We were lucky to catch up with Jordan Walker Chaisten Salinas recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jordan Walker, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
How we came up with The Plughub Network, its actually a funny story.. It was around 10pm at night on August 15th 2017. Chaisten and i were relaxing in the living room after her work shift one night, and I started to tell her some of my random business ideas that i was thinking about starting. To be exact, it was five different business ideas total. When i got to the idea of what is now our organization called ” The Plughub Network”, right before i told her this crazy idea i had remember saying ” okay and this idea is probably the stupidest one but im going to say it anyways” And then proceeded to tell her about my idea for what is now The Plugub Network. I remember the look on her face as i was talking and she was really silent listening trying to piece all of everything i was saying together. As i was done explaining to her my idea she looked at me with a lit up face and smile and said ” That is the greatest idea ever” From there on, it was HISTORY! Now the original idea of The Plughub Network was a little different than what it has turned into, but always the same concept of Cultivating a Community of like minded individuals and connecting or “plugging” people into resources through our network. Shortly after, Chaisten said lets go to walmart and get a white board and some expo markers and lets write a plan out, come up with a name, create a strategy etc.. Our emotions were running crazy, we got snacks, drinks, got all the supplies we needed and started planning things out immediately. The first thing we started to work on was our business name, and Logo we came up with three names , ” Mr.Plugged, PluggedCity, and Plughub” At 1:11 am We decided on the name of our organization to be ” Plughub” Which then eventually evolved into “The Plughub Network” There was no doubt in mind that this idea was going to flourish and touch many peoples lives, we KNEW it would work. Everyone thought we were crazy, we tried to create a small team of individuals to create ideas together for this big dream we had, needless to say EVERYONE gave up on us, stopped believing in us, laughed at us, told us it would never work, friends and some of our closest family.. but we knew we had to keep going, we KNEW in our souls that this was it! It was very discouraging at times, trying to work through struggles, taking alot of losses, risks, losing “friends” going through so much trial and error constantly, changing up our ideas, evolving our ideas, switching up our approach and really trying to create this identity and culture for our brand.. is was like we were on a roller coaster 24/7. All I Can say now is were glad to have never given up, because we have created something truly amazing, a community that is a family to us, a village to us and each other. Our brand, the vibe is gives off is the identities of both of our personalities. You are your brand, and your brand is you. We love our community and are so grateful to have been able to impact so many lives these past 6 years.
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?
(Jordan) : So, I actually started to realize what I loved and was good at by accident when I was In college at Texas Southern University. Scared and broke I needed some money in my pocket quick, got connected with some individuals who threw huge college campus parties and ended up becoming the official “plug” at TSU for Presale party tickets, I became THE Go-to person to purchase party tickets from. I took that skill of sales and building relationships and then shortly after got introduced into the network marketing industry. The one thing I loved about the industry was the community! After seeing the culture of the network marketing industry the community and the atmosphere that network marketing had. I really wanted to create that for myself, create that vibe that culture for my own community and create an environment where everyone thrives off of on another through one shared vehicle, and that’s what Plughub provides. We provide that vehicle for our community. I wanted to allow people to use Plughub as a platform to help people reach their goals and assist in the creation of their perfect vision for their brand. Years later with the help of my wife Chaisten, I realized my strength was bringing people together and helping them understand how important creating a brand is and I took what I loved to do, and my gift and merged it into one thing and that became the foundation for ” The Plughub Network”
(Chaisten) :
It all started off as a facebook group chat we created where we added members of our facebook community who all provided a different product or service. Members of our chat would all talk about a multitude of things, not only about business but came to either give or seek encouragement and motivation for the day or week and if they needed referrals or recommendations they would seek the chat first before looking elsewhere, there was so much trust built up in our small community of probably only 20 individuals. We realized our dream was becoming a reality.
we then decided to create a Group on facebook where people could come and ask questions, search for resources, find motivation, and connect with others globally, our group grew to thousands in a short period of time. All we had at this point was a community who chatted, and assisted each other with things needed in their business and personal lives which is A LOT to have, but we wanted more for our community and we also wanted to find a way to monetize our business and help with providing opportunities for monetization to our community as well, The universe heard us and then this happened…
Keep in mind, By this time it was already 2020, COVID hit, we lost our jobs and had nothing but our organization. We launched what we called “The Digital Plugs” which started only with us creating $30 logos for small businesses, yes only $30! It was a HIT! We provided knowledge on the importance of having simple, yet professional, elite styled logo and that was our style the ONLY style we could create for a business. I created over 200 Logos for local small business around the DFW! I didn’t even know i was capable of creating logos, haha. This then turned into us creating websites, which was another success but also came with A LOT of trial and error since it was something new to us. We made our first 10k within a couple months of launching ” The Digital pugs” and it didnt stop there. We also had an affiliate program for our Community, if they sent us a client, we gave them a percentage of our profits from the Digital Services we were now providing. So our goal of monetization for not only us but also members of our community had came into fruition. Needless to say, Our 2020 year when covid took everything from us, The Plughub Network was able to carry us through the toughest year.
Moving forward, after COVID calmed down, we missed being around people, we had our online community but we never actually met some our community in person until one day, we decided to have a dinner party to bring us all together and it was the best thing we had done thus far. It felt so good to be around others who were supportive and fun! Socializing and creating lifetime bonds is something that we started when we had our first dinner party, we threw one every month after that at a different location and even took it as far as a group travel to Las Vegas! We had a christmas get together we went bowling together and many more places as a tribe! At these intimate dinner parties, we would host giveaways for our community and give them opportunities to leave with sponsored items, gifts, handmade products and even services from other members in the community. This really assisted with our team bonding and building.
Doing these dinner parties/mixers gave us the Great idea of hosting our very first Pop-up shop/ Networking mixer ” Green Wall Street” where we gave members of our community the opportunity to showcase their products and services in one location at the same time. We had 40 vendors/sponsors total, who all got the opportunity to do interviews about their business that were uploaded to a Youtube channel in hopes of bringing our community more exposure to their brands. Our pop-up wasn’t your typical “pop up” We created an experience that you can only get at a Plughub Pop Up, this included a networking lounge and a vibe you will never forget. We hosted a zoom call for all of our vendors going over branding, how to brand yourselves and prepare for a pop up shop that was a huge success! We also provided a vendor meet n greet at Texas Live, where all of our vendors got the opportunity to come out and meet one another in person, bond, create a relationship and get to know about one another’s business prior to the pop-up shop, and we created a system called “plug, plug pass” where when someone buys from your table. you recommend the next vendors table. We host giveaways at every event that include sponsored items from the vendors that are a part of the event, This has helped our community gain lifetime clients and friends. We now host these pop-up shops/ mixers every two months and are currently expanding into doing Woman Only events alongside our Other events. We have cultivated a supportive network of women and cant wait to add more members to our tribe of ladies.
Doing these pop-up shops and mixers really inspired us to invest in our own tables and chairs and by doing that, Plughub then expanded into doing Rentals, ” Plughub Rentals” not only did we want to have our own in house items for our community to use we wanted to become a one stop shop for our community, we also want to provide them with the opportunity to host their own pop-up shops by teaching them the ins and outs through Plughub Plus which is currently in the works to be launched soon! Plughub Plus will be an affordable subscription based hub that will provide our community with in depth detail, one on one workshops, discounted rentals, workshops, helping influencers and small business owners expand their brands, discounted rates to be a vendor at our pop-ups, book club, travel incentives, live courses, career opportunities, trianings, investment opportunities, access to Plughub merchandise and so much more! Our goal is to help our community by showing them the blueprint of what worked for us. We love our community and want to ensure they all have a great amount of success!
The problem that Plughub solves I would say there’s a few problems we solve but to sum it up.. we provide people the tools, resources and opportunities to expand their brands and also to connect with people they would have never connected with anywhere else or as quickly as we can get them connected to whatever it is that they are needing. Whats sets us apart is that the people within Plughub share the same vibe, have lots of integrity, are very open minded and energetic, they show up for one another, we provide what i like to think of the most supportive network of individuals in the DFW, and they want to see everyone succeed. We are more than just an organization, we are a TRIBE.
We are the most proud of our ability to create an experience that people will never forget! Our abilities to provide our community with lifetime connections and a family of a genuine loving and caring network! Our events are not just your typical “event” Its an experience and you KNOW a Plughub event when you see one, your network is your net worth and you are only ONE connection away from changing your life, and our mission is to ensure you find that ONE through The Plughub Network.
I wanted to shine some light on a few local trusted businesses that we are partnered with for anyone who is ever in search..
Joy Displays – They provide businesses with high quality signs and banners
Soul Sent- They are a Luxury non-toxic candle company
Bold Shots Photography- Professional headshots
The Traveler Plug – Travel agent specializing in cruises
Solely Soulful Southern Cuisine- Best and healthiest Soul Food in the DFW
The MTS Network – Podcast on sisterhood and equality for women.
Prestige Event Service LLC – Provides top notch bar services with quality drinks and service
EA Mobile Taxes- Provides tax and legal services
Pickys Handmade Crafts – Hand Sews clothing for breastfeeding moms and embroidery service
DFW Network – A great community to be a part of if your looking to make new connections
Hines 360 – The best 360 Photo Booth
Pipos Parties and more – Balloon Garlands and event Decor
Sammis Antojitos- BEST home cooked latin food in the DFW
Dvine Beauty – DFW Comfort Waxer and organic product formulator
Saavissweets- Chocolate covered & baked sweets
Sierra Viscardis – Loan and mortgage officer
Maries Mobile Massage- Mobile massage therapist
Sara Lira- birthing Doula
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
In the beginning when we were trying to cultivate a community with little to no money we started hosting dinner parties at local restaurants to be able to meet members of our community, build that relationship with them get up close and personal so that they were aware of who we were and what we were about, we didn’t charge any fees to come to these events although we did invest into them, reserving tables, rooms, doing giveaways of ou merchandise, we weren’t looking for any kind of return except gaining the trust of the people who built enough courage to come out and meet up with a bunch of strangers.
when people know, like and trust you they will 100% share the organization with their peers which then will bring new members/clients to your organization. Thats why its important to genuinely care about everyone in your community, a community only works together if you create the perfect atmosphere for people to thrive in. This is what we did, and eventually word continued to spread around the DFW and our reputation started to open doors for us, and ultimately give us access to more opportunities like partnering up with other local businesses and gaining the trust of business owners who were willing to become official sponsors for The Plughub Network.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
One of our strategies for growing The Plughub Network is, we find entrepreneurs that are starting their business or looking to expand but they lack the resources even if they are so talented but they are struggling to execute and make a strategy. What we do is bring all of them together where we create safe space where we all have some input, put all of our ideas together to help the member of our community who is struggling with something in their business come up with ideas to give them the confidence to execute their ideas.
normally with start ups, people don’t want to give them a chance because they are so fresh and dont have alot of experience and that’s where we come in, we give everyone the space to work, learn and grow. We create collaborative opportunities to help our members gain more band exposure, clients, and loyal customers through our events We wanted to create a safe space for people to showcase their work, weather its a DJ, a makeup artist, a candle maker or a tax service etc. The Plughub Network wants to help ALL businesses build a strong foundation and a great reputation so that they can thrive. They are able to do this through our markets and our mixers.
another tactic that we like to use is getting all of the small businesses that are a part of our events whether its our pop ups or an intimate mixer, we get them to participate in giveaways because it allows people who come to these events to get a free sample of what their services or products are which then can create a loyal client or customer for the members of our community. Giveaways are so important and we like to make sure everyone knows the importance of participating in giveaways. This has been one of the MOST effective ways that we grew our organization. The best example is Thanksgiving, everyone brings something to the table and we all eat.
When we help other business grow their fan base, it helps when we invite them to our events because now everyone we’ve helped also brings out their audience as well and now we have a MEGA NETWORK, thats how The Plughub Network grows and will continue to grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.plughubnetwork.com
- Instagram: Plughub Network
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheGreatPlugNetwork/permalink/306413447350643
- Linkedin: Plughub Network
- Youtube: PlughubNetwork
- Other: Instagram: PlughubRentals