We were lucky to catch up with Jacqueline Tempera recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jacqueline, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Yes! I take vacations and encourage my team (and everyone) to do the same. Even though my job feels like a dream – I get to write and talk to people for a living. I have been literally preparing for this role my whole life. If only my teachers had known, maybe I would’ve gotten yelled at for talking less. Regardless of how much I love what I do, time to just BE is essential. When we don’t step away from the work, our perspective stays the same, and life can become a real grind. Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

This year, I have been lucky enough to travel to Japan, Costa Rica, and California, and I was able to take off work for most of the travel. This was totally unimaginable when I first started my business and is definitely not something I take for granted.

My best advice is to get as much prepared as you can before you leave. When I am leaving for a trip, I let my clients and my team know as far in advance as I can. Any recurring things (like newsletters or blog posts) that I can prep in advance are sent to the client ahead of time, approved, and scheduled. Any of my own social media and marketing materials are also scheduled in advance, so I don’t have to worry about them or try to calculate time differences in my head, which I am historically not very good at!

But of course, stuff happens, and it’s important to have a system in place for that too. Often, my wonderful virtual assistants will take care of this – communicating with the client about any last-minute edits or whatever may come up. When I didn’t have a team, it was obviously a lot more difficult. I did, though, set boundaries with my clients for my “vacation hours” and give them a lot of notice if I would be somewhere without Wi-Fi or cell service so I didn’t have to be glued to my phone.

I definitely try to use my downtime while traveling as much as possible. That can look like creating Canva graphics for a client while on a bullet train from Kyoto to Osaka or downing Dramamine and working on a newsletter in the back of my best friend’s car on a drive to Joshua Tree. There are definitely worse places to work!

Even if it means stepping away from your work for a day or two, I encourage anyone who can to do it, because it can give you new ideas, and a renewed passion!

Jacqueline, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an award-winning reporter and a copywriter/brand strategist! When I am not working with my clients, who are women who own their own businesses in the spiritual or empowerment space, I write for Women’s Health.

In a lot of ways, I’ve been doing my job since I was a kid. My mom will tell you I have been talking and asking questions far before I could even walk. After my first word (which was pretty, allegedly), I was off to the RACES! As I got older, this translated into a love of journalism. I decided at around age 12 I would become the next Oprah Winfrey. After reading a biography on my absolute queen in middle school, I learned she was a news anchor before she had her show, which I watched religiously. I figured I’d do the same. I was a very determined kid! And adult, for that matter.

I was the editor of my high school’s newspaper, The Inkblot, where I covered scandals like the senior prank where students pied teachers in the face and who wrote the “Hot List” and left 50 copies strewn about the girl’s bathroom. I loved the power that asking questions gave me, and I quickly learned I was good at talking to people and getting them to open up to me.

My love of reporting blossomed when I studied journalism at Emerson College. I worked as a breaking news/crime reporter in New England. Writing about people at what was often one of the most challenging moments of their lives (one of my first roles was being a “door knocker” where I was sent to people’s houses to ask them if they would be willing to give an interview after their relative died or some other unspeakable tragedy came across the police scanner that morning). This was an extremely difficult and emotional position to be in at the ripe age of 21, but I was as empathetic, authentic, and respectful as possible, and in turn, landed important interviews that added nuance to the news coverage of their loved ones. I will always value this time in my life and the people who trusted me with their stories in dark hours. It taught me how precious the small details are, like the music we sing to in the car or the sour candy we always pick up at 7-11. They make up our lives.

After years of daily reporting, I was totally burnt out and knew I couldn’t continue at the rate I was going and also live an enjoyable life. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do, but I knew I was one of the top-read reporters in every newsroom I’d worked in. I believed in myself and the fact that this was not a coincidence! My writing was captivating people’s attention, and that was a skill I could and would build a business around.

With my work now, telling founder stories and working on copywriting for women-owned brands, I am able to use everything I learned in writing thousands of articles over the last 15 years. With my signature offer Story Magic, I interview people for 90 minutes and pull out the essence of their brand story, proven to attract larger social followings, new clients, and media opportunities. Leaning into your little eccentricities and the magic that makes you different from all the other coaches, photographers, or podcast hosts out there will always lead more people to you. And the beautiful thing about being yourself in your business is that it comes naturally to you! When you can Own Your Extra (stay tuned for this new challenge of mine coming soon…) you will find the community you’re looking for.

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

I will say I genuinely love my clients, so it is easy for me to keep up with them. I check in with them as much as necessary, whether over message or email, and follow them on social media.

I work to tell people’s stories, which is a pretty intimate process! So it fosters a natural sense of bonding and connection. In my Story Magic interviews, I literally ask about everything – from your high school prom to your worst mistake – so we get to know each other well. I don’t see that this relationship ends here, even if we are not currently working together. So I like to send an email or DM every once in a while to people I’ve worked with at any time, just to see where they are at. I want my clients to feel like they can trust me to show up for them and always support and help them in any way I can, so that is my intention with each interaction with them.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Most of my clients now come from Instagram, which I started ~ in 2012 with a mediocre, heavily filtered photo of a Starbucks cup. It gets better! In the last year, I have doubled my following by posting more consistently about my current offers, articles, and life in general. You’d be surprised by how many authentic connections you can build by sharing stories about yourself. As much as social media can be smoke and mirrors, it also has the potential to connect people in meaningful ways. You never know what is going to be interesting to people! Some of my current clients found me because I posted my monthly sex “Whoroscopes” on Instagram or because I shared all of Love is Blind theories in a well-timed post. Being a weirdo (in the good way) online is heavily encouraged.

Contact Info:

• Website: jackietempera.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/jacktemp
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-tempera-94895142/
• Twitter: twitter.com/jacktemp

Image Credits
Photos by Starky Morillo