We recently connected with Y. Elaine Rasmussen and have shared our conversation below.

Y. Elaine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

While this is not my first go at entrepreneurship, in my previous ventures I was what they call an accidental entrepreneur. However, this time I was becoming an entrepreneur by choice. I was choosing to grow a company versus being a solopreneur with a few part-time support staff. So about six months into launching Social Impact Now, it was very clear that I needed help. but I wasn’t sure how to go about that knowing that I had a very limited amount of capital and I was still a new upstart with an unpredictable cashflow. I attended some event and had a light bulb moment, I needed to get clear on what I needed. So I went home and began to think about what jobs would give me exponentially more time in my day. I came up with three jobs: Project Manager for my client work, a part-time social media person to do all my postings, and a part-time producer for my then podcast (Social Impact Now). Then I had to think long and hard about if I hired these people, what would do? What would a typical day look like? What would they be accountable for? And, what could I pay them? By this time, I knew I needed to write job descriptions. So, I took the next week to write three very specific job descriptions and I figured out how much I could pay someone and for how long.

I put everything away and went back to focusing on growing the business. A couple of weeks later, I was at another networking event and struck up a conversation with the caterer. It soon came time for her to set up and she remarked, ‘Why don’t you talk to my sister’. I did. Within a few minutes, I asked the woman, ‘What keeps you busy during the day?’. She replied, ‘I’m a project manager’. I could barely contain my excitement. I continued talking to her and eventually asked the woman to lunch. She accepted.

We went to lunch the following week where I got to learn more about how her current project management role for the government was sunsetting due to lack of funding. When the time felt right, I asked her what her rate was. She told me. I then said, “I have a proposition to make. I need a project manager to manage my client’s projects.” I went on to explain the job duties and responsibilities. I told her that based on her rate, I could hire at her rate for four weeks, or I could offer her half her rate and keep her on for eight weeks. The eight weeks would give me some time to bring in more business and the possibility of keeping her on longer with higher pay. She agreed to take the lower rate.

She stayed with me for three years. It was an incredible relationship that I treasure. We’ve learned a lot from each other. And while she has moved on to more lucrative opportunities, to this day we are still close friends.

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.

Like many others in this realm, I stumbled upon the captivating world of social impact and impact investing. While working in philanthropy, whispers about impact investing piqued my curiosity. Given my finance background (my early ventures as a stock analyst) and past involvement in economic development, I embarked on a journey in 2010 to delve deep into the subject matter. I thirsted for knowledge on the people, the strategies, the motivations, and the voids within the field. I eagerly engaged with individuals from all walks of life to discuss social impact, social finance, and impact investing. Armed with comprehensive empirical research, I believe I possess a distinctive perspective to offer these sectors.

As the Founder and CEO of Social Impact Now and ConnectUP! Institute, I have the privilege of helping people and companies create innovative social finance solutions the give meaningful equitable change in our world. Social Impact Now provides social finance, social impact, and impact investing advisory services. These are fancy words that mean, we help people and organizations align their money and strategies to their values. We do this through a variety of service offerings such as consulting, facilitation, and individual and group workshops. Our clients have included Fortune 500 companies, High Net Worth individuals and nonprofit organizations who see to be the change they want to see. As a certified B-corp, we are dedicated to fostering a more just and inclusive world by mobilizing individuals and organizations towards collective action.
We are in the final stages of launching a digital platform focused on developing the next generation of change-makers through leadership and social impact education. We will be offering a variety of programs including virtual boot camps, workshops, and retreats that equip individuals with the skills and knowledge to create a sustainable impact for their company, community and themselves. Our core mission is to provide tactical, but practical action-based content that powers transformation change. We expect to release our new platform in October 2023, so keep an eye out!

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

Your existing customers hold the key to your sales success. Throughout the first six years, our company thrived solely on referrals, without any marketing efforts. Unfortunately, many small businesses overlook the potential of utilizing their clients to amplify their promotional reach. Here at Social Impact Now, every client receives a questionnaire and a thoughtful gift upon project completion, before we send the final invoice. Through the questionnaire, we inquire about their satisfaction, reasons for choosing us, potential referrals and introductions, and request a testimonial. When clients express their appreciation via email, handwritten notes, or social media posts, we seek their permission to share their kind words on our social media platforms and websites. Remarkably, we have never encountered a client who refused our request. Remember, it is far more cost-effective to retain a client (and their referrals) than to acquire a new one.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Transparency, compassionate accountability, and Celebrating are all key to running a high-performing team. I believe that these principles are essential to creating an environment where teammates can thrive, reach their highest potential and have fun. It’s important that each team member take ownership for their work and feel empowered to make decisions based on their own judgment. By creating an atmosphere of open communication, it allows each teammate to provide constructive feedback and openly share ideas without fear of retribution or judgment. Everyone feels that they have some ownership in the success of the company. It’s not my success but our success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.socialimpactnow.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socialimpactnow/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/y-elaine-rasmussen-21b4ba3/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzuBYa8RrZ8vZ7Yrr1uUHEg
• Other: https://feed.podbean.com/socialimpactnow/feed.xml