Stephanie Riel of Riel Deal Marketing on how building community can impact your business

Describe your business in a few words:

RielDeal Marketing is a full-service boutique brand marketing firm. My team and I handle everything from brand strategy (refresh and launch), website development, social media management, paid advertising email marketing and automation to help ensure our clients ideal customer experiences a clear, consistent message….because as I always say – confused customers don’t convert. In my personal time I enjoy spending time with my favorite humans, taking vacations at the beach, focusing on personal development and wellness, and soaking up every special moment with my two dogs, Hops a rescue and Teddy the Schnoodle. 

What made you take the leap to start your own business?

I’m a brand strategist and digital marketer who got my start in the industry in 2008, while still in college. I discovered marketing while pursuing my Business degree and immediately fell in love. The problem was, I was nearing the end of my college time and knew I didn’t want to change my major to learn the “book version” of marketing, so I started my consulting firm to get as much real-life marketing experience as possible before graduating.

I leveraged a few freelance projects and my communications background to land my first full-time job — and every job after. I’ve worked in corporate environments and in startups, with franchise systems, Fortune 10 companies, and family-owned small businesses. Intentionally seeking out a diverse collection of brand and business-types to soak up as much experience as possible.

I lived the “side hustle” life for over 9 years, navigating the demands of a full-time job — working for someone else by day, then transitioning to working on my business and servicing client needs on nights and weekends. In 2019, I left my corporate job to focus on my business full-time and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

I had this nudge inside of me that I would always be an entrepreneur after seeing my father’s entrepreneurial journey, but didn’t always have clarity on what business I would start. It kind of all fell together.

Take us back to when you first launched your business, what was your marketing strategy to get the word out and did it go as planned?

I honestly didn’t have a marketing strategy at first. It wasn’t until 9 years after launching the business – and transitioning from solopreneur to a business owner mindset and managing a team that I started thinking about business differently. I’m grateful nearly all of our business comes from referrals from previous clients and colleagues who know our work align the way.

What is the accomplishment you are the most proud of to date?

My most proud accomplishment is the growth that I’ve led RielDeal Marketing through in 2020 and 2021. Two of the most challenging years to be a human on planet Earth. I’m grateful my business is thriving my team is growing and we’re able to expand. I do not take that for granted, and I am so very proud of it.

What have you achieved recently that you’d like to celebrate with our community?

We hit our 2021 Revenue goal for the year in Q3 which has been an incredibly exciting milestone and motivator for the future!

What’s next for your business? What can we expect to see over the next few years?

This may sound cheesy, but the sky is the limit! Our short-term focus is on continued growth and scale of the business, bringing on more resources (including full-time employees) to support our expansion to serve our clients best.

What excites you about being an Entreprenista League member?

Community is one of the most powerful business assets I’ve built over the last decade. Groups like Entreprenista League help us cultivate those connections. I am excited about the connection, the support and the potential to mentor other women in this amazing group!