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Meet Jacqui Jones of One Degree Marketing

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacqui Jones.

Jacqui, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
While I finished my marketing degree at the University of Alabama, I began songwriting and performing. During the seven years following college that I was a full-time singer/songwriter, I helped some of my friends in the industry create marketing materials and brand strategies to land endorsement deals and grow their brand awareness. The more marketing work I did in that field, the more I fell in love with the way it helped them grow, tell their story, and create more opportunities for income.

I transitioned from music solely and made my company official in March of 2013. Since that time, I have evolved from a freelancer/”solopreneur” to CEO of a business that provides brand strategy, marketing consultation/coaching, social media management, email marketing, and website design and development for businesses, brands, and organizations with a team of five.

The decision to focus on my business full-time has led me to many opportunities to provide marketing services and business development for small businesses.

Now, outside of being CEO of One Degree, I get the privilege of doing community engagement with an awesome organization, Create Birmingham. Working with Create, I work to build partnerships and programs that reach communities that need and deserve opportunities, knowledge, and resources to turn their ideas and talents into thriving businesses, community-centered organizations, or money-generating hobbies, whichever they desire.

I also work with financial institutions like Sabre Finance and TruFund Financial Services to provide marketing support and training to small businesses across the southeast.

Being able to work with excellent partners and have clients like Classic Business Connect, who recently hosted the Business Opportunity Summit in Atlanta, who are focused on small business support and growth, is where my journey is now. I am anxious about where it goes from here.

Great, 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?
It has not been a smooth road. I think anyone working to grow a business would agree that there is no such thing as a smooth road to the dream.

I did a TEDx talk in 2019 that highlights the emotional struggles that many entrepreneurs and small business owners face. I chose that because I know what it feels like to constantly have to manage your business, family, and life.

I believe the mental struggle has been one of the biggest struggles. Somehow as entrepreneurs, we find ourselves questioning the very thing we are succeeding in. We doubt ourselves at every turn despite having overcome things in our past. It’s a very fascinating yet extremely common struggle.

My talk was to encourage the business community and those who support it, to be honest bout this aspect of the journey. I wanted to remind everyone that there is more to it than the technical aspects of running a business. I’ve worked to overcome this struggle by practicing showing myself grace in small spaces so that when larger things come up, I’m the habit of self-motivating and self-validating.

Please tell us about One Degree Marketing.
One Degree is a boutique-style marketing firm that provides marketing services to small businesses, brands, and organizations in two core methods. Coaching, consultation, and marketing strategy development are the ways that we work to guide brands on the right way to go in marketing. Social media management, email marketing, and website design/development are how we work as an outsourced marketing department for our clients who need marketing support.

What makes One Degree different is the love and passion for growing businesses and brands. Everything we do, we do with a heart for supporting our clients. This passion is why we created Elevation Academy last year. Elevation Academy is an online digital resource for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and organizations who don’t have the budget for outsourcing to a firm like ours or who simply want to understand better how to market themselves effectively. Like every other business, we are here to make money. But, we work to provide something for the community we support at a variety of levels.

I am most proud of the team I have working with me. Our team spans from Tuscaloosa, AL to Birmingham, AL to Atlanta, GA. They are all extremely talented and provide so much value to what our business does for others. Without their high-quality work and valuable input, One Degree would not be where it is today.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
This is a tough question. One of my favorite memories from childhood is my mother making and adding things to my clothes.

I didn’t realize it then, but the care my mother took in making me embrace myself was deep-rooted. She put me in piano and voice at the age of 4, she worked to give me every opportunity, but she even added touches to things I would wear.

Now, I realize that that level of attention to embrace who you are and be confident enough to wear something unique is at the core of how I approach life.

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Image Credit:
Main image – Photographer: Tez Davenport; Picture in Green Dress at Podium – Keven Thai; Team Picture – Jessica Latten; TedXBirmingham Picture – Joseph De Sciose

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