I had the pleasure of listening to John Pietro, a marketing extraordinaire, share a variety of insights with us on how to grow our businesses and build a community of support. One of the things that really resonated with me was his sharing "Serve the underserved, not the overserved".

It seems easy enough to understand, right? Serve the people who need us most and make yourself accessible to people who might not always be perceived as the ideal customer. The hard part is that when you are launching a business, you are constantly fighting the odds of financial survival and so it becomes easier to slip into a marketing and development plan that goes where deeper pockets and financial security can be. We can also become hyper focused on price-points and sales rather than value and connection. For me, I have struggled moreso from the notion of not caring enough about the financial stability which is not good either as when you want to share everything with everyone you almost diminish your value and make it impossible to keep offering your services to the world. Neither side allows you to really make an impact and to connect with the people who need us most.

After reflecting on this for some time, I made the realization that for me, my focus will always be on the people who do not have access and opportunity to resources and events that they might need in order to move to the next level (in whatever direction that is). I grew up in difficult circumstances and it is because people took the time to offer me opportunities and resources I can stand here with the privileges I have and I feel it is my duty to recognize those inherent and developed privileges in my identity and do what I can to connect to others who have not been as fortunate.

But I have to find ways to strategize how I am going to make that sustainable as without me doing my due diligence to plan ahead, I will just become one more dissipating resource in a community of people who already can't count on consistency and commitment. I have to get creative and force myself to think differently about sustainability and funding as to truly change the world means to create a new map and journey to new destinations not yet foretold.

Who are you serving in the work you do? Does it fit with your values? How can you make shifts that allow you to connect with the people who have been too often forgotten and find ways to make this work in your overall business development and success?

I had the pleasure of listening to John Pietro, a marketing extraordinaire, share a variety of insights with us on how to grow our businesses and build a community of support. One of the things that really resonated with me was his sharing "Serve the underserved, not the overserved".

It seems easy enough to understand, right? Serve the people who need us most and make yourself accessible to people who might not always be perceived as the ideal customer. The hard part is that when you are launching a business, you are constantly fighting the odds of financial survival and so it becomes easier to slip into a marketing and development plan that goes where deeper pockets and financial security can be. We can also become hyper focused on price-points and sales rather than value and connection. For me, I have struggled moreso from the notion of not caring enough about the financial stability which is not good either as when you want to share everything with everyone you almost diminish your value and make it impossible to keep offering your services to the world. Neither side allows you to really make an impact and to connect with the people who need us most.

After reflecting on this for some time, I made the realization that for me, my focus will always be on the people who do not have access and opportunity to resources and events that they might need in order to move to the next level (in whatever direction that is). I grew up in difficult circumstances and it is because people took the time to offer me opportunities and resources I can stand here with the privileges I have and I feel it is my duty to recognize those inherent and developed privileges in my identity and do what I can to connect to others who have not been as fortunate.

But I have to find ways to strategize how I am going to make that sustainable as without me doing my due diligence to plan ahead, I will just become one more dissipating resource in a community of people who already can't count on consistency and commitment. I have to get creative and force myself to think differently about sustainability and funding as to truly change the world means to create a new map and journey to new destinations not yet foretold.

Who are you serving in the work you do? Does it fit with your values? How can you make shifts that allow you to connect with the people who have been too often forgotten and find ways to make this work in your overall business development and success?