We were lucky to catch up with Emily Reagan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Being a military child and military spouse who moved every few years, was not easy on my social life or career, but it produced a deep confidence in myself to adapt and handle new situations. I learned I could count on myself to get through anything uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or challenging. I got used to trying and adapting new things. I always found a way.
Confidence is trusting ourselves to make decisions, take action, move forward, and learn from the past.
The cool thing is moving forward with action sets into motion the confidence-competence loop: as confidence increases, competency does too (and my self-esteem levels) .. and it continues.
When I first stepped out into the freelance digital service world, I had no idea what I was doing. But since I’d been in so many other new work situations and succeeded, I knew I could figure it out. This capability gave me the courage to say yes to projects and services I’d never done before, with clients who were new to me. In the end, the experience added up, putting me in the place I am now where I know a lot about marketing and can serve my clients and students on a higher-strategic level.
Yes, I’ve made mistakes, worked with difficult clients and even been fired (twice), but the lessons add up and just make me smarter. I focus on the wisdom earned and choose to keep going.
Resiliency is something we need to harness as small business owners because this journey is filled with hardships, ups and downs, and lots of questioning and self-doubt.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
It was a happy accident. When I stumbled on this freelance marketing work 13 years, it rocked my world. It changed my life for the better to able to support my husband’s military career and be present with my kids, and move every 1-3 years without starting over.
I had such a unique skill set with my journalism/PR background that it made me very rare. I was not a general admin virtual assistant, I stood out. I was in demand and able to charge top dollar for my work. I booked out quickly. I have a hard time saying no. I absolutely hated turning down clients, they were desperate to find reliable, loyal, smart teammates.
So I started teaching my peers how to do the same freelance marketing work and brought them into my network with these client referrals. It all just took off.
I created the Unicorn Digital Marketing Assistant School to help my clients find reliable, trained-up, marketing-savvy teammates AND help my friends find, higher-paid flexible work during school hours.
I help educated military spouses, professionals, and stay-at-home moms transition from being undervalued and disconnected in their professional lives to becoming empowered and successful virtual marketing assistants and specialists. I guide them through the uncertainty of re-entering the workforce and starting a digital service business. Through my coaching, these women transform into skilled, digital marketers, adept at crafting compelling strategies and content while mastering the art of work-life harmony. They go from the frustration of untapped potential to the triumph of contributing to their family’s financials and setting an inspiring example for their children and loved ones. Together, we ensure they not only reclaim their professional identity but also revel in the joy of personal growth, creative expression, and a revitalized sense of purpose.
I can’t explain what light it brings to be a part of a team again, pulling the behind-the-curtain strings of a mission-driven business and helping clients achieve their goals… without having to commute, work 60-hour work week or feel trapped in a gray, fabric-lined, windowless cubicle. It’s the ultimate freedom of schedule and finances.
It’s made me a better spouse, happier mom, and much more interesting person! I think I was always entrepreneurial at heart but just didn’t know it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Like I said earlier, the ability to adapt and to be comfortable with ambiguity are important skills. There is so much uncertainty and risk, that you have to trust yourself to try. So the first is being growth-set-minded and saying YES to new challenges and asks.
My second is a hard skill: copywriting.
I didn’t appreciate that writing always came naturally to me. (Hello, journalism major here).
In all honesty, I was so intimidated coming into business when I heard words like messaging, content writing, copywriting, tone and voice. Once I got out of my way and just let myself write for clients, I grasped the value it brought to their business table and how good I am at it.
Clients were drowning in their work and overwhelmed with so many balls to juggle. To be able to find a teammate who could crank out posts, descriptions, replies, emails, scripts and shownotes in their voice and keep the project going was priceless. Now with AI-written content we take that first draft and we’re able to put our messaging stamp on it and put it to use for our business.
The third impactful skill is sales. For years, I had a negative connotation of sales that stemmed from my days of selling Girl Scout Cookies and Mary Kay. But when we break down what selling means, it’s easy to align with a product I feel passionate and confident about my marketing services. My students are just as intimidated, so we become better by practicing and realizing that sales is really about listening and reflecting back on what our prospect needs. It doesn’t have to be manipulative or feel gross. Then tell yourself you are good at it and you do enjoy it so you reframe it into a positive experience you actually look forward to!
My advice for anyone starting is to invest in learning messaging and copywriting. It could be a book, a course or coaching program, because when it comes down to it copywriting is just sales in written word. It will pay off.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
Right now my business is in that messy growth stage of business. The cliche is “What go you here, won’t get you there.” I’m struggling with creating roles, hiring and placing the right people, and getting everyone to work together in an efficient manner. We’re developing stronger workflows and systems and processes because in the start-up phases we operated on a shoestring budget with a lean team.
It makes me feel vulnerable talking about it because it doesn’t come easy being the leader/CEO. Operations and doesn’t come easy to me either but I keep telling myself I can learn it and I’m truly capable of seeing the holes and finding solutions. I’ve reached that level where it’s time to hire and work with specialists who are smarter than me. and it’s a really good feeling to be supported by a team who cares about my business and its future and is doing their best.
That’s why it’s so important to get help and lean into our zone of geniuses as a business owner.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://emilyreaganpr.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyreaganpr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilyreaganpr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyreagan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilyreaganpr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emilyreaganpr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@emilyreaganpr
