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

Hi Tia, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Growing up, I’ve always had entrepreneur tendencies. It always started with an idea that led to doing research and eventually turning it into a way to make money. Often times, the ideas were mostly my own talents. My first successful “idea execution” was at the age of 12 in the 7th grade. I worked with my middle schools TV News group and had the idea for a short entertainment lunch show. I basically pitched it to my teacher and she gave me access to use the internet during her class to grab content. This was a big deal in 1998 because the internet was not something students used everyday. (Good times lol) The result was a 15 minute video production of music news & music videos. It didn’t pay but the experience was priceless.

Going from an idea to executing the idea is what an Entrepreneur does. Many of us end up turning them into businesses and these are the people I work with everyday so I understand their processes and systems as if it were my own. Over the years I have executed many ideas- some successful and some not so successful however I do not call them failures. If you took the time to start then you were successful because it takes alot of courage and energy to start working on something that started as merely a thought.

My current main business is Taylored Hart and it started from the heart then became an idea. After having my sons I realized I was finding myself going back to enjoying the things I loved to do when I was younger. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed art, writing, and nature because for years after graduating I was in the Entertainment Industry focusing on others talents. I had forgotten to focus on my own talents. Little things like finding my rock collection in my mothers closet and doing watercolors with my sons gave me the idea of starting to share what I always knew but kept buried. Along this journey I would research and share this research on social media.

Taylored Hart started in 2018 as an online store that sold Sage & Palo Santo bundles that I would wrap and decorate and promote for use with meditation. Nobody knew I was into meditation or even into smudging but I knew it was time for me to do something I loved and share it with those who are curious.

Fast forward to today and we are now a team of 4 and personally create self-love activities, journal prompting activities, and promote self-awareness along with our signature Sage bundles. I’ll also be releasing my first Taylored Hart calendar for 2023 that promotes Moon Journaling & Lunar Affirmations. It’s been a great journey and all it took was focus and execution.

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 got into my career first as a promoter & digital marketing consultant in the Entertainment Industry. I started when I was 16 believe it or not and I worked for musicians, producers, venue owners, and enjoyed building websites and creating the brand for clients. Most of my clients were so focused on their talents and scaling up but didn’t have an online presence outside of social media so that’s where I came in. I’d build their websites & create a way for people to easily buy from them.

Eventually I put my BA in Communications to work and started doing Public Relations when I was about 23. This allowed me to take my talents a step further and help people organize their brand and then get the media/press to talk about them. I mentored other women and helped them learn more about PR and Marketing and provided a wide range of services from website building to press kit design. The thing I’m most proud about is that I practiced both tradition & digital PR- meaning I’ve made hard copy Press Kits and I’ve made cold calls to News & Radio Stations where as to many in the PR field don’t have to. I’m also proud to have been mentored by a few very prominent women in the PR Industry.

The experience I had working with individual professionals and business owners doing PR & Marketing is what led me into Brand Management. I went out on my own & turned my name into my brand because over the past 2 decades I had so much hands on experience and finally found my niche. Helping people build their brands is helping them execute their ideas and finding them the best strategy to continue reaching their goals so that they don’t give up. That journey also led me into obtaining a position as a Business Advisor by one of the world’s largest Marketing & Advertising Software companies, Thryv. Thryv has now allowed me to be able offer award winning Software and Marketing to small business owners and guide them into success. So now, whenever I meet someone in business looking for help, I bring them into Thryv for all their needs and I rest assured knowing that not only do they have me to give advice but they’re getting a professional website and software that’s 10x better than what I could’ve done by myself.

Lastly, on the side, I give my weekends to creating with my team for Taylored Hart. This is what sets me apart from others because for the first time ever, I’m able to balance my own entrepreneur energy. My family loves it too.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Let me just highlight first that brand loyalty is key to measuring success. Before it was terminology I was making sure people focused on that because clients/ customers/ fans are what keep the brand relevant.

Email marketing is my suggestion to businesses and I practice it as well. At work I’ve created a habit or emailing customers “follow ups” so they know they can reach me anytime and to build trust with them, especially when I’ve introduced them to Thryv Software. Many people are “scared” of the word software because they’re used to doing business one way and don’t want to learn a new way of doing business. However, I find that by emailing them, my name sticks to their mind and the day they get curious about automating a task or simplifying their business system- they’ll email (or call) me back.

I know this method works for me because of my personality and plus, in my previous positions when I worked for people in PR & Marketing, email marketing is what kept the fans/ consumers attention. It is also a great way to briefly make an important announcement. So whether I’m trying to sign small business owners up for a demo presentation or just to check in & ask how business is, I’m staying on their mind even if they don’t reply right back. Email Marketing also allows you to show up in someone’s phone without being too personal and invading their space like a random text would. I’m not against text marketing but I believe you should only use that method if it’s with someone you’ve already built a business relationship with. So if they’re clients of yours & you’re a Consultant or Coach, for example, text away! You know them well enough. However, if they’re customers of your store and have only purchased products from time to time, only text if they opt in for it.

With my business (Taylored Hart), I use email marketing to give away free activities and journal prompts. There may come a time I may do virtual events and email marketing will be best for keeping in touch with those who registered.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

It’s the networking for me! I’ve always been the type of person that says hi to people in the supermarket & talk about the weather in the check-out lane. I’m the same way online. When someone follows me or adds me as a friend, I’m liking their photos and commenting and it’s small gestures like that that get people noticing me and wanting to know more about what I do.

Most people do those things for algorithm purposes but before there were algorithms on social media, this method of being polite online was a simple way of networking. People see your name in their notifications and it registers in their brain. Then when you make a post promoting something and if they’re curious about it, they’ll feel more trusting in messaging you about it because you’ve shown interest in them.

It’s the same at events. When I go to events, I speak to people and compliment people and I show interest in what they do because I know either they could help me or I could help them at some point.

Networking is not just about finding people who can help you or finding people to turn into a sale yet I think alot of people look at it that way. Networking builds your reputation and gets you noticed so that you become a trusting person people refer others to. If you have a solid reputation and mean what you say, your network becomes your networth!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tayloredhart.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/tayloredhart
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamtiahart
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/iamtiahart
• Other: Visit www.iamtiahart.com to schedule a free consult with me if your curious about the Thryv Software I mentioned. It’s built specifically for small business owners. I can get your online presence organized and optimized and automate your email marketing all-in-one. It’s also not expensive, as you might be thinking!

Image Credits
Photography by Liv’s for Photography @livs_forphotography