Posted Under: Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Today under the “Our Heroes” series I’m chatting with Alicia Olesinski, President of New Angle Marketing, LLC. Alicia’s entrepreneurship passion surfaced in high-school while working at her father’s pharmaceutical business. She decided to take the leap after feeling unappreciated at her last employer and having to endure a 90 minute daily commute. Let’s talk to Alicia and find out more…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

AO: My name is Alicia K. Olesinski and I am the founder, president and chief marketing strategist for New Angle Marketing, LLC. I founded New Angle Marketing, LLC in 2004 and prior to that I was an in-house marketing director for 2 different accounting firms of very different sizes (a 50-person firm and a 200-person firm, both of which doubled in size while I was there). Prior to that, I had spent my entire adolescence and young adult life working in my father’s pharmaceutical business, gaining a tremendous work ethic and loads of experience working in every facet of a corporation, from production to administrative to marketing and sales. It was a fantastic learning opportunity and fed my passion for learning and taking on challenges. All of these experiences also prepared me for the project management, plan development, article writing, public speaking, and training that I conduct now, helping others to market themselves and their firms.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

AO: I’ve talked about being an entrepreneur since high school, mainly due to my exposure with my father’s company. That commitment grew through college, because I love the diversity of the work, the challenge of creating something all your own, as well as the energy that can be created when truly passionate people get together around an idea. In my mind, it wasn’t a question of “if” I would start my own business, it was a question of “when.” The circumstances that led to me open New Angle Marketing occurred over the course of a couple of years. I was working long hours, feeling a little underappreciated, and since I was seeing great things happen within the firm, I realized that it would be exciting and fulfilling to help smaller firms experience the same type of success. I did a short stint as an employee with a small company in NYC, but I hated the 90-minute commute and felt if I was going to work as hard as I was working, I should be doing it for myself.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

AO: I prepared by talking with as many entrepreneurs as possible about their experiences, asking about the pros, cons, and things to watch out for. I began networking heavily, and was fortunate to get a couple of small engagements within the first couple of months of striking out on my own. From there, through referrals from those who knew and trusted me, I began acquiring sizeable accounts and began to formalize my processes and offerings. My husband (who I was engaged to at the time), played a huge part in my ability to succeed, supporting us while I established myself (an extra stress factor was that I made this decision 3 months after we bought our first house!). We carefully assessed our savings and decided that I would travel the road of entrepreneurship for one year, then reassess. I am thrilled to report that six years later, we never had to reconsider our decision.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

AO: Believe in yourself, your abilities and your product or service. Having confidence shows, and your prospective clients/customers can smell fear. Don’t give up easily. Prepare yourself for cash flow fluctuation. Be able to adapt. When I started New Angle Marketing the economy was still strong. As the world has changed, I’ve had to adapt our pricing models and service offerings. Have a presence – join networking and business groups, write articles, speak – make sure people know who you are and how they can benefit from knowing you. Create strategic alliances wherever you can. It’s good to know what you’re good at, but equally important to know what you’re NOT good at (and surround yourself with people that can help).

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

AO: Despite the fluctuation in work this past year, I feel great. I’m as excited and motivated now as I was six years ago when I started the company. I’ve never regretted it for an instant and take great pride in having grown it, opened an office and hired a full time employee who is also excited about growing the company. We work hard, but it’s worth it. We will continue to adapt our offerings as the world changes, and I view that as an opportunity to do new and exciting things for our clients.

DD: Alicia Olesinski, Founder of New Angle Marketing. She believes that as long as one has the entrepreneurial spirit and aspirations, the “when” will just fall into place. Alicia also outlined the importance preparation needed before getting hanging a shingle at your door. Planning & preparation should not be overlooked, a business that does not plan for success, is essentially setting itself up for failure.

How are you planning & preparing for your employee to entrepreneur transition? Please share it via comments below!

Success to all!