Jessica is a digital marketer, a mom, a traveler, and she’s doing life better. We think she’s awesome, but we’ll let her tell you the rest of her story.
Tell Us About What You Do.
I’m the owner of DLB Marketing and have two awesome employees. We’re all creatives who truly love what we do. Whether it’s a business card, an instagram post, or a TV commercial, we love finding ways to show potential customers how great our clients are.
What Are Your Passions? What Do You Love Doing?
I started diving into personal development at a young age so I’m always looking to be the best version of myself. That’s where my company name came from. I started a personal mission to Do Life Better years ago when I felt “stuck” and uninspired. I have a podcast Do Life Better with Jess where I break down my triumphs and lessons learned from failures.
Other random facts. I have an awesome ten year old son. I am obsessed with traveling & spontaneous so you never know where I might be. I love good wine.
What is one wealth building, debt elimination, or personal finance tip that you would share with the community?
Find someone who inspires you or who is an expert at money and mirror what they do. For me that means, say “no” to the things I don’t need more often, save more, and invest for the future.
What’s Been The Hardest Part of Your Journey?
There’s so many things along the way that have been hard. I don’t know if I could name them all but I’m intensely grateful for every single difficult thing. It’s made me who I am. It’s convinced me there’s nothing I can’t do. When it gets hard, that’s proof you’re on the right track.
What’s Been The Most Rewarding Part of Your Journey?
I have to come back to the personal development. This journey has made me the person I am today and will continue to shape me in the future. Also, seeing my clients grow their businesses never gets old. We’re both winning at the same time and I love that.
How Has SOCO Supported You On This Journey?
I’m fairly new to SOCO but I have met some great people and look forward to meeting many more. Being a creative personality, the office spaces have been great for me when I need a change of scenery. I can choose where to work based on my mood and project which is so fun.
Bacarri Byrd is an independent researcher, a coffee connoisseur, and avid reader. We think she’s awesome. She’s doing amazing work on African-American history. Now, we’ll let Bacarri tell you a little more about herself!
Let’s talk about what you do for work
Due to my cool sense of curiosity, I have a great opportunity to research on a variety of topics including but not limited to: language, culture, and digital spaces.
Okay, what are you passionate about? What brings a smile to your face?
My passion is tapping into the unknown so that the world can be a far better place. I absolutely love reading books around history, tech and rhetorical theory!
In my spare time, I can be seen grabbing a cup of coffee at Big Bucks (Starbucks).
Give us your best piece of money advice
One personal finance tip I would give is to invest early and it’s never too early to SAVE. As a sole proprietor it is so important to save money for rainy days.
Having a cushion to fall on in times of uncertainty is so beneficial to your business.
Tell us about the biggest challenge of your journey
Being disciplined. With the new freedom of remote-work, you can easily fall into the trap of finishing at a later time. Full stop. Always finish when you can and do not wait until later!
Now tell us about the best part of your journey!
Flexibility & having full control of how I spend my time.
How Has SOCO Supported You?
SOCO has provided me with a space and community of professionals who are all passionate in their work. Through my membership, I have a place I can come to in the late night hours to refrain from keeping my family up.
More importantly, I have engaged in several meaningful conversations that have opened my eyes to various possibilities. Thank you, SOCO!
Hannah is another one of our new team members. She’ll working as our ops support manager. You’ll see her out and about at 80808 and Bull Street. We know Hannah is going to make this place run like a well oiled machine so you’ll have an even better experience. We’ll let Hannah take over and tell you about how cool she is.
Who Do You Work For?
I am the Operations Support Manager for SOCO.
Tell Us About What You Do. Brag a Little (50 words or less)
From administration to facilities, I keep the wheels in motion. My job is to identify problems and find solutions that streamline our operations, so we can be our best and most consistent for our members!
What Are Your Passions? What Do You Love Doing? Business or Personal.
I am really passionate about spending quality time with the people I love. I also love time spent outdoors, especially if there’s music involved!
What is one wealth building, debt elimination, or personal finance tip that you would share with the community?
STICK TO YOUR BUDGET!
What’s Been The Hardest Part of Your Journey?
The hardest part of my journey has probably been fighting burn out from retail operations, and actively trying to make a path into a work-life balance I love.
What’s Been The Most Rewarding Part of Your Journey?
The most rewarding thing for me is seeing my efforts make a difference. In terms of my journey, it would be achieving the work-life balance I was striving for by leaving my 60 hour work-weeks behind.
How Has SOCO Supported You On This Journey?
SOCO has given me the opportunity to work with an amazing team that is extremely driven, but by a love of people and community!
Whitney is one of the new folks on team SOCO. She’s a pretty awesome person and we’re super pumped to have her on board as our Director of Business Development (and first full-time hire!). We can’t wait to see all the cool stuff she’s going to accomplish here. But enough of us talking, we’ll let Whitney tell you about herself.
Who Do You Work For?
SOCO 🙂
Tell Us About What You Do. Brag a Little (50 words or less)
Business development & sales. Finding new members and expanding events at SOCO.
What Are Your Passions? What Do You Love Doing? Business or Personal.
Business – Developing relationships with people and a community.
Personal – Reading, walking with my husband and our dogs, visiting local breweries and biergartens.
What is one wealth building, debt elimination, or personal finance tip that you would share with the community?
I am definitely not the person to ask hahaha! (Whitney will like our personal finance boot camp!)
What’s Been The Hardest Part of Your Journey?
One of my passions is getting involved in the community. My husband and I moved a good bit, and it was difficult to get established in a community when you don’t have any contacts in the area. It was really challenging having to start over from square one repeatedly. We are happy to be back home!
What’s Been The Most Rewarding Part of Your Journey?
Usually some of the hardest parts are the most rewarding. I am thankful I was able to join and help build communities/relationships in the different places I lived. I always learn something new to take with me. There is nothing better than watching something you helped build flourish!
Ley’s an awesome human. You’ll see him at both 80808 and Bull Street. Ley does good work: he helps people facing mental illness and challenges. In many ways, his work pays homage to the legacy of Bull Street and the patients who received care in the South Carolina State Mental Hospital. We could go on about Ley, but we’ll let him do the talking.
Tell Us About What You Do. Brag a Little (50 words or less)
I am a behavior analyst, a gerontologist, and a small business owner. My specialties include behavioral gerontology and the behavioral presentations of neurological disorders, in addition to working with criminal offenders with intellectual disabilities. Primarily, I work with adults with a dual diagnosis of intellectual disability and mental illness living in community residential homes, providing behavior analytic services.
What Are Your Passions? What Do You Love Doing? Business or Personal.
Simply put, my passion professionally is helping people with unique challenges live higher-quality lives, whether they are 1 day old or 100+ years old.
Personally, my passion lies in becoming a global citizen through participating in my local community, advocacy for the silent, life-long learning, and trying novel experiences.
What is one wealth building, debt elimination, or personal finance tip that you would share with the community?
Treat your personal finances like a business. If your personal finances were a business, would you be open or closed?
What’s Been The Hardest Part of Your Journey?
I am a behavior analyst and a gerontologist – nothing less and certainly nothing more. I never set out to be a business owner. The ongoing challenges related to business strategy and business management, in addition to the continuing education related to navigating business ownership, are constant companions.
What’s Been The Most Rewarding Part of Your Journey?
The most rewarding part is knowing our team makes a positive difference when we work – every day. We are catalysts for happiness, promoters of success, and advocates for those who have no voice. Intrinsic value is difficult to quantify but to qualify personally, I would describe myself as an incredibly wealthy man.
How Has SOCO Supported You On This Journey?
Confidence. Support. Trust. Friendship. Guidance. Who has a thesaurus? SOCO has taken professional networking, dumped it in the trash, set it ablaze, and pushed it out to sea. SOCO is based on naturally occurring conversations, happening repeatedly over time, which form into friendships and true connectedness, as opposed to professional speed dating at networking events. From a small business perspective, SOCO will be an imperative component for the next levels of success I achieve, no matter what that may look like. It is impossible to overstate the benefits of being surrounded by other business owners who encompass the entire continuum of business, from conception to success (as identified by the person!).
Casey Kennedy is a practicing attorney and founder of Hogan Land & Title, a premier real estate title abstracting and genealogy services company. When she’s not flipping through old dusty deed books or driving to counties with no online records, she’s spending time with her adorable toddler, husband, 47 house plants, and two dogs. She’s a muralist, avid gardener, and enjoys cycling, kayaking, and hiking.
Cool! We have a few questions…
What jobs did you have before you landed where you are today?
I’ve lived many, many lives:
Deckhand on Commercial Fishing Boat in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Barista
Assistant on an Alpaca Farm
Administrative Assistant
Planter at Family-Owned Greenhouse
Title Abstractor
Corporate Energy Associate
It’s been a wild ride so I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but I like to say I’m “well-rounded.”
What do you wish outsiders knew about your industry?
I wish outsiders knew how important quality title searches are to even the most basic real estate closings. A sloppy title search or a poorly researched family tree can give you information that looks right—but is fundamentally inaccurate.
What’s the #1 question clients or customers ask you?
It’s usually, “Can you do a title search in [rural location]?” So many rural counties in West Virginia and South Carolina have not scanned all of their records to a searchable website yet. Being able to conduct an in-person search in a dusty old office on short notice is typically what people are looking for.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned the hard way?
You have to teach people how to treat you. Boundaries are important in all relationships—personal and professional—and you lay the ground rules by how you respond to various situations. If you always answer immediately, your clients will always expect you to answer immediately. If you’re available by text, your clients will regularly text you. If you’re always the guy volunteering to stay late, you’ll be staying late a lot. There’s a balance between being dedicated and client-focused, while still maintaining healthy boundaries that are sustainable for life.
What’s one book, podcast, series, or movie you’d recommend…and why?
If you’re a true crime junkie like me, I can’t recommend the podcast “My Favorite Murder” enough. I’m a bona fide #murderino. Georgia and Karen are VERY funny, genuine, and when they’re not telling horrifying and bizarre crime stories, they’re taking you on a journey examining a wide range of social issues earnestly and with open minds.
What’s one way the SOCO community has shaped your life?
Honestly, SOCO saved my company (and my sanity) this year and that is no understatement. When courthouses closed in March, I was uniquely positioned in possibly the worst-case scenario for a title search company. The SOCO Community not only helped keep my spirits up with weekly Zoom meetings, but they also got down in the trenches with me with critical information needed to survive the complete standstill in work. Although I wouldn’t say we’ve fully recovered yet, we are still here and getting by, and I will never be able to thank Greg, Lynn, and the Community (and coffee) at SOCO enough for that.
What improvement do you hope to see in your own life in the next 12 months?
I really want to digitize/automate more of my workflow and systems. I still do a lot of menial tasks by hand that could all be automated. Attorneys have a tendency to be very behind in tech, and I’d like to think I’m not as bad as some, but I have a long way to go.
