We were lucky to catch up with Caitlin O’Neill recently and have shared our conversation below.
Caitlin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Would you say you are more focused on growing revenue or cutting costs? We’d love to hear how you think about these two critical drivers
I have always felt you need to spend money to make money. I truly believe growing revenue is the engine that allows you to grow to the business that you want to be. I know this may be difficult however it has made a substantial impact on the growth of my company. I went to school for nutrition and then became VP of Operations of multiple companies. After working endlessly for 10 years for other people, losing sleep, being stressed, I took the leap from a stable position having received a bonus and raise, to going back to my roots as a Registered Dietitian, taking a position that was similar to my first ever job, to have more time to put into my business. In order to grow revenue at the pace that I wanted, I had to take the leap. After working as an RD again for just three months, I decided it was time to take the even bigger leap to work for myself. I did not tell my father prior to resigning from my final position working for someone else as I knew he would talk me out of it. Ever since, I have put money towards the best equipment, hiring someone part time sooner than many would in order to find the right person and truly invest in the growth of the company, as well as for my sanity. We manage social media therefore electronics are important. I hired my part time employee and purchased her a computer and iPhone. On January 1, 2023 she came on the team full time. Again, is it absolutely necessary to have someone full time? Perhaps many would say no however in order to catapult towards our revenue goals for 2023 I think it is necessary. Did I mention I went full time with this company myself September 21, 2021? You need to spend money to make money.
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?
My name is Caitlin O’Neill and I was born in Towson, Maryland… too far back? Let’s fast forward a bit. I have always found myself to be more of a leader than a follower. While it was difficult in high school, I always felt a bit out of place, feeling like an old soul, knowing what I wanted, when I wanted it, and I got it. I have always desired to not only be CEO of a company, but be founder and owner however did not know what type of company. I went to Rutgers University and graduated with a degree in Nutritional Science, dietetics option. I was accepted into a dietetic internship and became a Registered Dietitian. I did this because of my love of food. I started my career, technically prior to graduating from my internship, accepting a position in a sub-acute care and long term care facility as the sole Registered Dietitian for a 105 bed facility with a ventilator unit, something that may have been better for a more seasoned RD however I was ready for it and learned so much. I took so much time speaking with everyone from the maintenance staff, administration, nurses, doctors, everyone I could sit with to learn from. Eventually, I started to get bored. At that time, my boss knew the owner of a young company looking for her first regional manager. I took this position in June of 2016, working on my masters degree, eventually being diagnosed with stage 3 HER2+ breast cancer, defending my masters thesis one week after being diagnosed. Fast forward again to January of 2018. I completed chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, radiation and reconstruction surgery, it was time to get back to business. I remained a regional manager during my illness, being thankful to have a supportive boss at the time. I only took off 5 weeks during my double mastectomy, otherwise working between 24-40 hours during treatment. I was made to work. I was made to find problems and create solutions. Work is my therapy, it makes me happy, it clears my head, it makes me feel whole. In 2018, I made my way from regional manager, to chief regional manager to VP of Operations. I helped grow a 25 person company to a 200 person company in less than 4 years. How? I love work. I treated the company as my own. I worked morning, noon and night. I missed parties, I worked on vacation, I did everything I could to make sure all the problems were solved. I left this company in 2021, leaving a team of 10 regional managers, looking back on what I had helped accomplish from being the first regional manager in 2016, oh, and fighting cancer. I moved to another company, working as VP of Operations and thought I had learned my lesson, “you don’t own this company, don’t act like you do”, however that did not work, because… I love work. I dove in head first, eventually losing the fight between work life balance as I usually do. Rewinding a bit, I have always had some type of blog or Instagram account going for fun. It could have been on recipes, outfits, lunches. I blogged about my entire cancer and treatment experience, mostly as therapy for myself, but also to share the experience with my family and friends to keep them up to date on what was going on. In 2018, my partner and I moved into our first home in Chester, NJ, what a great opportunity to start an Instagram account… Ms. Chester was born (@ms.chester_nj). I started this account to document our move in and the town. I wanted to make sure we tried all the restaurants and remembered them. I went from 0-1000 followers in year one, mostly local. Currently, as of January 2023, I am a bit over 8,000 organic, some local, some far away, followers. I have never purchased followers, always block bots and never work with brands I do not fully believe in. My revenue from this is never high, I don’t do many ads and followers come and go however through this account, I have met so many people, SO many. I founded MC Marketing & Content in July of 2020, not exactly sure what it would become, however knowing this was the start of something. I love connecting with people, learning their story, sharing their story and my own, which you can see is a common theme from the beginning of my career. I started teaching a few classes on Instagram from how to use it, to how to use it to grow your following and in the end, your revenue. I have highlighted hundreds of small businesses in the central, NJ area, at no cost, just as a hobby, as my following grew. I do not consider myself an influencer however some do. I like to think of myself as more of a gal pal who tells you things that many would not, like when I am feeling low, or showing my belly rolls while eating a jelly donut to remind women, it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside, you’re beautiful. I eventually started calling these rolls or extra fat on my body “juiciness”. I am juicy, you are juicy, we are all juicy juicy people!! I also talk about different restaurants, different boutiques, I am all over the place to be honest, even to this day, that’s why I don’t know if I would be an influencer, however I guess I do influence people. It was 2022 when I decided, after feeling like I am done putting my heart, my soul, my blood, sweat and tears into someone else’s business to make them millions of dollars, it was time to do it for myself. This is when I decided to put it out there on Ms. Chester that I can run your Instagram account, create content and manage it, for a cost of course, and I got my first two clients. From here, I had a list of offers: teaching people how to use Instagram, how to grow their Instagram, 90 day action plans to increase their followers, eventually getting quite a few hits. I then decided to invest in a business coach. I came across Kamila from Heart Behind the Hustle on Instagram. I first purchased her Serve to Sell platform, which was a self led course on selling, which was hard to do for me. Everything she said hit the spot. I eventually did one on one coaching with her, after leaving my stable VPO position and going back to an entry level position, something I could do with my eyes closed while focusing on my business. I would not be where I am today without Kamila. She helped me streamline my business, figure out exactly what I wanted to do, and downsized my offers from about 10 to 2. Eventually, the best option for recurring revenue was content creation and management. Through her selling approach, I went from managing 2 clients in August 2022, to 7 in September 2022, 9 in October, 13 in November, 14 in December 2022 with 5 proposals sent this January. I have had growth at an extremely fast pace with the help of Kamila’s strategy, as well as the relationships I have formed from Ms. Chester. Of the 14 clients, 13 of them have come from Ms. Chester. My company, MC (after Ms. Chester), Marketing & Content, creates one of a kind content, become part of your team while being a consultant, edit photos and videos, and coordinate the content to be posted 365 days a year: weekends, holidays, everything. Consistency is key to growth and to give your followers what they are looking for and also to show off your business. I have found this to be quite a niche in my area and I am sure others, as people do not have the time or even discipline to create content and post it on a regular basis as well as do things in order to grow organically… so we do it for them. We have clients from landscapers to doctors, personal trainers to psychotherapists, uniform makers to dog store owners. Everyone needs to show up on social media in order to be relevant and it can be difficult. Many of our clients say they have tried and can’t, some say they don’t understand it and also don’t have time for it. These are their problems that we create solutions for, at an affordable price, to show up online every single day. I have taught myself a lot and this is only the beginning. Our team needs to become knowledgeable in all aspects of my clients businesses, from turf to stones, to embroidery and botox, workouts to dog bones and everything in-between. I am always ready and willing to learn and am always ready to move forward. In 2023, I want to create even better content for my clients, become more knowledgeable in photography, editing, canva, and anything and everything that will help my clients grow their brand awareness. We create content for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, we come to your office, work site, gym, your company shows up every single day, not looking like anyone else’s content. Your wins are our wins and your losses are our losses.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
After hiring a business coach, Kamila from Heart Behind the Hustle, I learned about myself how hard it was for me to actually sell. I do not like to bother people, annoy people or be too “salesy” however majority of my “sales” really started from connection. People know who I am, they follow me, they know my story and I am a genuine person. The one sales story that was very difficult for me to do but I pushed myself and is one of my best clients, was when I called a number on a billboard. I do not look at billboards, I stopped, got the number, looked up the business online, saw their Instagram and thought they could put more into their social media. I called, left a message and we eventually connected. He asked me what I did exactly, I explained. I went in for a meeting a week later with the CEO and Ops Manager and we started two weeks later and have been working together ever since. We now joke about how I called him off a billboard and “came in hot” because, I did. My personality is very forward however I like to think I have the ability to read people well and know how hot I should go in.
Any advice for managing a team?
Managing a team can be extremely difficult but in actuality, it is quite easy. You need to form a connection and remember that people who work for you are people too. They have lives, they have problems, they have mothers who are sick, kids who keep them up all night and doctors appointments that they can’t get after work. It is all about having a relationship. This relationship of course has to be professional, but we are all here for a common goal, to make a difference. We of course want to make money, survive, and pay our bills, however if you treat someone as an equal, remember that they are a human, and be authentic, you should be able to manage people quite easily. Keep up communication, do not micromanage and listen.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mschesternj.com
- Instagram: @ms.chester_nj and @mcmarketingcontent
- Facebook: MC Marketing & Content
- Linkedin: Caitlin O’Neill and MC Marketing & Content
Image Credits
Black blazer – Jillian Spencer Studios Tan blazer – Jillian Spencer Studios Pink blazer – Tracy Kometani