We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Johanna Voss a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Johanna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
I couldn’t imagine working for anyone else! Being an entrepreneur is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in this lifetime and it’s definitely not for everyone. But I couldn’t imagine working for someone else. I’ve been working for myself since 2011, Before that I travelled the world for a year, lived abroad twice in Spain for a total of 18 months and did a lot of other travel and before that I worked on political campaigns for 8 years – No one has ever used the word traditional to describe me.
I once heard the quote, “you’re either working on your dream or someone else’s” and while I’ve never thought of taking a regular job, it absolutely solidified that I will always work for myself. I can count on myself to hustle, figure stuff out and make things happen. Plus there’s no ceiling to what I can earn.
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 a talent manager for social media influencers. All my clients are women of color and I love being able to represent them, to ask for more money than they would as I help them build their business. It’s a group that is massively undervalued and underpaid in this industry and I appreciate the opportunities to bring spotlights to each of them.
My entrepreneurial journey began as a nutrition coach over a decade ago. While doing that work, I often had people ask me for help on their projects – planning, organizing them and executing them once in motion. I kept saying yes to that work and those opportunities, was always paid and eventually realized that it was it’s own blossoming business, to provide strategy and operations to female entrepreneurs.
So that began the second phase of my business, being an outsourced COO and Strategy expert. It was thru that work that I met my first Influencer client who hired me to help with some strategy for her business. After working together over a couple days, she asked me to be her manager. Similar to my last pivot, I said yes because we got along like a house on fire, it was fun to learn something new and figure out things I didn’t know about. Since saying yes to her, she’s been referring me clients which is how the talent agency side of my business continued to grow and grow.
I eventually stopped doing the operations and strategy work as I wanted to dive head first, 100% into the talent manager role and I’ve not looked back since.
The lessons I always highlight to people from my journey is to follow the breadcrumbs when they appear, pay attention to what people constantly ask you to do and trust yourself. Believe in the magic of it all working out.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Carrier pigeons and smoke signals aside, I’m quite connected to my clients and the agencies and brands we partner with. My agency, and I believe most all successful businesses, are built upon relationships and communication is a key part of a relationship.
With my clients, the women I represent – we are constantly connected because there is always project and opportunity work to talk about and to talk through. Work convos aside, we are often chatting, texting, emailing and voxing about what’s going on with our lives, things we’re working on and as dear close friends.
With regards to the clients, the brands and agencies that hire my clients, I keep in touch with them through connection emails checking in to say hi and keep my clients top of mind. I also send a thank you gift at the end of every year, thanking them for their business.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
The best source of new clients for me is my network – most leads come from my current clients, and I also get a lot of leads from who follow me on Social media. I make it a point to establish my expertise in the space on Instagram as that’s where current and potential clients are hanging out. I share personal negotiating stories, client wins and tips for budding influencers. It’s a strategy that demonstrates I know what I’m talking about and I’m good at it.
Plus I really enjoy creating content for social media and I absolutely adore my clients. Like attracts like.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.johannavoss.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johannavoss/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannavoss/
Image Credits
Jenna Sparks Ale Graf Ismail Mpiana