We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Wolverton recently and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren , appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
I’ve recently taken the biggest risk I’ve ever taken in my life. I quit my full time job and started my own company with about $2,000 in my checking and savings accounts combined. Here’s how it happened.
I’ve always been a content creator. I grew up in Mississippi, and when I was in high school, I won a trip to Los Angeles with Seventeen Magazine. While I was there, I decided to book a photoshoot with a photographer I followed on Instagram. It went great, and when I got back I wanted to share the photos with the Seventeen Magazine employee who helped coordinate the trip. I felt like such a nerd sending her my own photoshoot. She got back to me and liked my style so much that she offered me a position on the Seventeen Magazine Social Club, which was an influencer partnership for high school and college aged girls. I was instantly HOOKED on creating fashion and lifestyle content.
Flash forward about 8 years, and I found myself working for an entertainment newspaper in Savannah, Georgia after attending college at Mississippi State University and working in television news for a couple of years. I was working at the paper as a sales rep and a writer. I liked my job, but I knew it wasn’t my dream role. I was still creating content with hotels, boutiques, and restaurants on the side.
One day, me and my friend were having our weekly chips and queso lunch date, and we decided we’d start a podcast. Both of us had television backgrounds, loved being in front of the camera, and had a little bit of podcasting experience through work. We both wanted a new creative hobby, and hoped to make a little extra cash from it.
The concept came naturally. I was 25 years old, and I felt like I didn’t have a clue what was going on in my life. Some days I felt like a wise, adult woman and some days I felt like a teenager who didn’t understand anything. So, The Chicks and Dip podcast was born. It was a show about two chicks, talking about life in your twenties over chips and dip.
We kicked off the show, and within a few months, we had interest from sponsors. After several conversations with our employers at the newspaper, it was decided that we could not work for a media outlet and podcast on the side. We had to decide between quitting our jobs or quitting our podcast. I’ll be honest, at the time, it really sucked and it really scared me. However, I understand that it was a conflict of interest and the two couldn’t coexist forever.
Thinking about what decision I’d make, I called my family and thought about what I wanted in life. I looked at my puny savings account and talked with my boyfriend. I thought of the stability of my full time job and pictured myself as the boss of my own company. I remembered how nervous I felt sharing those photos with Seventeen Magazine, and I remembered the awesome opportunity that came out of hitting ‘send.’
So, I put in my notice and spent every night for the next few weeks learning how to start a company. My co-host and I created an LLC, got a logo and branding kit together, built a podcast set and networked our tails off. Along the way, we connected with Katie and Calvin, two local business owners. They saw potential in us and helped us get on our feet. In August of 2022, I walked out the door of the newspaper company and walked into my new life as the owner of 3 Chicks Media.
A few months after that, my partner and co-host got offered a full time job and quit the company we had started together with little warning. Again, my brain was flooded with worries and questions. I thought of how much work running the company by myself would be. I mourned the loss of a trusted partner and best friend. I imagined how proud I would be of myself if this all worked out. And again, I decided to take the risk and keep pursuing my dream of 3 Chicks Media.
Today, I have more social media management clients, more podcast guest inquiries, and more content creation partnerships than ever before. Katie and Calvin stepped up to support me even more as partners in the company. I am still hungry and have a lot of room to grow. I don’t know if my company and my podcast will ever reach the level of success that I hope for them, but I am proud and happy every day that I took a risk and continue to take risks to pursue my dreams.
Lauren , 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’m Lauren Wolverton! I am from Mississippi and now reside in Savannah, Georgia, where I own 3 Chicks Media. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve been very into media. I excelled in writing, adored Instagram and fashion, and enjoyed being in front of a camera.
My personal brand started with small influencer partnerships when I was around 18 years old. I partnered with a hair dye brand and colored my hair purple. I partnered with a bakery to promote Valentine’s Day cookies. For years, I had a blast putting my own personal spin on different companies and products.
Then, I graduated college and went to work in television news, and then in newspaper sales. I learned a lot about business and community relationships during these years. I was also falling in love with podcasts. Every second of my free time was spent listening to Girls Gotta Eat, Call Her Daddy, Joe Rogan, The Morning Toast and more.
Eventually I started my own company, creating content, managing social media for local businesses and hosting my own podcast, The Chicks and Dip Podcast with Lauren Wolverton.
I’ve had a passion for social media for so long and built a defined, clear brand for myself personally, and I believe it reflects in the work I do for my clients. I treat each of my social media clients as if their accounts were my own. Sloppy work doesn’t get shared. Thought out, engaging content does. Even closer to me are my podcast sponsors and listeners. They get the most authentic version of me that anyone does. I think the podcast, my personal social media channels, and work I do for clients all work together to drive all avenues of my business forward.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The biggest advice I have for building a good business reputation is to show up to things, to thank people, and to always deliver what you promised.
Interacting with people over email or social media is great, but actually showing up to things goes a long way. Don’t overwhelm yourself with networking activities, but make an effort to attend happenings with people you hope to collaborate with. Your favorite hotel in town is hosting a happy hour? GO! You never know who you will meet, and you will gain a reputation of being supportive of other local businesses. When you need support one day, other business owners will remember you showing up for them.
Thanking people is so important. Thank people when they shop with you, when they listen to your podcast, when they give you feedback, when they send you someone’s email address that you misplaced. No matter how small, I want to always be thankful to people who support my business. People remember when someone thanks them, and when someone doesn’t.
Lastly, delivering what you promise is key. I learned this the hard way in sales. Over promising results to your clients will always end badly. I’ve learned to be honest and authentic with my clients and deliver what I promised to the absolute best of my ability. When I get new business from a client referral, I thank myself for this!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I have two primary social media accounts that aren’t client accounts. I have my own personal pages @lauren_wolverton and I have my podcast pages @chicksanddippod. I’ve grown my personal pages over the last 10+ years, and have been growing the podcast pages for less than one year.
My biggest advice is to be authentic. Don’t try to have a viral moment with every post. You’ll be disappointed, and people will smell that you’re trying too hard. I have found success posting things I actually like and want to look at over and over again. Consistently sharing stories and feed posts is also important. It’s hard to stay top of mind if you only post once a month.
I’ve also found that actually engaging with accounts you like on social media goes a long way. Commenting “Cute!” on 100 people’s posts a day is inauthentic and fake. However, commenting your genuine thoughts on a handful of accounts a day keeps you relevant to accounts you hope to work with and shows your followers more about you. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole network of social media accounts that are in line with your brand and support you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/chicksanddippod?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=030b73a5-2c48-415b-bc47-639f7ad4bdba
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauren_wolverton/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chicksanddippod
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-wolverton-95808913b/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIBGEi2h1fCVdvxZkgi8Y0w