Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sommer Poquette. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sommer, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
Growing up, we only had a little money. I watched my parents and grandparents work hard to provide for us. They never made excuses, called in sick, or arrived late to work. They took pride in earning an honest wage so we could have a warm home, healthy food, and clothing. At a young age, I was taught that if I wanted something, I had to work too.
My earliest memory was at Christmas time. I was maybe seven and wanted a Barbie Dream House. I remember going to the mall to see Santa and giving him my list with the only thing on it, the Dream House. I wrote letters to Santa and told everyone I knew about my Christmas wish. Unfortunately, Santa didn’t bring me that Dream House. So I had to work for it. I collected pop cans, did chores for my family, and saved for almost a year. I worked hard and bought my own Barbie Dream House.
Dreams are great to have but to make them come true; you have to work hard for them.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Keep it Real Social is an award-winning five-star boutique marketing agency offering integrative marketing services for small businesses. As the C.E.O. and Founder of the company, it’s my job to manage the overall operations and set the company’s strategic direction. Like most small business owners, I’m more than just the C.E.O. I’m also wearing the marketing and financial officer hats and managing client accounts.
I feel very proud of the company culture and what a fun place Keep it Real Social is to work. As a team, we often have lunches together, take trips for ice cream to visit a client, and make the work we do as a team enjoyable. I like hearing from the group that they enjoy coming to work, are challenged, and feel appreciated.
We take great pride in becoming an extension of our client’s team. We invest in learning about their business goals and history and genuinely knowing what they do and how we can best market their services and products. This makes us unique. Our clients aren’t just a number to us or an account; their business success is ours.
As we grow, we continue to expand our services and offerings. It’s exciting that we can now offer our clients photography and licensed drone videos in-house. And we continue to expand our local SEO services. We partner with outstanding community partners to deliver branding and web development. Our clients know they can come to us, and we’ll make sure that what they need gets done through us or a trusted partner with our management and expertise.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My background is in education, and I take a lot of these skills from my educational experience, but also, they’re part of who I’ve always been and what I’ve learned from my role models. My advice for starting is to find a role model and trusted mentee with these skills.
Honesty. For people to trust me with marketing their business, honesty and integrity is critical. I couldn’t have grown the business to what it is today without honesty and expecting it from my team.
Leadership. To grow an agency, being a leader is essential. I must listen, develop team members, show appreciation, enlist support, and equip my team to do their job.
Communication. Marketing is communication and storytelling. It’s at the heart of what we do.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz played a massive role in the development of my company and changed how I thought of myself as a business owner. It’s easy for small business owners to put everything they have into a business but not pay themselves. When I left my full-time job to start my agency, my husband supported me but said, you have to make a paycheck; it can’t just be a hobby. Profit First made that reality for me and taught me to think differently and prioritize paying myself. Otherwise, why am I working if I can’t make money?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://keepitrealsocial.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keepitrealsocial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keepitrealsocial/
- Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sommerpoquette
