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

Hi Jessica Leila , thanks for joining us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When I started Personalized Solutions in Washington, D.C. in 2012 I was absolutely running as fast as possible, by myself. I did have a very kind boyfriend who was always allowing me to bounce ideas off of him but the execution of client projects was all on me. Within the first three months I had landed a few really high profile accounts and realized I needed help. Back in 2012 LinkedIn didn’t have job postings and I really didn’t know where to turn. So I asked my friends on facebook to help and miraculously, I found Sarah. There was no interview process, I basically handed her a contract and to work we went, navigating unknown terrain together. Sarah and I worked from 5:30am to 8pm constantly, we worked weekends, we were all hands on deck to complete our client projects. Sadly, Sarah moved and I found myself once again alone after about 6-8 months.

Then God gave me Daniel, the most fun human I’d ever had the pleasure of spending my days with. I met him as we was assisting one of my clients who was in the process of moving (once again, unconventional).

He was super smart, loved by our clients and in his spare time was a parkour athlete (aka he could basically fly off of buildings, always landing on his feet). After about a year together he decided to move to Boulder, Colorado to continue pursuing his parkour dreams. While I was sad to see him go, I was happy to see him pursue his big, crazy dreams. We still keep in touch to this day.

Fast forward to 2018 and landing in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was time to rebuild all over again. I was fortunate enough to have a childhood friend from middle school who I saw via LinkedIn lived in Arizona, she helped me out in her spare time and from there I found my current team (slowly but surely).

Kendal, our Director of Operations and I met through a networking group called Women of Scottsdale. I asked her to volunteer for an event I was the co-chair of and quickly saw how organized and incredible she was. I then asked if she would be willing to get paid and actually work with me in continuing to grow the business, she said yes and has kicked ass ever since.

Sean I had met via a friend and I had hired him to be a contractor for a client project. We then lost touch and reconnected in late 2020. I had since added a podcast studio to our agency offerings and really needed high level, technical guidance. He officially came onboard full-time in February of 2021 as our Creative Director.

Last but not least we have Melanie! Oddly enough, I saw a random post on a Scottsdale living facebook group page, she had commented, I reached out and mentioned we were hiring and now she is our newest team member.

Of course there have been many others in between, some which were awesome and other which were a disaster. What I’ve learned along the way is…

-Hiring people you know prior is the best bet.

-Listen to your gut feelings. I knew deep down when someone was secretly working against me and I constantly talked myself out of it until I had proof. By the time proof arrived, irreparable damage had already been done.

-You can mitigate a lot of headache by listening to what other team members have to say regarding a situation that isn’t sitting right. If I had listened to Kendal earlier in 2020, I would’ve saved myself a lot of chaos later. LESSON LEARNED.

-Hiring the right personality is more important than hiring the right skill set. Skills can usually be taught, personality and loyalty cannot be.

-Don’t be afraid to fire people. Your business is your life and to me, it’s like my only child. I have to make hard decisions and keep moving forward – if I’m not doing it, nobody else will.

-Lead by example vs force. I try to inspire those around me to deliver the highest quality results to our clients, if they see me cutting corners, then that becomes the cultural norm and that is exactly what I do not want.

Jessica Leila , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started Personalized Solutions in Washington, D.C. in 2012 immediately after graduating college. When the State Department wasn’t hiring (my intended career path) I decided to start a business based on my passions versus my education and thus Personalized Solutions came to life.

After growing the business in DC I was ready for a change of scenery. My game plan had always been to move back to Orange County, California where I was born by the time I hit 30. Prior to turning 29, a DC client asked me to attend a meeting with her book publisher in Scottsdale, Arizona on her behalf. I’d never had any interest in Arizona but gladly accepted the invite to go for the weekend for this set of meetings. I’ll never forget how blown away by Arizona I was within the first hour of landing. The scenery, the weather (late September), the healthy restaurants, and plethora of gyms — I was in love. I had a magical weekend where I met dozens of really great people and got talked into returning in November for the Arizona Heart Ball. I came back for the best fundraising event I’d ever experienced, met even more people including our current Congressman and decided that Arizona was the perfect place to expand my business and change my life.

I signed a lease on an apartment in December and on my six year business anniversary, I officially became an Arizonan (January 20th 2018). The love I have for this state is really indescribable — I have lived all over the country and nothing has ever felt more welcoming than AZ. I was born in CA, attended elementary school in MI, middle school in OH, high school in MD, college in OH, Egypt, and DC. Moving has always been second nature for me.

Anyways, long story short — on our ten year business anniversary (January 20 2021) we launched The Philanthropy United Podcast as a way to help nonprofits share their unique impact stories on a larger platform. The show became a massive success and led us to splitting PS in half.

Now, Personalized Solutions is a creative agency dedicated to serving our for profit clientele via digital marketing, podcast creation, commercial video, and large scale event planning. www.personalizedsolu.com & our recording studio in Old Town, Scottsdale www.personalizedsolu.com/psstudios

Philanthropy United has become its own agency designed to help nonprofits thrive through digital marketing and amazing events. It is also where you can find our podcast. www.philanthropyunited.com

What sets us apart from other creative agencies is our ultra personalized approach to every single client. There are no cookie cutter, one size fits all packages. Everything is custom based on our clients needs and goals. We also work with some of the most advanced ai technology to harness the power of strategic ads that return on investment. We don’t aim to work with everyone, we aim to serve clients who have the desire to grow, delegate and move strategically within their market.

Our tagline is: making client dreams reality and I can safely say we do that 150%.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

2020 was a brutal year of business for pretty much all small businesses and we were no exception. At one point we were bringing in $825 per month in revenue. Keep in mind, that doesn’t even come close to covering office rent let alone paying employees. It was a really scary time and it felt like everything I had poured my heart and soul into over the last ten years was evaporating before my eyes. A former contractor had sabotaged a really large client account and was continuing to work her way through our client roster, a betrayal I had never come close to experiencing in any aspect of my life. The easiest solution would’ve been to close up shop, go find a normal job, and pat myself on the back for surviving and thriving for as long as we did.

But instead, we took the hard route. Kendal and I worked for a few months with no pay, we re-strategized, we built a podcast studio, we learned the ins and outs of YouTube, we began creating content, we launched The Philanthropy United Podcast and before you knew it, we had new business knocking at our door AND we were able to take home paychecks again.

My appreciation for Kendal being a ride or die team member, friend and confidante can never be fully conveyed in words or money. She taught me firsthand what loyalty looks like and now, we have a solid team of dedicated, hardworking people who are all bought in on the common goal of expanding the business, helping more clients and ultimately changing the world.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Referrals, google, social media! Over the last ten years we have honed in on our SEO (search engine optimization) and we are killing it with google leads. It took a long time to get to this point though — for years google lead us to zero things and then finally, it all clicked into place.

Referrals are always the best source of new business because people trust people in their networks so if a current client has rave reviews, the trust factor is already 10x stronger.

Social media is the quiet verification that you do indeed have a business, you are thriving (by showcasing your work) and it shows consistency. If you have a social media presence but haven’t posted in a year, people will think you are out of business. Social media is NOT everything but it does silently build trust and we definitely recommend it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.personalizedsolu.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/personalizedsolutions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/personalizedsol
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaadnani/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf-zc9utgZ-iNz_AQGiGuBA

Image Credits
Sara Racey Batraville Marion Rhoades Xposed Capture