Today we’d like to introduce you to AnnMarie Rose.
AnnMarie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Even before I went to kindergarten, I’d have lemonade stands or sell craft items in my neighborhood to earn spending money so I could buy new earrings, or souvenirs for friends when I went on vacation, or any other “nonessential” items I wanted.
While I loved coming up with creative ways to earn my own money, the idea of running a business as a career wasn’t really something I thought about until the summer before my senior year in college.
I was studying Journalism at Indiana University with post-grad hopes of working for a magazine like Women’s Health. But after being turned down for two different magazine internships the summer after my junior year, I decided to head back to my hometown and spent those few months exploring my options through a couple part-time, unpaid digital media internships.
Since I wasn’t getting paid for my internship experiences, I needed to find a way to earn at least some money that summer. During the school year, I taught fitness classes several times week — and I loved doing it. But I was only home for a few months, so rather than spending a month trying to land an instructing position, then another month working to build up class attendance enough to hopefully earn a few hundred dollars before returning to school — I got creative (imagine that) and started my own health coaching business online.
For the rest of that summer and through my senior year of college, I listened to podcasts, read books and articles, and even enrolled in a few online courses to learn everything I could about business and digital marketing. I applied a lot of what I was learning, combined with the story-telling and content creation skills I’d been developing as a Journalism student, to start sharing more intentional messages on social media and began growing my business little-by-little.
The health coaching endeavor was fulfilling for a while, but I had trouble staying focused on any long-term growth strategies. The truth is, I had a chronically-debilitating case of ‘shiny object syndrome’. Looking back, I think it was partially because I knew in my gut that health coaching wasn’t my end game. But at the time I just got really frustrated and doubted myself, because I wasn’t seeing significant results from my efforts.
I made money here and there, but it certainly wasn’t enough to live on full-time. So after graduation, my fiance (now husband) and I applied for jobs in San Diego. We’d never been here, nor did we know a single person who lived here — but I’d heard more than a handful of podcasters mention they were recording from home in “Sunny San Diego”. Hence, I had a pretty good feeling I’d find my tribe here in America’s Finest City.
During our cross-country move, I received a call from a downtown digital marketing agency offering me a paid internship position. I wasn’t thrilled about reclaiming the “intern” title, but the agency had cool clients… and I had rent to pay, so I accepted the position and started work 72 hours later.
My time at the agency was enlightening. I spent my days dealing with subject matter I found interesting, and many of the clients I worked on were multimillion-dollar global brands. At the time though, it was difficult to imagine how my efforts might ever make a significant impact on these massive companies.
Within a few months, I realized I could make a fulfilling impact right away by simply doing the same type of work for smaller businesses who really needed and valued my knowledge, skills, and efforts. The same week my 6-month agency internship ended, I landed my first two freelance clients — and thus, took my first truly committed step forward on my entrepreneurial career path.
I’ve never looked back.
Has it been a smooth road?
The journey to where I am today certainly hasn’t been a smooth, straight path. There have been countless challenges and lessons along the way. In the beginning, I primarily offered content creation services. That is, I created blog articles, social media posts, email newsletters, etc. for all kinds of small businesses.
Selling this type of service was straightforward, so it allowed me to gain experience working with different clients in a range of industries. But the challenge was that the actual work I was delivering completely drained me, to the point that I began to dread landing new clients.
Fortunately, I have a solid support system of people who encouraged me to lean into what lights me up. (Funny thing is, this is exactly what I do with my clients. But practicing what we preach is sometimes easier said than done, am I right?)
Over the past 18 months, I completely revamped my business model and began slowly and steadily building a team with my husband as my business partner. Now, we offer what we like to call ‘Content Impact Consulting Experiences’. These are super streamlined consulting packages with proven processes that empower small creative businesses and personal brands to grow online with high impact content strategies.
These days, I absolutely love the work I’m doing with clients. So now I’m focused on overcoming challenges related to streamlining workflows for content production, team building and client support. I really value making sure that everyone I interact with – clients, audience members, team members, collaborators, etc. – feels empowered, understood, and supported. So we’re establishing systems to uphold this priority as our business grows and continues to impact more and more people.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with AnnMarieRose.com – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My team and I help small creative businesses and personal brands grow online with high impact content strategies.
Personally, nothing lights me up like being able to bend the so-called “rules” and push the online business “boundaries” to make content marketing work for our clients — in a way that’s right for them. When I work with a new client, we don’t dive straight into creating a blog content calendar or figuring out how to increase their Instagram following.
First, I want to know more about their business goals and longer-term vision. If a client isn’t clear on these things, I’ll help them gain clarity so we can move forward in the right direction.
I’m incredibly passionate about this step in our process because I’ve watched too many entrepreneurs implement strategy after strategy that they’ve seen work for other online business and marketing experts. With their sights set solely on dollar signs and/or audience size, people too often check all the boxes to generate 7 or 8-figures or to become an “influencer” — and in the process, they build a business that feels like a prison.
Here’s the thing though, it’s completely possible to build a profitable, high-impact business you love without having to white-knuckle your way through the process. Our consulting solutions empower clients to become proof that it’s possible.
We help business owners eliminate overwhelm and gain clarity first, then we provide streamlined strategies and support so they can confidently take action to make a meaningful impact online while achieving their most important business goals.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I’m happy to say my initial hunch about San Diego was spot-on — I’m proud to be part of the supportive community of entrepreneurs who call this city home. Without the help, encouragement and sincere friendship from fellow business owners here, there’s no way my business (or life!) would be where it is today.
In terms of what I like least, well… housing costs could be a little less insane. Other than that, my actual least favorite thing is something pretty silly — I’m not a fan of being on PST. Growing up in EST, I loved waking up early and feeling like I had a little “edge” on the rest of the world (or at least the rest of the country) that was still sleeping. But even if I’m up well before the sun here on the west coast, the majority of the country is still already on their way to work!
Pricing:
- 1-Hour Content Impact Consulting Session, $149
Contact Info:
- Website: annmarierose.com
- Email: annmarie@annmarierose.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/askannmarierose
- Facebook: facebook.com/askannmarierose
- Other: YouTube: annmarierose.com/watch
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
