Ep. 90 - Meet Hilary Lentini, she runs an in-demand marketing firm in Los Angeles, Lentini Design and Marketing. She is also past president of National Association of Women Business Owners Los Angeles as well as past president of National Association of Women Business Owners California. Hilary shares with us how important it is to nurture your networks to support others and stay ahead. She shares how taking a leap of faith by coming west, initially to support her husband's career, turned out to be the springboard for future success. Los Angeles is a city that's welcoming and with opportunity but it must be earned, she says. With over 20 years of experience, Lentini has much to share about building a business, raising a family and maintaining a steady flow of satisfied clients.
Top Takeaways:
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- How to start small without a network and grow your business to greater heights
- How to make your business successful by setting yourself apart from your competition
- How to make business cash flow easier from the beginning by hiring a bookkeeper
- The art of gaining and keeping high-level clients' relationships
- Understanding how to work on your business as opposed to working in your business
- The importance of having a business network for support, ideas, and ultimately the growth of your business
- The power of having a supportive partner when growing your business
- Supporting and advocating for women in public policy and in business
Listen in to hear how Hilary started from scratch without connections while teaching herself the necessary skills and still managed to build a successful business.
"You can't expect everything; you have to earn it. Just be really good at what you do. If you don't roadblock yourself, you will figure it out." - Hilary Lentini
How to Build a Solid Creative Firm
Drawing on over 25 years of notable experience in the advertising and creative services industries, she possesses both a creative flair and solid business acumen. She enjoys the challenge of crafting unique solutions for her clients' design needs, always resulting in original and compelling campaigns and solutions that drive clients' objectives. Her team is known for really listening to their clients and building long-term relationships that support their brands. Her firm, Lentini Design & Marketing, Inc., reenergizes static brands into dynamic forces and has won over 130 national design awards to date.
Hilary herself has been honored by many organizations as an influential woman and entrepreneur. In December of 2016, she graduated from the prestigious Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.
Learn the importance of having many support systems when running a business to ensure its success.
Key Moments:
She tells the story of how she was taught independence by her mother and how she grew her business from scratch [4:19]
How she has mastered the art of listening and walking with a client through their marketing campaign journey [6:54]
The two struggles she had to deal with when she first started her business [8:09]
The meaning and importance of cash flow for someone starting their business [9:23]
The advantages and disadvantages of having Los Angeles as the location for your business [12:17]
How to know when to work on your business and when to work in it [17:58]
She explains how she works on some major projects while delegating the rest to her capable staff with minimal supervision [20:26]
How her husband became her greatest impact by being the support she needed to succeed as an entrepreneur [22:13]
She talks about her passion for advocating for women [25:57]