Hidden Gems: Meet Anna-Vija McClain of Piccolo Marketing

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna-Vija McClain.

Hi Anna-Vija, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started my company in 2014 when I was at my lowest point, unemployed and struggling with depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. A friend at the time gave me a cartoon drawing of a man eating an elephant – “one bite at a time.” I adopted that principle and have been using it in my personal and professional life ever since. I decided to start working for myself, offering marketing services to small business owners.

In the first five years of my company, we grew over 50% year over year on average providing marketing services to businesses. I decided early on to make a concerted effort to impact my team and community in a positive way. Since starting my company, I honed three top values that my company is based on:
Happiness
We are a teaching company
Don’t get offended, get better

From the very start, I wanted to build a company that focused on happiness first, so I prioritized team happiness always, even if that means turning down a client that isn’t the right fit, coaching them into finding a job they will enjoy better or growing the company at a slower pace to make sure everyone keeps up. I keep this mindset front and center in every meeting and decision, including by starting a monthly Lunch and Learn for my team where I teach Leadership Development to help them grow in their skill sets and careers. The team also applies the primary value of “happiness” to the company’s community involvement. A portion of our labor is allotted to non-profit groups and industry organizations and donated pro bono to help them grow. The team enjoys the ability to give back as part of their job and the organizations appreciate the genuine help from people who care.

I have a mindset of teaching first as a leader. Many leaders default to just giving answers and directives rather than challenging their team to practice critical thinking. It has been proven that many people learn best by teaching others and I make it a point to make training a part of our standard operating procedures. And our environment is one where everyone teaches each other. I like to remind my team to find problems, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement and to have the courage to point them out. When someone brings up an issue, we don’t cast blame: it’s company policy. We come together to own the problem, fix it quickly, and then do a “post-op” to determine what went wrong. We then develop new systems to keep it from happening again.

I spend a large amount of my time staying connected to the community through volunteer and board efforts as well to help small businesses get the resources they need to grow. I have overcome many obstacles to grow a successful marketing agency while being transparent and genuinely caring about helping other people learn and find their happiness.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I struggle with depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. I started my company in March of 2014 when I was at my lowest point. Despite my previously successful career in Private Club management, I was unemployed and struggling very hard with mental health challenges. I knew that continuing to hide in my house searching for job listings online and going to an occasional networking event when I could muster the strength wasn’t the answer.

After being offered a series of small marketing projects by professional contacts, I realized there was space for me to try to work on my own, which seemed like an easier option than finding a new job. I decided to start my own company and see if I could make enough to pay my bills. I sent out an email to everyone in my list asking for referrals and within six months had 17 clients. I called my friend Tom Starling at Mental Health America of Middle Tennessee and asked for recommendations to a therapist, who I started seeing once a week. I started taking my dog for walks, trying to eat better, and staying off of social media more.

Over time, I felt better engaging with clients and helping them grow their business made me feel better about myself, and I started hiring people to help with the growing workload. Keeping in mind that my mental health had been hugely affected by the toxicity of my past jobs, I made a decision to be a leader that cared about my people first and built systems to ensure that would scale as my company did. To date, my company Piccolo Marketing has grown 56% on average year-over-year. We have low employee turnover, and our regular employee satisfaction surveys average 4.5 out of 5. During 2020, our team rallied together to keep everyone employed during the pandemic, and we grew 30% that year by staying calm and working together.

Through this whole experience, I have learned that leadership is not about being perfect. It’s about having a goal, treating people well, and staying consistent towards growth.

As you know, we’re big fans of Piccolo Marketing. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Piccolo Marketing is a unique group of experts who are equipped to handle all aspects of marketing by providing an “outsourced Marketing Director” model, coaching “on-demand,” and executing strategic marketing campaigns. We offer the services and client care of an experienced marketing department, including Strategy & Branding, Website Development, Search Engine Optimization, and Social Media Content & Management.

We have a special understanding of the pains and struggles that businesses face when it comes to marketing their company, reaching new customers, and retaining their current client base. We provide customized solutions to solve these problems and strategies that have helped independent business owners and multimillion-dollar organizations reach unprecedented results and successfully build their brands.

We are most proud of our commitment to the community both through pro bono work, supporting local charities and organizations, and by offering services to smaller companies that allow us to grow with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.piccolomarketing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annavija/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annavija
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/annavija

Image Credits
Elisenda Simmons