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

Alright, Bailey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

When I first launched Bais Creative & Public Relations in June 2021, I had the initial idea of freelancing under my LLC until I found a company that I wanted to branch off and make my full-time focus. But with all the initial client interest I received, due to word of mouth referrals, I fell back in love with agency life and how spontaneous and different each day can be. Roughly four months in, I had taken on as many clients as I was able to handle by myself. At the time, my younger sister was the manager at Victoria Secret and I brought her on to help manage company materials as well as a few different client accounts. I had also hired a fall intern who I mentored and was having help on smaller client projects to give her some experience in the field.

Six months into my journey, I started to struggle with my vision of Bais. Where was I headed? What did I want this brand to grow into? I liked the idea of a boutique agency but had imposter syndrome thinking about the growth. I was also afraid because my clients loved the fact that they had direct access to me.

Then one day while scrolling on Instagram I saw a video by Austin Schneider, founder of Brandtegic, discussing the freelancer lifestyle versus agency ownership. Something in that moment just clicked for me. I didn’t want to “do it all myself.” I wanted to grow and nurture a team to expand our reach and number of brands that we could help. Since that day, I have slowly been growing Bais into a boutique agency, taking it one day at a time as I continue to grow.

I’ve seen a ton of success building my team through Upwork and hiring with specialized roles in mind. Meaning that my social media manager won’t also be expected to be an expert in graphic design and public relations and videography. Everyone’s role will be very niche. We are building a team of in-house gurus featuring social media managers, publicists, graphic designers, videographers and more. It is slowly a work in progress.

All of my initial contractors are hired part-time. During the interview process, I have been very transparent that my goal is for them to grow with my team and eventually bring them on full time, to make sure we are a great fit and that all values are aligned.

Hiring my first few contractors was tough. I didn’t have all my systems and processes in place and I was finding myself frustrated because I hadn’t taken the time to set clear expectations. Now, my team has all our processes, company guidelines, timelines, day to day tasks and more outlined in Notion. It helps keep everyone aligned on our company’s vision and purpose while also delivering and achieving results for all of our clients. If I was starting my company over today, I would have smoothed out these processes earlier on to set myself up for repeatability and greater growth sooner in the process.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the founder of Bais Creative & Public Relations, a boutique public relations and social media management agency. We are based in Tampa, Florida, with clients across the US from coast to coast. I launched my company with one goal in mind… to help clients increase their brand visibility online in today’s digital-first world.

Over the past few months, we have really niched down into the direct-to-consumer lifestyle, travel and hospitality space. Flexibility to travel and my passion for adventure was one of the main motivators for initially leaving a full-time, secure position at an agency to freelance, so it’s cool to see everything come full circle in a way.

One of the main values we are able to give our clients is the gift of time. Social media and public relations strategy and execution can be a big time-sucker and take away from the energy that a lot of executives should be putting back into their business. At Bais, we provide full management services, taking these tasks off of our client’s plate and operating as an extension of their team.

My team is up to date on all the latest industry trends, so we are also able to explore new strategies and bring new creative ideas to the table that will help separate our clients from their competition. Especially when it comes to social media, I always preach that “consistency is king or queen” and that it’s essential to success. We work with our clients to figure out an ideal content schedule that will work best for them, because for most people, producing content three times a day just isn’t achievable. And in my personal opinion, isn’t necessary. Content produced just needs to be consistent, so your audience knows when to expect to hear from you.

Authenticity is at the heart of everything we do. From helping clients build genuine relationships with their audience to how we operate here at Bais, our team has found this key to inspiring brands to set and achieve their goals.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Due to the nature of our industry, I am in constant communication with our clients whether they are emailing photos from their latest event to post on social or we are discussing a new media angle. We also have set meetings (bi-weekly or monthly) depending on the client to discuss tactics, strategy and results to review what is and isn’t working for their brand.

In case of an urgent matter, all of our clients have my personal cell phone number. I know some people disagree with providing clients their direct line, but I feel that it’s important that my clients know I’m here for them in case of an emergency if, and when, they need me.

As we continue to grow at Bais, we are also trying to do more personal outreach. For instance, if we are on our monthly call and hear a client mention they have a birthday coming up, making sure I take the time to write them a handwritten card and get them something thoughtful to help celebrate.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

“Asking for help means you are weak or not good enough.” Unlearning this lesson was a huge moment in my life and I cannot thank my husband, Dillon Floyd, enough for helping teach me the value of reaching out or asking for a referral.

The first time I went through this battle was when I was fresh out of college and looking for a job. I always had the mentally that if I worked hard enough and long enough at anything, that I could achieve everything on my own. And while that is true, sometimes stopping and asking for help can open more doors than you could have by yourself. It doesn’t mean all your hard work disappears. Sometimes, it just takes someone additional to advocate on your behalf to get that initial interview or peek at your resume and provide a slight tweak that could make all the difference.

When I launched Bais in 2021, I went through another period where I was afraid to ask for help. There isn’t a one stop shop that has a checklist of everything you need to do to launch a business. I was great at public relations and social media management, but I didn’t have a clue when it came to the legal logistics of launching a company. Then add in imposter syndrome. Add a few negative comments through the grapevine from other agency owners in the area. And I found myself very overwhelmed at times, in a lonely spot when it came to next steps. I had a client roster that was slowly growing and felt like I needed a scuba tank to stay afloat. Again, I would keep telling myself, just one more 15-hour day and it would all be worth it.

It hit a point where I sat down one night and brainstormed a list of individuals and organizations who I could intentionally reach out to for support. Whether it was a bookkeeper to help organize my finances (thanks, Adrienne Lytle!), a business coach to strategize my plan for growth, asking a family friend for a referral or an organization designed to provide support for startups, each and every genuine ask for support has led me to where I am today and helped me maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: Baiscreative.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baispublicrelations/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaisPublicRelations
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bailey-floyd-051024109/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BaileyFloydd
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA5eCk41oAn9IlEQq1QRPxg/featured

Image Credits
Jordan Singletary Photography