IAM1269 – The Leap of Faith into Building Her Own Marketing Agency

Andrea Siy has more than 25 years of experience in the marketing communications field in both agency and corporate environments. She is the CEO and founder of the marketing agency SiY Communications, Inc., which has offered a full range of marketing services since its start in 2003. The agency combines strategic thinking and proven marketing techniques with an innovative and creative style. Andrea has shared her knowledge at several conferences including The Executive Forum (Florida), the Plastics News Marketing Summits (Chicago), Women Breaking the Mold (Chicago), The Women in Business Conference (New Hampshire), and NE/SAE Digital Conference (virtual) as well as local events. Along with sharing her wealth of marketing tips and tricks, Andrea is passionate about helping women manage the challenges of running a company and running a family and provides guidance for working moms.

• CEO Story: Andrea took that leap of faith from working for an agency to building her own agency.
• Business Service: Full-service marketing agency. Print, Design, web design, and other marketing projects.
• Secret Sauce: Amazing design projects, high-level work, and super responsive.
• CEO Hack: Recommended Book: Hug Your Haters by Jay Baer ( how do you do with reviews)  and Talk Triggers (creating an experience that people talk about). Andrew Davis – Speaker. Talks about the buyer's journey.
• CEO Nugget: Changing relationship with time. Doing one task at a time. Having a structure to make life easier.
• CEO Defined: Optimism that is shared with clients and employees. Paying attention, caring, and listening.

Website: siycommunications.com

LinkedIn: @andreasiy

Facebook: SiyCom

Twitter: SiyComm

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3LqrT4hBNqsD__z2Bdh8QQ?view_as=subscriber

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Transcription

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00:24 – Intro

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 Harkness 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.

00:51 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Andrea Siy of Siy Communications Inc. Andrea, it's great to have you on the show.

01:00 – Andrea Siy

Oh, thank you so much, Gresh. It's awesome to be here. It's really an honor.

01:03 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, definitely. The honor is all ours. You're doing so many phenomenal things and looking forward to kind of diving in a little bit deeper on that. But before we do that, I wanted to read a little bit more about Andrea so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Andrea has more than 25 years of experience in the marketing communications field in both agency and corporate environments. She is the CEO and founder of the marketing agency, Side Communications Inc., which has offered a wide range of marketing services since its start in 2003.

The agency combines strategic thinking, and proven marketing strategies with an innovative and creative style. Andrea has shared her knowledge at several conferences, including the executive forum in Florida, the plastics news marketing summits in Chicago, Women Breaking the Mold also in Chicago the Women Business Conference in New Hampshire, and the NESAE Digital Conference, which is virtual, as well as many local events. Along with sharing her wealth of marketing tips and tricks, Andrea is passionate about helping women manage the challenges of running a company and running a family and providing guidance for working moms. Andrea, you're a mover, sheck-a-doo with so many phenomenal things. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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02:08 – Andrea Siy

Absolutely. Ooh, that sounds, like I've been busy.

02:11 – Gresham Harkless

Exactly, you've been busy. Yeah, I could definitely see that as well too. So before you got into being busy, what I wanted to do to kick everything off was rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

02:23 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, thank you. That was a great introduction. I appreciate it. So I actually started my agency back in 2003. I was working in the corporate world. I was a marketing director and I was pregnant and I said, I don't think I can handle the commute, you know, the 40-plus hours of work. I've been doing some side gigs, you know, maybe what I'll do is, you know, work part-time, you know, do some marketing projects on the side, you know, raise the family.

And, within a month, I was probably working hours a week. I mean, it was crazy. You know, but it's been, you know, an awesome journey, an awesome journey. And, you know, I'm really grateful that I kind of took that leap of faith and just gave it a shot. I didn't really know where I was going to end up. I've kind of done this journey sort of along with my clients, but awful.

03:10 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And I imagine your clients are grateful as well too, making that leap and taking that plunge. Sometimes it feels at times the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. But I love you talking about like when you started it and it sounds like you even started before you officially pitched out your flag. Because I think when you see people that are successful and they're doing so many phenomenal things, you almost think that they just wake up and they decide that they're going to get started. And then they hit the ground running, but it sounds like you've had loads of experience that to kind of get you where you are now.

03:37 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, I had worked for an agency in the past. I'd worked for corporate. I kind of knew both sides of it. And, you know, and just, just doing some side, you know, projects, you know, it was just really fun. I said, oh, I never thought I would run my own agency. I remember thinking, oh, I'll never be my own boss. It just wasn't even like a thought. And then there I was, I kind of made it happen. And It's been a fun ride for sure. So it's been almost 20 years, like a blur really.

04:06 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I love that. And it kind of sounds like you have that empathetic type nature as well too. When you say your last times you can hear some of the clients are going through some of the things that you have gone through or maybe even going through. So I imagine that probably rang true in the work that you do and the excellence that you provide.

04:21 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, you know, for sure.

04:24 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more about side communications and you take us through how you work with your clients and how you serve them.

04:31 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, sure. Absolutely. So we're a full-service marketing agency, meaning that we kind of do anything when it comes to marketing. We do a lot of print design as well as online design. We build websites. I do a lot of public relations, PR, and clients. So when my clients come to me with one need, I usually end up sort of serving them, with a lot of different other kinds of marketing projects. And one of the things I've done over the years is if we don't have the capabilities or we don't have that specific talent, I'll find somebody really good at what they do.

Like for instance, Google ads, right? Like Google managing a Google ad campaign is totally a full-time job if you want to really optimize it watch the metrics and really get your best bang for the buck. And so I found somebody who just does that top of his game. And so my job is to really provide my clients with sort of the best of the best, you know, which is just great.

05:25 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. You get to attract that specific, you know, talent. And I don't know if you find this same experience where it almost feels like clients don't always necessarily know what they need or what they're looking for. So it sounds like because you have that breadth of experience you have the expertise on your team as well too. Even if they say they might need Google ads, they might be saying, or they say they need Facebook ads or something. It sounds like you're able to kind of translate that and understand that so that you can put them in, in the best place for them to succeed.

05:53 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, absolutely. Cause it's more about really, what are your goals? You know, you know, they, everybody, there's all these different buzzwords and there's so many different opportunities to market these days. I mean, keeping up with that is a full-time job. But you know, understanding what they're trying to do and then applying, okay, well, this is what makes the most sense, you know, it's really a lot of strategy that goes into it.

06:13 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. And it kind of reminded me of there's a quote that I found out recently that wasn't actually Henry Ford that said it, but people misattributed to Henry Ford, myself included, I've done it, is that if people had asked me, they would have asked me for a faster horse rather than the model T that he ended up creating. So a lot of times, it's like you said, understanding the strategy, understanding the land, the lay of the land, so to speak, so that you are able to create that solution at the end of the day to help them solve their problem.

06:40 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, absolutely. That's right for sure.

06:43 – Gresham Harkless

Yes. I love it. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I like to call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself personally, the company, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

06:56 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, one of the things my team and I joke about is that like we've been COVID-ready since 03. I mean, we, I've worked out of a home office. My whole team works out of the home office. I felt like at the beginning, it did not make sense to have the overhead of an office and have people commuting and coming in. We had a lot of conversations via Zoom before Zoom was even as popular as it is now. And it just helped to keep the overhead down. And so we create amazing design projects, really high-level work that I think rivals that of really large agencies. Yet we're this small, nimble agency, super responsive. There's no bureaucracy.

And it just helps us to really provide what I think is top quality work at price and at a timing that's much better, you know, high end though. You know, one of the things that we have not done is any marketing for ourselves. It's all been really truly through word of mouth. So I'm super grateful for that, but people just pass our names along. I mean, I've got a website, but you know, we don't really: do any marketing at all. So it's been, you know, we're really fortunate in that way. We've served probably well over a client. Just, you know, B2B, B2C. It's been really fun. Like every day is different in this, you know, in this job, which is awesome.

08:16 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I love that. And I think so many times you forget that sometimes the best way to market your business, so to speak, is really to provide really excellent services and have somebody else say, hey, you know, you have to speak or work with this client. And I think we often can zoom over that, even when we're thinking about marketing when people are thinking about talking about marketing, that nothing beats a really phenomenal product or service.

And that can be sometimes your best kind of marketing tool. So it sounds like you have been able to kind of lean into that success. Nice. I love that. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this is a little bit more of an app, a book, or a habit that you have. But what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

08:58 – Andrea Siy

All right, I have there's, there's 2 go-to resources I have that have absolutely helped me sort of keep learning and understand things in a different way. And they're 2 gentlemen that are public speakers, but they've written books, they have, you know, email campaigns, YouTube videos, and all that. And the first one is Jay Baer. I don't know if you're familiar with him, but he headlined at a conference that I was at years ago. And I literally, I laughed, I literally cried and went like, aha, like a million times.

And it was an unbelievable keynote speaker. And so he wrote 2 books. He wrote, I think he's written more, but Hug Your Haters, which is kind of all about reviews and what you do with reviews.

And then he wrote another book called Talk Triggers. I have shared it with like so many clients and talk triggers are about basically creating an experience that people talk about. And so that your marketing is now exemplified, you know, it's more because of word-of-mouth marketing. And so I've talked to so many different clients about what they can do. That is their own secret sauce really, in terms of having people start to talk about what their service or their product is. And it's just, I think it's brilliant because I truly believe word-of-mouth marketing is the strongest marketing channel you can employ, truly.

And so he has all kinds of really cool ideas on how to do that. And so I watch all his videos and sign up for his webinars. He's a really good resource. And then there's another one, his name is Andrew Davis. And Andrew Davis is a phenomenal public speaker. I mean, he is so funny to watch. He talks all about the buyer's journey.

And so all the different touch points that somebody goes through when they decide they first need something and then how they come around to actually buying it. And I mean, his talks are so engaging and I've learned so much really from both of them that I then share with my clients. So those are 2 people I highly recommend following.

10:59 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I appreciate you sharing, you know, both of them. And you've already touched on this, but I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this is a little bit more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It's something you might tell your favorite client or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

11:14 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, oh, definitely. This one was an easy one for me actually, because I have been running my business for almost 20 years. And what I was doing more towards the beginning was talking about how busy I was. How are you doing? Oh my God, I'm so busy. Things are good. Oh yeah, I'm great, except that I'm just so busy, busy, busy, busy, right?

And so, you know, I think some people put like their self-worth in being busy, you know, but what it was creating for me was stress. So I have changed or I'm working on it because I'm a work in progress, aren't we all? But I'm changing my relationship with time, basically.

So, I don't try to say how busy I am anymore, because I'm actually really grateful like I'm grateful I have all this work and all these really fun projects to work on. I mean, I'm grateful I have 2 active and healthy kids, you know, and it's, and I'm trying to be, I guess, more present in everything that I'm doing. So I am a multitasker extraordinaire, but you can only do one thing at a time, right? And so as you're doing that one thing, if you're also thinking about the 10 other things that are in that list after that one thing, you're not actually truly presently working on that.

So I have been working and again, work in progress in terms of just trying to be really present in what I'm doing at that moment. And what I found is that calmer and it and I'm actually working as much if not more but I actually don't feel as quote is you know and so that's really helped and it's just and it's like kind of working a muscle that sort of atrophied when you're just so used to running around and being harried all the time to kind of have sort of a whole new way of looking at time, you know, because you can't fight time, right? We'll lose that battle. You know, so yeah, so and that's and that's helping. That's helping, you know, making me more thoughtful.

13:04 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I love that. And definitely if you run into my younger business, so please also tell him that as well too, because I am definitely that type of person and definitely working on myself as well. But I love what you said about the present and sometimes having that weight lifted off of trying to take care of the present while also holding on to tomorrow and yesterday. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

So I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this. So, Andrea, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:34 – Andrea Siy

Well, I call myself the CEO and lunchroom cleaner.

13:39 – Gresham Harkless

I joke.

13:40 – Andrea Siy

But, you know, I'm a really optimistic person. And I think if you're a leader, you kind of need to be optimistic. You have to think the future is bright. And I bring that optimism, I think, into sort of my everyday world as well as sort of, you know, my team and my clients and all of that. And I think, you know, I really deeply care, you know, for all the people that work for me, my vendors, all my partners, my clients.

And I think taking some unhurried time and paying attention to those people is part of being a leader and stopping and just really caring for them and really listening. So not talking, but actually really listening. And I think that's sort of what being a CEO is. And, you know, I think I'm the CEO of my family and my job and all, you know, all of that. And I think it applies across the board to all of that, really.

14:33 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. No, I love that. And Andrea, of course, I appreciate that. I appreciate your time even more. What I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you and your team are working on.

14:48 – Andrea Siy

Okay. Awesome. Well, I guess, you know, my favorite quote is by Wayne Gretzky and it's you, you, it's you miss a hundred percent of the shots that you don't take. Yeah, absolutely. They can go to my website. It's, siycommunications.com. I'm at andrea@siycommunications.com. So certainly welcome, you know, any emails, or, or pick up the phone, which people don't seem to do anymore. But my phone number is right on the website as well. But yeah, if people can reach out to me, that'd be great.

15:20 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, they'll make it even easier. We'll have the links and information that Shono says well, too. Thank you so much for being that leader and setting the pace card, so to speak. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

15:32 – Andrea Siy

Yeah, thank you, Gresh. This has been so much fun. I knew it was gonna be fun and it was even more fun than I thought. So thank you so much for the time this morning. It's been great. So I really appreciate it.

15:41 – Outro

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. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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