We were lucky to catch up with Isa Gautschi recently and have shared our conversation below.
Isa, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.
The best marketing strategy is the one you’ll actually do… without hurting yourself.
I don’t teach grind/hustle methods. “Productivity” is not one of my values. I want to help you find the most authentic, easeful, fun way for you to reach your people and your sales goals.
I help business owners and teams do marketing that partners with their bodies, emotions, and brains- no matter how neuro-squiggly.
I can’t tell you how many clients have broken down in tears because they feel like they’re failing when they can’t do the one-size-fits-all social media strategy that some other expert told them they “have” to do to be successful.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi I’m Isa, your Marketing Confidence Cheerleader, owner of the M.Isa Messaging Digital Marketing Agency for small business baddies, and hostess with the mostest of The Irresistible Marketing Pod.
I’m on a mission to Robin Hood elite marketing knowledge to empower business witches & artistic rebels to get rich AF and upend the hierarchies that keep (unsuccessfully) trying to dim our light. I love working with folks with personal brands in the fields of personal development, wellness, the creative arts, and fellow marketing/advertising/creative agency owners. I run The Squad 🎉, a community of excellently eccentric entrepreneurs doing business their way. I serve as everyone’s on-call marketing director and we all hype each other up and provide emotional support for the challenges of entrepreneurship.
I’m also a reckless rollerskater, frequent hairstyle changer-upper, an award-winning ex journalist, and am proudly owned by a small furious cat and a massive puppy with zero spatial sense.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I took a big risk and cashed out my 401K to self-fund the start of my business. Let’s be honest: I strategically leveraged debt. And it was scary! It took me 3 months to get profitable, and not at all by a significant amount at first- which is still *way* above average. Most stats I see say it takes the average new business more than a year to turn a profit.
Starting a business is expensive, and I wish founders would be more transparent about how they got the money to start. “Overnight success” stories are rarely actually overnight. So many leave out the backstory of spending years building an audience before monetizing it or having family or spouses fund them while they were finding their feet.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
“Money only comes from hard work.”
I bet we all know a ton of hardworking people who struggle financially.
I’ve devalued “productivity” for myself. Doing stuff just to do stuff doesn’t bring in the money. And being burnt out certainly doesn’t bring in the money either.
I’m also living by the new principle: “just because I can doesn’t mean I should.” I can do lots of things for lots of people. But “can do” is not at all the same thing as “want to.”
My profits went up when I prioritized getting enough sleep. My profits went up when I only marketed the work I really love to do. My profits went up the more boundaries and protections to prevent overworking that I put into my contracts.
I love finding ways to free myself to do my best work. I love finding ways to be not stressed at all. I’m working towards 3 days off a week and 4-hour work days.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://misamessaging.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marketingconfidencecheerleader/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/misamessaging
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabel-gautschi-3518bb75/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marketingconfidencecheerleader
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ldiePmTMg1j7ChX1fMio5
Image Credits
For the 3 photos of just me: Michelle Lepe | PhotoBruja
Artist for the illustration, which is my Marketing Confidence Cheerleading logo: Rockee Armendariz