101% Revenue Growth, 50% Profit Margins, and 2 New Hires with Jayci from Happy Girl Marketing Co

Welcome to the Creative Mind Smart Money Podcast, where we turn financial confusion into creative confidence. I'm Samantha Ek, the keeper and fractional CFO for creative entrepreneurs. Each week, I'm sharing my financial expertise and actionable strategies to help you build a thriving creative business. Plus, you'll hear from industry experts who bring fresh perspectives on growing your business beyond the numbers. Because building a successful creative business starts with strong financial foundations. Your next chapter starts now. Welcome back to the Creative Mind Smart Money Podcast. I'm so excited. I told you guys last week that we were going to be diving into a couple of case studies with some of my clients. And today I'm here with JC from Happy Home Marketing. So, hi JC and welcome back to the podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here today. Yes, absolutely. So, we're going to talk all about how everything has changed for you since working with Firestorm. And I really want to talk about though, before we even got to working together and before we talk about all the growth and everything that's happened, what did it really feel like before we were working together? Were you still kind of stressed about your numbers? What were you constantly worried about? And kind of like what felt really heavy to you? I think that I was confident in some of the tracking processes of like I understood the basics of I need to track what money is coming in and what is coming out. But to me it was such an equation of okay, this much money came in. I'll subtract what needs to go out and I can spend the rest and quickly recognize that as I was growing that wasn't going to be sustainable. And so I was starting to kind of create some stress. I was bringing people in contractors and thinking in the future of wanting to bring in employees. And I knew this is not a sustainable method of this simple equation of that I could just spend whatever is kind of whatever else is left. And so I was feeling stressed and not really sure how to navigate going about like all the things that needed to even be in place to feel peace with my business finances. Yeah, no, for sure. Now when we first started we were just in the flames of ascendancy, which is the middle tier. It's bookkeeping only and then I think we had some strategy calls and stuff like that. Obviously the packages have changed. But what changed from just having a bookkeeper that gave you like clean books to like when we started working together with flames? You know, did it help you to notice more patterns? Was there anything that kind of surprised you as we started to really work together? Yeah. I knew after having really consistent solid bookkeeping that I wanted some even more numbers and data to make stronger decisions because the bookkeeping was fantastic. But then I still felt like I was in this spot of, okay, I have all this awesome data. What do I do with it or where do I go or what does this mean? And you know, I remember reaching out to you and saying like, I want to do more, but I don't know what to do more. And you're like, okay, let me put something together for you. And I remember you reached back out and you said, I think we should start with some budgeting and some cash flow forecasting. I said, okay, let's do it. And so the budgeting really helped take the equation, that simple equation I talked about earlier, take that out of my head and know, okay, these are all the milestones I want to hit. And I can see the goals that I have, the daily operations, but even things that maybe happen less often are annual expenses. All of those were kind of in coming into play in the budget. And I could see it on paper on a screen. But I loved it. And I loved having that accountability of when I would reach out, I still reach out and say, this is something I really want to do. Can we put it in our goal sheet and then getting to see the percentages every week grow and get to, it almost lit like a fire under me in a different way. Instead of just making money and growing, it was, no, I want to make more money. So yeah, I can take home more, but I can like reach all of these goals. I can do all of these things that we've set up and fuel a lot of peace. And so then in conjunction with the budgeting, we had cash flow forecasting, which genuinely allowed me to make two employee hires in the last four months, I think, since September. I was able to come and say, hey, this is something I want to do. I'm kind of nervous. And you said, don't be nervous. Let's just look at the numbers. Let's look at the data. And you literally plugged it all in. And you said, okay, here we are. Here's our decision. This is how much we have. This is the budget, all of those things. And it's been really helpful to feel peace in the decisions that I'm making, but then be really excited about new decisions and new opportunities. Because I feel like other decisions that I was waiting before kind of starting the budgeting or the cash flow, I'd be like, well, I hope one day I can afford an OBM or getting my website done or all these things. But instead, it's, no, here's exactly when you can do those things because we've plugged in. And I can, you know, you were able to tell me in November, okay, January will have enough for your OBM. There you go. And it was so awesome. So hopefully that answered the question. No, that for sure did. And like, the about back when we were first started in January of 2025. And then before we even added cash flow and budgeting, you wrote about 31,000 in revenue for that first half of the year. And then when we started to, you know, add a lot of the budgeting and the forecast, your average monthly profit increased by about $1,200. And the second half of the year looking at the percentages, you grew over 31% over the first half. Like I'm feeling like that made you, like obviously like you said, it made your decision at making, but it allowed you to start thinking ahead instead of reacting. And I know you said you felt a lot calmer, but did it also change, like, you know, how you ended up paying yourself and stuff like that. Because now we know, okay, this is how much we can afford this is how we were doing. Because I remember, you know, we were talking about how do we make sure that you're paying yourself on a more consistent schedule instead of just taking whenever. And I know that's changed since we've worked together as well. No, absolutely. Because before, like we said, it was this equation where at the end of the month, I said, okay, there's $2,000 left. That's what I get or on a month where maybe I didn't spend that much. Oh, great. Now I get $4,000. And so it was bringing a lot of stress into my personal finances, which I always knew being a business owner, there was going to be some stress and strain kind of on the personal finance front. But it was difficult to plan out my life. And so when we kind of added that in and shifted, it was so much easier to say, this is how much money I want to make. Perfect. So I put that aside for the month and cater kind of the other things that are going out to make sure that I'm reaching that. And so something that you were able to help me with is identifying, okay, you know, I know one of the things that we talk about is you don't always have to cut things out. But sometimes it does help to cut a little bit out. And we were able to kind of prune some of those things like, okay, maybe we don't need loom because we use this or maybe we don't need to script because we use this or whatever. And we were able to shave off some of those expenses to then be able to go into other things, which I think just kind of really catered towards the piece that it brought me because I knew every month I was going to get that consistent paycheck. And since then we've been able to make plans of when we're going to increase my pay and it feels more stable for sure. Yeah, absolutely. And then looking at everything on a year of your basis, because you know, we have reached that almost what we are over the year mark of working together, you've revenue ended up doubling from 2024 to 2025, about 101%. Which is fantastic. Yeah. But what do you feel like changed for you personally? Like do you feel different as a business owner now? Do you feel like you approach your money differently? How does that all feel to you now that we've been working together for a year and you're seeing like the impact that the numbers have brought? I think one of the biggest impacts is recognizing that every dollar spent to me needs to have a purpose within reason. I mean, I think we built some fun things into our budget, but it's a purpose. And so I don't just have a million subscriptions, just to have them. Every subscription is getting its full use. And if it's not, we're looking at alternatives. I think it's really forced me to look at money that every single dollar is a tool and it has a job and it has a purpose. And so I think that was one of the number one kind of shifts. It wasn't an afterthought. It's like my first priority. And so I was able to restructure some of our pricing and our packages to lean into higher profitability because I know that when there's a higher profit margin, I get to do more things with that money. I get to feed more into my employees and give them more opportunities and educational things. I get to take it for myself. I get to save it. All of these other kind of avenues that don't happen if you're not profitable. Yeah, no, that's always helpful, right? So obviously, emergency state about 50% even though revenue grew, so looking at everything with our expenses and everything, it was above 50%. So the growth, which usually does create sort of chaos and confusion because we were already working together and in progress, it didn't create any of that. So obviously that growth kind of like didn't feel as stressful, but do you think if you didn't have me, do you think you would have felt like that level of growth was stressful? Do you feel like you would have been a little bit lost without the budgeting and the forecasting, being in place? having like your revenue double and growth but not still having that same feeling that you had before we started working together. 100% because I think the choices and the actions that I've been able to partake in are heavily impacted by the work that we've done through the budgeting and the cash flow because I think if I would have continued on this same like pencil sheet of paper, style figuring out my budget, I wouldn't be able to foresee all of the things that come up. And so look the budget that you've created and helped me execute like I said earlier, like it takes into consideration annual subscriptions. It takes into consideration tax estimates that we need to make or things that come up that you forget about like, oh my state annual, whatever that I have to pay like before it was reactive and now I really think we're being proactive. So I don't think I would have been able to scale as fast or as confidently as I have been able to in the last year. Yeah, absolutely. And I love that. And for the listeners out there and the people that are listening, like me and JC have grown really close since we started working together because she's also, I've told you guys this before but she's also my social media manager and JC's been a guest on the podcast before. But I think that she was a guest actually last year and that was like just after we had started working together on bookkeeping. So to see it be impact and the growth that she's had just makes me so proud as like a bookkeeper but also as a friend because it's really cool to see in real time not just how the numbers are growing but like how when you have someone that you can fully trust the impact that that has on your business and your ability to make those decisions. I think that's huge. Like finances are such a personal topic. Even if they are business related, founder, forward brands, finances are extremely personal. And so I think finding someone that I could wholeheartedly trust only made the experience better. You're a safe space. Like when I'm struggling with something or you know I'm having a lower month not only have you been able to provide like the facts with the numbers but genuine encouragement and understanding and then perspective. You know every month when you send an analysis of my numbers there's opportunity there of here's what I recommend differently and you know we had strategy calls where you said this is what I would try to implement or let's think about this differently. And so a genuine partner has just been incredible and and something that I think everybody should strive for to find because finances are extremely personal. Yes I love that. So if someone is feeling anxious about money in their business like right now what would you tell them and not just from the context of working like with me but just in general about like bookkeeping and finances and things like that. I think when there's more structure and more order it brings peace. And so whatever that means for them if it's being keeping a really detailed organization thing for themselves or outsourcing I think there's a lot of peace in knowing where the money is going having it allocated, having it savings all of those things. I would say definitely get organized and get clear on where you are in your finances. Yes. Well I mean short and sweet obviously but I love it. You know just being able to give you tangible numbers and seeing that we have grown on a year-of-year basis but also you know hearing your feedback and knowing that you feel very supported is just that's cold because that's my goal right and I've always told you that is one that I want you to feel supported but to the dials I want you to feel like you have the education, the power to make decisions which is fantastic. So I just want to say thank you again for coming on and talking and being able to open up about this because I know it's again like we just mentioned finances are very deeply personal so to be able to talk about this on a platform where you are sharing a little bit of insight into your business and we're looking at things and saying like hey you know this is how successful we are is exciting but it's also scary because that's letting people in on your personal so thank you again for coming on. I appreciate it. Is there anything else that you want to kind of add or just kind of put in at the last second? Honestly I'm really excited I think we should so last time we recorded was last February I think we should do it next February and see where the numbers are because I know that I have some pretty big income goals and the work that we're doing is supporting that and so I'm excited to see just where we are next year and I think one of the things that I think I want to relate to people that it is a marathon right it's not overnight that you're going to go from zero dollars to a million or you know whatever and it's not overnight that things are going to be cleaned up and perfect but it's worth the work and it's worth the weight of putting in that work I think is the biggest thing that I've really come away with. Yes absolutely so I wanted to ask as well based on this podcast if people are able to like reach out to you on Instagram or anything like that if they have any questions about working with me or things like that is that okay with you? Absolutely my Instagram is @happygirlmarketingco and yeah I check my Instagram DMs every single day so I'd be more than happy to talk through anything about the experience that I've had working with you. Awesome absolutely and just to let you guys know who are listening JC is currently on the pinnacle pirate package which is the very top-tier package. She also has cash flow forecasting and budgeting so if you want to ask her any questions about that or if you want to reach out to me about anything that you have in that I'm more than happy to do that. Again I appreciate you guys so much for tuning in every week and listening and I can't wait for you to hear more of the episodes like this so thank you so much for coming on JC and thank you guys for listening. Thanks.