You're listening to cubicle to CEO episode 201 stuck at six figures. Today's case study examines the key strategy differences between a six and seven figure business through the lens of Pauleanna Reid the founder of writer's block, a full service celebrity ghost writing agency working with high profile leaders to turn their personal stories into powerful brand assets. Sharing her personal roadmap from six to seven figure agency owner. Pauleanna highlights crucial improvements she'd made in the areas of Team client project and brand management to scale her company. Pauleanna doesn't hold back and revealing exactly what it means to provide white glove service to your client, how she prevents burnout for herself and her team while operating in a high demand industry. What it looks like to have a long term perspective on relationships, and the secret to being persistent with prospects without being annoying. What's the missing piece that can help your business move beyond your current revenue level? Press play to find out.
Welcome to cubicle to CEO the podcast. I'm your host Ellen Yin. I quit my job without a backup plan and bootstrapped my first $300 freelance project into $2 million in revenue by age 28. On the show, you'll hear weekly case study interviews with leading entrepreneurs and CEOs who share one specific strategy that successfully grew their business revenue. Skip the expensive and time consuming learning curve of testing everything yourself by borrowing what actually works from the best and brightest mentors. You'll also get a front row seat to my founders journey through transparent income reports and behind the business solo episodes. Subscribe now so we can grow together every Monday.
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Alright friends, we have a special guest with us today Pauleanna read as joining us. Pauleanna is a listener of the podcast which we've had quite a few listeners on our show this year. And I love being able to feature you all because you're, you represent what this show is all about. So welcome, Pauleanna.
Very nice to meet you excited to be here.
Amazing. So Pauleanna, you are a celebrity ghostwriter. You have an agency Writer's Blok, which I think is such a fun moniker. It's spelled BLOK, by the way, for those of you listening, so it's a fun play on words, we'll get into a little bit more of the context around your business before we jump into today's case study about how you scaled your agency from six figures to seven figures. But before we do that, as you already know, I have to ask you, what is your cubicle, the CEO story.
My cubicle to CEO story starts as a girl who struggled in school. So oftentimes, you know, I think we get stuck in this gray area when we're in college and university. And I had no idea what my path would look like. I always knew I wanted to be in communications, I wanted to be a writer of some sort. But we're talking 2007 2008, where blogging was just emerging during that time. So I listened to mommy and daddy, I listened to the adults in my world. And instead of following the path that I wanted, I actually ended up taking an office administration course dropped out of school my second year, because I hated it so much, but ended up in the corporate world as an executive assistant, to presidents and CEOs for 10 years. So 2009 until 2019, and I worked my ass off. I'm a firm believer in the fact that your attitude really matters, no matter how much you hate the circumstance. And I leverage that opportunity to really learn the business, I asked questions, I asked my bosses to help me read the sales reports, I wanted to know what all the acronyms meant I scheduled 20 minute coffee dates with all the heads of the departments over the years, I had mentors. So like I really squeezed the juice out of the opportunity.
And I've always been a side Hustler, I think that the government doesn't really have a safety net for many of us coming up. And so I just knew, I knew that the number that they presented me on the offer letter was what the company could afford, but it was never going to amount to my true value. And so with that being said, I nearly tripled my income from my side hustle. And there are two things that are really, really important to me when I decided to quit number one, that I paid down as much debt as possible. So I paid down just over $50,000 in debt before I left. And number two that I had a proven track record of sales. So I can look back one year. And there it was, like on paper in black and white proof that I could solid proof that my numbers were strong. And that gave me the confidence to leave. I think some people, you know, you, you do this double dutch in your head, right? You want to leave but then you're scared. But my father is, you know, he's a he was lieutenant in the military. And he believes in structure and routine. And so I had a plan and the plan was what really helps me clear my fears.
Wow, I am so impressed by you. Most of all, in how much you made, like you said the most of that opportunity as an executive assistant. I think that there really is almost no better role within a company than being the right hand person for someone in a leadership position like that. Because you are privy to so many conversations and rooms that you would never have access to in almost any other role and to be able to ask those additional questions to learn so many skill sets beyond you know, what your role was responsible for? Just the fact that you took the time to understand what you were delivering, like those sales sheets and not just saying, Okay, let me hand off this paper because it's not my job to know. I think that's massively impressive. It is obviously no accident that you are such a successful entrepreneur as a result of that. Give the listeners a little bit of just like an understanding of what you do at Writer's Blok so that it helps them kind of envision as we're going through today's case, study your journey from six to seven figures in the agency world. Who are your primary clients for writer's block, and what is the primary service that you're providing there? Absolutely. So
At Writer's Blok, I am the founder and chief storytelling officer, widely known as a celebrity ghostwriter. I lead an all women team and all women of color team and I'm really proud of that, and that was very intentional. What makes us set apart from the rest of our competitors, which is typically white male dominated agencies, is our cultural competency. Clients just don't hire us to put pen to paper they have is to be structural thinkers to decode their ideas to help them read the room to help them navigate cultural, societal generational sensitivities. We are though human diaries. And so it's far beyond just putting pen to paper clients hire us because they trust us to build their legacies. And so our main services, our books, and keynote speeches, but the lifecycle of our client relationships spans many years, because once we do one project for a client, they want us to do all projects. So anything they say anything they write, it could be scripts for video, it could be captions, it could be presentation decks to investors, I once got asked to pen a thoughtful Thank you text to Oprah, on behalf of a client.
And so I think clients really understand the importance of communications, and how it can either ignite wars, or bring peace to a situation. You know, someone once told me that before you can change business and policy, you have to change hearts and minds. And so now we're seeing with the WGA strike, how important and critical writers are in our ecosystem. We you and I are both we're chillin, and we're sitting on chairs, but these chairs will not exist without a blueprint. The songs that we sing in the shower, there was a writer who wrote that right. And so I love being behind the scenes, I think most people underestimate the power of being behind the scenes. And when canceled culture erupted. Years ago, I used to ask myself, well, who the hell is advising these people? And I wanted to sit at the table and being a celebrity ghostwriter. Being a communications aide and advisor gives me and my team a seat at the table.
That's really interesting this point that I guess I didn't I mean, it's true, but I didn't really, I think, feel this way until you just said what you said writers are artists. They're not often seen as artists, but they are in their cultural influence, like you mentioned and how so much of what we consume, both in forms of media, entertainment and education are directly built on the work of writers. So I absolutely see the value that the work that you do brings to society at large. I am curious, I'm sure most of our listeners are as well, I don't know if you're allowed to say because with writing contracts, you can't, but if you for the coins that you are able to disclose what has been either your favorite project that you've worked on, or who has been your favorite client that you've had the honor of working with.
So on a macro level, we work with celebrities, star athletes, politicians, founders and executives. At a micro level, it's very hard for me to broadcast names, because ultimately, people hire ghost writers, because we're a ghost. We're a secret hidden content ninja. But if I were to say the most meaningful project that we've ever worked on today, we wrote a speech for someone who spoke at George Floyd's funeral. Wow. And so oftentimes, we are called when there is high stakes, high crisis, highly sensitive content needs to be written. Other projects that we love is when we get to like, so graduation season just wrapped up. So we did several commencement speeches. And so imagine we're working with influential figures who are speaking life into the next generation of leaders, we're ultimately in a position to shift the way they see themselves in the world. Right.
So when we're at those crossroads, and I think about the work and the impact that we make, you know, it's it's to me, it just it moves me in ways that I can't even articulate simply because I just don't think people really understand the power of words and how we can change the trajectory of someone's life. Ultimately, clients hire us to help them stay connected to their audiences communicate to their audiences at scale, stay relevant, and put them in a position where they can turn conversations into leads. When I sit down with a client, the first thing I assess is their proximity to a topic. And then I assess what do you want to stand for? What are your morals, your values, your belief system? What do you want to fight for? What conversations do you want to contribute to? I have to say that when I hear the word influencer, it has many different meanings. But I truly feel that if you are in a position of power and influence you need to do and say something with it or get the hell out of the way. For those of us that do.
I really like your strong viewpoints on things. I think that's what makes you an appealing choice for the people who work with you. Right? They also have strong viewpoints. And so I'm actually gonna hit you with an early hot take before we jump into the more methodical roadmap that you took getting your agency to seven figures, and that is you. I mean, I agree with you wholeheartedly that proximity is powerful and getting yourself in the right rooms where opportunities are being created is key. You even showcase that a little bit in your cubicle life, right and so I'd love for you to share with our listeners your story of how you landed your first five figure contract as a, as kind of a reflection of that belief.
That's such an exciting story. Okay. So when I was in the corporate world, I think it's really important as the lesson to the listeners, when you know that your end result is not the corporate arena, you should be very strategic with what job you enter. So there were a few things that were important to me. And one of those things was unlimited PTO, because I could leverage that time off for business trips, I never took a vacation in the 10 years, I was in corporate Canada. And so I would leverage these business trips, and I would go, and I knew that in order for me to excel, I'd have to build pockets of networks in all the major cities. So New York, LA, DC, Atlanta. Now I'm Canadian, I think it's really important for everyone to know I'm born and raised in Toronto, Canada, but I spend half the year in the States. Now Toronto, you know, talking about proximity, I believe it's a opportunity desert, right, you hit your ceiling very early in your career, you hit your ceiling in your network, and how much you can make, we don't have celebrity culture, if you look at anyone from the weekend, to Drake to Shanaya, to Bieber, you know, a lot of people ended up going to the States.
And so when I would go to the States, I would build my relationships online. And I think it's very important for everyone to understand how important it is to transfer those relationships offline. I didn't have a lot of money, right? And so I know some people look at opportunities or a conference or a course and say, How am I like they're in a an abundance deficit, right? How am I going to get the money, I would literally take, I would skip paying my phone bill. So I could pay for a flight or a train ticket. And I would just go and I would book coffee dates from morning to night, 9am to 9pm. There are many times where I would sleep literally on the airport floor. Because I couldn't afford a hotel, or I buy my on a friend's couch like I just I just knew that this was going to be a short term sacrifice for a long term game. One of those days while I was in New York, and I love New York, because of the energy and how electric it is, you can literally bump into any one anytime that can change your life. I was sitting in the lobby with a friend of mine, and a gentleman walks in. And you know, New York is very, I mean that before even saying hello, it's more so what do you do? And like, why are you in my face? You know, it's very straight to the point.
And he asked me what I did. And immediately my mind started registering, okay, which elevator pitch is most relevant for the room, I'm in who I'm speaking to, and my intended outcome. And so I gave him my elevator pitch. And so the one that I centered on was around my ghostwriting agency. And he was like, Oh, that's really interesting. I could use someone like you on my team. And literally right then and there, I would say within the next 10 days, we close a $20,000 contract for a project that he needed help with.
Wow, that is incredible. I applaud you again for... I don't even think hustle is the right word that but just the resourcefulness and the foresight, I think I think that's what I'm really gathering from, from what you're sharing is you're able to think so much further ahead than the present moment you're in, right. It's like, okay, I understand that I'm sacrificing a lot to make these trips back and forth to the states. But I understand that it's going to be worth it, like you said down the line. And obviously there are the times when you get that more immediate payoff, like your first five figure contract. But I think that is such a key lesson that I think takes some entrepreneurs a long time to learn, which is, you know, you often can look at successful people and think, Oh, they're lucky because they were in the right place at the right time. But not very many people really reverse engineer the the situation around but how were they in the right place at the right time? How do they place themselves right to those spaces and opportunities. And so I love that story.
It's a perfect entryway into your roadmap now and I just for the listeners to understand, we're going to be really looking at how Pauleanna, like what key decisions or changes she made in the way she, you know, led and operated her agency that allowed it to go from that multiple six figure range to that seven figures in annual revenue range. And I think this is this is a key hurdle that many entrepreneurs never cross because there is such a change, I think and approach many people can, can hustle or work their way to multiple six figures. But without strategy, it's very difficult to move beyond that mark to a million dollars or more in annual revenue. So Pauleanna was amazing and broke this down into four key arenas, I should say, team management, project management, client management and brand management. So we're gonna go through each of these. Let's start with that team management piece. What do you feel like really changed and how you hired and develop your team members. That was different in your six figure agency world versus your now seven figure eight
See, the first thing I did was that I removed myself from the process from the hiring process. I think when you are within the six figure arena, you want to have want to be besties with every employee, and you know, you think of it like a family. And when I made the transition, I actually got my teammates, my team members to start interviewing, because if y'all don't like this new person, it's not going to work anyways. So I removed myself from the process, because sometimes CEOs can hire off fives. And that's not the right way to do things. Right. And so, for me, it was more so not even the resume was truly important it was could they fit into our company culture, technical skills, I can always train you on. But I want to know, if you got that fight in you, if you align with our company mission. If you're married to the mission, I want to know if you're a people person, and can you work in teams like what's your personality traits, soft skills, right? Those are really important to me.
So I was last of three interviews in that process. In terms of team I look for diversity, right? So when I say diversity, I mean diversity and thoughts, diversity and geography, diversity and background and experience diversity. And let me give you an example of how this helped. So Ramadan, for instance, right, I had a CEO clients, white male individual leads a $500 million company, he wanted to send a company wide email, so spanning multiple countries, acknowledging Ramadan, and there are many other holidays and notes that he wanted to send. Now, he obviously doesn't have the cultural competency, but on my team, I have someone who is Muslim, someone who practices someone who knows the language to use. And so for me, when I look for someone new on my team, I look for like, what blind spot can you remove from our vision.
And that's really important to me. So you can have all the skills and be a phenomenal writer, but I have to like I have to cover a lot of ground so that if anyone comes to us, we're able to tackle the topic confidently. So there are people who may come to us write their books, and they may have a specific request, I want to write with one of your writers who's a mother who understands single motherhood we have you do I mean, so like, I think about all of that we sometimes we write about abuse we talk about we talk about miscarriage, we talk, there's so many sensitive topics that we cover, because we're storytelling. And it's important that I have women who have been through some shit, who have battle scars, and who have risen above it. And so it helps us because in writing, whenever you take the audience down, you want to bring them back up. And so I look for those qualities and my team members.
It's really, I think, so intentional how your team is a reflection of your clients. That's so I mean, that may be true for other CEOs that I've interviewed, but I think you're the first to really place such an emphasis on it. And that makes sense, because of the topics like you said, that you're writing about. Having first hand experience, having that competency, like you mentioned, is going to always feel and come across differently than someone who simply did research on a subject and
Right, exactly, Oh, I love it. The other thing I think is really important is how I frame my one on ones. So there's a few things here. So number one, the one on ones oftentimes, when you are part of a corporation, you only know 10% of what the CEO sees. So I've decided to be way more transparent than most people with what my vision for the future is. So that they feel very much included on the direction we're taking. The other thing I saw, so I won't credit myself. I'll credit billions love that show billions in succession. So when I was watching billions, Axl, who's the head of his company, he had a therapist slash psychologist and a performance coach all in one. I thought it was really interesting. I was like, huh, like her job was really to make sure that the team had clarity, and that they worked through any mind blocks so that they could make the most appropriate trades. And so I thought about that, and I thought about how we as a company touched so much sensitive subject matter. And I thought about the fact that my team members may not have the means or the accessibility to a therapist to come down from that high. And so I hired my own Wendy rose, who's the character on billions. And so we do group therapy sessions.
I don't sit in the sessions, because I don't want anyone to edit how they feel. And they also have access to her to book one on ones when they need to, and that's all in the company. And that those are two things so changing my one on ones and bringing in a therapist and in house therapist, to help them with anxiety, self doubt, lack of confidence. Sometimes you just need someone to vent to they're frustrated. Maybe they hate me for the day, whatever they need, like she's there to listen and to support.
That is amazing. I actually speaking of what I was I'd like to get a little deeper into that. Shy I've only had very limited experience in one on ones on the employee side, right? Like back in my one and only corporate job, I would have these weekly one on ones with my with my boss and I remember them feeling very disorganized, often times, not a useful, you know, use of my time. And I think that's that experience is quite universal for a lot of people, you know, one on ones oftentimes are led by the actual employee sitting in the seat kind of just like a hodgepodge of here's the random things that are going on in questions I have. I think this is an area that I could improve in as leader myself. So I would love to know, how do you structure your one on ones? What do those look like, those conversations?
Sure, so I have one on ones with the team to accomplish two things. Number one, when you get on boarded, you get the onboarding package and the handbook and the mission. And oftentimes a company just articulates it one time. And the employees kind of just like, supposed to remember it and be like married to it and excited. Over time that fizzles out over time as you may lose sight of what the company vision is. So the one on ones are really to revisit. Every time we meet, I go over why we're here the importance why our company exists where we're headed. The other thing is, I do more listening than I do speaking. So in our last one on one session at one got a q&a to fill out. And because I want to know the honest thoughts in your head, like how do you feel in your position? Are you still fired up? Where and how can I support you in your career? How does your time at our company fit into the bigger vision for your life?
I have some people who have committed to being lifers, nice some people who've made it very clear that, you know, they may move on to work on their personal projects. And so I I want to know, so how can I position you to win in that transition? You know, is there anything? Oh, this is one of my favorite questions. Do you have any talents or skills that we can make better use of? I'll give you an example. I had an executive assistant a few years ago, she was seated on an email, I hired someone to do a PowerPoint presentation. And I hated I mean, my assistant knew like she just knew that it wasn't up to my standard. The next morning when I woke up, my assistant redid the presentation, and she'd been working with me for a few years. At that point, I had no effing clue that she was a designer, like how is that even like, Girl what it's like? And oftentimes, like, because it doesn't fit your job description, you may not raise your hands. And so I love asking that question. Because then you figure out people are passionate about marketing, or they're passionate about I don't know, like, maybe a writer wants to work on a different type of project that they've been working on maybe film and TV. So that's a really great question that I ask often.
That is such a powerful question. I hope you all jotted that down. I know, I also am now thinking okay, how can I ask that, you know, to my team. So I'm excited to ask that after our conversation today. How often do you have these one on ones with your team members?
So I talk to my team very, very often individually, like I don't necessarily wait for a scheduled one on one to ask about their day to find out, you know how their heart posture is to find out what's going on in their life in their family. I would say we have quarterly one on ones like that are absolutely structured that are reported that I deep dive into after I take notes. And that informs how we move forward as a company. But I talked to everyone honestly, like if not every day, most definitely every week, on a personal note.
That's awesome. How do you balance that with? I'm just pulling from something you said earlier that one of the key changes you believe allows your company to move to the seven figure scale was removing yourself from the hiring process. Right. So until like the tail end, I should say of the hiring process. Yeah, you are part of that interview? How do you balance that with also being so in touch with different team members? I asked this because you know, I'm not sure the size of your team currently. So maybe
That would be about 20 people.
Okay, awesome. So it I mean, that's a large team, but it's not, you know, 200 people large, right, so I can see how you can still have one on one relationships with each of your team members. How do you balance being in close proximity or accessible to all of your team members, while still keeping yourself in a place where you are not the bottleneck for you know, all of all of the conversations and things that are happening?
That's a really great question. So I'm still in a size where it is manageable. I have been an employee at companies where the CEO was like this like Wicked Witch of the West and like you never like you almost like never heard never saw them. And then when they did show up on the office, people were on their best behavior and it was very inauthentic. Yeah, I want my team to know that they can come to me at any given time, like an open door policy is like very important to me. Now I have a co pilot by I've had business partners in the past. I've had three in 10 years that did not work out. It was like having a bitter divorce. So I realize that I don't need a co founder per se, having a co pilot, CEO and Chief of Staff, someone who encompasses those skill set, and I have a phenomenal, phenomenal person that role. She also acts as a buffer between us. So sometimes they may feel more comfortable going to her first. And then collectively they decide if they want to settle the issue or bring it to me.
But in terms of a quick question, in terms of, you know, clarity, like, I'm okay with being a point person, but we have a very collaborative process for each project. So there's always a kickoff call, we have a WhatsApp group for each project, I use WhatsApp over Slack, I just am not a fan of Slack. And so like I the one model, we had we over communicate, like that's such a non negotiable, we're communicators working communications, we need to have effective communication between all of us. So we actually I it's, it's something that we're constantly working on, but it's very manageable because of the size of my team. And I have a co pilot that helps with the load as well. So that's very important, because a lot of CEOs are solo dolo at the top, it's the CEO, and then everyone reports to them, right. So I have there is a buffer, and I think that's important.
Yeah, I can see how that could be really helpful, especially at your team size. Let's talk about project management about your second pillar, if you will, of what allowed you to really make that scale to seven figures. Yeah. So project management that encompasses obviously, campaigns and projects that you're working on, but also the overall company systems, workflows, things like that. What do you feel was the biggest change in how you tackled this area of your business versus how you were as a six figure agency owner?
So really great question, because every project is like, if you don't get a handle on it, it can be very chaotic, deadlines can be missed. And all of that has happened. So we have a dedicated research team at the company. They're also called quality assurance, quality control, I would say yeah, okay, they do double as a project manager, but their main function is to make sure that the language spoken between the clients and between our team is on one accord. And to make sure that everything all the wrinkles are ironed out. So by the time it gets to me as a final eyes on the project, it's damn near perfect. But even though we have a collaborative process, having one person who is the anchor to the project has been really important. Having your team respect that individual as the anchor, and the leader is very important.
Removing myself from, and I'm still working on this removing myself from the nitty gritty and like trusting my team to execute. Like I one thing I will say is my team. When it comes to projects, like we don't work on a nine to five schedule, I'm available to my clients 24/7 And my team, there are many, many nights where we pull all nighters, right, we have a no woman left behind policy. So it's never like one person. In the middle of the night working. There's always a team member or team members alongside her on Zoom, or we are writing the speech for the funeral I mentioned earlier, there were seven of us on zoom up until 5am. Right. And so I think that oftentimes, like projects fall apart, when there's really no collaborative or team effort where everyone has each other's back urine is mean like, so in terms of functionality, though, I mean, we have SOPs, we try our best to stick to them. But obviously, there's one off cases where we have to pivot. But everyone knows understand my job as CEO is to make sure everyone is empowered to do their job. They fully know and understand their strengths and their function and everyone stays within their lane, there's really no overlap, so you don't get a lot of conflict.
I have a follow up question about the anchor piece. That was something you implemented that you feel changed your ability to scale? How do you choose your anchor? Is it a different person for each project? Is it always the research project manager person? And if it is rotating? Again, how do you select to the who the right anchor is for a particular project, especially if their primary role isn't to be a project manager?
Absolutely. So I marry the right so when i Okay, so when a client comes in and they articulate their need, I then look at the background and the skill set of the of the team. So the QC team, the quality control team, as well as the writer, the transcriber, the graphic designer, whoever we is needed. And so in our SOP, it's very clear that the QC team they're like they are the eyes and ears, the nose and the mouth like they are they are the person who is to lead the project, because they have to both not only know and understand and research the clients and know them like the back of their hand, but they also have to make sure that the writer is very aware of all the key pieces too so they can execute the job. So it's more so background. It's it's also level of experience. It's also availability. And I would say I tried to pair a QC with a writer and They work consistently together long term. So that also helps as well.
So like, because oftentimes, when you are on a project at a large corporation for different projects, you may have different members and you're, you're not able to function smoothly. So at our company, like you pretty much work with the same people quite often, unless there may be a one off case, but you have a partner, it's almost like I watch a lot of, like, law and order and Criminal Minds, Like, you know, it's like when you have two cops like they're they're row dogs, like they're fighting crime together, they this is my partner, I've been with this partner 10 years. And so we have that dynamic within the company as well.
Yes, oh, well, can't get more iconic than Benson and Stabler right? Is to partners in crime, but so true. And that makes sense because you learn the nuances of a specific person, how they communicate how they think. And I love that pairing that quality control and the writer, the the doer and the the thinker of the structural process. So I think that's really applicable to many businesses, even those of you who don't run an agency if you're listening to this, but thinking about how can you prepare your core team members and in ways that allow them to grow over time through multiple different projects. I really love that. I also want to reflect back on a point you made just a moment ago about the no woman left behind policy, I love that you all you know when there is that time sensitivity or time crunch for a project that you you all are like you said you were all on the Zoom call together till five in the morning, it reminds me of, of my college days, and you know, right before midterms or finals, and we're all in the library, and all nighter like it feels so much better when you have your friends with you. Right. So yeah, I understand. And so appreciate that.
On the flip side, I'd love to get your hot take on this, you know, the agency world in general, not not just in your particular sector, but very chaotic. Yeah, it is very chaotic. There's high churn high burnout rates, because it is so you know, around the clock it is so client first demands. Obviously, you as a leader have made a choice for you to be available to your your client 24/7. Not all businesses can or want to operate that way. But for yourself, building a business with that approach. How do you make sure that your team members or yourself don't get burnt out? Trying to be, you know, always on for your clients?
Yeah, I love this question. Because I do have friends and colleagues or CEOs and like, you know, I'll email them and get a bounce back. Oh, you know, the automatic of will return the email within 24 to 48 hours, like, Honey, I'm where the bag is at, like, my clients can text me, call me 2am. I don't care like, but I'm okay with that. Right. As far as my team. I'm definitely good for a text at 2am. Like I tell my team, listen, sometimes I have an idea in my head, and I just need to get it out. I don't expect you to return the response. That's number one. Number two, that's also why I brought the therapists on the team because I know this world can be very stressful. Number three, there's no cap when it comes to like the vacation time or when they need to take it like I mean, if we're in the middle of a project, I think that's obvious. But I always tell them if you need to take time off mental health day, take a whole week, throw it in my calendar, as long as you again, it's everything is interconnected. As long as you touch base with the members of your team and everything is covered. I have no issue and they will tell you I have no issue.
I have one of my team members, you know, leaving for a month because she has to travel prepare for some other personal things. That's cool. Just make sure all bases are covered. And so that's the beauty of having each other's back is that if someone leaves we have coverage all around so I and that's also why I need to have diversity in my team because we can cover bases when necessary. But yeah, I always tell people realist elicit celebrity ghostwriting sounds really fun and interesting. And but it's still an agency model and it's still can be very demanding.
I can't tell you how many times I've received phone calls urgently, because someone needs a public statement written within the next hour or working on crisis comms for a corporation and you don't and it's like, I'm I know, I'm not going to sleep for the next three days. Right. And so there's just a general understanding of what we've gotten ourselves into and we're all trying to navigate it the best way we can. If agency life is not for you, then I you know you are free to go. But this train is pushing forward. You know, so I know sensitively. You know, I know everyone rejects, hustle culture, but baby I'm still a hustler at heart, like I grew up in a family that did not celebrate participant ribbons, you are one or you are none.
So for me, I just look at things a lot differently. I love to work. I'm obsessed with my work. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing. Been working, and I take care of myself to my friends will always preach to me, you take better care of yourself, I work out four times a week. Every afternoon, I'm in the bed, I'm taking a nap right after this interview, like I, like I make the time and space I couldn't I, you know, I cut out fast food, like my diet is phenomenal. Like, I do think it's important. And I think CEOs can implement changes into their lifestyle that helps. So if I get a call at 2am, I can be there because, you know, I kind of done what I needed to do to make sure that mentally emotionally, physically, I'm sound.
I really appreciate the honest picture that you've painted for what works for you specifically. And I think that's what's so cool about not only your story, but anyone who sits in your seat that we have a conversation with is, my hope is that for our listeners, they really understand that entrepreneurship is so much a game of personalization. And the whole reason many of us go into business for ourselves is that we can build something that prioritizes what we care about, and allows us to live a life that we are fulfilled in. And so I love that you are willing to stand against maybe popular belief, because I mean, it swings both ways, right? There was a time when the entire world was like hustle culture or nothing. And then now we're kind of swinging to the opposite end of the pendulum where a lot of people are like, I want as much yeah, as many boundaries and whitespace as possible. But that's not for everyone. So I appreciate you staying authentic to who you are. And showcasing that you're able to work really, really hard, but still prioritize things that matter to you like your health and and your daily naps, which I love and can relate to.
Alright, let's let's go ahead and move now into client management. We've talked a lot about the the internal processes of your team. I know this is where you really shine. So you obviously work with very high profile clients, like you all have already shared, sometimes the work that incurs because of that can be very last minute or high demand. What do you feel like changed in the way that you managed or acquired your clients from six figure agency to seven figure agency?
What has changed? Okay, so at the top of our interview, we mentioned that I was in the lobby of a building, Bing Bing, bang, like I landed the deal. But I also think what is really important is patience. So one of my mentors connected me to a woman who I've been wanting to work with for a very long time. And I had emailed her consistently for a year and three months, okay. And after a year, in three months, she finally agreed to meet with me, and we met at Soho House in Toronto. And she said, You are the most persistent person I've ever met. You remind me of myself. And she said, Send me the invoice, I'll make sure you're financially taken care of. I think it's really important to let people know that sometimes you will close the deal right away, sometimes requires nurturing for several weeks, months, maybe even years. So send a text send the email, right. Like I think people are just afraid to ask for the business. Right? I think people are also sometimes you can move too quickly that you'll miss clues. Right. So I think we've all heard the saying success leaves clues.
So like, I could listen to a one hour talk. For instance, one of the former CEOs of SoulCycle I could listen to a one hour talk. I'm obsessed with watching them on YouTube. And she had mentioned something about not being good at English. Automatically. I'm like, Okay, we got to get in touch with her. You know what I mean? Like, I look out for clues in interviews, I look out for clues in social captions, and in videos, and there are times where I may cold approach someone's team and explore the idea of what it could look like to work together. Most of the time, people do come to me as well through our website. So I think people underestimate the power of SEO, the SEO analyst on my team, can I actually claim what she does, baby is so complex, but I went from being non existent on Google to now being on the first page with agencies that are 10 times bigger in size. That was the first thing so it's very easy for people to find me.
The second thing is LinkedIn. Do not sleep on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is where the bag is at LinkedIn is where you can find people by title. LinkedIn is where decision makers live. LinkedIn people, people are so responsive. I feel like Instagram is like a playground. LinkedIn is where you have to grow up and have sophisticated conversation. I have closed deals without even getting on the phone people. So a LinkedIn is also a very phenomenal channel. And honestly, look in your phone. I'm like an old school door to door salesman. I love just looking at my phone. I looked at my contacts. When it comes to networking. I don't like that word, but for the sake of the interview, when it comes to networking and building relationships with people. I have a spreadsheet. I'm very intentional, right so my spreadsheet consists of the basics of names. your company, your email, and then I also have columns for when was the last time we touched base? What did I learned from that conversation so I can personalize the next one, a column for whether or not you're a hot, warm or cold lead, and a column for whether or not you are a high or low priority.
I spend, when I was an executive assistant, my CEO and president bosses 80% of the time, they were in meetings, flying around the world, having dinners having coffees, building relationships, and they would bring home the business, a lot of the deals that I have attained. So whether it was writing for the CMO at BT, writing for one of the presidents at Disney writing scripts for one of the hosts of the view, like it's been really interesting, those have come through just organic conversation touching base with people a text to say WhatsApp goes a very long way. It doesn't even always have to be a Zoom meeting. Sometimes I'll just leave a note in the subject line. Hey, girl thinking about you. Let's touch base soon, right? Like don't overthink the process. But I think most people are just unorganized when it comes to managing their contact list. Don't ever assume that your friends know what you do.
Like my capabilities that oh, that's another tool that was really important. My capabilities deck has been a phenomenal tool. Most busy people, they're not trying to scroll through a website, I'm sorry. Mostly mostly people, they like the deck because they can easily circulate it, they can easily skim it. And that has landed me a ton of deals as well. We talked about client management. We also talked about identifying your red flags, your qualification process, I've had, oh my gosh, just yesterday, I declined a job. Two years ago, I declined $100,000 job because I had actually I had Yeah, had to walk away from the job simply because it just too many red flags. And you again, you define what red flags mean to you, you define what your non negotiables are. But when you're early on in your business, I think you know, when you're in your six figure bag, you say yes to a lot of things, because you're trying to just you're on a hamster wheel.
When you have a business that's more sophisticated. You're in power, you are in charge. And you have there's so much competence and saying no. So that has also been really helpful qualification process. How do you determine whether the client is right fit will tightening up on that, asking better questions. And then I'll also say, you know, delivering on your brand's promise clients work with us because of white glove service, because of the speed in which we work. Because of our creative genius or zone of genius. Like it's just, you're just not going to find another agency of color. So clients like to work with us because there's a comfort in knowing that honestly, when a woman is on your team, it's a winning strategy. When there's a woman of color on your team. I mean, you're in your bag, and we just the thing is like they can trust us, you know what I mean? Like we just built these relationships over time. So how you manage with the client, how you make them feel the white glove service. That's why we like to go above and beyond, because clients come back again and again, because they know they know what they're going to get it there. It's never spotty. There's been so many times I've received clients because they had a very poor experience at another agency.
There's so much golden what you just share, and
I'm so sorry.
No, no, don't apologize. I actually was I was keeping track of certain No, no, there's there is no apologies necessary for that. I appreciate that you are efficient, right? You're like, let me tell you, all the things and that's that's so helpful. Honestly, the things that really stood out to me, one, success leaves clues. I love that you're so, so diligent about noticing opportunity. I think that in and of itself is a huge talent. So many people miss incredible opportunities because they discount either the thing in front of them themselves, or they're just not paying attention. And the fact that you take note of those little details. I mean, I would challenge each of you to approach your next week of work with Pauleanna's mindset and look for clues that point to people maybe silently asking or even screaming for help that you're not noticing and take the initiative to reach out say, Hey, I noticed that you said this or you mentioned this or this happened to you and I would love to whatever it is, I would love to connect with you. I would love to tell you about this thing. I would love to help you with whatever it is. So that was nugget number one.
Nugget number two that I feel I want to actually get more details on is that one woman that you email for one year in three months. Yeah, persistence, right, that persistence game. Tell us how did you repeatedly email this woman without, for lack of a better word, annoying her what were those reach outs? Like? Were you just constantly being like, hey, thank you. Have you touching base? Or did each interaction look a little bit different? And how did you pace that? How did you decide what to say each time so it felt different to her?
That's an excellent question, reducing stress and adding value. So I was keenly interested in her career. I'd follow her on social media. I've read the captions I was locked in. And so So there was a post one day, just to give you one example, there was a post where she was talking about her desire to do more public speaking. And so there are times where I'd email her. And I would include a link to a conference that she could apply to, or I would give her feedback on some of the video content. Because I've been a public speaker since 2012. I give her feedback on how she can approach opportunities, I make a suggestion, you know, maybe you should consider designing and making a media kit. So it's a snapshot of your zone of genius. So reducing stress, and adding value is how I've been able to get into any room. So like, I have a lot of high profile mentors.
And one of the question when I was in my 20s, and nobody knew my name, and I would just build on my credibility, one of the questions I'd ask myself is, am I the type of woman that world class performers would actually want to work with? Right, and what the qualities and characteristics is that women embody? And who do I need to be one of the things I need to do? How do I need to see the world and myself the competence of the heart posture I need to walk in? And I do that those are the things that I do whatever that looks like, right? And so that's what gets me in the room. That's what welcomes me into the conversation. That's why my mentors and sponsors, they nominate me and advocate for me, because how I move is dictated by the answer to that question.
Ooh, that is so powerful. Okay. That's our journal prompt for the day, everybody, we're all going to journal on this together and think about how can I be the person that these people I want to be in a room with, would want to associate with would want to work with? So so good. I love that. I also wanted to go a little deeper on two other things you mentioned, one is the white glove service. One is the red flags and asking better qualification questions to ensure that you are working with the right client. So let's start with our white glove service. First, people toss out that term all the time, they often don't really share what that actually looks like in practice. So for you, what are the extra things that you do for your clients that you feel like, encompass that white glove service approach?
The first thing that I do is I go beyond the scope of work every time like, I'm never limited to like you have CEOs and companies that are so rigid with well, you're paying me for this. So this is where it ends. And I get it, you're doing that for like, honestly, for your sanity in most cases. But one thing that helps me is that I'm very resourceful. So we may be working on Project A, but A client has a question about branding, about marketing, about concentration, everything that we do for clients, is actually a very big part of my personal brands. And so the reason why clients hire me my company over any other competitors, is the fact that I've been an EA for 10 years. So that shows them how organized I am. The fact that I've been a personal brands for 10 years. So public speaker, writer, etc, influence. And the fact that I have market value, which we'll talk about, we can pin that later. White glove service to me looks like going above and beyond simply the above and beyond what's on the contract.
So if I jump on a call with a client, because the client has questions about any of the above, I'm going to do it because to me, honestly, I know the shit like the back of my hand, it's nothing for me to jump on a call for an hour. Like, I'm not going to bill you for the hour. It's like, I know you got me in a future project, like my clients aren't family, per se, but we're really good friends. So a client of mine wanted me to write a book. And she's like, okay, you know everything about my life. Before we get started on this project, I want to know how you see the world. Oftentimes, clients challenge me because they want to know behind the curtain, they want to know about my mental health issues that I've lived with my whole life, they want to know about why I dropped out of college, they want to know about, you know, some of the strong opinions I have about hustle culture, right. And so they they just really appreciate it, I have clients who have approached me that are like, I'm going to hire you because I got lost in your content. Like I love what you stand for.
And so white glove service comes easy when you actually like who you're working with, you find it very enjoyable. And white glove also looks like when I say go the extra mile. It could be you know, after we write a speech for a client, we always do a table read, right? We make sure they're comfortable with the delivery, we coach them through the delivery, giving advice, giving advisory services when they need it, like a client could call me in the middle of the night with an urgent matter. And I'm not automatically looking at them like an ATM or thinking about the numbers. I'm helping them and we're going to deal with that shit in a second. We'll deal with it tomorrow or whatever. And it's just the way we organize ourselves.
Most businesses lose clients because of disorganization. For instance. I have a friend who's a lawyer, God bless her heart, I referred another friend to her. And my friend was like, I can't work with her because she still uses PDFs. Like she doesn't use she doesn't use DocuSign for instance, right? It's so like, literally small changes and how you present information to your client. We use Google Drive. We are meticulous of how we label documents how we label folders, like even how we present documents, it has our logo at the top it has prepared for prepared by and the date in the header like you don't I mean, like just how we present. The clients are like, wow, like they took the time they took the care to execute.
Yes, it's all about that extra attention to detail. I couldn't agree more it really makes someone feel taken care of. And I love that law of reciprocity that you live by where you're not worried about in that moment. What is this hour costing me you see it? I mean, from my viewpoint of you sharing this, use it as an investment, like you're crediting that account and saying, I know it's going to come back to me later because I'm building that relationship. So I really respect that. And as far as the qualification process, you mentioned asking better questions. What is one key question that you ask all of your potential clients before deciding to work with them that you feel like anyone who's a service provider, agency owner, or just business owner should should be aware of and should start using in their own business?
Sure, one of the questions that I ask is, how does this particular project fit into the larger vision and strategy for your brand's Because oftentimes, clients will be very nearsighted. And oftentimes, they're very last minute. So they're scrambling and like, I need this, I need that. And it's like, the chaos starts right from onset. But I want to know, the larger picture, because the larger picture helps me and informs my next steps and how to advise you. And most of the time, they haven't even thought about the larger picture of the vision. And so it's really important to me that we nail that down before we even sign any paperwork. And so my intro call, I know, oftentimes, I have so many friends, or their intro calls limited to 15 minutes, like, because Because everyone's so time sensitive. No, I'm going to hold space for you. Because even if we are not aligned, I may know a referral who can help you, you may hire me down the road, like I'm really big on maintaining relationships with clients, or I guess, prospects, or not clients yet, that are not a fit, right?
Just because you say no, because of lack of money, lack of time, or just, we're just not aligned, it doesn't mean that we no longer have to converse, like I'm gonna give you the half an hour, I'm gonna advise you, however I can. And you know what, I have a list of clients who we didn't align for whatever reason I check up on them every quarter, Hey, girl, how you doing? Let me know how your projects been going. I've been really you know, I'm looking forward to an update. Simple things like that make people remember you. I had a client who recently signed with me, it's a five figure project. And she said, so when I one question I always ask is, you know, how did you find this? And she said, you and I had a conversation 10 years ago that I'd never forgotten. And that's and she's like, I knew that when I want to start my brands and business, you were the person I needed to hire from 10 years ago, I personally did not remember the conversation, remember her? But it just goes to show you that because we hadn't talked since that conversation. I'll say that. But it just goes to show you like every interaction with every client and every prospect matters.
Even the people that cannot afford your services. Don't treat them like a doormat, right? They still have feelings, they still have dreams and potential. And you don't know when any potential client when their situation is going to change. Okay. That's the other thing. Don't sleep on people who are not ready yet.
Yeah, 100%, because like you said, they could just be in a different stage, right? And that and who knows where or who or what they'll be doing, who they'll be in the next few months, few years. And so I really appreciate again, it goes back to what I said before, I think you just have a very long term mindset, which is such a huge strength and advantage. And I really want to commend you for that. And I really hope that that's one of the things that our listeners take away from this conversation today. You've learned very much for that. Oh, my gosh, of course, no, it you should be so encouraged by that woman who remembered you from a decade ago, like that is insane. I feel like you've covered so many great behind the scenes, real things that you're doing in your business for us today.
I know that fourth pillar was all about brand management. I feel like you've actually kind of woven that in throughout our conversations today. But I did want to in this case study with one last hot take specifically in the brand management arena of your business. So all about you know, your personal brand as a CEO, obviously, and then your brand of Writer's Blok at large. You had a hot take that one of the accelerants to scaling to seven figures as an agency was attending less conferences, and instead investing in more mentors and advisors. Can you elaborate on that for us?
Absolutely. So I think that people are very attracted to the noise. Everyone's a guru, everyone's a teacher. It's very easy to get very caught up. And so I think conferences are important for the mere fact that it's Good to be in rooms with like minded individuals. But you don't always get the juice and the specific information and insight you need. A lot of times I've been to many of the staple conferences, you go there and like most people are there to see the celebrity on stage and like you're not getting the meat and potatoes. So like, tapping into specialists, instead of generalists will help change the game for you, sitting at the feet of our elders and mentors don't like that. Don't underestimate the power in that I actually have an uncle, he's 80 years old, a serial entrepreneur, I'm about to spend a whole day with him next week, right? Like, I think it's really important whether it's, you know, our elders are mentors, like, really figure out like what qualities and an individual is aligned with you. And at different stages of their career. I mean, my uncle he's at, he's still kicking, and has a storied career. But I also have mentors who are a few levels above me, right.
So like, you want to make sure that there's range. The other thing that has helped me is market value. So Amanda seals often talks about your self worth versus your market value. Your self worth is like how you feel about yourself, when you look in the mirror, your market value is how other people perceive you. And a lot of times, you may look at another woman, you may say like wow, like she's really leapfrog steps in her career. It's because she's made strategic calculated moves to increase her market value. And an example that I think is obvious in my career is, you know, I'm a longtime journalist, I have one foot in the door phasing out completely. And the one of the reasons I'm still in the media world is simply because we need more people of color in the space to hold the door open. But I'm widely known for my work as a senior journalist at Forbes, a free freelance reporter. And I could have written for any publication. But the fact that I chose the number one publication in the world, the best publication, my market value has skyrocketed. So when I'm going into conversations and introductory calls to prospects, I really don't have to do a lot of talking. because I not only am I a senior freelance reporter at Forbes, I'm ranked in the 1% of the global writing network, right.
So like when you when there's certain things on your resume, the other thing that increases my market value, most people don't even know but I teach at a college part time I teach professional communications. Still in my field, I'm very passionate about youth education and children's literacy. But it increases my market value, because now you know that I can teach the subject matter in my zone of genius at a finer technical level. I think it's very important for CEOs to still keep sharp, stack their resumes and be very strategic.
The last thing I'll say is community, a lot of my business literally comes from my online community because I'm very consistent with them. So as company owners, oftentimes, the people on social media is doesn't necessarily meet our customer avatar, it's to your liking. You know, I mean that you operate kind of different because, you know, online, my community consists of, you know, women empowerment, millennials, like I share a lot of business advice. And then my clients are very high profile, honestly, most of them don't even have social media like that. They're, you know, they're in the world making change. And so my community, I keep them informed with what's happening in my career, what's happening in my life, what my desires are, and they rock the boat for me, like, for instance, I had there was a another podcast, who was like, what women should we interview, and I had, maybe three dozen people tagged me in that post, right. So like, you have to involve your community and let them know what's happening in your business, because they will ride for you, they will tag you, they will nominate you for the award, they will recommend to their colleagues, you don't know who their Auntie or their mama or their sister is like, you don't know who they're connected to. So tap into your community. Make them a priority, keep them involved. And I think that kind of wraps up the brand management piece. stay visible, let people know what you're doing.
I think what I most admire about you appreciate about you Pauleanna is your strong belief in the value of every single person you interact with. I think that's been a theme throughout our entire conversation. You practice it in so many ways. And I think that is what makes you so successful. I love by the way, your distinction of how your online community may not always be your ideal clients. But that doesn't mean they can't be your best advocates think that's something that more people could really learn from and, and appreciate more in their own business. And so I just I have absolutely loved our conversation today. Thank you for showing heart and transparency and encouraging other women of color like myself to really take place in the media world, as you know from being a listener of our show. That's been a transition we've worked on over the last year and it is a hard space to break into without that particular professional background. But I just I'm so encouraged by the work I get to do telling stories of incredible women like us. So Pauleanna, where can our listeners continue to connect with you and explore more of your world?
Absolutely. You can google my name Pauleanna Reid, my website pauleannareid.com and my company website, the writersblok.com.
Amazing and we'll drop those links below for you in the show notes as well. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today.
Awesome. Thank you.
Hey Ellen here. Thank you again for tuning in to cubicle to CEO. If you enjoyed today's episode, follow our show on Instagram at cubicle to CEO for more bonus content and hop on the last Tuesday of each month to watch our live after show with recent guests. If you want to support our podcast, text this episode linked to a friend, leave a positive review on Apple podcasts or rate our show wherever you're listening right now. Please make sure you also hit the Follow button on Apple it looks like a plus sign. Or click Subscribe on your favorite podcast player so you don't miss out on our new episodes every Monday and friends until next time, keep dreaming big
