Meet Jennifer Gardella

We recently connected with Jennifer Gardella and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I found my purpose after escaping domestic violence.
When I escaped, my business and life were both on life-support. I committed to rebuilding so that this never would happen to me again – this included a LONG healing journey through my local domestic violence center.
Through that time I realized that no one knows what DV looks or sounds like. I shared some info on social – that turned into a book – and now I am educating others by public speaking (most recently at the Philadelphia Eagles).
I truly believe that when my abuser and I were getting together the powers that be said “she will survive, she will heal, and she has such a big mouth and so much courage she will save all the people.”

And as strange as this sounds – this purpose also ties directly into my business – The Gardella Group where we do blogging, social media, and newsletter writing for small business owners. I believe that ALL small business owners deserve access to excellent digital marketing support at a pricepoint they can afford. Just like domestic violence, I am here to help others.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I wake up every day so excited to get to work and help others.
Domestic Violence Speaking: I am the survivor of vicious domestic violence at the hands of a sadistic abuser. And I want everyone to know what I did not – that domestic violence is everywhere – it impacts 85% of us every single day. And shockingly, only 50% of it is physical. 95% of victims report emotional and psychological abuse – and so we need to know what to listen for when our victims and survivors tell us stories and then we all must be empowered with the right words and the right resources. This isn’t just a battered woman issue – domestic violence impacts 25% of men, 33% of women, and 50% of the LGBTQ community. www.jennifergardella.com
Through my trainings I teach what to listen for (because victims are sharing their stories of abuse) and then how to talk to a victim of domestic violence. It is going to take them 7 times before they can leave and they need your support. “He’s such a jerk you should leave him” is just adding more shame.

Digital Marketing Consulting with The Gardella Group (www.TheGardellaGroup.com)
So I started my business with a skill set of SEO and social media. I help small business owners (and marketing companies AND big businesses) bake in the right wording to their website and digital presence (social media posts, google profile posts and newsletters) to grab the attention of their ideal clients, increase their SEO, build their social media presence, and communicate effectively with ideal clients. I have done for you, done with you and then do it yourself programs.
This year I am relaunching Your Social Media Hour – the very first business I started. This program gives the small business everything they need including a full blogging course, social media course, weekly checklist, weekly office hours with me AND updates when their are feature changes. So it includes the education but the support.
My passion, integrity and expertise in the digital marketing space are unmatched.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Jersey Grit – call it chuzpa – and unending belief in myself that I am on the right path and headed in the right direction.
2. Knowledge that if you dream it, it is already coming true for you. This is really a woohoo topic but I believe that if you have a dream it means it is possible.
3. Build accomplishments – my PhD, Tedx, helping my daughters through the death of their father, escaping domestic violence – when I am down I have this list that I turn to and say “well, I did that, I can achieve/overcome this.”

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

And ideal client for Domestic Violence speaking is a HR executive charged with finding exceptional speaker to help solve the biggest silent issue a company faces. For my digital marketing work – any small business owner who is stuck with SEO and social media.

A few other questions I can answer from your drop down:
1. Who is the star of my story? Me – yep – I’m the star of my story. We as women do not give ourselves credit for our work. We always seem to have to show that we had help. Yes, I have had help along the way – but I asked for it – and NOTHING was just given to me out of the blue. Yes I won the WBENC scholarship – but I applied. Yes, I had a bevy of support escaping domestic violence, but I left. Yes I made it to the WBENC national pitch finals with 10 little areas of support – but I am the one who did it. Yes I did a Tedx, but it was a story that I was willing to share. Yes I was hired to speak at the Eagles, but I was the thread through the 100 steps.
And while I wouldn’t want to try to do all those things on my own, and the support was helpful – I still would have done them.
2. Who do I want to collaborate with? I learned from getting the contract with the Eagles that companies who get big contracts often make it seem like they get the contract because they are the best. While usually they are exceptional at what they do there are usually 100 little steps it took to get them there. They were prepared for luck – and then acted on it. So I am creating a network of other small business owners who want into this idea of preparing for luck – connecting – sharing actual experiences.

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