We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caitlin Mccall a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Caitlin, appreciate you joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?
I wish I had started sooner! I think so often aspiring entrepreneurs feel like they need more experience or aren’t skilled enough yet to go out on their own. In my case, I felt like my entire career was trying to fit myself (a square peg) into a traditional career (a round hole). I kept failing at working for other people, and it left me wondering if something was wrong with me, if I wasn’t able to work well with others or if I just wasn’t skilled or smart enough to keep these positions long term. I always quit around the 1 year mark because it just got to the point that I couldn’t stand being constrained any longer. The truth was, that I wasn’t meant to work a traditional career at all. I was meant to start my own business and provide value in a completely different way. Once I started providing value to the world in a way that was actually aligned with me, I was compensated at a rate that made sense and was far beyond what I could’ve made working for others in Marketing. I really wish I could hop in a DeLorean and tell myself that I had everything I needed and MORE to start my business and just get out there and do more!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I own McCall Digital Marketing, a boutique marketing agency that specializes in Done-For-You Email & SMS Marketing, and Social Media Consulting. We service clients locally in South Florida as well as across the U.S. remotely.
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising and Communication Studies. I graduated in 2011 and at that time they really focused on print marketing: billboards, magazines, newspapers, etc. so that’s what I learned and after a rough go of looking for a first job in a recession, I finally went to work for a magazine in Austin, TX. I then worked for a magazine in Houston, TX. I enjoyed those positions, they were fun and glamorous, going to events and openings in the city. That said, they weren’t paying enough for me to make any real headway. After a few more failed starts at my career, I decided to move to Australia, and then New Zealand, and then Key West. I worked many kinds of jobs during this time – Scuba Instructor, bottle service, a tasting coordinator at a rum distillery, you name it. What I didn’t know at the time, while I was still beating myself up about my career not taking off even though I was experiencing quite a bit, was that all of these work experiences were actually helping me to get just gritty enough to actually start my own business and work hard enough to see it succeed.
I transitioned “off of the island” of Key West, and began working in marketing and social media for a few scuba diving related brands and also started my own online course business during that time in the scuba industry. I was beginning to get used to stacking several types of contract/freelancing work and really enjoyed it. Then, something magical snapped into place and I realized that this digital marketing thing had legs and I was really good at it! So I went all in on my agency and have since hired employees and worked with many clients over the past 4 years. It’s been quite a ride of ups and downs, but I’ve really found myself amongst the success of my agency and I’m very thankful for the journey so far.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Looking back at all of the moments that made the most impact on me thus far, it has to be moving to Australia completely by myself. Everyone thought I was crazy but I actually did it. I read this girl’s blog about it being a safe place for women to live abroad, and she sort of outlined how to do it. So I booked a hostel for 7 days and then hit the ground running and found a job and a flat within that week. I followed a similar formula when moving from Sydney to Byron Bay Australia, and then to Auckland New Zealand, and then also to Key West! Looking back it was absolutely insane, haha! But it taught me resilience and that I really can do anything I put my mind to. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without those experiences.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
I completely bootstrapped my business and honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way because it really tests you and pushes to you get creative about how to grow your business. I would definitely recommend pursuing a service-based business for first time entrepreneurs for this reason. It isn’t the easiest path, because you’re having to sell and service the clients, while also doing the actual work, and it can be relentless. That said, very easy to bootstrap and quickly get traction with MRR (monthly recurring revenue) packages.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mccalldigitalmarketing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itscaitlinmccall
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlinmccallgriesser/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@itscaitlinmccall
Image Credits
First three are from South Florida photographer https://www.instagram.com/hallealessia/