We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shavone Jackson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shavone below.
Shavone, appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
The name of my business is inspired by my late father. I watched him balance being an entrepreneur, working a full time job, and being a great parent simultaneously. I watched the transition from completing W-4 forms to only completing W-9’s. I’ve always had a dream of running my own business and working for myself, which he encouraged. Once he passed I was inspired to gather everything I learned from him, and every other resource I had…and go for it. R.B.D is an acronym that stands for Reggie Bolden’s Daughter. Naming my business after him is both inspiring and motivating. Inspiring, for obvious reasons. Motivating, because whenever I feel I want to give up I remind myself that I am also giving up on something with his name attached.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Shavone Jackson, also known as either ‘Boss’ or ‘Mommy’ depending on the time of day. I am Black single mom trying to master the ongoing learning curve of balancing mom life, work life, some sort of regular life, and as if life wasn’t hard enough…an entrepreneur life. I grew up on the south side of Chicago with a parent that was always finding ways to make extra money. I watched my dad grow as a businessman over the years, and in turn expand and develop his mindset about business. Once I lost him I was inspired to start my journey as an entrepreneur.
Real Estate has always been an interest of mine. I was always caught up on start up budgets, lack of knowledge, or fear, leading me to let the dream live, but put the action on the back burner. 100% of my knowledge about being a notary and the notary business, derived from YouTube…on accident! I accidently clicked a video a notary posted comparing facts vs myth’s on the notary industry. I learned quickly notaries are very much apart of the real estate industry, they’re just called Loan Signing Agents. I was hooked. I researched for about one year before taking any action. Six months after losing my dad I was commissioned in the State of Illinois, and the journey began.
RBD Mobile Notary Services specializes in assisting with the completion of real estate transactions such as refinances, buyer’s and seller’s packages, loan modifications and more. We also assist in estate planning, as wills, trusts, and power of attorney’s always need to be notarized! There are plenty of other types of documents that may need a notarization. As a full service notary business, we can help you with any notary needs!
My staff and I pride ourselves on customer convenience, which is why I created a mobile business. You can call me for an appointment and I will meet you at home so you don’t have to leave. We can meet at work so you’re commute home isn’t impacted by the appointment. In the future, plans are to continue expanding our clientele. My goal is to start working with businesses directly! We’ve been meeting with realtors, financial advisors and some law offices, trying to map out best options for partnering. I’m always looking to network with other entrepreneur’s, and learn as much as I can. I think building relationships is key to becoming successful.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Google! YouTube taught me Google is your best friend when managing a business. You can create a Google business page for free. Imagine searching: “Notary near me” on Google and seeing your own business populate at the top! A tip on managing a Google business page would be to treat it like a social media page. It needs pictures, updates on hours and COVID-19 practices, etc. There’s also multiple notary directories that work well, but most new clients say they found me on Google.
Any advice for managing a team?
I have a Director of Marketing and a Social Media Director. An important lesson I had to learn was I can’t do everything myself and be successful. A lot of the books I read when starting out repeatedly mentioned the beauty of leveraging other people’s time and skills. I allow them to share their opinion’s and we brainstorm together. I always ensure communication is flowing all ways. I think an important part of being a leader is to recognize the skills needed in order for people to want to follow you. There isn’t an employee-boss relationship, although that respect remains. Making people feel human, can easily raise the morale.
Contact Info:
- Email: Rbdmobilenotaryservices@gmail.
com - Facebook: RBD Mobile Notary Services
- Instagram: @RBDMobileNotary
- Other: Phone number: 773-245-3153
Image Credits
Justin Rollins