We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jillian Smith Austin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jillian below.

Jillian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

There are four pillars paramount to being and staying successful as an entrepreneur: Determination, Education, Faith, and Humility. Success demands unwavering resolve to overcome obstacles, adapt to market shifts (um hello, Pandemic Pivots), persist through setbacks, and have crazy strong faith that your idea will work! We are innovators and stay hungry for knowledge, constantly seeking to refine our skills, understand customer needs, and stay ahead of trends in our industry. Whether you’re a team of 1 or 100, success comes with consistency, tenacity and the strongest desire to not fail. We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take; that’s where faith and humility come in to support you through to success!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Jillian Smith Austin is Owner, Creative Director, and Event Strategist of OneTouch Events LLC.

With over a decade of experience and expertise in event strategy, OneTouch Events LLC partners with clients in planning and executing completely custom, next-level events.

At OneTouch, our goal is to take your event ideas and desired outcomes and make them tangible That’s why we create events that build connection and community long after venue clean-up is done. We don’t believe in offering straight-from-the-box, one-size-fits-all services. Instead, we thrive on stretching our creative edges by delivering custom experiences with maximum impact – every time.

WE ARE INVESTED IN MORE THAN OUR SUCCESS. WE’RE INVESTED IN YOURS.
Equipped with an award-winning event planning methodology, a time-tested process, and the necessary post-event data analytics reporting, we continue to make each event our “best one yet.” We leave each event proud of the work we’ve done, knowing that we gave it our “all,” while continuously learning from each event in order to enhance the next one.

As leaders in our field, OneTouch continues to exceed the expected level of service for every client we serve.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Yes, I started OneTouch Events while I still worked full-time as an IT Management professional. I didn’t see it as a “side hustle” at the time. OneTouch has always been my main company and I treated it as such. You can say that it was a startup and I used my full-time job to help fund my business growth until I was ready to go full-time with OTE.

Scaling took time. Transitioning to an industry in which I had no formal “industry-specific” training, and no established community, took a lot of networking, education and sheer grit. I have been a planner by nature – from adolescence to adulthood I had a knack for creative ideas, organization, and a love for well-thought-out and seamlessly planned events – but I had to learn how to market myself as an Event Planner, which is challenging without a hospitality background. I took what I knew very well – my business acumen in systems, operations, and client-facing support – and channeled this into how we run OneTouch Events.

A few key milestones as I built the business include the startup requirements I set for myself; Establish Our Brand (Website, Logo, Social Media Presence, Client Tempates, Contract and invoicing process); Build my Network (Meet ups, industry groups, cold calls and emails); Market the Brand (showcasing work, testimonials, exhibit at trade shows) and Do the Work – flawlessly.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Having strong, real testimonials from both clients and industry partners has been a huge win for building our reputation. I emphasize real testimonials because, in a time where fake testimonials and bots are commonly used to establish expertise and generate engagement, we value and appreciate authentic words from our clients and partners sharing their true experiences with us. All our reviews are from real people who can be contacted and who will vouch for our level of service and professionalism. People speak highly of OneTouch Events in rooms that we were not in. For that, I am most grateful. I know that has been one of the keys to our success over the years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://onetoucheventsllc.com/
• Instagram: @onetoucheventsllc (https://www.instagram.com/onetoucheventsllc/)
• Facebook: OneTouch Events Atlanta (https://www.facebook.com/onetoucheventsllc)
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/onetouch-events/

Image Credits
Please note that the file names align with the below credits. Impact Weekend and Published & Paid Images – David Mahone Photography Seven Figure Educator – Mecca Gamble Photography New Orleans Wedding – Calvin Gavion Photography Banking with Bundles – S Marche Photography Manifest Your Vision – Soflo Inspire