"Try focusing on one task at a time and completing it before moving on to the next one."
Whitney Kay Tweet
Whitney Kay resides in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, two children, and fur baby. With over 13 years of experience working in the brand, social media, and digital marketing space, Whitney specializes in brand and strategy development for service-based entrepreneurs and coaches. She is the founder/CEO of Social Savvy Influencer – a full-scale brand and social media agency and a public speaker and coach. Her podcast, UNOMOSS Podcast, shines a light on what it takes to build a thriving business while helping other female entrepreneurs learn how to build, launch and scale profitable social selling businesses; of their own!
When she isn’t developing strategies for female entrepreneurs, Whitney can be found creating content like Instagram Reels and blog posts or moderating stages as a top moderator on popular social audio apps like Clubhouse.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to Valiant CEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Whitney Kay: I have been swimming against the current and pursuing my purpose for years. Ever since losing my father when I was 6-years old to cancer I felt a piece of me missing. It’s as if I have been trying to find that piece ever since. I was blessed with many great opportunities growing up when it came to education and early life experience, yet I always found myself rebelling and wanting to make my own path. Sounds like an entrepreneur, doesn’t it?
From college dropout to successfully unsuccessful in my entrepreneurial journey for over 8 years, I finally found myself in a life-changing situation – homeless. It’s true when they say you don’t know how bad you want it until you need it! There was no way other than UP for me and to dig myself out of this situation. I’ve always been a self-educator with a passion for brand & marketing, graphic design, and social media. I finally put my head down and got to work. I up-leveled my education, mindset, surroundings, and my influences. I quickly developed the skillset, experience, and acquired the network needed to launch my dream of being a full-time entrepreneur into reality.
In January of 2019, I launched Social Savvy Influencer, LLC at 30,000+ feet in the sky. I was listening to Julie Soloman’s The Influencers Podcast and coaching someone through messenger. They said to me, “Wow, thank you, you’re so socially savvy!” Right then and there Social Savvy Influencer, LLC was founded. A full-scale brand and social media agency helping service-based female entrepreneurs and coaches build, launch, and scale successful social selling businesses. Offering a wide array of services such as; brand development and design, website design, content creation and planning, funnel creation, webinar creation, marketing, and ads.
Who has been the most influential person(s) in your life and how did they impact you? How did that lead to where you are today?
Whitney Kay: Wow, something just hit me the moment I read this question, and it’s never happened until this very moment. I’ve always answered this question differently than what I am going to right now because there have been so many people who have contributed to where I am today. But the person that comes to mind at this moment and sits heavy on my heart is my mother.
My mother raised my sister and me as a single mom. She was constantly working and not ever around. I saw her stressed out, over-extending herself, and missing out on what I would consider important life moments. I never realized how big of an imprint that left on my life until I had my children.
I told you above that I found myself homeless at one point, living in the spare bedroom of a friend’s house on a blow-up mattress for about a year. I remember having my son over and not taking him back to see my bedroom because of how embarrassed I was at that moment. My childhood memories flooded my mind and were the driving force for me to get out of the situation I found myself in. I refused to be the mother that worked tirelessly only to miss out on the most precious moments of my children’s lives. I respect my mother and her hard work, but not wanting to be in her same shoes is exactly what pushes me every day to be the woman, wife, mother, and entrepreneur I am today.
2020 was a challenging year for all of us, particularly for businesses. How did the pandemic impact your business? Please list some of the problems that you faced, and how you handled them.
Whitney Kay: I have to be honest, 2020 was an amazing year for my company. Being the digital-based entrepreneur that helps female entrepreneurs build, launch, and scale their brands online has been a major focus of mine since day one – and that thrived in 2020!
The biggest obstacle we faced was our client’s self-doubt and feeling like there isn’t enough room on top of all this pressure from society. So whether they were pivoting willingly, or unwillingly, the challenge was helping more women than usual define their self-worth through personal branding while navigating through some tough situations.
The pandemic led to a myriad of cultural side effects, including one that was quite unexpected that is informally known as “The Great Resignation”. Did this widespread trend affect you in any way?
Whitney Kay: No, and I am beyond grateful it didn’t. I knew early on in life that I didn’t want to work building someone else’s paycheck, and instead, worked my butt off to create my own. That isn’t to say that it didn’t affect my family as a whole though. We did see many pivots happening and it wasn’t always easy. We had faith though, and that is exactly what got us through.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021. How do you feel about this trend? Explain.
Whitney Kay: I have mixed feelings about it. I know the Census Bureau also documented 4.54 million new businesses from January to October of this year, which they said was up 56% compared to last year at this time. That excites me. I love seeing people take the bull by the horns and pursue a dream they have always wanted to pursue, whether they were expecting it to happen now or not. But, on the other hand, I know many people quit their jobs unwillingly or were forced out of their jobs.
This just breaks my heart. Some of these individuals have worked years at these positions and to now have to pivot is unsettling and scary. But with all of that said, an opportunity is out there. It just takes you walking through that cracked door!
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, Employees between 30 and 45 years old have had the greatest increase in resignation rates, with an average increase of more than 20% between 2020 and 2021. That can be quite an alarming rate. What advice would you share to increase employee retention?
Whitney Kay: I come to realize there are two main reasons people leave where they currently are, in business or in life. One, there’s not enough challenge. A person needs the ability to grow and develop. Whether that be in skillset or opportunity within a company. Complacency causes boredom and lack of drive. Challenge your employees and push them to pursue greatness and you’ve got someone always working to stay. Secondly are incentives and recognition. An employee that doesn’t feel valued or seen is an employee looking to be valued and seen elsewhere.
Leaders are responsible for creating an environment that motivates and inspires their teams. One way is by providing incentives, recognizing achievements of all sizes, setting benchmarks which everyone must meet in order to win prizes/awards etcetera… This increases employee retention rates because workers feel like they’re valued at work–the ultimate goal any company should have!
According to a Nature Human behavior study, In 2020, 80% of US workers reported feeling that they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them – a phenomenon known as “time poverty”. What is your take on the work-life balance? Explain.
Whitney Kay: There are a few ways to overcome time poverty. One of which is by using time blocking. I find that this is the best way for me to stay focused and get tasks done efficiently.
Another way to overcome time poverty is by setting realistic goals. If you know that you only have an hour to work on a task, you’re less likely to procrastinate because you know that it’s achievable.
Finally, try not to overload yourself with too many tasks at once. This will only lead to stress and a lack of productivity. Try focusing on one task at a time and completing it before moving on to the next one.
A more recent survey by Joblist asked about 3,000 respondents if they’re actively thinking about leaving their job. That survey found that 73% of 2,099 respondents who answered this question on their employment plans are considering quitting. How are you preparing for the future to counter this potentially persistent problem?
Whitney Kay: By adapting to change, rather than resisting it. I believe more people are realizing the opportunity they have to create an income from the comfort of their own homes.
Creating opportunities where employees can work and thrive remotely is imperative for my company and many others. With a little creativity and the right tools, both the employee and the employer can benefit from a remote working arrangement.
The employee has more flexibility to manage their time while the employer can reduce overhead costs and access a larger talent pool.
Thank you for all that, our readers are grateful for your insightful comments! Now, if the Great Resignation isn’t your greatest concern, what is the #1 most pressing challenge you’re trying to solve in your business right now?
Whitney Kay: I believe the greatest challenge is adopting new technologies, ways of communication, and in some people’s eyes, currency. Our world is quickly evolving in a new age of technology and businesses will either thrive or quickly fade out.
These days, you need to be able to provide customers with an experience they feel good about, which is what we call “customer engagement.” And for this kind of customer engagement, it’s important that your business uses technology in ways that make sense for your specific market. And, when that market is changing at such a rapid speed, it creates challenges.
I have always been an early adopter, so I am up for the challenge!
Before we finish things off, we do have one last question. If you had $10 Million Dollars to spend in one day, what would you spend it on?
Whitney Kay: Easly, I would donate 30% towards ending child and human trafficking (a huge passion of mine) and invest the rest into land, real estate, and crypto.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Whitney Kay for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Whitney Kay or her company, you can do it through her – Facebook
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