We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jess Belfry a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jess, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
Risk 15 years ago vs risk now has changed quite a bit for me. Early along my entrepreneurial journey, I was having to take risks out of necessity. I didn’t have a lot of experience to know if a risk would have any reward. Some of the risks most certainly didn’t work out, ha! I learned to use every moment as a teachable lesson and I surrounded myself with a group of mentors and advisors that were far more experienced and successful than I was. I still hold these relationships as my most valuable friendships in business and in life. And now I welcome risk. If I ever feel stagnant, I know it’s time to push the envelope and take a bigger risk.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
2023 has been a whirlwind! I began experiencing major life changes in mid-2022, both personally and professionally. I have the luxury of owning a business that is very automated and requires only a few hours of dedicated time each week. For the past 6-7 years, I normally spent the better half of a month serving my community in a volunteer capacity. In late 2022, I filed for divorce from my 18 year marriage and knew I needed to focus on myself and my family during the time of transition. I also knew that I needed to keep some type of challenge in my life to keep me focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. As such, I launched 2 new brands: Hustle & Haven and Rooted In Savannah. Hustle & Haven just gave me a creative outlet for the work I was already doing with my rental properties. By putting a name to it, it gave me purpose to elevate the rental experience for my tenants. I had never thought of the rental properties as a ‘business’, just simply as a long term investment strategy. I held some resentment towards them anytime an issue came up. However, when I gave it a name, a logo and my personal stamp of excellence on it, it shifted my thinking. Now each property has it’s own P&L and I am able to market to the type of client that I enjoy working with….simply because of a mind shift in perception.
Rooted In Savannah was born out of a connection I made with a woman who has always been on my ‘sounding board’ team. We volunteered together for a few years and every time we hung out I was more and more impressed with the depth of her experience and knowledge. She is a calculated risk taker like me. We both were frustrated with the mentoring options for small business owners and startups in our area, so we co-founded a consulting company that is focused on building a strong foundation for business’ future growth. We both agreed that our own personal successes in business came from having multiple people in our back pocket, so we started Rooted In Savannah as a team approach to mentoring. Our clients work with a ‘lead’ mentor, but have a diverse team of fellow business owners that are there to serve as an expert in specific challenges of a comprehensive business plan.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
In looking back at my journey, I think the biggest highlights or achievements came as a result of my approach to dealing with confrontation. Too often, we shy away from confrontation or become passive aggressive (often without even noticing it). Of course confrontation is uncomfortable and can be risky! But too often not having the courage to voice your opinion about something that no longer serves you or doesn’t fit within your moral compass limits your future self. If you are early in your journey and you are faced with confrontation, I would challenge you to ask yourself these questions: “In what way is this conflict affecting me and my future goals?”
“What is my goal in facing this conflict and will the goal positively shape me and my future?”
” Am I approaching this conflict with a neutral heart?”
So many times when we do join in confrontation, it’s lead with ego and pride. In order to really understand if the conflict is worth confronting, you have to let go of ego and pride and gain a better understanding of all interested parties points of view. What you’ll find is that some (many!) fights are not worth fighting. However, when you are faced with inevitable conflict and you have the opportunity to talk it out, always join the conversation in a respectful manner. While you can’t expect the other party to share your level of calmness, you will walk away from that confrontation feeling good about yourself, keeping intact your confidence and dignity.
How would you describe your ideal client?
I teach monthly classes through a partnership with the City of Savannah on creating an ‘avatar’. It’s like nails on a chalkboard when I hear someone say that ‘everyone’ is their client. I am so passionate about small business owners or marketing professionals truly understanding who their ideal client is. When I opened my second business, which was a brick and mortar, I didn’t immediately fully understand who my ideal client was and it lead to prolonged mixed messaging through my marketing campaigns, which lead to less than ideal results and a group of clients that I didn’t love working with. It resulted in burnout, mediocre reviews and wasted money on marketing. Once I identified my ideal client, I changed my website, social media, business profile, and especially pricing.
Each of my businesses (past, present & future) are in very different industries, evenso, my ideal client remains the same. My ideal client is family and community focused with a kind-hearted approach to diversity and inclusion. My client is an animal lover who loves traveling and being in nature. My client is not afraid to take calculated risks and can find humor in a ‘risk gone wrong’. My client loves to feel appreciated for performing an everyday task and will put in extra effort/hours if it means he/she gets to enjoy uninterrupted time with their family and friends.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebelfrybiscuit/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.belfry
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicabelfry/
Image Credits
Kayley Johansson (photo w/ the house) Artist is Ann Craven (photo with canvas of Aquarius of her 12 moons installation)
