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

Alright, Morgan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

Simply put, True To You Consulting, LLC. scaled up by scaling down.

When we first started, we jumped at the opportunity for every client and every job. While every gig provided us insight and experience, the volume of clients we tried to manage became overwhelming. To this point, each job began to feel like “work”. This is when I knew we would have to pivot or fall into the “regular” category, which is not a part of the vision or mission of this agency.

True To You keeps an intimate team of staff members and vendors who work closely together to provide exceptional services to our clients. Last year in 2021, the team was stretched extremely thin with events planned back-to-back. I noticed their fatigue, and I was exhausted, too! However, business was doing great; potential clients were reaching out consistently for consultations and ready to book. I knew something had to shift and I began looking more closely at each potential client to consider if it would be a true fit between the client and the team.

Before extending a contract to each client, I analyze the hourly work that would be done, the profits that would be made and the experience that would be had by both client and team. In some cases, there was no break even in sight. Realistically, all parties involved need to feel the experience with True To You was well worth it and exceed expectations. It is important to me that my team feels well, looks well, and works well, because if they don’t – I don’t. I want the absolute best for my team and my clients.

I turned down my first client last year – and talk about hard! Honesty was the absolute best policy when communicating this to my potential clients. I was afraid they would tarnish my name and stale the reputation of the company, but I believe they appreciated my honesty and professionalism. It was having this experience, when I learned how powerful your “no” is – it is just as powerful as your “yes”.

This gave me a blueprint, a go-by to help determine if future potential clients would be a good fit. We don’t always get it right with discerning good fits, but we do our due diligence and keep consistent communication with clients to make sure the waters remain steady. If at any time, there is no longer a good fit with a client and our team, we communicate that and adjust both appropriately and professionally.

We are committed to providing intimate strategy and consulting from inception to execution with our clients. And in order to do that most effectively, True To You exclusively serves a limited number of clients per year. This ensures clients get the absolute best service and attention needed to bring their vision to life, with sparkle and shine.

I truly believe there is a clientele to fit our goals and ideals at True To You Consulting, LLC., and we appreciate all our clients who help us to scale up and live out our commitment – Exquisite, Dynamic, Authentic – Always, True To You.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients has been previous clients. Clients are great marketing resources, which exudes the importance of each client having a positive experience with True To You. Many new clients have been guests at events where we coordinated/planned the experience and/or they have family members or friends who recommend our services to them.

Social media is a good follow-up source for new clients to see some of the work we’ve done and validate our legitimacy.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team is just like managing any other relationship, whether it be your friends, significant other or even family. Implementing consistent, scheduled check-ins and creating forums for open communication is key for managing a team. We use phone calls, text messages, GroupMe group messaging and email for team communications.

Much like any other relationship, expectations need to be managed, to circumvent unnecessary conflict. Because conflict is inevitable and expected in every relationship, the work being done to foster an overall positive relationship will aid in creating and fostering a high morale of team members. Just as much as the team leader is committed to maintaining a positive relationship, the team members share in that responsibility. All in all, managing a team can be challenging, but having a good attitude, a plan and willing team members can make a rewarding experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://true-to-you-consulting-llc.square.site/
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/truetoyouconsulting/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/truetoyouconsulting

Image Credits
A Moment In Shine, LLC.