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

Alright, Nancy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

When I first started my business, I focused on leveraging the power of visibility so more people could know who I was. I had a baby at home, had quit my job, and needed to fast-track everything to get my business rolling. I researched and found influential journalists and media outlets and decided to pitch my business origin story to them, thinking I was The Sh** for being a Latina founder of a coaching, training, and consulting business.

Ha! Nobody cared and that People magazine cover never happened.

However, one journalist with a major media company told me, “I’m not interested in that story, but keep in touch because you seem like you’re on to something.” I hounded him for months on end, and ultimately had him and a photographer show up at a creativity workshop I held for women of color.

After the event, I continued to hound him, asking when he was going to publish it. It was “evergreen” he told me, meaning it was going to publish when it published. Months later, it finally published as a feature story and gave me that huge visibility push I so wanted. Fortunately, he had my business contact info with the article and my phone literally started ringing with requests!

From that one featured story, I became a regular guest on Univision, quoted in Latina Magazine, invited to speak to huge audiences, and had a steady stream of media requests as a guest expert. When I went to Univision the first time, I brought business card magnets with me, and just by having my name and number physically in the studio (attached to a metal cabinet, no less!), I was top of mind for them when they needed advice on a variety of topics. That action alone kept me coming back.

Staying persistent and getting positive visibility (I say “positive” because the social media landscape can definitely work against you) was a huge push to establish my credibility, visibility, and yes… profitability.

That initial event happened over a decade ago and I still benefit from the experience. When in doubt, do what you can to stand out!

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.

I’m on a mission to humanize the workplace and amplify the voices of underrepresented people. Toxic workplace cultures cost companies billions in lost revenue, contribute to the pay equity gap, and harm the well-being of employees. My firm addresses these issues through organizational trainings, consulting, and coaching that teach leadership and communication skills through the lenses of inclusion, belonging, emotional intelligence, and empathy.

We’re a boutique firm with over a decade of experience helping teams understand each other better, reduce conflict, and create a healthier workplace culture. We customize our approach to each organization’s unique dynamics and design tailored programs that resonate.

For example, we helped Native American aerospace engineers overcome cultural barriers around self-promotion, leading to career growth and higher salaries. Many of the participants in our program were the first and only in their families and communities to obtain college degrees. They had no built in network of “Dad’s golf buddies” to land them jobs or promotions. We took a culturally informed approach that helped to build the needed skills to move ahead.

We use the DiSC Assessment to help teams better understand how to communicate and work together. One of our clients, a government agency, saw a significant reduction of conflicts and misunderstandings by going through this with us.

We took an entire department from one of the world’s top universities through a program on Emotional Intelligence and addressing conflict. Their workplace stress significantly reduced with the adoption of healthier communication skills.

At the end of the day, it’s about making the workplace more human… and for myself and my team, we see ourselves as being on a mission. That makes it less like work and more like a calling.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Most of our business comes from referrals, so delivering top notch services and maintaining integrity definitely pay off. When an existing client sings our praises to another organization, they’ve done most of the heavy lifting for us and the sale is easier.

I also know where our clients will find us. I use LinkedIn to highlight the expertise of myself and our team, knowing that it has better chances of converting than sharing it to my personal Facebook or Instagram.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We walk our talk, and our clients notice that. One time, I led the executives of a hospitality company through a retreat to update their vision statement, mission statement, and company values. The CEO told me how they had a man take them through the process years earlier and there was a hint in his voice that he didn’t expect me to do as good a job. After we completed, the CEO confessed that this retreat was the best and most powerful off-site they’d ever had. The care and depth taken to really hear everyone, to not stick them into a pre-determined template, and to let their authentic stories emerge made all the difference in the world.

We truly care and that is apparent in every job we do whether it’s related to DEIB, leadership, communication, or interpersonal skills.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://TalentAndGenius.com
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/nancitainc
• Linkedin: https://LinkedIn.com/in/nancymarmolejo

Image Credits

Lindsay Miller
Alpana Aras