How Employee Turnover is a Growth Strategy - Trio Solutions

How Employee Turnover is a Growth Strategy

Letting go of great team members may feel like a setback, but what if it’s the key to long-term growth? In this episode, Jessica Munday, founder of Trio Solutions, shares how she’s built a thriving agency by empowering her team, embracing turnover, and creating opportunities beyond the walls of her business.

Inside this episode:

• Why mentorship is your agency’s hidden retention strategy
• How former employees can become future partners
• What agency owners get wrong about loyalty and team-building
• The culture shift that turns short-term hires into long-term advocates
• A refreshing perspective on navigating change and evolving with your team

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast where we share real
stories of marketing agencyowners from around the world.
From the excitement of startingup the first big sale, passion,
doubt, fear, freedom, and theemotional rollercoaster of
growth, hear it all on An AgencyStory podcast.

(00:24):
An Agency Story podcast ishosted by Russel Dubree,
successful agency owner with aneight figure exit turned
business coach.
Enjoy the next agency story.

Russel (00:42):
What if creating a path for your team to leave was
actually a strategy to grow yourbusiness?
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast, I'm your host Russel.
Our guest for this episode isJessica Munday, founder of Trio
Solutions, a Charleston basedagency that's been thriving for
nearly 25 years.
Jessica's not only built alasting business in an

(01:02):
ever-changing industry, but alsocreated a culture where people
grow, leave, return, and evenbecome business partners.
We will talk about the nuance oflearning your critical role in
that process and why moving onfrom your agency can be a
positive catalyst for growth.
This conversation just mightchange how you view your next
resignation letter.
And be sure to listen all theway to the end to see if Jessica

(01:24):
got her Super Bowl predictioncorrect.
Enjoy the story.
Welcome to the show todayeveryone.
I have Jessica Munday with TrioSolutions with us here today.
Thank you so much for being onthe show, Jessica.

Jessica (01:34):
Thank you for the invitation.

Russel (01:36):
I'm excited to have a conversation.
You're on the what, somewhere onthe East Coast?
Where are you at today?

Jessica (01:42):
In beautiful Charleston, which all oftentimes
is ranked the number one city inthe world, in case you didn't
know.

Russel (01:48):
Number one, I mean, I am actually a big fan of
Charleston.
I see why this could be astatement to be made.
Okay.
For all the people that mightvisit or have visited
Charleston, what is, what issomething they absolutely have
to do?

Jessica (02:01):
Downtown is so, so historic.
The food is incredible.
The scenery, the beaches, thepeople, uh, there's just,
there's so much history.
The boat life, um, fishing,surfing, there's so much to do
and it's just a great hospitableplace to live, work, and play.

Russel (02:21):
Now real hot seat question.
Best place.
Where do they have to eat?

Jessica (02:25):
Oh, Halls Chophouse.
Highly recommend.

Russel (02:27):
I have not been there.
All right.
Add it to the list.
Well now we've got some travelrecommendations and, and we're
only a minute into this.
Real quick to set the stage, ifyou don't mind sharing.
What does Trio do and who do youdo it for?

Jessica (02:39):
Trio provides transformative marketing to
small businesses and nonprofits,and the trio is marketing,
events and web.

Russel (02:49):
Very succinct.
It sounds like you have been atthis a while.
the, When was the companyfounded?

Jessica (02:53):
2001.
I tell people I started when Iwas five.

Russel (02:58):
I imagine then there is no shortage of experience that
you can share and being, beingat this, you're almost, you and
the business are almost 25.

Jessica (03:05):
That's right.

Russel (03:05):
But before we get into all the things that, uh, you,
you can share about your agencylife, tell us about young
Jessica, um, pre 2001, what wereher hopes, goals and dreams that
she was looking for in theworld?

Jessica (03:18):
Oh gosh.
Young Jessica, so I grew up inAsheville.
Grew up in the mountains ofNorth Carolina, and I always
wanted to be in the advertisingand marketing field.
I had an opportunity to shadowsomeone when I was in high
school who worked for a PRagency and absolutely loved

(03:40):
watching what she did, and Iimmediately went home.
Applied for the University ofSouth Carolina School of
Journalism, got in, and trulythe rest is history.
I actually am one of thosestrange people that knew exactly
what they wanted to do,graduating and going into
college, and have been doing itever since.

Russel (03:58):
I love a good story like that and you know, it just made
me think of while you're sharingthat, they need to do more high
school shadowing experiences.
I shadowed a doctor, I think,'cause I think I wanted to be a
doctor when I was in high schooland I learned that day that I
did not want to be a doctor.
Your path that worked out goodto decide what you want to do,
but I'm sure it can be helpfulfor young, young folks to figure
out what they don't want to do.

(04:18):
Kudos to where you went toschool or however that came
about for you.

Jessica (04:21):
Thank you.
I couldn't agree more.
I actually love having interns,um, whether that's a high school
student or college student, andit's honestly been one of my
favorite things as a agencyowner.
Just feeling like I'm providingan opportunity, whether or not
they go into the field or not,but you know, life's all about
experiences and just to be ableto open our company doors to the

(04:46):
next generation of professionalsis something that I, I really,
really enjoy doing.

Russel (04:52):
And That's such a great perspective and it's 2025.
We gotta have hands-on learningand you know, there's all kinds
of information sources out therethat don't need to come from
education and, and businessesare the best place that, that
they can taste it, touch it,feel it, whatever that needs to
look like and, and learn fromthe folks that know how to do it
well.
Set the stage then for collegegraduation on this clear cut

(05:13):
path.
How did we get up to the pointwhere you actually started your
agency?

Jessica (05:16):
Actually I had a personal situation going on, um,
in my life while I was goingthrough college, and that is I
started to take care of mygrandfather.
So I had a lot of exposure tothe healthcare industry.
Talk about people having animpact in your life.
His caseworker actually was justsuch an incredible person and

(05:38):
she knew I was interested inmarketing, but I also just felt
this tug toward the healthcareindustry.
She said, have you ever thoughtabout getting your master's in
healthcare administration butgoing in to do marketing?
So I actually ended up lookinginto that and that's where I, I
landed.
Most of my graduate schoolcolleagues were aspiring to be

(05:59):
CEOs of hospitals.
But I was aspiring to be a chiefmarketing officer of a health
system.
That was a defining moment whereI ended up where I am now.

Russel (06:11):
Did you actually pursue that path of, of going and
working in the healthcare systembefore you started the agency?

Jessica (06:16):
I did, and it happened to be in the late nineties,
which also was a time when thislittle thing called the internet
was coming on the scene andhealthcare was trying to figure
out how to navigate.
Banking and travel industrieshad already figured out how to
make it interactive and I justjumped in with both feet and

(06:40):
taught myself how to code andloved the fact that it bridged
technology and communications.
Ended up becoming a webmaster ata pediatric hospital in their
marketing department.
That was the skillset that endedup allowing me to say, I think
people might pay me to tell themwhat they should do, and so

(07:00):
that, that hospital became myvery first client.

Russel (07:03):
Okay.
Webmaster, man, I haven't heardthat term in a, in a hot minute,
but I kind of, we need that tocome back.
Everything seems to always go incycles.
Can we bring Webmaster back?

Jessica (07:12):
Oh God, I'm to, I'm so aging myself at the moment.

Russel (07:16):
No, I remember these days, right?
You'd probably see it at thebottom of a website, Webmaster,
and it'd be a name or, or acompany or something like that,
right next to the little clickcounter of how many visits that
site was getting.
There's the younger folks outthere saying, wow, what a world.

Jessica (07:30):
Exactly.
I tell my kids all the time, Isaid, you know what?
I'm so grateful.
If I could give you one gift inlife, it would be to have known
life before the internet andsocial media.
To have that perspective is, Ifeel, feel like nowadays is such
a gift.
Young kids nowadays will neverknow that.

Russel (07:49):
It is really two different worlds.
I don't know if you couldprobably track back, and I'm a
history major by the way.
I've tracked back too far intoor track any time in history.
We had just such a dichotomybetween a generational shift of
just the onslaught of technologythat has occurred in the
difference between the, theyounger generation of today and
our generation.
I always ask myself like wouldI, would I want to have grown up

(08:10):
in this world of social mediaand cell phones and videos and
stuff?
I don't know the answer to thatquite honestly.
I'm thinking maybe no.

Jessica (08:17):
I don't disagree.
I find myself truly having alove-hate relationship with it
because on one hand it puts foodon my table because in today's
age, as you know, it's rare thatyou're gonna have any type of
marketing strategy that reallydoesn't include some type of
social media, digital component.
But at the same breath, being ahistory major, you know, like

(08:39):
with each time something wasinvented and introduced to
society, it changed the dynamicsof the marketing, advertising,
communications, profession, andindustry.

Russel (08:51):
So true.
I guess one of the things I'mfascinated about, just hearing
your story, I mean, I just lovethis very strategic path it
seems like you were on at such ayoung age.
Was the plan in that path?
I know you, you werehighlighting this a little bit,
to ultimately own your ownbusiness or were you thinking,
no, I'm gonna be a careerperson?
When did that transition orthought come to say, maybe I'll
go do this on my own?

Jessica (09:10):
I think people often debate whether or not
entrepreneurs are born or made,did I know early on that I
wanted to set my sights onsomething bigger than what I was
doing?
Absolutely.
Did I know when I was thatjunior in high school that I was
gonna own my own agency?
No, I didn't.
However, when I reflect back onmy younger self, I clearly

(09:34):
remember entrepreneurial thingsI was doing that I do think led
me to where I, I was.
And on one hand, I have workedreally hard to get where I'm at,
but on the other, I think thoseare traits that I was born with.

Russel (09:50):
When was the day then that you woke up and said, all
right, bye corporate world, I'm,I'm starting my own business?
Was there an event or just whatmade you decide that ultimately?

Jessica (10:00):
I think just like anything in life, there was, you
know, another personal milestonegoing on.
I had met my husband, um, myboyfriend at the time, and he
was a boat captain and inaddition to Trio, he and I also
own a sport fishing chartercompany here in Charleston.

(10:20):
He had gotten the opportunity,we'd just gotten engaged, and he
had gotten an opportunity towork on a really nice sport
fishing boat that was gonna bein tournaments, based in
Charleston.
We had moved away, um, at thetime,'cause I was in the
Virginia Beach area.
So I had to make a decision.
Was I staying in Virginia Beachand having a long distance

(10:40):
marriage or was I gonna moveback to Charleston?
I went to my boss at the timeand this, I love this because I
was doing remote work beforeremote work was even a thing.

Russel (10:51):
Before Zoom.
This is even before, or what?
Was there even like a, a programlike that back then?
I feel like the early days waslike GoToMeeting or something.
Was that even around?

Jessica (10:59):
I don't know, maybe there was something in Netscape
or something like that.

Russel (11:05):
Now we're name dropping all the old stuff.

Jessica (11:07):
Yeah.
Oh, my Gateway computer.

Russel (11:09):
Yes.
There you go.

Jessica (11:11):
Um.
And I went to my boss and justsaid, you know, I love what I
do, but I really could do itremotely.
I could dial in on my dial upconnection.
We worked out a deal where Iwould come up one week outta the
month, have all my meetings withthe departments, and then I
would go back to Charleston andI would work from home doing the

(11:33):
actual work.
We did that for almost a year.
That was also the impetus of,okay, I'm, I'm going to start
this business.
I need to have a businesslicense.
Again, the rest is history,'cause that was in April 2001.

Russel (11:48):
Was it that, that drudgery of kind of almost like
a hybrid setup, like a hybridcommute setup, is it the
drudgery of, of going back andforth and saying, I, I need this
flexibility?
Or is it really just therealization that, hey, I think I
can do this and here I go?

Jessica (12:00):
I think it was the realization of, hey, I can do
this.
Kind of what I mentionedearlier, you know, this was
uncharted territory, so there,there truly wasn't that many
people ahead of me that knewmore than I did about what it
was we were doing because wewere all learning a lot like we
are doing today with AI.

(12:20):
The similarities in how, uh,quickly and how people were
trying to navigate, how's thisinternet gonna impact my
business and help me do businessbetter?
The similarities with that andAI are just fascinating to me
But I, I knew I could do it, andI knew that I think people will

(12:41):
pay me to tell them what theyneed to do.
Then I went and got anotherchildren's hospital to be my
client, and then it justsnowballed from there, and so
early on we had a lot ofhealthcare clients.

Russel (12:52):
Okay.
And was that more intentionalfor you, just because that's the
space you knew and you thought,hey, this is a good, smart
business play?
Or was it just serendipitousthat that's who you knew and
that's where your network was?
That scale of serendipity orintention, how, how do you look
back at that?

Jessica (13:07):
I think it's really a combination of both because my
heart has always been in givingback to the community and you
know, trying to do good in theworld through whatever your
skillset is.
A lot of healthcare, especiallychildren's hospitals, are
nonprofit entities in and ofthemselves.
It was like I was getting thebest of both worlds'cause I was

(13:28):
utilizing my master's degree inhealthcare administration.
I was in the marketing field, Iwas investing in learning about
this new technology and it was,had a philanthropic component to
it.
I really do love working withchildren's hospitals for that
and for that that purpose.
But over the years, uh, we'vecertainly diversified and work

(13:50):
with all kinds of industriesnow.

Russel (13:52):
Okay.
So I guess, you're almost 25years old.
Can you think back as like, anymajor pivot moments along that
journey where you either had toor wanted to or, anything stand
out?

Jessica (14:03):
Yes, there, there are certainly a few.
When I grew to, I had to moveoutta my home office and get an
office space to accommodate mystaff and my team members.
That was a big, pivotal moment.
We quickly outgrew that spaceand then had to get a larger
office.
We were so excited because webought the next office, and that

(14:25):
was in 2007.
We all know what happened, 2008,2009.
That was a very scary moment asa marketing agency owner and, an
entrepreneur and a real estateowner, that had a lot of people
that no surprise, guess whatbudget gets cut oftentimes
first?

(14:45):
The marketing budget.
Navigating those times, um, wasvery hard.
We did it.
It proved our resilience and assoon as that was behind us, I
can look back now and see allthese new doors opened.
And that was became an excitingtime.
You had to go down to come up,go through the valleys to get to
the peaks.

(15:05):
That was definitely one.

Russel (15:07):
I'm kind of hazy'cause our agency was just starting up
during that timeframe and wewere kind of young and maybe
naive to the market other thanjust knowing it was going on.
We didn't have a big business atthat time, so there wasn't a lot
to affect per se.
But I remember it being like atwo, three, maybe even four year
period before it seemed likebusiness was, was turning the,
going back up as you sharedearlier.

(15:28):
Kind of to that end, right?
I think some folks, we got amicrocosm of this during the
pandemic era.
Within a year's timeframe, wehad this full collapse and then
climb back up, and a lot ofpeople got to experience this
rapid pivot.
Maybe even along the lines ofwhat you were saying new doors
open, what were some of thosenew doors that opened up for you
on the backside of thattumultuous time period?

Jessica (15:48):
Just like we talked about earlier, social media.
That was also the time thatFacebook and Twitter were
introduced and I'm very proud tosay that our agency was one of
the first agencies to even offersocial media management in our
marketplace.
We started to see the power ofthis communication tool.

(16:08):
We started to see more brands,uh, go onto the platforms and it
wasn't just friends and family.
I would say that opened a bigdoor because a significant
amount of our, uh, business nowis, whether it's organic social
media management or paid, andthe number of platforms
obviously has grown.
It was just those two and thenobviously LinkedIn, but now

(16:31):
there's, multiple ones.
But that was definitely a gamechanger in the industry.

Russel (16:36):
Sounds like you may have missed the, the, you may have
missed MySpace marketing.
Which it's probably a good thingthat you didn't, didn't spend
any time there.

Jessica (16:43):
I think I still have my account open.
I don't know that I ever closedit.

Russel (16:46):
I can't remember.
I tried to log in a few yearsago and they changed what it was
so drastically that I don'teven, I wanna say it was like a
music thing or something I can'teven remember now.
Rest in peace, MySpace, the OGplatform.
One of the things I'm, I'mcurious about is, you said you
started out with a heavyemphasis in healthcare and
hospitals and that sort ofthing, but then eventually
diversified more.

(17:07):
What was the thought processbehind diversifying?
Because you don't too often hearthat per se.
You hear people diversify, gomore narrow, but you don't
necessarily always hear thestories of the other direction.

Jessica (17:17):
I would say we ended up getting some private schools for
clients, and yes, theyoftentimes are, have a nonprofit
component or a philanthropicfoundation, associated with it.
But certainly getting into theprivate education space, that
opened up some really greatopportunities.

(17:38):
One of our favorite clients thatwe just really enjoy working
with is an all boys Catholichigh school in Staten Island,
believe it or not, and they werecelebrating their hundredth
anniversary and hired us to helpdo the branding and their
centennial campaign and event,and that led to referrals to
other private schools and sothat one grew.

(18:01):
Then also I think just because Iwas personally getting into real
estate, I was referred to someindividuals that were in the
home building and real estatedevelopment space.
We got into that and word ofmouth and referrals continued
within those differentindustries and have just
continued to grow.

(18:21):
It was nice to diversify becauseI do, even though they're
different industries, you reallycan learn from the different
industries.

Russel (18:29):
That's such a great lesson because a lot of folks,
there's just so much talk and somuch movement in the space to
take an industry and make thatyour focus.
Which is good, or it can behelpful I think for, for, to
refine expertise and whatnot.
But I like that approach and Ithink that seems very similar to
how we evolved, is we never puta stake in the ground as, in a
particular industry.
We definitely always liked thecause-based stuff, but it's

(18:51):
almost like these just differentwaves would come by and we would
do a museum and then moremuseums would be interested.
And I think that's a good wayyou can get some of the
advantages of maybe not beingsuper narrow, but if you just
take those waves and ride'em anddo good work and then you jump
on, jump onto the next wave.
I don't know if you surf inCharleston.
I'm not a surfer, but that's howI envision surfing going.

Jessica (19:12):
Yes, I don't surf, my kids surf.
But yes, I totally get whatyou're saying.
It's been an incredible ride andI have no regrets.
I would do it all over again.
I definitely learned somelessons along the way, but my
philosophy has always been, fromday one, to work hard, enjoy
life and make a difference.

(19:33):
That is still the philosophy andthe culture that I have at, not
just Trio, but my otherbusinesses as well.
I just think we have anopportunity to move the needle
on whatever it is that you'retouching.
Do that, but have fun doing it.

Russel (19:47):
There you go.
Name of the game.
Do good work, have fun doing it,and we don't need to complicate
it any more than that, eventhough we might try from time to
time.
Uh, I mean, I have to ask thequestion.
Someone that's been in thisbusiness as long as you have,
what, give us a nugget of what'sa good lesson learned that you
can share with the folks at hometoday?

Jessica (20:04):
A good lesson learned would be, oh my gosh, there's a
lot.
Letting go of the vine is a goodthing.
Surrounding yourself withdedicated people that want to be
there with you and be part ofyour team and empower them and
mentor them, and just givepeople the space to be great at

(20:26):
what their skillset is.
And When you have a multifacetedfull service marketing agency
and you really come together asa team, you can do some really
great work and that's cool.

Russel (20:38):
What do you think is because empowerment, that has to
happen.
Unless you want a, a business tobe on your back for a good long
while, you've got to find waysto empower your team.
Easier said than done.
But I can kinda hear what you'resaying there, that mentorship
piece.
You were just talking earlierabout interns what does that
look like more in the active,kind of tactical sense of how do

(20:58):
you get started just being areally good mentor and teacher
of your team?

Jessica (21:03):
I actually just, um, was recognized for that.
I certainly appreciate the folkson my team who nominated me for
this award that was given outlocally, and recognizing that
that's where my, my heart is inthat space.
I think the downside is when youbring in young eager minds and

(21:24):
you train them and you teachthem everything you know, and
you see them blossom and thenthey leave.
But that's part of it becauseit's like they're a little bird
and they're gonna fly the nestand then they make you proud.
But I think, creatingrelationships with local
colleges and universities.
We have a university, here inSouth Carolina, Clemson, I'm

(21:46):
sure people have know ofClemson.
I'm a Gamecock, so this is goinga long way here, people.

Russel (21:52):
Uhoh, promoting, promoting the enemy.

Jessica (21:55):
Clemson has this in-house agency for their
students, and I have to say,they do a great job.
When the students are selectedto be part of the agency within
the school, they're getting realworld experience and the caliber
of their students is really,really strong.
I've really enjoyed, um, beingconnected to that, that

(22:18):
university and have reaped thebenefits of some great team
members because of the programthey have.

Russel (22:23):
There's an old adage out there.
It's what is it now, it's gonnacome to me.
I don't know if this is anactual real quote or, or story
or not, but it's, it's used inthat context of kind of what you
were sharing earlier of whathappens if we train our people
and they leave, and then do youknow what the retort is to that
statement?

Jessica (22:37):
No, what is it?

Russel (22:38):
Okay.
Maybe this is not famous as Ithought.
What happens if we don't andthey stay?

Jessica (22:42):
Oh gosh.
Okay.
Touche.

Russel (22:44):
But I get, I think of agency as such a personal
business.
We're putting our heart and soulinto that.
It's our business, the workwe're doing is just so much of
our minds so I get where this isso personal and where that can
feel like a sting.
Any words of comfort in justhow, how it's okay to let the
birds fly from the nest, if wewanna go down that analogy,

(23:04):
because the benefits are farbetter than the, any, any
scariness coming from, yes, theymight and will leave eventually.

Jessica (23:11):
I think that's just reality.
It is part of a naturalprogression for, I would say,
the majority of professionalsout there, because there's, not
everybody's an entrepreneur, sonot everybody's the business
owner sitting in this seat.
The majority of the people areyour team members who, you know,
if you have them for five toseven years, that's a great

(23:33):
tenure.
It's rare that someone's gonnastay with you as long as you own
the company.
If you are opening up your doorsto further the industry by
mentoring and empowering andbuilding up strong marketing
professionals, then I thinkthat's a great thing that we can
do for our field as a whole.

Russel (23:55):
Our kind of perspective was on that,'cause we had a very
similar philosophy, is we wantto be recognized as the place
that you're gonna come and grow.
That ultimately, we wanna seeyou be successful.
We know that won't always behere one way or the other.
We want to catch that moment ofsuccess from you for as long as
it makes sense to do it, and weall win in that scenario.
Maybe that's just incentive tomentor more and train faster so

(24:16):
we can get better use out ofthat that time period.
That's the sense of urgency thatmaybe needs to come rather than
train less or don't invest asmuch.

Jessica (24:25):
And I would add to that, create a culture that your
employees who do leave want tocome back.
I've had many employees over theyears have reached back out and
we've discussed opportunities tocome back and work for the
agency and stayed connected allthese years because there's a
deep sense of gratitude that ourtime together was well spent.

Russel (24:46):
That is a good reminder is, especially when you do train
'em from younger, they don'treally know an alternative out
there.
They don't know how bad thatworld can be and go let'em find
out for a minute.
That's actually a really goodthing because it brings a whole
new perspective.
We had multiple stories likethat as well.
Great reminder, for folks outthere.
I've gotta ask, sounds like youstill enjoy what you do.
Bring a lot of energy to it, alot of passion, which might not

(25:08):
always be the case for folksthat have been doing things even
half the amount of time asyou've been running an agency.
What's the secret sauce there?
How do you keep that passionalive every single day?

Jessica (25:16):
I do love what I do and sometimes I'm like, God, why do
you love this so much?
Are you ready for something new?
But I do.
I think it is because I lovelearning, and this is an
industry that is constantlyevolving and we don't have the
luxury of staying stagnant inhow we're gonna help our clients

(25:37):
promote their brands in themarketplace and to their
stakeholders.
Even, I mentioned earlier, AI,like I am just a sponge right
now.
I can't learn enough, fastenough.
Looking back over the past 25years, there've been, there's a
trend there, and on one handthat can be hard because I'm

(25:58):
pushing my team to also have athirst for learning, but.
I, I really think being alifelong learner and just
constantly pushing yourself tobe innovative is what keeps it
fresh.

Russel (26:12):
I love that.
That's almost like a mic dropquote moment.
What is it now?
You can't learn enough fastenough.
That's what you said.
That was really a poetic and Ithink so true.
You just gotta love to learn.
You really do have to learn tolove change and that notion of
that I feel like is changingevery single day.
Maybe even realize that, whatI'm kind of hearing you say

(26:32):
there is if, if we ever thinkwe're just gonna be there and
stay there, then that's probablya recipe for, for some
disappointment at, at the veryleast, nonetheless.

Jessica (26:41):
Yes.
We've been talking kind of abouthistorical milestones and the
internet and AI, but can youimagine if our agencies were
only recommending to our clientsthat they advertise on radio and
tv and that's it?
We would be dinosaurs.

Russel (26:57):
That's a very poignant, uh, example there.
Way to bring it home from thetheme of our conversation about,
uh, all things past.

Jessica (27:03):
Or, um, newspaper, news.
It is fascinating though whenyou think about, uh, from a
communications perspective andthe speed in which these mediums
were adopted by society.
The newspaper was how everyonewas informed, and then radio and
then tv, and then the internetand it just, and the, the

(27:24):
adoption rate just shrinks andshrinks and shrinks each time.

Russel (27:28):
It's funny.
We worked with the DallasMorning News, um, here was a
client for ours a long way, andthey know the exact date where
the paper will be 100% obsolete.
They measure that byessentially, uh, I'm guessing
it's kind of like a what do,what do the insurance people do?
What do they call that work?
The starts with a, the actuary,actuaries, uh, table about when
that customer base willessentially die.

(27:49):
And there will be the, thenewspaper will be officially
gone at that point.
I just always thought that wascrazy.
We just have a, have a sunsetdate, literally and figuratively
for the newspaper.

Jessica (27:58):
Wow.
Did they share it with you, thedate?

Russel (28:00):
Well, I don't know if they did or didn't, um, back
then.
I don't remember what that dateis, but it's probably close.
I would prob uh, unfortunately,which I really hate.
I always loved the newspaper.
That was just such a good, goodroutine it felt like to just
check out the newspaper in theday.
We're just dating ourselves leftand right.

Jessica (28:17):
I do think that there is still, you know, power in
holding something tangible, youknow, in your hands, whether
it's you're reading a book or amagazine or the newspaper, but
I, I would guess that they haveenough data over time with
either digital ads orsubscription rates for print and
digital that they can forecastwhen one's gonna go down and the

(28:42):
other ones completely takesover.

Russel (28:43):
Good old predictive analytics.
Gosh, there's so many fun thingsthat we could, feel like parlay
that into, but I guess, I guesswe gotta round, round out
sometime.
Tell me more about, I mean,clearly you, you mentioned it
earlier of got some side, otherbusinesses going on and are
getting to enjoy life outside ofall things agency.
What do those ventures look likeand how do you find the time?

Jessica (29:05):
I don't know how I find the time other than I know
people make time for things thatmatter.
Being able to support my husbandand my family with our fishing
charter boat management companyis just a joy.
I absolutely love it.
My oldest son, he's 22, just gothis captain's license and is
getting his MBA, so I see thatpossibly that's his opportunity

(29:30):
down the road.
Short story real quick.
My very first employee at Triois now my business partner for a
nonprofit consulting company.

Russel (29:39):
Oh, that's cool.

Jessica (29:40):
Yes.

Russel (29:40):
Wow, that's cool.
Those are, again, why I lovetelling these stories.
That's really amazing to givesomeone to, not only the
opportunity you gave them backhowever many years ago, but to
parlay that into their ownbusiness opportunity.
That's really cool.
Name drop the fishing companyfor all these folks that are
gonna come rushing intoCharleston now, and as well
share a little bit about thatnonprofit consulting company.

Jessica (30:00):
Absolutely.
It's Full Circle FishingCharters and there's obviously a
reason it's called Full Circle.
There's so many times in lifewhere we look at each other and
we're like, oh my gosh, this isso full circle.
This is why we named our boatFull Circle and the business.
Love to take anybody out on afishing charter or Harbor Cruise
in beautiful Charleston in thelow country.

(30:21):
Nonprofit consulting is CloudNine Nonprofit Advisors, and we
are headquartered in sunny SouthFlorida in Fort Lauderdale.
My business partner's name'salso Jessica and she is a
nonprofit force.
So if you have a nonprofit, ifyou're on the board of a
nonprofit and you need helpdealing with the challenges that

(30:43):
nonprofits face raising funds orthe impact in the programs
they're offering, she and theteam that we've developed are
phenomenal.

Russel (30:53):
Love that.
What a great story.
I know exactly who I'll callnext time I come to Charleston
because we always do a familyfishing trip when we're there
and you've just saved me liketwo hours of Google searching
for, to try to find who am Igonna pick to do this?
Because there are quite a fewoptions in Charleston for, for
fishing, but it's, it's such agreat place to do that.
Alright, well what a greatconversation.

(31:14):
Just to round, round this allout, what does the future look
like?
What is the next 25 years ofTrio?

Jessica (31:19):
As much as I love what I do, I also recognize that I
have been doing this for 25years.
I'm not getting any younger.
At some point I do have to startthinking about the future.
There's opportunities, I've gotsome great people on my team.
Maybe it's an ESOP, maybe it is,you know, my partners there

(31:39):
taking over the agency and Iserve in an advisory role.
Maybe five, 10 years out, it'snot a today issue by any means.
I would love to do more with myfamily and be on the boat and
just bringing the joy of boatingand fishing to as many people as
we can.
I see Cloud Nine, really that isanother bird probably that will

(32:04):
go on.
I did my part in helping setthem up and mentor that team up.
I'd love to be in The Bahamas atsome point in my future.

Russel (32:12):
That doesn't sound like a bad place to be.
I have no doubt that you'll getthere, and I imagine you will
still be learning when you do.
The last final question then is,and you maybe already started
the answer of this, is, areentrepreneurs born or are they
made?

Jessica (32:25):
I think it's truly a combination of, of both.
I think you have to be born, ithas to be in your DNA to have
the resilience and the desireand the drive to be successful.
But you also can make or breakyourself.
Are you making the rightdecisions to get past the odds

(32:45):
of the business not survivingpast the three, five year mark?
That takes a lot of work andeffort and the ability to learn
and navigate different times andlead people and deal with
people.
I'm gonna go with both.
That's my final answer.

Russel (33:02):
Final answer.
All right.
Regis, did she, did she get itright?
No, great, great answer.
Great perspective, and, and mostpeople land on the, in the mixed
category, so, um, perfectlyacceptable.
If people wanna know more aboutTrio, where can they go?

Jessica (33:14):
It's triosolutions.com or Trio Solutions on all of the
social media platforms.
Like I mentioned earlier, FullCircle Fishing Charters, and
it's ThriveWithCloudNine.
That's our handle for thenonprofit consulting company.
And then you can find me inCharleston and if anybody wants
to come and go have dinner atHalls, I'm game.

Russel (33:36):
Is that the place you said, that was the, that was the
go-to recommendation?

Jessica (33:39):
Yes, it is fabulous.

Russel (33:40):
Oh man, it's making me hungry.
All right.
I'm gonna have to plan my nextCharleston trip, wonderful
conversation today, Jessica.
Thank you so much for taking thetime to share just so many
little nuggets of wisdom.
Really took away the importanceof learning, training, mentoring
your team, all things that areabsolutely critical in this
business, and really appreciateyou taking the time to share
your story today.

Jessica (34:00):
Thank you for having me, Russel.
I've enjoyed our conversationand wish you the best.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of An Agency Story
podcast where we share realstories of marketing agency
owners from around the world.
Are you interested in being aguest on the show?
Send an email [e-mail].

(34:24):
An Agency Story is brought toyou by Performance Faction.
Performance Faction offersservices to help agency owners
grow their business to 5 milliondollars and more in revenue.
To learn more, visitperformancefaction.com.
Do we wanna talk about who's gonna win the Super Bowl?

(34:45):
Are you a Cowboys fan?

Russel (34:47):
This will be poignant because this will not launch
before the episode but I likethis.
Let's have a conversation about,who's gonna win the Super Bowl,
and we're, we're gonna find outif you're right.

Jessica (34:54):
Oh.
Where's my, um, I need my littleglobe here.
My husband is from outsidePhiladelphia, so my in-laws are
all in the suburbs of Philly.
My ranking is the CarolinaPanthers, the Philadelphia
Eagles, and the Kansas CityChiefs.
I gotta pull for the Eagles.

Russel (35:11):
Uh oh.
All right.
Doesn't sound like a prediction.
Sounds like some bias.

Jessica (35:15):
Yes.
Well, A three PI.
Look, here's the real deal.
I won't be disappointed eitherway, so it'll be a good game to
watch.

Russel (35:22):
I guess that is true.
You can just default to yourthird, um, favorite team if that
happens.
All right.
So is that, is that, are wedropping the prediction?
Is it gonna be the Eagles?
Are they gonna win?

Jessica (35:30):
I'm going with the Eagles.
Yes, Saquon Barkley is on fire.

Russel (35:34):
He is looking good, um, that is for sure.
I saw something, it was somecrazy stats the other day
though, of like, they'rebasically like Mahomes is, I
can't remember all the numbersthey were thrown there, but like
undefeated if he has more thantwo weeks of rest.
All these other stats that arelike, basically like hardly ever
lost in this scenario, and notto mention it being a Super Bowl
to boot.
I don't know.
Hopefully it'll be a good gameand then we all win if nothing

(35:56):
else.

Jessica (35:57):
Exactly.
I love it.