Embrace Entrepreneurship- I always have friends saying how amazing I’m doing at my job is and that I took such a risk, but I honestly never felt l couldn’t do it. I always believed in what I was doing, and I knew I could do it. It is scary financially to take the leap, of course, but if you really prove it out that it is a business someone needs and sees as something valuable, you will do great at it.
Being a founder, entrepreneur, or a business owner can have many exciting and thrilling moments. But it is also punctuated with periods of doubt, slump, and anxiety. So how does one successfully and healthily ride the highs and lows of Entrepreneurship? In this series, called “How To Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur” we are talking to successful entrepreneurs who can share stories from their experiences. I had the pleasure of interviewing Allison LaGuardia.
Allison LaGuardia is the founder of ALL Media, a strategic firm providing a launchpad for ambitious founders and emerging brands. Her company crafts custom-tailored integrated campaigns that skyrocket brand awareness by combining holistic media expertise with deep category insights. ALL Media’s goal is to level the playing field, empowering courageous startups to breakthrough as industry leaders through innovative media strategies.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Sure, it wasn’t a conscious decision to become an entrepreneur. To me, the moment I knew was when the agency I was working at was bought by private equity and the new owners told us to say goodbye to the small fish and to start “hunting elephants”. That it was hard to let go and no longer work with about 250 clients. I knew deep down inside that I wanted to continue to help the emerging brands and founders with my expertise in navigating the bigger budgets and standing out which was ultimately my decision to start ALL Media to focus solely on that.
What was the “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?
When I left the agency to go to a digital publisher back in 2013, my job was to bring new boutique brands to the publisher. However, I kept getting asked by the clients I was working with if I could also help them with a billboard or with a guest podcast opportunity which was NOT something I could do for them while at this company. A colleague of mine who was a managing partner at one of the top consumer private equity companies and I had lunch and he said “you can do this. You can set out to help so many brands because no one else is paying attention to them and no one else has your experience”. I sat on the train home and said, “YES I CAN”.
In your opinion, were you a natural born entrepreneur or did you develop that aptitude later? Can you explain what you mean?
I never thought of myself as a natural born entrepreneur, but the older I get, the more I think maybe I am! I am always thinking like an entrepreneur, but I would have thought it was more like a salesperson. You realize those are hand in hand with marketing and selling a product and really knowing and listening to what a consumer’s pain points are. Problem/Solution is always at the root of the campaigns we work on.
Was there somebody in your life who inspired or helped you to start your journey with your business? Can you share a story with us?
There are so many. If I had to name one, it would be John Kenney of Cult Capital who I mentioned already. He was the one who told me I can do it and believed in me and never wavered! He is such a busy man and super smart and, in the beginning, he would always take my calls and he would give me advice and really was more support than he knows!
Continue reading the full story https://medium.com/authority-magazine/allison-laguardia-of-all-media-on-how-to-successfully-ride-the-emotional-highs-lows-of-being-an-05dfba46ed4c
