We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Abby Reuther a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Abby, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Passion. There are lows to running any business and if you don’t have the passion to push through those you won’t be successful.

Abby, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Our Instagram account started as a creative outlet for me. It was a my love for photography that drove it. Once I started it I soon realized there were all these amazing small businesses and makers that I’d never heard of. It was a fun challenge for me to find new ones to post about. At that time I was blinded by the fact that I could actually make this little creative outlet into a business myself. I started to get DM’s from businesses asking for me to post about them. Sure, no problem, I posted everyone that came into my DM’s because I loved helping them and getting them noticed by my followers. Soon I was tied to my computer keeping up with posting and all the requests every night after my 8-5 day job. I realized I was creating business for all these businesses I was posting about and bringing money into their hands but I wasn’t making a dime and it was consuming all my free time. That’s when it hit me that if I was going to keep this going I needed to make it into a business itself so that I could really provide the time and energy it took to keep up with it. The Nashville Guide LLC was born and I created a price sheet and sent it along to everyone that reached out requesting I post about their business. It took time. I received a lot of “no’s” and “why would we pay for that?” but I stuck with it and soon people realized the value of Instagram and the value I brought to the table. The Instagram account grew at a rapid pace. I started getting DM’s asking where could they buy the book or magazine. At first I was stumped…why do they think we have a book? Then after a few of the same messages it dawned on me that since we were called “The Nashville GUIDE” people assumed we had a physical book too. There was a demand for something I didn’t have so I listened and got started on developing a book right away with a local publisher. Sure, I knew nothing about publishing books and I actually hated writing but new I had the passion and drive to figure it out and succeed. And that I did. I also created a website/blog and merch to go along with it.

I now work with many local small businesses, national brands, global PR companies, and many others to help promote their businesses.

My main advice for anyone starting any kind of business is to listen to what people want and need and go from there. Always be open to trying new things and don’t have such a narrow focus. Being able to pivot is key. And passion. You must have passion to drive the business because it’s not easy and success usually doesn’t come easy or right away.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first transitioned the hobby into a business and began sending my price sheet out when people asked me to promote their business I got a lot of push back. “Why would I spend money on this?” “I’m just asking you to post about my event.” It felt like a direct punch into my heart. My first thought was to stop and just do it all for free. I hated to disappointment people and really I just wanted to help them. Then I realized people were reaching out to me because they saw my following – they saw my worth. But even with that they still didn’t understand it. I’m sure they weren’t reaching out to local magazines asking them to feature them for free. So why would I do it for free? Why should I take my valuable time to post about them, send them business, bring them money and I get absolutely nothing. I spent a long time building the account and getting the follower base I had and it was valuable and I needed to stick to my guns and realize my worth. I still receive many no’s to this day but I also receive a lot of yes’s. Many of those first no’s are now paying clients.

Know your worth and don’t step down. People will catch on.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Being able to pivot in a business I think is absolutely critical. I’ve always been big on listening to our followers and fulfilling their demands and wants.

I started getting DM’s asking where could they buy the book or magazine. At first I was stumped…why do they think we have a book? Then after a few of the same messages it dawned on me that since we were called “The Nashville GUIDE” people assumed we had a physical book too. There was a demand for something I didn’t have so I listened and got started on developing a book right away with a local publisher. Sure, I knew nothing about publishing books and I actually hated writing but new I had the passion and drive to figure it out and succeed. And that I did.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenashvilleguide/

Image Credits
Madi Flournoy Henderson