Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chelsea Cooper Braun. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Chelsea, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I think this is something that I’ve developed in small ways over time. Especially over the last decade of owning my digital marketing agency, CSC Strategic.
But, stepping back quite a bit, if I look back to the beginning, it absolutely stems from my parent’s and the example they set. Both entrepreneurs – my mother was a NYT best-selling cookbook author and my dad to this day is a successful neuroscientist and consultant – they never shied away from sharing the bumpy road of entrepreneurship with my sister and me. They are both self-made and self-funded in their endeavors, so as you can imagine the highs were high and the lows could be pretty low. But they took it in stride and always said “this is what we signed up for”. They loved the ride and that they were in control of their future.
That part absolutely passed down to me. In fact, that was a big piece of why I launched my company at 25. I wanted to be in control of my choices, my time, my growth. Working in the agency space where your bottom line is driven by the amount of business you bring in and close, comes inherent rejection. And you have to be okay with that. It’s a big resilience driver. Additionally, team members come and go, clients come and go – all for different reasons – and at the beginning that hurts. It’s scary. In fact, it still is! But the strength I feel in what I’ve built, the success we’ve had and the team in place has grown so strong over time. Every little change, shift and movement creates more resilience and with that, learning.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I actually launched CSC Strategic nearly nine years ago, at the age of 25. I was working at a bigger brand at the time and working with a lot of third party agencies. It was such a struggle to find an agency that had the resources and expertise of team members to be able to connect the dots in a marketing strategy – most of these agencies only did one thing and had a sort of tunnel vision on that specific skill. I began having to piece so many things together, I thought “there MUST be a better way”! When I couldn’t find one, I decided to start a company that solved for the gaps and opportunities I was seeing. A diverse, multi-faceted digital marketing agency that had all the expertise and experience from a group of specialized individuals with all the collaboration and strategic omni-channel thinking of a senior team.
Because of this unique positioning and wholistic strategy, we’ve had the opportunity to work with some incredible start ups, spearhead digital strategies for brands before, during and after acquisition and build a list of clients that are doing some really incredible things in the world. It’s really been an incredible journey!
Over the last 3-4 years, I have also begun working as a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer for both emerging and established brands. I have been able to tap into so many marketing areas, both inclusive and beyond digital, to really help these brands streamline and strategize.
And if that isn’t quite enough already, I actually just launched a podcast with a fellow Harvard University Instructor, called Digital After Hours. We dive into all the digital marketing questions we get asked when we’re teaching, but also as we’re doing webinars, consulting, etc. We’ve divided the episodes into topics and kept them to 30 minutes to keep it really focused and intentional.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Wow, great question. There have been so many, and different ones required at different times throughout the last decade. If I really think about three that have been the most helpful, consistency, I would say adaptability, innovation and prioritization.
Adaptability, I would say first and foremost, as the digital landscape is inherently changing and shifting every day! There is always something new to learn, and emerging platform to research and a new way to build out a strategy. You have to be agile and egoless in the learning and growing process. I think the same could be said for running a team – things are always moving and changing and I have learned it’s so important to, as my mother would say, “ride light in the saddle”.
Innovation is another big one. The marketing space is saturated, but there is always a new way to do something. Something I always speak to our clients about is the importance of testing and learning. Let’s innovate, test a new campaign or new brand messaging and really pay close attention to the data and what we can learn from how the audience responds. If it works, we keep it! If not, we need to keep finding new ideas and ways to innovate until we hit it.
And lastly, prioritization. There are a thousands things happening everyday – from team member needs, to client requests to being sure you maintain a healthy ecosystem in your personal life. There key here, I have found, is prioritizing. What needs to be done right now and what can wait until tomorrow? Are you able to do your best work if you don’t carve out intentional time to disconnect or be creative? Understand what is urgent and what can wait. I am constantly working on this with my team!
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities, or knowledge you needed to be successful?
A bit unconventional, but I think there is a special art to taking time to be inspired. I don’t mean just in the day-to-day, but taking a real break, if even for a day, to let your mind detach. This could be taking the leap and registering for a class to push your skills and knowledge, setting time aside each day to get outside or even take a vacation. It is never easy to set that time aside (it goes back to prioritization!) but honestly, this is how I’ve come up with my best ideas – both in my business and for clients. Sometimes you need to physically remove yourself from the everyday to see things from a new perspective.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cscstrategicconsulting.com/ and https://www.chelseacbraun.com/
- Instagram: @cscstrategic and @chelseacooperbraun
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cscstrategic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseacbraun/
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-after-hours/id1740628591
