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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Carla Williams Johnson
“We all make mistakes from time to time. We’re only human. We may get caught up with someone who wronged us or a business opportunity that just didn’t work in our favor. Sometimes life gets in the way, and your business suffers because of it. I can tell you, I too have been caught playing ‘catch up’ a time or two, but don’t be too hard on yourself. Take it all in stride and understand that life happens, and it’s how you handle it that makes the difference. ” – Carla Williams Johnson
Today we feature Carla Williams Johnson, the founder at Carli Communications. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I help both business owners and entrepreneurs gain the clarity and the confidence to unapologetically make their mark in the world. On the surface, it may seem like I simply market their products and services, but what I really do is give business owners and entrepreneurs a unique strategy. specific to them so they can find and connect with their ideal clients to make the impact and income they desire.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I just always knew that I wanted to get into the field. I think I was the only person in the world who would get excited when commercials would come on during a program or rush to get the latest magazine to see all the creative ways print ads were displayed.
Even at a young age I was always in awe of creative executions and how absolutely brilliant one must be to convince someone to purchase from just a few words and an image.
As time when on, my passion grew and it landed me to work with some of the most prestigious advertising companies with global brands. It was there I learned that there was so much that went into the final product and I was finally part of the strategic process.
I realized that there was so much brainstorming and creativity that went into a single campaign and, working in media, I had the single most important job of getting that creativity out to the right people. Plus I noticed that the more innovative the approach, the more of an impact the campaign made, which resulted in increased sales.
Fast forward, now I have my own company where I help entrepreneurs and business owners increase their visibility through the creative and strategic uses of media.
I my years, the one thing I saw regularly that really upset me was businessmen and women being ill-advised by greedy coaches and consultants looking to make a quick buck. These ‘so called’ gurus would use the client’s lack of knowledge against them to sell them a product or service that made no sense and gave absolutely no returns on investment. That’s when my business was born.
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I feel like a superhero sometimes, to be honest. Like I’m saving the day (and the dollar) of people who are in danger of wasting their money.
I should add here that the name of my business is really in homage to my dad. I was really close to him and being the only girl, I was a bonafide ‘daddy’s girl’. ‘Carli’ was his name for me growing up. He passed away unexpectedly in 2010 and it was really tough but he left a legacy for me and my brothers to always leave a mark in this world.
The name of my business was really to honor his memory because I know he’s looking down on me and I know he’s proud of the woman I am today.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
I am based in the beautiful twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Known for it’s great food, great music, unique culture…..and of course, me!!
My unique understanding of media and my imaginative approach to marketing allows me to offer unbiased advice to entrepreneurs and business owners who are interested in promoting themselves in the real world.
I focus mainly on identifying ideal clients, online and offline approaches to boosting visibility and the creation of marketing campaigns designed to increase revenue.
My philosophy is to help you M.A.P out your business through
(M)arketing, (A)dvertising and (P)romotion in order to
A.M.P up your business through (A)ction, (M)otivation, (P)rogress.
The one thing that I’ve noticed is that many business owners and entrepreneurs are left confused by the numerous choices out there to market themselves; between the algorithms and the ‘so called’ experts they don’t know where to turn or what to do….throw in a global pandemic and that leads to chaos.
People need to know how to navigate these uncharted waters and stay relevant to keep their business afloat. My goal is to show them how to do just that.
Right now, businesses need to be even more strategic with limited funds and what I found is that during this time we may not be in control of a lot of things but we are in control of our brand’s visibility to ensure that our customers see, hear and remember us.
Publicity is the one simple tool that has increased both online engagement and offline sales for myself and for my clients as well. Since we’ve pivoted to use more of the media in our strategies we’ve found that it’s a great way to stand out from the noise and clutter online and has truly helped us build credibility allowing our customers to trust us more and ultimately invest their time and money in our brand.
Getting featured in traditional media has helped many of my clients increase their online engagement by as much as 80% when the links are shared on their social media pages, while others have experienced an increase in opt-ins and have even gotten requests to be paid to share their knowledge.
Many have noted that the day they’re featured they experience a marginal increase in sales of their programs, packages and masterminds.
I am mainly focused on helping my people harness the power of publicity to truly build a global brand.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
To get specific, I remember this one time that I was working with a group of entrepreneurs to produce what was supposed to be an event that would take all our businesses ‘to the next level’. The speaker of the event who happened to be a business coach started making demands of us which initially were fine but when she insisted that she AND HER HUSBAND (who was not a speaker but his expenses to attend the event needed to be paid as well) needed to be featured prominently to the top of the landing page, I pushed back.
I stated that firstly, we compromised to place her at the top of the page granted she was not as well known to our target, and it was not her event but that she was a guest but I was totally against her husband being up there when he’s not even a featured speaker.
Her response was a condescending “Well if you want to have a sold out event, you’ll need to have someone white featured………it’s just how things are……if you want to make it and be successful.” Then she added “I’m just telling you what worked for me…you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to…but this is what made me successful so if you want to sell tickets you should do it. ”
So basically, the color of my skin was directly related to my success or failure rather? What’s worse there were others who agreed with her……like this is some kind of unspoken rule that just needed to be accepted.
Well I washed my hands of that event, needless to say it never materialized, but I was determined to prove that the very thing people said would cause me to fail would be the very thing that will make me succeed!
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
No one said it was going to be easy but no one said it would be THIS HARD!! I mean I love the challenge; the roller coaster ride of being in business is enough to get the blood pumping but someone could have warned me!
I was ready for the exhaustion but not so much the loneliness;
I was ready to lose some friends but not some of my closest confidants;
I was ready to give up some things and juggle a few others but I was not ready for the emotion and guilt that would follow from my actions.
I’ve had to use my own courage and resourcefulness to navigate this entrepreneurial journey;
I’ve had to make my mark in an industry that tends to favor the opinions of my male counterparts;
I’ve had to break through barriers of being labeled ‘a little island girl’ from a country that I felt only few know about;
I’ve had to shine through as being honest, reliable and real where there seem to be so many fraudsters whose main goal is to deceive in the name of making a quick buck.
These are the reasons why I created my business and how I continue to thrive. There was (and is) so much to learn and discover on my journey but honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing because everything that has happened has brought me to this point.
I know when to walk away sooner and when to say ‘no’ altogether
I know to always listen to my gut because it NEVER steers me wrong
I know to schedule self care because my life literally depends on it
The good times gave me joy and the bad times gave me knowledge…..and I’m good with that.
Being the CEO of your own company can be a very lonely place. It’s almost like you’re fighting with the world around you and no one can understand why. Consider it a curse or a blessing but having the ability to see what others can’t and create what others simply dream about is a journey some people travel alone. I wished someone would have said to me, “Carla, sometimes you’re going to think you’re crazy, and you probably are …keep going anyway and let your success speak for itself”
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Trust your gut. I’ll say every time…. I cannot tell you how many times I went against my own intuition and got myself in hot water. Listen to your instincts and allow that to lead you. Having the confidence and the desire to follow through will be much easier once you feel aligned and at peace with the decision you’ve made.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
My top three are
Wave accounting by Wave Financial
It’s a free tool designed for small businesses to keep track of invoices & payments. You can track your expenses and see how your business is doing financially at a glance.
Hootsuite for social media scheduling
It was designed to help businesses manage their social media content without having to be glued to their devices. Tasks here are actually is shared between myself and my VA
Setmore
The free version can help you book and keep track of appointments and allows you to create your very own booking page which you can customize to your needs. It even sends email reminders to you and your clients never miss an appointment.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
Being the CEO of your own company can be a very lonely place. It’s almost like you’re fighting with the world around you and no one can understand why. Consider it a curse or a blessing but having the ability to see what others can’t and create what others simply dream about is a journey some people travel alone. I wished someone would have said to me, “Carla, sometimes you’re going to think you’re crazy, and you probably are …keep going anyway and let your success speak for itself”
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
Well, having worked with so many brands over the years it’s a bit difficult to pinpoint one but if I had to choose, I would say my proudest moment was being recognized at one of the 99 Limit Breaking Female Founders as compiled by Huffington Post and Thrive Global.
The reason this is so significant is I had just stepped out on my own in business and I was working so hard to build my brand….but with very little happening, I felt like I was working in vain. Then I got this email to be added to the list and I felt like people are noticing. Since this honor I’ve been featured in Buzzfeed, Forbes and many other prestigious television, press and online forums.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
With everything going on in the world, I am really focusing on helping others be a bit more strategic with their marketing plans.
Building brand awareness and standing out is the name of the game right now because it’s the businesses who are seen and heard that’ll be the ones that will undoubtedly be remembered.
My goal is to show persons how to use the online space more effectively as well as encourage business owners to include publicity into their marketing mix to give their brand that extra edge. With everyone moving to the digital arena, getting featured will definitely add credibility to their brand and put them in front of their customers and ahead of the competition.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
We all make mistakes from time to time. We’re only human. We may get caught up with someone who wronged us or a business opportunity that just didn’t work in our favor. Sometimes life gets in the way, and your business suffers because of it.
I can tell you, I too have been caught playing ‘catch up’ a time or two, but don’t be too hard on yourself. Take it all in stride and understand that life happens, and it’s how you handle it that makes the difference.
· Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn from them.
· Allow yourself time to recuperate from a stressful situation
· Allow yourself to feel what you need to feel when you need to feel it
Then jump right back in and keep moving forward.
You’re not alone, and we are all dealing with our own slices of life, so lean on someone who can help pick you up and don’t beat yourself up if things don’t go according to plan, remember you are right where you need to be.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Carli Communications”
To learn more about Carli Communications Visit http://www.carlimedia.com/
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