Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Truesdell.
Hi Alyssa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Sure! I actually met my business partner Jennifer through my late stepdad, who had hired her for some design work. He loved her style, her work ethic, and the fact that her company was run entirely by work-from-home moms. When he introduced us, we realized our daughters were in the same daycare class! We’d been unknowingly passing each other in the hallways for months. Once we finally met in person, I started helping with social media content for a few clients, and I was hooked. That was back in early 2020, when the business was still called The Mom Empire.
As the months went on, I began writing emails, helping with websites, and becoming more involved. Then, in late 2022, Jennifer and I officially partnered and became co-owners. She focused on growth and client development, and I focused on strengthening the culture and systems that supported our all-mom team.
One of our most important changes was redefining how we worked with clients. In 2023, we eliminated personal client communication via text, DMs, and email—opting instead for clear, structured collaboration through shared project boards. That boundary gave our team more peace and flexibility while improving turnaround and clarity for our clients. It was a game-changer.
That same year, we rebranded to TME Brand Marketing and began focusing exclusively on mental health therapists. One of our main funnel sources was therapists, so it was a natural niche during and post-COVID, as so many mental health professionals realized they needed to focus on their digital presence. Being in a physical space without being able to network, or market and having to do virtual sessions was an adjustment for them, without a solid support system to rely on. So, we stepped in and built websites, managed blogs, created social content, and offered a level of support most of our clients hadn’t experienced before. Business grew quickly, and so did our team.
Then 2025 brought another shift. While our work with therapists continues, we saw a huge rise in interest from personal brands, executives, speakers, authors, coaches, and creators, people building businesses around their voice, story, or expertise. So, we expanded again and launched speakeasybrand.co to serve that audience.
At the heart of everything we do, whether it’s for therapists through TME or personal brands through Speakeasy, is the belief that a brand should look and feel like the person behind it. It’s hard to sell a service or product when the layout and design feels disingenuous to yourself. Our StandOut Plan is a custom, collaborative process designed to help clients articulate a brand message that’s both emotionally resonant and SEO-ready.
We don’t rely on templates or cookie-cutter strategies. Instead, we put in the time to really get to know our clients, their story, their values, their edge, so we can craft a brand presence that’s authentic, emotionally resonant, and built to stand out in an oversaturated digital world. Every website, course, and content strategy we create is intentionally developed to reflect our clients’ unique voices and get results.
We’re not in the business of mass production—we’re in the business of clarity, connection, and helping our clients be seen for who they truly are.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Like most small businesses, we’ve dealt with turnover, tough clients, slow seasons, and major shifts, especially navigating the post-pandemic world, maternity leaves, and now the rise of AI. But one of the biggest turning points came in 2021, when Jennifer sold the business.
At the time, she had a newborn and was trying to keep things running while paying the team for endless tasks, meanwhile, some clients were only paying $50/month with no real boundaries in place. The business lacked structure, and it was unsustainable. The buyer who took over came in fast, introduced some new systems that didn’t really fit our workflow, and made big changes, including letting go of those low-paying, high-demand clients (which, honestly, needed to happen).
Eventually, he realized he had taken on more than he could handle. He returned to Jennifer and offered her the company back—free and clear—if he could walk away and take full responsibility for the debt he had accrued. Thankfully, Jennifer and I had become close by then, and I immediately said: take it back, and let’s partner (legally, this time).
We worked with an attorney friend of mine to formalize our partnership in late 2022, and from there, we began rebuilding. We restructured our services, shifted our focus from social media to websites and branding, and realigned the business in a way that was sustainable for both our team and our clients. It was one of the hardest seasons we’ve walked through, but it forced us to get clear on what we actually wanted to build.
Looking back, I realized that Jennifer (at the time a new mom of three young kids, married to a first responder working long shifts, a passionate entrepreneur and go-getter going nonstop) was in the worst burnout of her life. And that experience became a cornerstone of the culture we’ve built since. One of our biggest values is simple but powerful: family comes first. We will cover each other when someone needs to fall apart. No guilt, no drama, just support.
Our team is uniquely open, communicative, and honest with each other in a way that you don’t often see in traditional business structures. It’s taken time, trust-building, and trial and error, but we genuinely care about the people we work with. That’s shaped how we lead, how we grow, and how we continue to protect the humanity of our team, because we’ve learned the hard way what happens when you don’t.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At TME Brand Marketing and our sister company, Speakeasy Brand, we specialize in creating custom websites, courses, and marketing strategies that help our clients show up online in a way that’s both authentic and searchable.
TME primarily supports therapists and private practices. Speakeasy serves coaches, consultants, creatives, and service-based entrepreneurs. But across both, we’re best known for our websites—creative, strategic, and completely unique to the person behind the brand. We don’t reuse templates or crank out cookie-cutter builds. Every site we create is crafted from scratch to reflect our client’s voice, values, and goals.
That’s been a non-negotiable since day one. Jennifer and I have gone back and forth over the years about whether we should introduce website templates, and I’ve held firm: it’s not for us. Templates limit creativity and put people in boxes. Our clients deserve websites that are as distinctive as the work they do.
We’re also the team behind two of our most in-demand services:
The StandOut Plan – a personalized, strategy-driven process that helps our clients clarify their message and develop a brand that’s both deeply personal and optimized for Google.
The Google Glow Up – our SEO-focused strategy service that helps clients refine their website content and structure so they actually show up in search results.
Both services combine our creative process with AI-backed data to create messaging and content that’s not just thoughtful—it’s strategic. We don’t rely on guesswork. We use AI to uncover real search behavior, keyword insights, and content opportunities that give our clients a competitive edge. Especially for therapists, it’s no longer enough to simply say you’re a trauma therapist online—you need to clearly articulate who you help, how you help them, and why it matters. Your website has to speak directly to the pain points your ideal clients are actually searching for, not just list credentials or broad specialties.
If there’s one thing we’re most proud of, it’s our constant drive to stay relevant. We fully overhauled our service packages in 2025 and continue to refine them as AI evolves and the digital landscape shifts. We’re always asking: What do our clients really need right now? and How can we best serve them without burning out or resenting our jobs? That balance is everything. We design our offerings around what’s sustainable—for our clients and our team—without ever sacrificing quality, clarity, or creativity.
And behind all of that strategy and design? A team of working moms who understand what it means to juggle a lot and still deliver excellent work. We believe moms are some of the most overlooked assets in this country. Whether they’ve chosen to stay home, gone back to work, or launched something of their own, these women are powerhouses. They keep households running, manage emotions and schedules—and they deserve flexibility, purpose, and respect.
Our company works as well as it does because we are all moms and women. Our biggest source of success? Empathy. We understand what it’s like to pause work for a sick child, take a needed break, or build a website at 2 a.m. when the house is finally quiet. That’s not a flaw—it’s a strength. And we’ve built a business that honors it.
If you’re tired of brands that all blur together and websites that don’t sound like you, let’s create something that finally feels like yours.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Our story has always felt a little serendipitous. Jennifer and I were introduced by my stepdad, who worked with her and couldn’t stop raving about her work. We had no idea we lived just ten minutes apart, let alone that our daughters were growing up side by side in the same daycare class. Our oldest girls are best friends, and our youngest, 2020 babies, were born just two months apart and are completely inseparable. It’s probably the cutest thing ever.
Somewhere along the way, Jennifer and her family became part of mine, and TME evolved into a true family business. When my stepdad passed away unexpectedly, Jennifer stepped in without hesitation. She ran the business so I could take time to grieve and be with my mom. That moment crystallized the kind of partnership we had, it wasn’t just business. It was built on trust, shared values, and real care.
That said, I believe luck is what you make of it. We’ve had moments of good fortune, but we’ve also faced our share of burnout, curveballs, and chaos. Luck might have brought us together, but what’s kept us going is our ability to pivot, to brainstorm through challenges, and to stay flexible when life does what life does. We balance each other out. And we keep showing up, not just for our clients, but for each other.
It’s that mix of timing, trust, and relentless adaptability that built the company we have today. So yes, luck played a role in our beginning. But what we’ve built? That’s been earned every step of the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tmebrandmarketing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tmebrandmarketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmebrandmarketing
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@conversationswiththerapists
- Other: https://speakeasybrand.co/
