We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Meredith Kasheta. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Meredith below.

Alright, Meredith thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Definitely! We have a lot of clients come to us because they’ve worked with an agency in the past that didn’t help educate them to use their website. Or worse, wouldn’t even give them access to logins and passwords!

It’s a way for businesses to maintain control and force a client to stay with them, but it’s damaging to the relationship in the long run. At The MMC Agency, we’re the complete opposite. We might benefit in the short term by locking clients into contracts or maintaining control, but we want our clients to stay because they like working with us! We believe in partnering with our clients to grow their business, which means giving them control over one of their most significant business assets – their website.

We even offer training videos during our off-boarding process so their team can make simple changes – if they want – without having to call. For us, it has led to many great relationships built on trust and support, not an obligation.

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

Before I started the MMC Agency, I worked for a consulting firm overseeing the customer service and marketing team. I loved the people and the job, but I was traveling and on call a lot and my health was suffering. I knew I wanted to start a business one day, so I began taking on copywriting clients on the side. Before I knew it, that side business was rivaling my day job!

After ten years at my firm, I put in my notice (the same month I married my husband, Jason). It was a lot of change in a short time! What I loved about my new business was that I could serve clients in a more authentic way. I was able to say yes more often and really partner with people who trusted me to help them grow.

Before long, we were working with website designers, and before much longer, we were hiring those people to expand our core services! Clients wanted to do more together and shared stories about their bad experiences with other providers. Those stories helped shape our processes and core values, which ensure that we always put our clients first.

I love how we support our client’s growth – with those values in mind. We always take the time to explain what we’re doing and why (to the extent client’s have questions), and when we wrap up a project, we help them get the most benefit from it – with launch support, training, and more. It’s a big distinguisher in our industry, and it is a significant thing, along with the quality of our team’s work, that makes me so proud of what we do at The MMC.

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

One of my biggest challenges was redefining what being “successful” or “hard-working” looks like. I came from roles where long hours were the norm and boundaries were hard to define. When I started my business, I noticed that I was subconsciously bringing those beliefs into my agency. If I wasn’t working late, was I really working hard?

Fortunately, with the support of family, my accountability partner, and some reflection, I realized that I was rebuilding the company I left – even though that was far from my intent. I started defining an ideal schedule and the type of agency I wanted to create for my future team. It took some time to reframe my mentality (and sticking to some strict calendars), but it has been so freeing and given me a fantastic work-life balance that I enjoy today!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

One of the best books I read early on was The E Myth by Michael Gerber. In it, the author walks you through how to build a scalable business. When I started (as a solopreneur), it was hard to imagine that I would need to outline processes from day one, but that book really challenged me to think bigger.

Today, I still use principles from that book and reflect on the mindset as The MMC Agency grows. If I am doing everything, what happens if I get sick? Or if a team member doesn’t have a straightforward process to follow, what happens if they leave? The E Myth is a great book to challenge you to think bigger and do the work that will support your business as you do!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themmcagency.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/the.mmc.agency
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/themmcagencyorlando
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/the-mmc-agency