Measure twice, cut once (Introduction)
Growing up, dinner was at 6 pm. Of course there were nights when it didn’t happen because of any number of things, but dinner together as a family was the norm for Hillary Berman. So too was following through on what you said you were going to do. For Hillary’s father, fulfilling commitments, being on time, and delivering only the best work was non-negotiable. He taught Hillary how to minimize risk and errors through careful planning, attention to detail, and dedication to quality. A commitment to excellence was instilled in Hillary from the very beginning.
In 2003, Hillary was a marketing executive responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual revenue, a team of professionals, and a satellite office of a larger firm – and she had just had her first child. Her career and personal life were both in a great place. With a boss supportive of working moms, Hillary returned back to work three days a week after her son was born.
Within months, Hillary found herself billing 40 hours a week, fitting in conference calls during nap times on her “days off,” and catching up on email on weekends. While this shouldn’t have surprised her given the pace she kept prior to becoming a mom, she quickly found it unsustainable considering the type of work-life balance she sought and mother she wanted to be.
Going big by focusing on small (Background)
Around the same time she found her work situation untenable, Hillary’s husband, Scott, was starting his own business and in need of marketing support for the new company. Recognizing the challenges in her current role and the opportunity to work side-by-side with her husband to build something they both believed in, Hillary joined Scott in the new endeavor. After a couple of years, Hillary worked herself out of a job – having established a strong brand identity, engaging client experience, and ongoing marketing communications program.
During this time, Hillary noticed a gap in the market that presented a unique opportunity for her skillset. While small businesses could select from droves of qualified tactical marketing resources, there were few that provided strategic direction for these companies on which of the tactics were necessary or resources were most appropriate for their unique needs. Drawing on her experience working in and for small businesses and start-ups (always her favorite clients), as well as her education in marketing and business, Hillary launched Popcorn & Ice Cream – a small business marketing consultancy.
Hillary’s business hypothesis was spot on – small businesses’ need for strategic counsel on branding, communications, awareness, and engagement was substantial. Popcorn & Ice Cream took off immediately and Hillary hired the firm’s second full-time employee within just six months. With demand great and Hillary’s passion for supporting small business only increasing, managing growth proved the greatest opportunity – and threat.
Popcorn, what? (Professional challenge)
“Leveraging insights gained from inside successful organizations of all sizes, Popcorn & Ice Cream provides small businesses a partner, coach, and consultant in their growth.” So says the Popcorn & Ice Cream website. While the words have been present from the day the website (and business) launched, their meaning continues to evolve.
At first, Hillary took any freelance marketing work that came her way just to get her name out there under her new banner. After officially launching in July 2011, she amassed a series of projects and landed her first sizable recurring revenue client just three months later. The business continued to grow with new project and retainer-based work. While achieving wonderful early success for the new business, Hillary rapidly found herself creating something she didn’t want – an agency culture not so far off of what she left just a few years earlier.
Taking a step back, Hillary refocused on the consulting side of Popcorn & Ice Cream – turning down revenue from projects that while easy to execute, just weren’t central to her business vision. While she focused on her greatest areas of interest, this narrow focus proved not quite right either. Clients needed more. Hillary wanted to provide more. Simply guiding small businesses for where they should go with their branding, communications, engagement programs, promotions, and product launches wasn’t enough. The more full-service offering was what her clients needed and Hillary wanted to deliver. She wanted to be a true partner, a valuable resource for small businesses – not just another outsourced provider.
The answer came through a hybrid model. Popcorn & Ice Cream would stay focused on the strategy, but leverage a network of freelancers and partner companies to support the tactical execution. After screening more than a hundred resumes and portfolios, Popcorn & Ice Cream established its bench – one that continues to grow both in size and scope. Finally, Hillary had arrived at the right balance of service offerings.
With this clarified capability and offering, referrals, requests for proposals, and other new business opportunities increased dramatically. This spike in business occurred concurrently as Hillary sought to launch a product offering to serve those businesses who either couldn’t afford or weren’t ready to engage in full consulting services – a webinar and in-person educational series.
Hillary faced a strain on her time, her resources, and her balance.
The elusive work-life balance (Personal challenge)
Popcorn & Ice Cream was founded based on passion for small business and commitment to great work. While it wasn’t created to afford Hillary the work-life balance she craved, she structured it to support her desired lifestyle. Yet as the company grew, Hillary found herself conflicted between her professional drive, personal fulfillment, and family commitment.
Professionally, Hillary was proud of her success as an entrepreneur. She was honored to be trusted by so many clients so quickly. She was thrilled to earn sufficient revenue in the first six months to allow her to hire an employee and even more excited to achieve her seemingly lofty revenue goals in the time that followed. The drive for excellence instilled in her at a young age was present and strong.
Hillary’s passion for small business was ignited working for a dot.com, supported throughout her career, and truly fueled working with dozens of Popcorn & Ice Cream clients. Her ability to touch even more as the business grew and through her new educational program only served to further this passion. She wanted to help as many entrepreneurs and small business owners as possible.
Fundamentally though, Hillary’s personal relationships are what she holds most dear. Being a good friend, a great wife, and an involved mother are of the highest priority. Hillary is a regular volunteer at both of her kids’ schools, makes time for community service, and regularly entertains friends and family in her home. She and Scott strive to share all Washington, DC has to offer with their two boys and instill in them their core personal and family values. Most importantly, Hillary is home most nights by 6 pm to cook dinner and sit down with her family just as she did growing up.
As Popcorn & Ice Cream continues to grow, Hillary struggles to balance these three complementary, yet conflicting, priorities – professional drive, personal passion, and family commitment. Unwilling to sacrifice any, and striving for continued excellence in all areas of her life, Hillary continues to make adjustments to make it work – for her, for her clients, and for her family.