We were lucky to catch up with Marta Giri recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marta, appreciate you joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

When I launched Locally Well San Diego, my initial intention was to highlight the latest wellness events and happenings in San Diego. I started by following the local wellness studios and curating the events into helpful weekly posts on social media and in our newsletter. This really helped us to grow our community and we’re now known as the go-to source for all things wellness events.

We expanded upon this mission in early 2023 and launched the San Diego Wellness Business Directory — the go-to source for wellness businesses + professionals in your neighborhood — and also revamped our Events Calendar, so these local businesses can list their own events directly on our website, too!

Then, through making these personal connections with local wellness businesses, we have identified an even greater need: small wellness biz owners + coaches in need of business strategy + marketing services. We are now beginning with a small set of clients with the plan to expand our operations into a full marketing agency.

The strategy and tactics for this expansion has all come down to listening. By establishing lasting connections at in-person events and through every interaction online, patterns start to emerge and you can see what the community is responding to and where the gaps are. Surveys and social media engagement metrics have also been instrumental in informing what our next course of action will be!

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.

Locally Well San Diego is your go-to source for the latest wellness events + news in San Diego. We are a one-stop-shop with feature news articles on local wellness trends, guides to wellness hot spots, events calendar and the new San Diego Wellness Business Directory where you can find a local wellness practitioner near you.

We also produce the Wellness in San Diego podcast featuring weekly episodes with local practitioners and changemakers in our trendsetting wellness community.

Locally Well also offers marketing, social media and advertising services for local businesses seeking to expand their client base + grow their audience here in San Diego and beyond.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We pride ourselves on our consistency. Each week we share out a round up of weekend wellness events, publish a newsletter, and also release a new podcast episode, along with relevant news articles + social media content. This has helped us build trust and also grown our reputation as the go-to wellness news source.

We also make sure to showcase all different types of businesses and happenings across the County, not just the major wellness studios who have the marketing budget! Each and every wellness business is making a difference in uplifting our community through their hard work and deserve to be celebrated and showcased whenever possible.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

While it’s important to set a consistent vision + strategy for the future, it is also just as important to take a look back and celebrate how far you’ve come together with your team.

One of my favorite tactics for solopreneurs as well as entrepreneurs with a team is to have a “ta-da” list. Just like you write out your “to-do” list at the beginning of the day or week, your team’s “ta-da” list is a place to keep track of what actually got done during the day or week and gives the opportunity to visually see what you actually accomplished. When you’re a scrappy business with a to-do list filled with thousands of tasks, having a “ta-da” list can make your team feel like you are moving in the right direction!

Work journals and gratitude practices can also be helpful personal tools for regular reflection, growth and insights.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.locallywell.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/locallywell/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/locallywellsd
• Other: Wellness in San Diego Podcast – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wellness-in-san-diego-food-movement-spirituality-wellbeing/id1629489780 Wellness in San Diego Podcast – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1H6xDv7W8ucVCMmeEeToH7