We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maureen Evelyn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maureen Evelyn , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

“You’ve been rejected.” Those 3 simple words changed my life.

My email inbox pings with the sound of a new email. Harvard updated my application, I had already made it onto the waitlist, next stop acceptance. I can already picture myself walking across those stunning brick pathways, drinking a 7$ coffee, and living out my academic excellence.

My fingers fly furiously across my phone screen as I shuffle through tabs, the webpage comes into focus, and after 3 failed password attempts, I finally log into my application portal. The application reads something like this, “Unfortunately we can’t offer you acceptance into our university at this time”. There goes my dream of drinking expensive lattes while chatting about the brevity of life with my professor.

Now I need to find something even more impressive than attending Harvard, I set my sights on becoming a professional model. You know the type, the ones that sit on a white backdrop as someone uses a leaf blower to make their hair look flawless. I buckle down, capture some images, create a modeling portfolio, and hit submit on yet another application. The agency accepts my application and offers me a zoom interview. This must be a good sign.

Then I receive another email, I’m greeted with these words, “…we do not have a space for you at the agency.” I smile, another rejection accomplished.

Okay, well I’m not a Harvard student, and I’m not a professional model. Maybe being a TEDx speaker is my true calling, so I try that pathway instead. After spending hours on my pitch script, I never hear back from the organizers. Turns out I misspelled the email address when submitting my application. Just peachy.

Sending emails to prominent organizations no longer terrifies me. I need to take this up a level.

I decided to take myself out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, just me and myself. The rules: absolutely no stress relieving distractions, basically no phone. Just me sitting alone at a table enjoying my own company. My hands already feel shaky.

I approach the waiter and ask for a table, the waiter looks me up and down, “How many?” I respond as confidently as possible, “Just me.”

After ordering I feel hyper-aware of my surroundings. Do the guys in polo shirts sitting at the adjacent table think it’s weird I’m eating alone? I try to focus on the sunset across the street, I sip ice water from the fancy glass, and then sit in silence and take another sip, I’m starting to run out of things to do.

After about 5 minutes the stress dissolves. It’s like taking a cold shower, extremely uncomfortable at first then once you get into the right mindset the stress is replaced with warm relaxation. I need to take this up a level.

I make eye contact with one of the guys in a polo shirt. How hard would it be to eat dinner with absolute strangers? I decided it was the perfect way to get rejected.

I push my chair back a little too loudly and walk over to the guys. When I get over to their table they stop midconversation, it’s too late to turn around now. “You look like you’re having an interesting conversation. Can I join you for dinner?”

They look back at me blankly. I’m shocked when the guy in blue responds, “Of course, pull over a chair.”

For over an hour we chat about New York City real estate investment and successful social media marketing strategies. I get so wrapped up in the conversation I leave without taking my leftovers, acceptance feels refreshing.

When I meet someone new they usually call me wise for my age, they ask how I’ve experienced so many different things in just 18 years. I tell them one thing, I embrace rejection.

I make life a game, I choose my craziest goals, then I apply for the opportunity, if I’m rejected I give myself a “confidence point” and If I’m accepted I’m one step closer to creating my dream lifestyle. Either way, I walk away having accomplished something.

I used this method to apply for a full-time job at a prominent marketing agency, the application required a bachelor’s degree. I’m 18, I don’t have a bachelor’s degree. I applied anyway.

After two in-depth phone interviews, I end up at the end of a conference table interviewing the President of the company. She asks about my lack of a college degree, I explain my life experience instead.

That evening my home phone rings, I run down the hallway and pick up the phone trying to tone down my internal excitement, they offer me the job at 40k. I can’t believe it.

I used to be the type of person that was terrified of rejection. If my salad was rotten at a restaurant and the waiter asked how my food tasted I would tell them it was great, I didn’t want to be an inconvenience. During presentations people ask why I’m shaking from the cold, I wasn’t cold, I was scared of rejection, my body was responding accordingly.

I realized I needed to make a change, so I forced myself into situations where rejection was likely, it was hard to do, but it allowed me to change my perspective.

I finally realized rejection isn’t nearly as scary as it seems. You can apply to attend Harvard, you can apply to be a model, you can apply to a job without a college degree, you can eat dinner with strangers, and you can start your own business. Will you always experience acceptance when pushing past your confidence zone? Absolutely not, and that’s okay, you didn’t lose anything trying, you either gain a “confidence point” after rejection or you’ll experience acceptance.

Now I’m going to submit this article to Business Insider. I’ve always wanted to be a published writer. Maybe the article will be accepted or maybe I’ll gain a “confidence point.”

Now you’re probably wondering, did I accept the job at the marketing agency?
I took it up a level and started my own agency instead.

At my marketing agency, I coach successful female entrepreneurs on how to become more confident in their social media marketing. I’ve finally found my passion, and I’m still taking myself out to eat alone. At 18 years old rejection changed my life.

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

My name is Maureen Evelyn, I’m the founder of Maureen’s Marketing Agency.

My full-time job is coaching entrepreneurs in social media marketing and I help them create better social media content in less time.

Many business owners struggle to create consistent social media content that actually works to attract their ideal client.

And many entrepreneurs spend hours each day trying to market their business or service through social media when that time can be better spent in other areas of their business.

I coach entrepreneurs in the exact strategies and tactics that allow them to create stellar social media content in less time.

The way I do this is by helping entrepreneurs come up with targeted social media content ideas that actually convert into their ideal clients.

I use these social media strategies in my own marketing agency and I have over 2 months of content ready to publish. That means each morning I can wake up, hit post, and the content works for me.

Social media is an extremely valuable resource for business growth and expansion when used correctly.

My favorite part of my job is hearing client success stories, when I get text messages from my clients and they tell me I changed their life I instantly smile.

“Before working with Maureen I knew I needed help with my social media strategy but I wasn’t sure my business was big enough to hire a social media strategist yet. After speaking to Maureen I realized that my business can truly flourish and succeed on social media. She gave me the push I needed!” Rivka H.

“My confidence has shifted tremendously since working with Maureen. Before she began coaching me, I was very self-conscious and nervous about what I posted. I knew there were ways that I could monetize my social media but I was worried it would turn away my followers or not be well received. Maureen gave me the confidence to sell on social media and help others. Maureen helped me gain over 150 followers in one day by helping me refine my I-help statement and better gear my content toward my ideal client. ” Jessica S.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media helps drive my marketing agency. I’ve worked with entrepreneurs and brands to help them grow their social media presence. One of my clients Kelsey explains, “I grew to over 18,000 followers within a few weeks. My videos have now reached over 1.5 million people in the last 30 days… Maureen was able to provide clear and concise strategies to help my account grow.”

I’ve helped brands grow to over 10,000 followers, and what I realized in the process is the number of followers you have is simply a vanity metric, it’s irrelevant. If your 10,000 followers aren’t your ideal audience, your posts won’t resonate. We need to place more focus on genuine networking connections, and on community engagement.

In order to attract my ideal follower, I create content catered to entrepreneurs ready to level up their content creation, then I reach out and engage with the followers that this style of content attracts. By talking with my followers I’m able to learn their struggles and their passions, this approach had allowed me to sign so many new clients, and it helps me to refine and clarify my marketing message when creating future content.

Decide who you help, then create content catered to that individual’s unique needs, niche down, refine and post consistently and you’ll reach radical social media success.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I love self-improvement, I love watching Ted talks, and I have sticky notes all over my house that spell out my goals. My backpack is crammed with notebooks filled with business recommendations and advice from mentors. I spend hours listening to podcasts, basically, I love learning how to improve. I spend so much time learning that I barely have any time to implement. Then I came across this quote from Aristotle, “The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge.”

My new focus in entrepreneurship is massive action, every day I try to take one step outside of my comfort zone, it’s so easy to constantly read books about self-improvement and then forget to take action towards success. I still read self-improvement but now I ask myself, “How can I implement this tip into my life today?” After clicking into this new mindset the success of my entrepreneurial journey has radically changed, and I can’t wait to see where this mindset will take me in the future.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @maureensmarketing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075414423837
• Other: My most active platform is TikTok @maureensmarketing

Image Credits
Jordan K Photography