In this edition of the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, we're thrilled to introduce Jennifer Golbus, co-founder of MeetMe. Jennifer's entrepreneurial spirit shines through her journey from running a PR agency to establishing MeetMe, a human potential organization dedicated to empowering clients to achieve their goals and enhance their well-being. Specializing in supporting midlife women, Jennifer's work focuses on helping them reclaim their happiness and confidence. Dive into Jennifer's inspiring story, her lessons learned, and the strategies that have driven her success.
Hi, Jennifer! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?
MeetMe is a human potential organization that empowers clients to make positive changes and achieve their goals while nurturing their well-being and supporting their overall happiness. We do this through 1:1 coaching, group coaching, and online courses, allowing us to customize an approach for each client and support them in the way that best serves them. We also bring workshops to groups and organizations, such as our "Unlocking Happiness" workshop. While we love working with anyone who needs support going through a transition or meeting a goal, we specialize in supporting women in midlife who feel burned out and like they have lost a sense of themselves, to reclaim their power and happiness so they can live as the best version of themselves. We also help new or recent empty nester moms get off the emotional roller coaster of seeing their kids leave home, build healthier relationships with their young adult kids, and step into this new stage of life with calm confidence so they can enjoy their lives – and their kids. MeetMe feels like it’s support coming from a best friend – authentic, real, and practical.
Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.
I felt like a true entrepreneur when, in 2002, I quit my full-time job at a PR agency to form my first PR agency, J.A.M. PR, with my friend and colleague Michelle Armour. We jumped in with both feet - we leased an office space in San Francisco, trusting and KNOWING that we would bring in a client portfolio before we ran out of money. And we did! J.A.M. was in the black in less than a year in business with a stellar client portfolio (and I'm proud to say that Michelle is still running the business, which is super successful and highly regarded in her niche industry!).
Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.
My first taste of entrepreneurship was as a kid. My sisters and I did lemonade stands just like many others – but we would put flyers up in high-traffic areas to let people know where we were – my first take on a marketing campaign! I also had a ribbon barrette business with my twin sister and best friend (now my partner in MeetMe). We sold our beaded ribbon barrettes to a retail kids' clothing store in San Francisco. The moment that motivated me to take the entrepreneurial leap as an adult was when I was out to dinner with my friend & colleague, Michelle Armour. We were both working in PR in a niche market, and over dinner, we realized that we could do a better job while servicing clients in a way that felt more ethical to us – plus, we knew we could get even better results. That night, we started sketching our business idea out on a napkin! Similarly, for MeetMe, the moment came when I was visiting with my longtime best friend Jenn Overboe. She was going through a challenge, and I helped her with one of the many tools I use when mentoring women. It helped her so much, and so quickly, that right then and there, we realized that we could combine our experience and expertise to help other women be their best selves. My experience has taught me that taking the entrepreneurial leap can be as simple as having a passion, making a decision, and believing in yourself. The rest will come.
Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?
I love Canva. It allows me to make marketing materials, social media posts, and other content without hiring a professional designer. It's been a game-changer for us!
We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.
When Jenn and I first started MeetMe, we had a vision for an online course that would empower women in midlife to live a life filled with joy, energy, and happiness. We combined our experience, background, and tools, and got to work creating an amazing 6-week group coaching curriculum. The mistake we made was that we fleshed it out fully and perfected it before we ever started to market it (or ourselves). I'm talking logos, a fully designed and printed workbook, slide shows, and carefully worded scripts for each session. Then, because we were new in our coaching business, it proved to be more difficult to sell an online course before first proving ourselves as coaches and building up our credibility and audience. We stopped spending so much time on social media, and focused our energy back into our communities, attending in-person networking events, offering 1:1 coaching, leading workshops, etc. Although it felt disappointing at the time, in retrospect, it helped us find who we really wanted to be as business owners, and helped us step into our authenticity as coaches and business owners who want to have authentic connections. The underlying lesson here was to be ourselves.
What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?
Visualization. I know it doesn't sound like a business strategy, but it works! At J.A.M. PR, when we were first building our business, we would send out cold pitches to our dream clients. We would then sit together and walk ourselves through a visualization of us sitting in a meeting with the specific people who would become our clients, shaking hands with us, and then we would visualize them handing us a check with the specific number we wanted as our monthly retainer fee. Now at MeetMe, Jenn and I visualize our client who is out there and needs our help. We visualize getting on a call with them, learning how we can help, and signing them up for a coaching program. The use of visualization helps so much because it addresses any limiting beliefs we might have in our subconscious that could be standing in the way of our business goals. We highly recommend it!
What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?
During my podcast interview with Brian, we talked about the concept of "Done is better than perfect." Getting it done and letting it be a bit messy is not only freeing but adopting this as a mindset has helped propel me forward in my coaching business. I no longer spend hours tweaking something on a flyer that probably nobody will notice, and I set a timer when editing content so I don't over-edit before calling it good enough. Of course, I still take pride in a job well done, but spinning in circles trying to get every email, piece of marketing, post, course content, etc. to be "perfect" frees up a ton of time - not to mention the stress it relieves.
I learned a more refined version of this concept from Marisa Murgatroyd, a business coach who teaches the strategy of starting out with your "minimal viable product" or "MVP." She uses an analogy of going to market with a "paper plane version" of your product or service, to make sure it will "fly" before you spend months (or years!) building out the "jet plane version." So many of us work to perfect our products, courses, workshops, etc. with our ideas before we ever test it with our target market. Starting out with my minimal viable product allows me to offer something of value to my target market and start getting paid while getting feedback so I can refine and improve my product as I go. If I had learned this sooner, it would have saved me a year in product development, so I hope that sharing this concept can help a new or aspiring entrepreneur.
Want to go deeper into Jennifer's work? Check out the links below!
- Visit MeetMe's Website meetmesolutions.com
- Find MeetMe on Facebook
- Follow MeetMe on Instagram: @meetme_findyou
- Sign up for MeetMe's free mini-course 'Three Keys to Thrive as Your Kids Leave Home'
