Today we’d like to introduce you to Tianna Winters.
Tianna, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I always wanted to be a journalist. I wanted to change the world. I wanted to be a part of something that mattered and tell stories.
So, I went to school, which took me to Las Vegas, Nevada. I was going to school full time, interning at CBS and working as a server at night. I hated serving – at this point, I had been doing it for nine years. The more I put on my plate to get out of the service industry, the more I despised it. I mean, waking up at 4 a.m. in the morning to get to my internship on time, then going to school for a full schedule followed by a serving job where I didn’t get out of there until 1 a.m. just didn’t work for me anymore!
I started looking for another main form of income. At the time, I was editor-in-chief of the school paper at UNLV and while that was pretty much a full-time job, the wages weren’t paying the bills. I started looking for freelance writing gigs. The first job I applied for happened to be – or what I thought it would be – a veterinary clinic looking for a blogger. Well, I walked in, had the interview and they liked me right away. Turns out it wasn’t a blog writing gig haha.
The position was for a marketing manager and they liked me right away and basically hired me on the spot! I mean, I had all of the skills they were looking for – interviewing, writing, editing video, customer service, photography experience and social media.
I quit the restaurant and stayed on at CBS and Craig Road Animal Hospital. That job changed my entire career path. Mike Falconer, a marketing genius, was my boss. We’re good friends to this day. He became my mentor and everything I know; I owe to him.
My journalism skills helped me create engaging content that told a story. This was still a new concept at the time when it came to social media. We created A LOT of video content before video content was deemed super important.
It’s also where I learned the importance of engagement. I started following our followers from our brand account, commenting on their photos, responding to their comments. I learned how important this was from staying on at CBS with their consumer reporter Michelle Mortensen and helping her research her stories and handling her social media. Mortensen helped A LOT of people that were getting scammed in Las Vegas and got a lot of their money back – people love her to this day, and she taught me another lesson that would help me further my career; the importance of relationships.
But back to the hospital! One day, a pit bull came in and our team helped give birth to 11 pit bull puppies! I recorded the whole thing on my iPhone. I then used the iMovie app to create a video, posted then didn’t think anything of it after that.
We woke up the next morning to hundreds of comments and thousands of likes! I didn’t think a video that I didn’t give a second thought to would do so well. Our page likes were going through the roof and we were getting dozens of applications through our website for our externship program. This was the moment I fell in love with social media.
You can still watch the video here: https://www.facebook.com/285614435342/videos/10156764732715343/ the video currently has 15 million views, 158 thousand likes, almost 200 thousand shares and 28 thousand comments.
Our videos are much better quality now, but nothing has ever received the amount of engagement as that cell phone video did (it’s not the best quality lol). I worked at the hospital a little longer then graduated with my BA in Communications from UNLV. I moved back to California the day after my last exam.
By this time, I knew that I wanted to go into the marketing industry and stick to social media management. I applied for marketing gigs and some of them were a complete bust. One ended up being an MLM scheme which had me selling Angels season tickets in a Ralphs. That job lasted just a few hours.
I finally got hired at my first agency. I was so excited and felt like I was finally a grown-up. I learned new skills at that job. SEO, graphic design, ads and worked on every social platform out there. It was also an opportunity to share every idea I had. I grew into my own person there, but eventually I had to leave.
The issue was that I was doing a lot and working very long hours. On top of that, I didn’t feel the company was charging enough for their social media services. I had to wear too many hats and honestly, I wasn’t being compensated properly. I think the issue with a lot of companies right now is that they hire one person to do a hundred things. The reason why many companies are coming up with basic content is because they aren’t allowing their team to grow in their craft. I had a focus and I wanted to keep that focus. I couldn’t do that without stepping back. There comes a time where you have to make the decision to do something for you. They weren’t a bad company, and the people there were great. I guess I just kind of outgrew them.
The decision to leave wasn’t just about the money – it was about understanding my worth. There are many people out there who take a job to find THE job. I thought at the time that was THE job but eventually, I wanted more. For some of those that hate their job, I have to say to try and learn all you can. You can’t go anywhere without skill. There are a gazillion others who know how to do what you do – what can you offer that’s different? It took me years to get where I am. I had to fetch the coffee, I had to make mistakes (I still do) and I had to stay at the bottom for a very long time. Taking charge of my own career and business is no easy task and a lot of work, but I’d rather work 90 hours a week for myself over working those same hours for someone else.
I left because I finally knew my worth. And it was scary AF. The first thing I did was to hire someone to help me write contracts and build a business plan. The next thing I did was create my website and start looking for prospects while joining every freelancer group out there to learn how to gain clients and keep them. Then I started prospecting. I did cold calls, emails and dropped in on businesses. They all worked! Within two months of quitting my job, I doubled my salary with two clients.
Three years later, we have 24 clients and have expanded our services from social media to websites, SEO, event planning and politics. I hired a photographer, assistant, copywriter, videographer, account manager and am now their main source of income. That has to be the most exciting part of my business – I’m the main source of income for my team. I promised myself I would always try to pay well. If you want to keep someone, and they bring value to your company, you have to take care of them. Or you’ll lose them.
We’ve had ups and downs, have made mistakes, but we keep going. I couldn’t have gotten to where I am today without my team. I can’t even put into words what they mean to me. Their passion and attention to detail is why our agency keeps growing. I owe what I have to them. We can’t be successful without the help and lucky for me, I have really good people in my corner who believe in me as much as I believe in them.
We’ve helped clients achieve their business goals and have taught them to think outside the box. We have helped their business grow. That is what we do and to have happy clients is the best form of advertising out there. I started out wanting to help others and change the world. Well, now I get to do that, just in a different way.
Has it been a smooth road?
No! One of the major struggles I’ve had was learning to get help early on. We can think we are superheroes, but we aren’t. And when you take on too much by yourself, you get burnt out and your clients suffer. You can’t get to that point, not only because of your reputation but because they are your income. I’ve made terrible hires and took too long to let them go. I took on terrible clients and took too long to let them go.
I used to be a “yes” person – a result of being in the service industry for as long as I was. That got me into trouble. I always said yes to a request but never charged them for the extra work. Please don’t do that. It will make you hate your job, hate your client and lie in bed until 2 p.m. and cancel your appointments because you’re burnt out. Your mental health comes first, and this job is EXHAUSTING. If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of your clients.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with TW Media – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our company mainly handles social media marketing, but we’ve had to expand over the years depending on client needs. We now offer photography, videography, website, social media management, reputation management, SEO, event planning, consulting, email marketing, MLM marketing.
I think what sets us apart is our engagement and relationship building. We really, REALLY love our clients. We are lucky that we are finally at the point where we can be picky with who we want to partner with – it took us a few hard lessons to learn what to look for in a good relationship. The clients we do have are our world. What I’m most proud of is our team. They really are the best. My team is the reason why we can work with so many industries – we each have a background in the industry each of our clients are in. Everyone always says to stick to one industry or niche, I’m glad we didn’t!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tianna-winters.squarespace.com/
- Phone: 714-328-6711
- Email: info@tiannawinters.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socialbytw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/socialbytw/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/socialbytw
Image Credit:
Kevin Tackett, photographer
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