Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Evelynn Jones. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Evelynn, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

$60, riding with a stranger, new city with not friends and family.

I’ve always been a mover and a shaker – literally.

I’ve moved to and lived in multiple cities. The first was Sacramento for college, where I did everything on my own senior year; from packing to paying for tuition and dorm room.

The first three phrases describe the move I made from San Diego, CA to Phoenix, AZ in 2018. I realized that the rising cost of living in San Diego was depriving me of the life I want to live. Plus, I had some serious healing to do – from a breakup, from my mom’s passing, from losing friends – a lot of healing.

So, I moved to Phoenix (with only $60). I hitched a ride from a woman on Craig’s List.

The funny part is when I got to Phoenix, we stopped for lunch at In N Out. That meal brought me comfort in knowing that everything was going to be okay.

Of course, I ran out of money. I went from $60 to $0 in a matter of 3 days. At least I hiked, had street tacos, and stayed at a nice AirBnB.

After my time was up at the beautiful home in South Mountain, I stayed at a woman’s shelter until I found a job and a room to rent. Then, I got back into performing burlesque and debuted as a solo performer. Less than one year laster, I quit my job to be an independent contractor, offering sales and marketing services to agencies and small business owners.

I think that was the best $60 I’ve spent.

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’m inquisitive, detail-oriented, and enjoy finding solutions for people with a purpose to succeed.

So, I became a sales woman and marketer.

What separates me from others offering marketing services is that I’m a marketer with sales in mind; I think about the sales process, customer journey, and revenue goals. And, what separates me from other sales reps or business development representatives is that I approach sales with a marketing perspective, allowing for a more organic relationship (which leads to loyal customers) and let’s me position myself as a consultant, not a sales person. Let’s be honest, who likes sales people? Not many people. But, who likes a good advisor that gives them valuable information with room to make their own decisions? Many people!

Another thing that makes me different is my varied selling experience; retail, online education, ad services, agency services, and software.

The one thing I’m proud of in my career is my fearlessness and tenacity. You’ll see that when you work with me!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn how to be strong.

My mother’s last words to me were “be strong.”

When I grew up, I thought being strong meant “don’t let em see you sweat” which I equated to not showing vulnerability. Then as a 15-year-old and now as an independent contractor, vulnerability means asking for help. And, that’s true. Asking for help is showing vulnerability. You’re saying “hey, I don’t know what I’m doing, and please help me.”

My journey in business and life taught me that being strong means asking for help. Asking for help is also a way to work smarter and not harder.

There’s this hustle culture surrounded around entrepreneurship, and that culture is injected with the idea that you’re supposed to be working and stressed 24/7 without friends or family or any kind of life outside of your business. That conditioning isn’t true or healthy.

I’ve worked with successful entrepreneurs like Jeff J. Hunter who surround themselves with mentors and people who know more than them about a subject. I mean, that’s why we pay doctors and financial advisors – they specialize in what we don’t know and need help with.

So, learn from me; ask for help. “A closed mouth doesn’t get fed.”

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I keep up with clients via social media and email. I share valuable content and give them exclusive content, such as newsletters. I also started a Telegram group for members to network and boost each others’ posts on social media.

You want to create a community within your brand to establish loyalty. It can be a Facebook group, a WhatsApp chat, meetings on social audio apps Speakeasy, or use an interactive platform to share updates and polls like Mighty Networks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://msha.ke/evelynnmimijae