Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria La Mendola.
Hi Victoria, 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 got my start in New York City working in marketing within the corporate beauty industry. It was an incredible foundation where I learned how big brands build loyalty, tell their story, and connect with customers at scale. But my path took an exciting turn when my husband pursued his MBA at Vanderbilt, and we made the move to Nashville.
We absolutely fell in love with this city. The community here is unlike anything I’ve experienced. It’s creative, entrepreneurial, and genuinely supportive. Nashville has a way of making you feel like you belong, and it inspired me to take everything I’d learned in the corporate world and bring it to the small business space.
Today I work with small businesses across the country, but my heart is really in my two homes: New York and Tennessee. There’s something incredibly rewarding about helping a small business owner find their voice, sharpen their strategy, and grow in a way that feels true to who they are.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, no road worth taking is completely smooth, right? But I wouldn’t trade any of it.
Leaving the corporate world was a big shift. When you’re at a major beauty brand, you have the budget, the team, and the name recognition behind you. Going out on your own means you are the brand, you’re the strategist, and the project manager, the relationship builder, all of it. That was a learning curve, but it also made me a better marketer because I truly understand what my small business clients are navigating every day. It’s actually one of the aspects I’ve grown to love the most about what I do.
Moving from New York to Nashville was another adjustment. I went from a city where I had deep roots and a built-in network to starting completely fresh. But Nashville made that easier than I ever expected. People here genuinely want to see you succeed. I had conversations turn into collaborations, coffee meetups turn into long-term client relationships. This city has a way of opening doors if you’re willing to show up authentically.
And then there’s the classic entrepreneurial challenge of building credibility on your own, you have to let your work speak for itself. That pushed me to be sharper, more creative, and more invested in every single client’s success which honestly became the most fulfilling part of this whole journey.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I run La Mendola Marketing, a digital marketing consultancy built specifically for small businesses. I specialize in website design, email marketing, SEO, social media strategy, and copywriting. Essentially everything a small business needs to show up online, get found, and convert visitors into loyal customers. I work primarily on Squarespace, Shopify, and Klaviyo, and I’m a certified partner on all three platforms.
What I’m most proud of is the relationships I build with my clients. I work with florists, boutique owners, non-profits, service providers, contractors who are real people pouring their hearts into their businesses. My favorite moments are when a client tells me they finally feel like their online presence matches the quality of what they actually offer. That gap between how good someone’s business is and how it looks online? That’s exactly where I come in.
What sets me apart is that I bring a corporate-level marketing background to the small business world. Without the corporate price tag or the 12-month contracts. I’ve sat in the rooms where big beauty brands make their marketing decisions, and I bring that same strategic thinking to a local florist in Nashville or a boutique owner just getting started. Every strategy I create is tailored to where that business actually is, not some one-size-fits-all playbook. My clients aren’t just another account, they’re partners, and their growth is personal to me!
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
There’s a quote I love: “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” I think that really captures how I see it. Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
Moving to Nashville could have been just a temporary stop during my husband’s MBA program, but we were open to falling in love with a new city and we did. That “lucky” landing here introduced me to a community of small business owners who were hungry for exactly the kind of strategic marketing support I could offer. On the business side, some of my best client relationships started from the smallest moments. A casual conversation, a referral from someone I’d helped months earlier, a DM on Instagram. Those moments might look like luck from the outside, but they happened because I consistently showed up, did great work, and genuinely invested in the people around me. Even the tough moments have had a way of redirecting me somewhere better. Leaving the security of corporate wasn’t easy, but it pushed me to build something that’s entirely my own and that’s been the most rewarding chapter yet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lamendolamarketing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lamendola.marketing/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorialamendola/
