you've made those adjustments, you just have to go out there and you have to give it a try. Now I'm not saying it's easy and I will tell you that the first year of ROI Marketing, I did nothing but go out there and just pound the pavement myself. So it took about four months. There were actually two different things that I did.
One was I went out there and I joined a couple of different associations and such just to get me that feeling of knowing like how do I network, how do I begin to perfect my elevator pitches? So forth.
And the other thing I did was I also had a gentleman who owned his own company and I used some, he actually was the recruiter for my corporate organization.
Well, his business was expanding and so he knew a lot of people and he said, 'Hey, you know, if you can help me on my marketing stuff, he's like, I'll help you by introducing people to you so then to help you start and grow your business.
There's always somebody out there, you know, that's what networking and maintaining good relationships along the years is all about.
If somebody's gonna want to help you if they believe in what you've been doing and you believe in what you're doing, there's always going to be mentors. There's always going to be somebody who's going to reach out and say, 'Hey, let me see what I can do for you.' And you reciprocate by maybe giving your services to them at no charge and it really worked out great. And I did, I got some early-onset clients from him. And through also networking I got some clients that way. And after you kind of get that foundation built, you know, it's a very small community and they start telling other people and they start telling other people and then it begins to grow that way.
I have to say that after that one year of just doing nothing but pounding the pavement and doing some projects and starting to get some retainer clients under my belt, it ended up being fantastic because I could literally say that the past 18 years I really haven't had to market very much. It became, you know, it became just continue to go out there, expose yourself, meet new people and then things just automatically happen.
Tim Hansen: 15:21
Well, that's fantastic and I think you already elaborated a little bit more on the next question I was going to ask you was what were some of the marketing steps you took?
Obviously that's your background. Some of my audience perhaps listening to you may not have the benefit of that skillset. I know some I've spoken to are engineers or accountants, you know, mostly knowledge-based professions that can be spun off into a consulting type of practice. And so do you have...
Cherise Kennerley: 15:47
Do you have stories to tell? To me, it doesn't make a difference if you're a marketer or if you're an engineer if you're an accountant. It doesn't make a difference. You have something to say, you have the experience, you have things that you've done to help people overcome where their issues work.
Tell people about them, give them the ideas. Don't necessarily, like, go to mainstream ideas. They know that you could probably do that. What are some of the other things that you've done that would generate some creative ideas for them that that person that you're talking to has never thought about?
Tim Hansen: 16:22
Awesome. Well, I know one thing I've seen other people do successfully and in my recruiting consulting business, I've done that as well.
I've actually had other larger organizations sometimes come to me to fulfill some of that work and that has been a nice bridge for me to be able to kind of have another income stream coming in addition to my own clientele.
In addition to all the marketing and the networking and things that you've done, have you ever looked at or explored opportunities or other joint venture partnerships like that as well?
Cherise Kennerley: 16:55
I have only to a certain degree, you know, I know where my skills, that is that, and I know that marketing is really what I'm good at but you know, kind of like to an extension of that, I have to say that.
Another avenue which is not really marketing related per se is sometimes doing strategic planning.
You know, you'd think that it's like, well, it's gotta be marketing related, but no, it really isn't. It's just that over so many companies over time that I have had the privilege of working with, I've been able to also help them out on the strategy level.
So today, just, for instance, it was a few months ago when we were at a working event, somebody came by and said, 'Oh, do you know how to do strategic planning?
Yeah, I think I have somebody for you. And it, and it ended up where it was in a completely different industry, have never done something like this for a non-profit. And they ended up where it was one of the most fun activities that I've had to do because now, you know, I've never had to work in front of a board before.
I'm like just a whole slew of people with lots of different ideas. And instead of being the marketer now I was like a facilitator. I would be the trainer helping them through and helping them think through the process of where do they want to take their company next. Not normally a marketing type of activity.
Tim Hansen: 18:29
Right. And that's kind of one of the funny things about being self-employed. You actually get torn or kind of moved into other directions as people see your expertise and how it can help them. And I always thought that's kind of a fun thing.
To me, it always made life a little bit more exciting, a little bit of the unknown and that way things never get stale always stays fresh.
And kind of fun. Some people like that, some don't. But I think it's a nice way to stretch yourself a little bit and keep things interesting. But, you know, as we come toward the end of our conversation today, I just want to close with a few things. Having done what you've done in the past, working for other people, now, working for yourself and serving your community, what's the one thing you're most excited about your new work and income direction with ROI?
Cherise Kennerley: 19:11
I'm never bored.
Tim Hansen: 19:15
That's a good thing for sales and marketing people.
Cherise Kennerley: 19:18
Yeah, it really is. You know, it's like, isn't that a lot of times the reason why people are looking to do something more, they know they have something more to contribute because they're bored at what they're doing and they want that new challenge and they want to be able to meet new people and they want to be able to contribute more and they know they have something more to do. That's why we're doing what we're doing.
Tim Hansen: 19:40
Right. I agree. 100%. Well, you know, I'd like to disclose real quickly here on you know, talking to our audience a little bit, tell them a little bit more about how they can reach you if they'd like to engage your services, perhaps your website, your email address and for my audience that's listening or perhaps driving, no worries, all this information will also be in the show notes. So don't get an accident if you're driving. Sure. The best way to reach you if you could and then we'll close this out.
Cherise Kennerley: 20:12
Yes, yes, please. I don't want anybody getting an accident cause they've heard me talking about all these wonderful things. You can reach me at area code (847) 201-4300 or you can also email me directly at cherise@roi-m.com and don't worry, you know, Tim, he has the right way to spell my name out there. That is so easy to try to remember. That's probably the best to reach me. I certainly do thank everyone for listening and I certainly hope that I gave some good little tidbits of information.
So always remember, you know, never make the same mistake twice. That's how we always move forward and progress.
Tim Hansen: 21:03
Excellent! Well, Cherise thank you so much for being on the show today and the Second Act'ers this episode should be available on my website in about a week or so. But thank you all for listening. I appreciate your time and have a great day.
You've been listening to the second act career coaching podcast. For more tips and advice on how to successfully flip the script and helping you find new Work and Income opportunities. Please visit us at www.secondactcareercoaching.com
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