Today we’d like to introduce you to Lorrie Thomas Ross.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My professional journey started in elementary school when I was going door-to-door selling Girl Scout cookies. I experienced everything from crabby neighbors ranting about prices to raving evangelists who couldn’t wait for cookie time. As years went on, I learned what homes to avoid, who my ideal clients were, how to overcome sales objections, and that if I wasn’t fast enough, other girls would get the orders! Then, as a teen babysitter, I found myself getting much more work than my friends, even ones who lived closer to the families calling me. It took me a while to see why – unlike my girlfriends, I worked harder to bond with the children, and after they went to bed, I’d do dishes and tidy the house so parents could come back to a better home. My first W2 job was at 15. I worked at JC Penney and was outselling my full-time coworkers, but I was not even trying. Instead of being bored at the cash register, I found ways to make my time fly – buzzing around to clean, organize and I’d approach everyone who came into my departments. I treated it like a house and was a good host. I knew my merchandise and loved educating people and being of service. By college, I went on to another department store and ended up selling cosmetics where at 19, as a nice, hardworking young person, I was quickly eaten alive by commission-hungry coworkers. I laugh now and see the value in learning how to navigate nasty coworkers while successfully selling skincare and makeup was a fabulous education. I became known for revising a struggling cosmetics counter and building a loyal clientele. Years later, I was recruited to Saks Fifth Avenue where I fell in love with couture and personal styling and eventually ended up in management. Again, I was tasked with revising struggling departments, which I did through creative marketing and good old-fashioned customer service. At 21, one of my favorite personal shopping clients recruited me (while she was changing in the fitting room with me) to join her sales team. At first, I declined, but months later, she made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, so I left luxury retail to sell online advertising. This was back in 1999 (and woah, we partied like it was 1999!) It was the first email address I ever had. I felt like I was drinking from a fire hose when I started, but I hung on and thrived. Feeling a bit over the frantic dot-com culture, a year later, I resigned and went back to Saks to finish college (it was celebrated in the late 90s to drop out of school to pursue internet careers). I was recruited within a few months by an online startup to sell advertising. I did that successfully for a few years then was asked to transition to run online marketing. Instead of being a seller of online media, I became a buyer, and I went from a depth of sales experience learning the gorgeous breadth of online marketing – branding, website creation, email marketing, search optimization, affiliate marketing, Google Ads, and so much more. I saw how all the puzzle pieces connected and was enamored. A major turning point in my career happened when UC Santa Barbara asked me to teach a web marketing class through their extension program. It was an incredible opportunity, and I eventually taught for UCSB and Berkeley. What I loved was empowering marketing professionals, business owners, and entrepreneurs on ways to harness the web. What I loved even more was diving into the uniqueness of each company and helping them see all the wonderful ways web marketing could help them brand, build, and boost business. While I was climbing the corporate job ladder and taking on new roles at companies, I saw my expertise was doing more with the leaders in my classes versus the slow, archaic corporate cultures I was working in. I decided to do what I loved most – helping make small businesses big with the web. I quit my job, emailed my contacts to share I was going to start consulting, and let go of the ledge. That was almost 20 years ago! I didn’t have a business plan, savings or investors, I just loved helping people put their marketing pieces together, so things clicked (which inspired my company’s logo icon design) and built a business via word of mouth. When my clients (who did not know each other) kept calling me their “marketing therapist” or thanking me for a good “marketing therapy” session, I realized that I needed to lead with my magic. A few years in, I rebranded the company to Web Marketing Therapy, owning our distinct approach. I am still very involved with marketing strategy and client work, but I have stepped more into being a visionary and true CEO. I work with people I love and clients I love.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’ve never felt like I have struggled, but there certainly have been challenges along the way. I am a marketing expert first and foremost, so navigating hiring, HR, admin, and operations has required me to self-educate and embrace the “do what you do best and hire others to do the rest” approach. It’s such a gift when I can’t do things because there is no way I will attempt to dabble at it. It’s when I can do things; I get too much into working in the business versus on it. I think my biggest challenge over the years was not totally owning my magic. When I started my business, I was in my late 20s and didn’t have the grey hair or confidence I have today. I can remember moments when clients would hire me for change, but they weren’t willing to change. Today, I am so good at vetting ideal clients and thankfully, as The Marketing Therapist, I can frankly tell a client when they are being a danger to themselves and others and confidently walk if they aren’t willing to do healthy marketing. I think for a lot of business owners, lack of alignment in branding, sales, marketing, communications and service are causes for bumps in the road. I feel so aligned in who I am, what my company does, and whom we love to serve. When you run a business with ease and flow, things are happier, healthier, and wealthier!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Web Marketing Therapy Inc.?
Digital marketing has so many options, which is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming.
What’s working? What can be better? What’s the next best step?
Marketing leaders turn to Web Marketing Therapy for our keen ability to diagnose, prescribe, and guide healthy, sustainable marketing solutions. We listen, understand, and leverage our expertise to support our clients via a thorough evaluation of all digital marketing projects, processes, wants, needs, and challenges to identify, prioritize, and implement solutions.
Healthy Marketing = Wealthy Organizations!®
Web Marketing Therapy’s services are all about helping you improve and grow. Unlike agencies who try to push/sell you their services, we focus on marketing solutions. Our job is to be your advocate, advising you on what you need (and many times advising you against what you don’t need, saving you money, honey!) so you invest strategically in smart, sustainable marketing solutions. Our five-factor success framework gets clients on the right path and serves as a continual auditing process as you grow. Tough love is dished out when necessary, and egos are inflated or deflated as needed. We work with clients who are ready to own their success.
We are here to help you do digital marketing better, supporting you in a way that is specific to you or your company. Our full-service marketing dream team can support you with everything from:
- Marketing Audits
- Social Media Marketing
- Website Design and Optimization
- Personal Branding
- Website Optimization
- Online Public Relations
- Graphic Design
- Email Marketing
- Photography
- Web Analytics
- Google Ads
- Vendor Evaluations
- Search Engine Optimization
- Content Marketing
- Internal Staff Training
Admitting you need help is the first step.
We offer a complimentary marketing audit. We evaluate your current digital marketing efforts and document observations via our five-factor success framework, giving you a document with our observations, recommendations and immediate next steps.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
My biggest lesson that no matter what business we are in, meaningful relationships are everything. Lead with love. I define marketing as “maximizing relationships.” This mindset is our agency’s compass as we support our clients and who we work for and with. The relationships I have with my employees, clients, vendors all need to align with my value and values. There is an energy in life and work. Respect is reciprocal. Respect for yourself and respect for others. I love my team, clients, HR company, CPA, Bookkeeper, each and every person I have the pleasure of partnering with fuels my life and work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.webmarketingtherapy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/webmarketingtherapy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebMarketingRX
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorriethomasross/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WebMarketingTherapy/videos
- Other: https://lorriethomas.com/
Image Credits
Melissa Schollaert