20 Questions with Olivia Jenkins
I’m so excited for this interview! If you’re going to learn from anyone in this blog series, its going to be Olivia!
Olivia was nominated by a few of my followers so i was excited to learn more about her and the consulting business she started last year.
Olivia is a consultant who will take your business to the next level through mentorship, guidance and advice. Her advice is based on years of experience building other brands but then has also taken the leap and created her own business, so she knows what you’re going through when you’re starting out. Oh and also she’s a mum to two boys - so Olivia understands the juggle!
Read on for lots of tips and tricks, advice and if you want to learn more about her services, click on the link!
WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR SIDE HUSTLE BUSINESS AND WHAT INDUSTRY ARE YOU IN?
Olivia Jenkins Consulting. I'm a results-driven Business & Marketing Consultant specialising in digital. I work with female CEOs in the health, beauty and fashion industries wanting to expand and scale their businesses.
HOW LONG HAS YOUR SIDE HUSTLE BEEN RUNNING?
My business was founded in August 2019 so I've been in operation for around 12 months now. It’s been an amazing journey so far and incredibly rewarding to work with some amazing brands!
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS?
Entrepreneurship has been in my DNA since a very young age. I grew up in a family business that turned into a global success story so my passion for business was instilled into me from a young age.
After a 10 year career as a General Manager to global health and beauty brands, I decided it was time to pursue my passions to be a consultant.
I always knew that consulting was my path and that my highest and best purpose was to serve other CEO women and be their secret weapon.
The business I was working in at the time had really transformed and reached new heights in the industry - it was the tell-tale sign that I was ready to start my journey.
After becoming a mum in 2017, I became really passionate about inspiring and empowering other women to pursue their dreams simultaneously with motherhood. After having my two boys in 2019, I knew this was the path for me to take and the timing was perfect.
was born! :)
DO YOU STILL WORK FULL TIME ANYWHERE ELSE?
I decided that in order to really fast-track my growth, the best decision was to make the leap from employee to business owner straight away. I quit my day job in August and started my journey as a consultant virtually straight away.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST FINANCIAL INVESTMENT YOU'VE MADE IN YOUR BUSINESS?
The best financial investment I’ve made is in my own education as a marketer, consultant and coach.
I’ve invested thousands of dollars into my degree to learn how to be a business consultant at an elite level, into my education as an NLP practitioner to help clients to overcome limiting beliefs and also in coaching for myself to keep my own mindset in check.
I know that I can be the best consultant and coach possible if I live by my own advice and invest in business and mindset education too.
DID YOU INVEST IN BRANDING WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR BUSINESS?:
When I started my business, I wanted things to be super simple and named my business after myself and what I do - Olivia Jenkins Consulting. Initially I created my own logo to get started with as I am super comfortable with design given my background and experience.
However, after 12 months in my business, I’m now more clear than ever around who I am, who I serve and how I want my brand to be perceived and understood. I’ve now invested in a branding expert to bring my branding together and have a consistent aesthetic across the board.
This is really exciting as I move into a new chapter of launching more services and products in my business and I’m looking forward to rolling this branding out before the end of 2020.
IS THERE SOMETHING YOU REGRET OR WISH YOU HAD DONE DIFFERENTLY IN YOUR BUSINESS?
No, not at all! I honestly believe that every decision and choice you make in life or in business is exactly the one you were meant to. Everything is a lesson and a necessary part of the journey.
This is also why I am a huge believer in making decisions and not second guessing things all the time - being in limbo does not often serve you.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST PART OF RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?
Definitely watching my clients transform and being part of that journey with them.
There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing clients achieve more revenue, profit and confidence in their business than ever before. As a consultant, I work very closely with all of my clients and we always end up forming really strong connections
WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?
Time! Time is always the precious gold in my business as a consultant as I can only be in one place at one time.
This has meant I have at times felt close to burn out and have needed to place boundaries at times to protect myself and in turn the business. Self care is really important as without our health, we are not able to be the guiding force in our business.
WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU HAD KNOWN WHEN YOU WERE STARTING OUT?
How amazing this journey was going to be! Looking back now, I completely under-estimated how much would change in just 12 months. It’s been an incredible journey and I feel so blessed to have started and taken this leap into my own business.
There’s nothing I really “wish I had known,” but rather to keep embracing the thought process that business is a journey and we need to enjoy the process as much as the final destination - whatever that may be for each of us. There’s no such thing as “ticking everything off the to-do list,” as we often tick things off and have three things take its place.
It’s more around being clear about what your goals are and making decisions everyday that are aligned with these goals and your core values as a business owner.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR SELLING YOUR PRODUCT SERVICE?
Working hard and achieving the results with and for my clients. Nothing sells your service better than proven results and word of mouth recommendations.
Every time I receive a word of mouth recommendation that results in a client, I will always go out of my way to show gratitude through a bunch of flowers, a bottle of wine or another token of my appreciation. Every referral means the world to me and I feel is the best compliment you can ever receive in business.
IS THERE SOMEONE WHO ORIGINALLY INSPIRED YOU TO START YOUR SIDE HUSTLE?
In my early twenties, I was mentored by another consultant when working for my family business at the time. He was an incredible role model that really inspired me in my career. He taught me a lot about good leadership, ethics as a consultant and how important it is to always be across your numbers.
We are still in close contact now, even after ten years and it’s still an honour to be in his world and receive his mentorship.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE ELSE STARTING A SIDE HUSTLE?
Just get started! Being ready to start a business is not “a feeling,” it’s a decision. If you’ve been thinking about starting a business for a while, and you’re really passionate about the value you have to offer - my advice is to get started and work out the rest later. In the early days, my motto was “feel the fear and do it anyway!”
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?
Emails in the morning to assess what the urgent priorities are if anything has come in overnight. From there, I would usually have a set schedule in order to be able to fulfil all of my work for clients in that given month. All of my clients are on ongoing packages with me so I have a rolling action list every month that is linked back through to goals we are working on achieving.
This could be anything from spearheading marketing strategies, planning marketing campaigns, creating an email marketing strategy, crunching numbers in Google sheets or mentoring my clients. Every day is different!
HOW HAS LIFE CHANGED NOW THAT YOUR PURSUING YOUR PASSION AND LIVING YOUR DREAM?
It’s changed in so many ways and I really feel that as a consultant, you are growing and learning more every day. Every day and every client will pose a new set of challenges that need to be overcome and I find that part of the job really interesting.
In some ways, as an employee you are really trapped within the four walls of the business and only exposed to challenges and thought processes within that company. Now as a consultant, I have such a broad understanding of the challenges the entire industry is facing and feel my mind has been opened to a whole new universe.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR BUSINESS IN 5 YEARS?
In the next five years, I’d love to be serving out my vision of educating women in business with greater reach. It’s always been a dream of mine to mentor and develop female business owners to succeed however I also know my time is limited offering 1:1 consulting and coaching.
My dream is to create a platform that can reach women on a greater scale and be able to offer world-class business education and coaching that drives them forward personally and in business.
BEST TIP FOR BUILDING/GROWING A COMMUNITY/FOLLOWING ONLINE?:
In order to be known, liked and trusted - you need to show up and engage. One thing that I’ve found really helpful is using a hybrid of in-person and online activities to build my community. In the early days, I took up a lot of unpaid speaking events in the community in order to give back value to women in my industry. This helped me form really strong connections in person which then translated back to strong relationships online.
I’m also a big believer of staying in your lane and sharing content that adds value in the area you are an expert in - whether this is as a product based business owner or service based business owner. Sometimes I feel like we try too hard to get it perfect online, however what tends to work best is when we show up as our true, authentic selves and have conversations online in the same way we would in-person.
ANY OTHER ADVICE YOU WOULD LIKE READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU, YOUR BUSINESS, OR BEING A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER IN GENERAL?:
My three top tips are - always be across your numbers, have a clear set of goals that you are working towards and INVEST in educating yourself as it offers the highest return on investment for you and your business in the long term.
HOW DO YOU REST, RECHARGE?:
Reiki is my go-to for recharging. I’m also a really big fan of hypnosis when I have the time!
As a high-performance consultant and coach, it’s really important that I recharge my batteries so I’m able to continually deliver for my clients.
This means I need to schedule time in my week to have these opportunities otherwise they will be filled with work. I’ve always been of the belief that even professional athletes that compete at the highest level will still have an off-season - and high-performance business owners are no different!
ONCE COVID IS ALL OVER WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRAVEL TO?:
Europe! It’s always been my dream to explore Europe especially Greece, Italy and France so this is something I am looking forward to ticking off the bucket list once COVID is all over!
http://www.oliviajenkins.co
Insta: @oliviabiancajenkins
