The Digital Frontier: Helping Women be Confident on Social Media with Emma Tessler

[: 00:00:00

Vanessa Murphy: everybody. Anne, welcome to another episode of Women in Confidence, the podcast that celebrates fearless women making their mark in the world. So I'm your host, Vanessa, and today I have a great guest who is changing the game in the world of digital marketing. So joining me today is Emma Tesla, the founder and c e O of 95 Media, which is her digital marketing agency.

She's an impressive eight plus years of marketing experience and she's a real driving force behind the success of scaling brands. So in this episode, we're gonna hear from Emma. I dunno where this is gonna end up. We could talk about all sorts of things, but I certainly know we're gonna delve into Emma's story and how she came to set up 95 Media and take it from a side hustle into her, you know, really, really successful business.

how to talk about this for a [: 00:01:00

Emma Tessler: So welcome. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you.

Vanessa Murphy: And you are, you are really expert at, at podcasting as well, so this is gonna go like a dream today. Yeah, this is gonna

Emma Tessler: be great.

Vanessa Murphy: So I always ask this question, Emma, and I think it's a really great warming up into the theme of confidence. So what does having confidence mean to

Emma Tessler: you?

Yeah, I love this question because it's, you know, it gives you the opportunity to look at it a few different ways, but I think for me, confidence really goes back to trusting yourself and trusting yourself to make the right decision and feel confident in knowing that you've done it the way that you wanted to.

t decisions when she had put [: 00:02:00

And so, I think, you know, when I look back on, you know, the things that have required confidence, and confidence is an everyday evolution, but for me it definitely comes back to being able to trust yourself and what you're doing and knowing that you're on the right path and that really, ultimately you're the only one who can make those decisions for yourself.

Vanessa Murphy: Yeah, I totally agree with everything you've said, and I really wanna talk about, you said about having trust in yourself and certainly making some decisions, thinking back across your life. And then your, also your journey to setting up 95 media. I guess, how, where did that trust in yourself come from to know that it was the right decision to make, to step away from, you know, a a, somebody employing you to then being your own boss?

eel, I didn't feel confident [: 00:03:00

I'm not with big decisions. I'm not a spontaneous person. I definitely want to have things mapped out. I want to know and feel confident in knowing that things are going to pan out the way that I want them to. So when I considered leaving corporate and going into entrepreneurship full time, For me, one of the really big driving factors was being able to financially support myself, which for most of us, going from side hustle to full-time is one of the biggest challenges, and it's something that keeps a lot of people stuck because I.

my side hustle when I was in [: 00:04:00

So, One of the goals that I had set was a financial goal for our monthly reoccurring revenue that I knew I wanted us to hit to feel confident in being able to start paying myself slightly more just to like pay my rent and like some things on the aisles, like I really don't need a lot. And luckily I was in a great position to do that cuz I was so young.

I didn't have a lot of expenses and it worked out in my favor. But it was the confidence in knowing that. I was able to build the company to a, a successful point while working full-time and it, I almost couldn't wrap my head around what I would even do with all of the time I would have when I left corporate because at that point I was working.

ost of us do when we're side [: 00:05:00

And knowing what I was capable of doing with very little hours in the day versus what I was walking into, as well as setting myself up financially with the goals we needed to hit were the two biggest factors in building that confidence to leave, quote unquote a stable income, which at the time was not stable to begin with because I left corporate in 2020, and so nothing was stable at that point.

t's really interesting cause [: 00:06:00

But talk to me about your side hustle and what point did you like tell people about it? Because I know there's lots of people with side hustles who never

Emma Tessler: talk about it. Yeah. So, I did not try to build a side hustle like we can start there. That was never the intention when I started doing it. I was in college, so I, I really did not even know of this world in marketing.

s on Instagram, and it was in: 2015

And once I started dipping my toes into it, it really, [00:07:00] really excited me and I just saw so much potential and I was so excited by what I believed was going to come, which was the world we're living in now. And so when that internship ended, I, I continued working with her while I was in school. And then towards the end of being in college, I had another client come on, and then I went straight into corporate and I, you know, word of mouth, I just started talking about what I did up, you know, randomly with, you know, people I knew and, Signed a few clients here and there, but it's funny you said, you know, when do you tell people?

top, like, you know, working.[: 00:08:00

And it's so funny to even say that because it's like, why would you judge someone to do that? And today, so many more people have side hustles that it would, it's more of something that that should be celebrated and is celebrated today than it was even, you know, like eight, nine years ago. But with that being said, I didn't tell anyone I worked with at the time what I was doing, and it was really kind of like my closest friends and my family that knew.

But I blocked a lot of people on social because I just didn't, I. I didn't even want to, it felt very sacred to me and I didn't want to like, share it. And I, I also didn't want those people, you know, following me and then feeling like I had to censor myself and not talk about certain things. Cuz obviously my entire business was growing on Instagram.

mpany I was with, I loved my [: 00:09:00

And so it was intentionally taking on more clients, intentionally bringing on a team that could support the tasks that needed to happen while I was at my job, come home, do the things only I could do at that point. And. It was kind of built little by little and it was every year on my, my anniversary, you know?

Okay. You've been at the company one year or two years. I always said to myself, I'm gonna quit this year. This is the year I'm gonna do it. And I ended up, it was on year three when I sat there and I said, it's the middle of a pandemic. If you are not going to do this now, then you're not gonna take this huge leap.

e? How can I support myself? [: 00:10:00

It was never something where I was like, oh, well, I'll just try it for a year. That didn't even occur to me. I was just like, this is what we're doing. We are just going all in. And luckily it's all worked out since then.

Vanessa Murphy: Yeah. Great. And do you remember your last day when you, or maybe not your last day, but the day that you handed in your resignation?

Do you remember that day?

Emma Tessler: Oh my God. I had the, like worst anxiety of my life that day because my, my boss was the owner. Yeah, he was the owner of the company and it was a very like, Straightforward man and not very emotional, and I'm not a very emotional person, but it was such a big decision that I had been thinking about for so long and keeping quiet and not telling anyone.

im and tell him my decision. [: 00:11:00

I left his office and I ran to the bathroom and started hysterically crying, and I called my mom from the bathroom and I was like, mom, I just made the worst decision of my entire life. Like I can't believe that I just did this. I'm 25 years old. Who the heck do I think I am? Like I just gave up my first corporate job, my first paycheck that I've been getting.

And yeah, I mean, it was absolutely terrifying. So I remember that day vividly. And then of course I had to tell everyone else in the office and they were like, well, what are you doing? Like, they had no idea, obviously, what I was doing and what I was leaving for. So it was, it was a journey, it was an experience that day.

. But. How confident did you [: 00:12:00

Because you kept it quite quiet, you told just a very select view. This was your moment to really bring your business out there. How did, can you remember telling and how did that feel? Were you confident about it?

Emma Tessler: I think I, I still kind of watered it down because I, I still had everyone blocked on social media, so I was like, you're not gonna find us anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

So I, I don't even know if I told them like the name of my company. I was just like, yeah, I'm doing social media marketing. We do X, Y, and Z. And I was very vague about it, but I think I was more confident in it because I had reached a level that felt successful to me, largely based on just financial goals that I had wanted to hit at the time and knowing, you know, the steps we were going to be taking to continue growing.

that time. Of course today I [: 00:13:00

It's kind of weird to tell people that and be like, yeah, sorry, and I know about this whole part of my life. So

Vanessa Murphy: to go back on your experience and there'll be people listening now be like, I'm in that situation. Like I have, you know, I do X, I do Y. I've got this little side hustle. And I know you can't talk for every situation and their environment, but what would you advise women who are listening and they are keeping their little side hustle to themselves?

I mean, I was talking to somebody yesterday about authenticity and I'm like, you should try and bring your whole self to work. But both you and I have just, you know, said we, we do keep part of that really, really quiet. But what would you advise women who do have a side hustle and they're like keeping some of

Emma Tessler: themselves back?

, I think you should do what [: 00:14:00

Of course, different, you know, personality types, different levels of friendship have a big impact on that. So I think it's really comes back to doing what is going to allow you to be your best self and to show up. Most fully in this business because ultimately this business is probably something that you care more about than the coworkers you've known for six months or a year versus the business that you're building that you are probably hoping is going to last the next 5, 10, 20, 30 years.

Well, let's talk about

Vanessa Murphy: 95 media. What's the background to the, the name?

[: 00:15:00

Vanessa Murphy: I knew you. I thought you were gonna say that. I'm thinking, no, I love it. I love the fact that there are so many women out there who are maybe turning their back on the traditional career paths and, and choosing to do their own thing.

When, when were growing up, were you, were you consciously sort of ambitious and entrepreneurial and, you know, sort of striving to be quite independent?

Emma Tessler: Yes and no. I mean, I think when I look back, I see qualities of that and wanting to be the person selling things and, you know, leading certain aspects of projects and sale like.

to do something different. I [: 00:16:00

And so, I definitely didn't plan this path, but it's really interesting to see how differently, you know, I'm on like the very end tail, end of millennial and my entire team is Gen Z, and you know, they, my team has never had a corporate job. I have a team of eight and. I think one of them has worked in an office setting in her entire life, and it's so interesting to me and I love nurturing that, and that's why I'm so passionate about building a team and supporting other women on my team because I think it's so cool to be able to be a part of financially supporting other women, making money in untraditional ways.

And [: 00:17:00

So, no, this was not the path that I thought I was going to go down. But now I can't really see it any other way. Yeah,

Vanessa Murphy: you were already were saying, talking about, you know, people working these weird hours, you know, you've gotta be at your desk between nine to five and whatever. It really got me thinking about what kind of boss are you, how do you like to run your company?

cause we are a service-based [: 00:18:00

But at the exact same time, I. I'm very flexible in if your work, if you do your best work at midnight, I don't care, like get the work done. And that's cool. And I'll see your slack at 7:00 AM in the morning when I sit down to work, because my best hours of work are seven to 11 in the morning. So you know, by three o'clock my brain is just absolutely dead.

And so I am not someone who's productive after that time. I'll probably be at my desk doing things, but I think it's a really. Empowering move to work for a company that allows you to say, okay, you know, you work best in this environment. You work best during these hours. That's cool. That's great. And so that's something I really wanna foster in our team as well as just collaboration, because our team is fully remote.

. We're on Zooms constantly. [: 00:19:00

When we are fully remote. That's been a huge challenge, but something I really focus on. So I think I, I try and take a, an approach that I never experienced in corporate because they don't even know what that feels like, and I don't really want them to, because at the end of the day, they've chosen to work for a company like ours because, Flexibility is important to them because time off is important to them because, you know, building with a, a small company and being able to grow at that company is important to them.

So I try and bring all of those factors to the table and make it an environment that our team wants to grow in and feels comfortable in, and can really just be their, their best selves in. I love that you are

Vanessa Murphy: all remote and the discussions and the thought process behind that, given the debate that's happening in the moment.

everybody's, you know, with [: 00:20:00

Challenging some of that and saying, you don't need to be in the office. It's, you know, there are challenges, don't get me wrong, you know, how do you create that team culture? How do you collaborate? But it's not impossible. And I, I just find your view of it very refreshing given, you know, the noise that's going on in the moment about everybody has to be in and we all have to be visible and it helps collaboration, which, you know, I don't think it does, it's just a different style of management, so thank you.

I guess for, for. Continuing to, to push that, that model, and that's really important to your business and the women that you employ. I think it's, it's really good

retain the talent, the young [: 00:21:00

People do not give a flying crap about staying with the company just because they've been there for two years. They will leave and they will go find a company that aligns with their values and gives them the flexibility they want because we all know that we can all do our jobs from home. Like it's a very apparent, you know, observation.

I was in corporate, obviously: 2020

Fricking talking to me all day. And so for me, I think I'm lucky in the sense of we never, I've never had in-person team, and so I think I might might have a, a slightly different perspective on that if I had experienced that with within 95 media. But to me, being [00:22:00] remote, not only does it allow us to get like the best talent, but it also allows us to hire talent across the entire US rather than just in the city that I'm in, because.

I wanna be remote too. Like I built this company to be remote. I moved from New York down to Texas two years ago, so what if I, if I did that, now I have to hire a whole new team cuz I moved to Texas. Like, that seems so crazy to me. And then you're refine, you're, you know, you're confined to only hiring people near you and that seems kind of crazy as well.

So being remote, hiring a remote team is one of like the core pillars for us at 95. Media.

Vanessa Murphy: Yeah. Love it. So I'm gonna talk about, well, we're gonna go back to something you mentioned. You probably don't remember it now, but you talked about, well, the fact that you are remote and you use, I think you said Slack, but you also talked about sort of automations and really setting processes in place quite early on.

d step back into running the [: 00:23:00

I guess, where did you start with the automation and the processes?

ng it, I think it was back in: 2018

I can set up something as simple as recurring invoices. I used to send out manual invoices through QuickBooks every single month, and then I would panic on the third of the month, oh my God, did I send out the invoice this month? I don't know. And did, is it overdue? I have no idea. So that was reoccurring invoices was like the coolest thing in the world to me.

ted workflows within Dodo as [: 00:24:00

I had no idea how to build a team. I had no idea what people needed when I hired them. I was not given a handbook when I entered my job in corporate. It was a hot mess for the first year, and I sat there and I was like, I can't afford a year of someone messing up and me chasing them and doing all of these things.

And so I knew I wanted to do it differently, and I think it's really cool to be able just to take my own experience. Very limited experience working for someone else and say, okay, these are the things that I really liked, and here are the things that I saw room for improvement in and apply them to my own business, which is really where I started because that was all I had to go off of, and that business was very different structurally than the one I'm building.

But [: 00:25:00

It's. Really an employee handbook of how we do everything, but it is structured in the way of an online course. It's modules and submodules and videos and downloads and Google Docs linked, and here's a scribe to, here's how the steps go through everything. And it's really outlines not only how to do our internal processes, but how do we structure client deliverables.

y was because I found that I [: 00:26:00

I was not being clear on deliverables. I wasn't being clear on their KPIs. And so I almost immediately after I built out this dashboard, which took me six months to build out it, Significantly improved our turnover rate within our team, and our team has been so much more successful since building out this dashboard.

It's something that's in flux. I'm constantly updating it. I'm constantly adding to it, taking things out, improving it. And it's this really beautiful living thing within our business where I can say, even someone who's been on our team for a year, they come to me with a question. I'm like, oh, it's in this module, and the dashboard.

t. And so that one piece has [: 00:27:00

Vanessa Murphy: That's so interesting what you're saying about that dashboard. That's, it's really interesting how either you can adapt all these on employee onboarding tools and just make it purely digital. I really like that. I'm gonna steal that idea, if you don't mind, Emma. Emma, of course. So at what point do you, did you, in your, you know, you founded 95 Media, at what point did you sort of sit back and be like, got it.

Look at me. I'm the founder of this incredible digital marketing agency. Or has that moment never come yet?

Emma Tessler: I think it's so hard to answer that. I

Vanessa Murphy: do's like bragging all arrogance, but

success and never let us sit [: 00:28:00

Wow. I did that. But one of those moments that I had was, it was one year after I left corporate, so 2021 was the first year that I was fully in this business and doing it full time and. Our growth rate prior to that point was we doubled in revenue every single year. And the first year that I was doing, I was in 95 media full-time, we three Xed in revenue.

So I sat there and I said, Okay. Like this thing is legit. I think. I think we're onto something like, I think we're gonna be okay, because that year was so much of me just throwing shit at the wall and hoping it sticks. Like I had no doubt to go off of. I wasn't, I hadn't really taken the business Sealy in a sense of, okay, like let's keep track of.

terly re like I never really [: 00:29:00

Cause you're like, I don't even know if this is good. Like, this could be really bad and I have no, no idea. And so once I got those back, you know, going into taxes of that year and paying a lot more taxes than I thought I would, you know, I, I realized that. This is something that's going to last and this is something that is really exciting and just something to be proud of, and I was really proud of it at that point.

And of course, that's only continued to grow, but I'm definitely someone who does not sit in it enough and does not actually acknowledge a lot of the accomplishments that I should. But I, I also think that every entrepreneur should be doing that more, but we just don't really give ourselves time to do that.

oes it sort of like U U S P. [: 00:30:00

Emma Tessler: We heavily focus on social media management and marketing.

So that's kind of our core of everything that we do, is we work with scaling brands who are looking to grow their online presence and monetize their audience. A lot of the times we join companies who. You know, often it's the founder who's been doing the social media content and they've just been inconsistent.

They don't know what they're doing, and they've gotten to a point where they're just very frustrated with not seeing results and don't understand what they're doing wrong, but also don't have time to figure out what they're doing wrong. And so we usually enter at that point, and we come in and we do everything under the sun to just bring.

tforms, Instagram, Facebook, [: 00:31:00

Angle where you know your brand needs to be present and, and you can't just be focusing on building 30,000 followers on Instagram because you don't own that list. So then we look at email marketing and we handle email marketing for our clients, and you own your email list, so let's get people on there and let's increase how many clickthroughs we're getting.

And email just gives you the opportunity to have a lot faster conversion because it's less clicks to the ultimate sale. So we love that. And then earlier this year we launched our podcast production as well, which has been really, really exciting because podcasting, of course, is the future of digital marketing, and it goes so hand in hand with the boom of video content.

so much success with so many [: 00:32:00

We bring on our show, and it's just been such a cool journey for ourselves. And now to be able to support new businesses with their own show has been a really great addition to our company this year.

Vanessa Murphy: Yeah, great. You know, I'm a massive fan of, of podcasting and, and deeply be helping women get onto podcasts.

Cause I think it's, for me, look, I'm not a marketeer at all, but I really understand that it's a space that women can really get into, you know, the ears of. You know, globally, they can get into the ears of so many people. So I think it's such an important part of people's marketing mix these days. So it's great to hear that you are also in that space.

What are the common mistakes? People come to you with them and they're like, Emma, I really need some help with my digital marketing, my social, what are the common mistakes you see people

I would say number one is a [: 00:33:00

It is at the core. Video content is at the core of really any marketing strategy today, and it's such a crucial element to showing up producing content that your audience really wants to see. And while we all kind of know that in the back of our heads, so many of us who are expected to create content, you know, business owners, entrepreneurs, so.

Are so resistant to video because we still think about video as, okay, I need to have full hair and makeup. I need to know what I'm saying. I need to not mess up. I need to not trip over my words. And really, it's that authenticity that comes out in video content, which is why your audience is obsessed with it, which is why people wanna see you get on video because they can see the little quirks that make you you.

nd in a box. That feels very [: 00:34:00

And that is a challenge that we work with every single client on. They'll come to us and say, well, you know, I really like doing those. Here's three steps to X, Y, and Z. And I'll say, okay, well are they your top performing content? So, No, they're not. They're your worst performing content. So actually, we're probably going to stop doing them for a little while and we're gonna test something else, and we're going to look at the data.

the data, which is free and [: 00:35:00

So when you combine lack of strategy and no video content, you're really setting yourself up for failure on social media within your marketing in today's marketplace.

Vanessa Murphy: Oh, Emma, you've taught me all so much in the the last sort of few minutes, but video content, let's just talk there and it particularly related to confidence because I have met.

I don't know, countless women who are like, there's no way I can do video. I'm probably guilt. Well, I don't do video really. I hate being on video. Hence podcast. Just my voice. But video content. How can people get through this barrier of lack of confidence and getting their faces and their voices, regardless of what the hair and the makeup and the, you know, whatever.

How can people do it? Because it's a huge

Emma Tessler: barrier. [: 00:36:00

And I wanted to record video. This was before stories, like this was the only video content on Instagram at the time, and I wanted to record video because I had so much to say and so much to share and so much to teach on, and it was so hard to put all of that into a caption. So I started posting one video a week to my Instagram, but again, I didn't have time to be doing that every Monday or every day.

setup. It was like comical. [: 00:37:00

But I would change outfits between every video too, because at that time it was like you wanted to look like it was a different day. I was like, I don't know, people knowing that I'm spending, you know, eight hours of my life sitting here trying to record these stupid videos. But one thing that built my confidence so quickly in doing that was I.

credibly horrified at myself [: 00:38:00

I was like, that's what my face looks like when I talk. Like that's insane. I look crazy. So it was kind of this training of my, of myself, of my facial expressions, of the way that I expressed myself. And I think confidence comes back so often to practice, and I genuinely believe that that practice that I had, that I just forced myself to do for literally no reason, it wasn't something that was needed at the time.

ent that is only for you and [: 00:39:00

Whether it's better lighting or it's, you put different types of makeup on or. You smile more. I realized when I first started recording, I was like, I look like a such a mean person when I'm talking. I don't smile like I have a resting bitch face constantly. And it was like, okay, we're gonna change that now because I didn't know I like, that was the first time I'd watched myself talk.

And so you know when you practice and when you just record content for yourself and you know it's not gonna go anywhere else, that can just help you build your confidence so much faster.

Vanessa Murphy: I think that's brilliant advice. Thank you very much for that. So I've got a quick fire question for you. What is your social platform of choice and why?

f platform of choice, but we [: 00:40:00

I absolutely love TikTok for our clients, but of course we are managing it for them, so it's a bit easier and we always come last on the totem pole. But Instagram is my platform of choice

Vanessa Murphy: right now. And do you still see validity in someone like LinkedIn? I mean, I know they're now doing a lot more to push video and do lives.

Do you still see a lot of validity in, in

Emma Tessler: using LinkedIn? Absolutely. I've been such a big fan of LinkedIn for so long when no one was using it, and the beauty of LinkedIn is even though more people are starting to recognize like, okay, this is a great platform to be on, I, there's a statistic, and I think it's only 2%, this statistic was from last year, but 2% of LinkedIn users are actually creating content.

e even they log in daily, it [: 00:41:00

And so that's what we wanna look for on new platforms or platforms that aren't as popular and saturated is. Where can I find the white space in my industry and show up as a leader in that space that's not being taken up by anyone else right now.

Vanessa Murphy: Good. And I guess, so for listeners who are not necessarily familiar with Instagram and TikTok, we'll go back to those cuz they're the, the big sort of industry leaders.

What's the difference and do I need to be on both or can I just settle on one?

t four videos a week over on [: 00:42:00

Ideally, it wants you posting at least once a day. So in an ideal world, it's seven posts a week, and if you're really trying to go hard, it's three videos a day, seven days a week. But on TikTok, it also wants consistency, so you don't wanna overcommit yourself and then miss a day because then it will dock you as well.

So it's finding that sweet spot over on TikTok, and also recognizing that your audience is very different on TikTok. People are much, much more in your face on TikTok. Comments are very different on TikTok and just the demographic. You're going to reach a younger demographic over there as well. And when you look at Instagram, you know you have this mix of video and photo content, so you can spend time creating a graphic rather than needing to record a video or using a photo from a shoot you did a year ago is, you know, it's still acceptable right now over on Instagram.

essentially you being in the [: 00:43:00

It's newer and the, you know, availability for gaining traction. You have a h much higher probability of doing that over on TikTok than you do on Instagram, even though they have a very similar amount of active users, which is absolutely crazy since TikTok only came in the scene three years ago. And Instagram has been around since 2012.

form as well, because, Maybe [: 00:44:00

So it's really figuring out where are my people? How much content bandwidth do I have, and where do I wanna land? And stay consistent.

Vanessa Murphy: Yeah. Great. Love it. How can people find

Emma Tessler: you, Emma? Yeah, so on Instagram, I am the most active, as I said. So our handle over on Instagram is 90 five.media all spelled out. Our website is 95 media.co.

We have our podcast as well as stop scrolling, start scaling. And we have a free course if you'd like to join it, called Master Your Marketing. It just kind of covers how to create really strategic content in under 30 minutes a day for the person who is still creating on their own and not ready to pass that off just yet.

And if you wanna join, you can go to master your marketing course.co. But otherwise, I'd love to see you over on Instagram as well. All right, and

y who's listening is like, I [: 00:45:00

Well, listen, Emma, thanks so much for being on the show and just brilliant conversation. Amazing. I dunno, 45 minutes, something like that, but just being the best. So thank you so much for being a guest on the show.

Emma Tessler: Thank you. This has been so fun.