IAM359- Entrepreneur Helps National Brands Create More Revenue

Jacqueline Basulto started her company SeedX Inc. in her early 20s after a short stint at Google with $20 and a dream to help businesses grow online. Today, the company helps national brands create more revenue primarily through direct to consumer sales and strategy. Jacqueline is the daughter of immigrants from Cuba and Puerto Rico and is a proud New Angelean (New York – Los Angeles) resident.

• CEO Hack: Knowledge and mental clarity
• CEO Nugget: Don't quit
• CEO Defined: Responsibility to take care of other people and developing talents

Website: https://seedx.us/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquelinebasulto
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-basulto/

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jacqueline Basulto of Seed X Incorporated.

Jacqueline, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Jacqueline Basulto 0:40

Thank you so much. I'm really glad to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:43

No problem super excited to have you on and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Jacqueline so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

Jacqueline started her company SeedX Inc. in her early 20s after a short stint at Google with $20 and a dream to help businesses grow online. Today, the company helps national brands create more revenue primarily through direct-to-consumer sales and strategy.

Jacqueline is the daughter of immigrants from Cuba and Puerto Rico and is a proud New Angeles (New York – Los Angeles) resident. Jacqueline, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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Jacqueline Basulto 1:17

Yes, I'm excited.

Gresham Harkless 1:18

Awesome. Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Jacqueline Basulto 1:26

Sure. So I grew up in New York City, again, the daughter of US Hispanic immigrants. So I always grew up with a great work ethic, and really understanding all of the opportunities I had here. And I think that that laid the foundation for me, seeking greater opportunity and wanting to build something of my own or a life of my own that my parents would be proud of, I guess. So I started Seed X after working at Google for a bit because I saw the opportunity there was to help small business owners and businesses of all sizes, understand their online presence, what tools had at their hands, and help them feel empowered to do so instead of scared of the tools that we have.

So I started to do it on my own, just helping clients that I had met through Google and different conferences and things with small tasks, like improving their websites, and their SEO and marketing. It grew into something I was really passionate about. Now we have a team of 15 people and we work with a myriad of different companies. But we're really excelling right now at helping companies that are used to doing wholesale.

So they're wholesalers for these huge department stores like Target or Nordstrom or CVS, but they're really looking to create their own direct-to-consumer revenue now, that way they can speak directly to their consumers, they can provide content and just have more independence in what they're doing with their product. So that's what we're focused on right now in New York and Los Angeles, but really across the country and some clients across the globe. So it's really exciting to help empower people to do so.

Gresham Harkless 3:49

Yes, absolutely. And just like you touched on, in your story, so many people are so afraid of all these tools and things out there, They know that they should be using them because, you hear from everywhere, but people in organizations like that actually helped you empower these people that aren't sure where to probably even get started and how to excel their online marketing.

Jacqueline Basulto 4:13

Yeah, that is the biggest thing I hear when I get on the phone with people, that they know social media is somewhere they should be and they should be emailing and all these different things, but they have no idea where to get started. So it's really just about identifying people's specific situations, almost like a doctor would write, and figuring out what's going to help them the most in the short term and the long term. So it's nice, being able to empower people like that and then getting to grow with our clients. We like to think of ourselves almost as a private equity company like we come in and we help you grow and we really treat our clients as if we were working for their company like we're a big team or family. So yeah, I love what I do. And it's definitely, challenging at times or all the time, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Gresham Harkless 5:21

Yeah, I bet with all the changes and updates and new platforms that are popping up, it's always something that is always ever-changing. But it's great to hear that you're focused on that and helping out the clients that you're working with. So I wanted to hear a little bit more, I know you touched on some of the services and offerings that you guys have, could you drill a little bit deeper and tell us a little bit more about how you're serving the clients you're working with?

Jacqueline Basulto 5:44

Yeah, sure. So we believe in a philosophy that I call 360 Marketing. So it's this idea that when you look at a given company, and diagnose what's going on with them, we really like to take a holistic approach. So for example, a lot of agencies or consulting companies, focus on one element. So let's say, Facebook marketing, they're really great at Facebook advertising. That's what they do. And that's what inevitably, they sell you if you talk to them, right? So what we try to do is understand the whole picture that way, if we suggest Facebook marketing, we also understand how that relates to the website and how that relates to your email marketing strategy. And then beyond that, how that relates to your overall business goals, and things like that.

So we built our team to embody that. So our team's full of specialists. So we have two web designers, two web developers, and ad specialists, a content creator, a social media specialist, etc. That way, whenever we work on a client's project, we're coming to it with an understanding of the broader picture. So that's a little bit about how our team is structured and how we work on a project. So that would include, basically, anything you can do online CEO, helping people with their websites, email marketing, text, message marketing, social media content, ads, pay per click. I think that's content creation, and just helping in general with consulting, we do some consulting as well.

Gresham Harkless 7:53

Now, here's why I definitely appreciate that 360 perspectives, because a lot of times, as you mentioned, some agencies and people will say, Okay, well, I know how to do X Y & Z Whether it be Facebook ads, Instagram ads, or whatever. So when they speak to a client, they're automatically thinking from that kind of narrow perspective, sometimes, rather than giving the client exactly what they would probably need to have, the most success and as you said, how it would integrate with other marketing strategies they might have going on as well.

Jacqueline Basulto 8:23

Yeah, and now everything is omni-channel. So, you really have to have a full spectrum nurturing system in place to be successful online. And I think that's the way that people start to stand out from Amazon and from cheaper competitors, is by providing that journey from when you visit the website to when you get your first email, and you digest more content and really get to know our brand. That's the power of digital marketing. It's not really about making the initial sale, as much as it is about creating a sense of community and belonging online. So that's what we're really trying to do with our clients create long-term brands that people become advocates of, and shop at forever. So that's what we believe in and what our mission is with our clients.

Gresham Harkless 9:26

Nicely. definitely sounds like you're developing, creating, that experience from the first interaction, on and on and on and on and on, you have that consistent and awesome experience overall. So would you consider that to be like your secret sauce and it could be for you or it could be for your organization? What do you think that's what helps you guys stand apart?

Jacqueline Basulto 9:49

I think it's part of it. I think our secret sauce though, is really our scrappiness and our willingness to work very hard with whatever amount of resources we're given. So on my LinkedIn, I have the title Digital Trojan. And that's like the culture that we try to live by, is that we're constantly improving ourselves that greatness isn't good enough. And no matter what kind of budget we're working with, or what the situation is, we try to make the most of it. And our whole purpose is to create great things out of almost nothing sometimes. So yeah, I think that's our secret sauce. It's that our team is really motivated to deliver beyond what any expectations are. And we really tried to keep that alive every day.

Gresham Harkless 11:00

Absolutely, and yeah, like the Digital Trojan, because a lot of times, especially with a lot of these tools out there that's kind of been somewhat of the equalizer for those big brands, as you touched on like the Walmarts and Amazons, where the small, the smaller, maybe medium-sized businesses are trying to figure out how to compete with them. But now that scrappiness as you guys have, you're able to do that in this digital world.

Jacqueline Basulto 11:22

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, that's what we really try to do create an experience that those giants can't create on an individual level.

Gresham Harkless 11:38

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that.  I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app or book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Jacqueline Basulto 11:50

First of all the constant pursuit of knowledge and mental clarity is my CEO hack at actually, it's not any one specific habit, but it's the habit of putting something into place that helps to clear your mind and helps you be your best for your team and for your clients or customers, whatever kind of business you're running.

Gresham Harkless 12:18

Absolutely. It's definitely an incredible responsibility. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you could hop into be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Jacqueline Basulto 12:32

So I think I would tell my younger self not to quit, I think that there is this perception in the world that doing something risky means that you have a high likelihood of failure, right? But I think that is really only if you quit. So if you accept defeat, I think everyone fails, and you just have to keep going and going and going. And eventually, you succeed. So that's what I would tell my younger self.

Gresham Harkless 13:05

Now, I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote and quote CEOs on the show.

So Jacqueline, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Jacqueline Basulto 13:17

I think when you first become a founder or CEO, whatever that journey is, I think that when you first get that title of founder, or you reach the part of your career, where you're a CEO, or you're the head of a division or large organization, it feels like it's about your own professional achievement. I think that very quickly fades. What it really means and what you really start to understand and grab on to over time, is that it's a great responsibility.

Like we were saying before, it's our responsibility to care for other people to be the leader. It's our responsibility to develop talent to help people get to where you are and beyond their own personal experience and trajectory. So that's really what it means to me.

It means challenging my team members, finding people who don't see their full value, and helping them learn and grow beyond where they currently are. Same thing with clients within Seed X. And I think that's also the most rewarding part is being able to see someone start thinking more creatively and feel more confident and gain skills and then thinking like, wow, I had taken part in that. So that's what being a CEO means to me.

Gresham Harkless 15:00

Nice and I definitely appreciate that definition of a 360 definition as well on the different kinds of impact that you can have as a CEO and try to understand what their responsibility is, whether it be team members, or like you mentioned, clients or customers that you're working with, as well.

I appreciate that perspective Jacqueline, I appreciate your time even more, what I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best I can get a hold of it,

Jacqueline Basulto 15:29

You can reach me through the Seed X contact form. So Seedx.us is our website or on LinkedIn, or my personal email address, professional email address, which is Jacqueline@seedx.us.

I'm always curious to meet other people who are interested in leadership. And I know this is a great podcast and resource for other CEOs and leaders to inspire aspiring future leaders.

Gresham Harkless 16:02

Absolutely, thank you so much, and we'll make sure to have those links in the show notes. So just so that anybody can follow up with you Jacqueline to hear about all the awesome things that you're doing and also take advantage of that offer that you provided to us.

So I truly appreciate you again, appreciate your time, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Jacqueline Basulto 16:18

Thank you so much. It's great to talk with you.

Outro 16:22

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

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This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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