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Name: Amanda Avutu
Business: Good Egg Branding
Industry: Marketing & PR
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Reason for starting: I couldn’t shred a carrot—that’s how weak I was. And I was craving a carrot, lime, and raisin salad because I was finally hungry, damn it! Three months earlier, I’d been preoccupied with rebooting the business I’d started in 2001, and which I’d tapered to a trickle around 2008 so I could spend more time with my then-young child. The cold, a minor annoyance at first, had morphed into a pervasive virus that left me bedridden. Eventually, I found myself rebooting more than just my business, and definitely not in the ways I’d previously envisioned.
While Good Egg Branding didn’t come into this world because of a nearly thwarted craving for carrot salad, it grew in my mind during the time I was sidelined. I love copywriting. I’m a storyteller. Whether creating fairytales for my kids, drafting my novel (forever drafting!), or crafting a client’s content, I can’t help but tell stories. But lying there, thinking of spending the healthy days that I sure hoped were on the horizon writing “copy” for “businesses,” was just not going to cut it.
Once I got out of bed, I promised myself, I was going to make that salad for myself. I also promised myself that I was going to launch Good Egg Branding so I could tell stories, yes, but specifically good eggs’ stories. Because there are people out there who want to make a difference, not just a profit, and I want to make a difference with them.
Related: Read about another Marketing entrepreneur here
How do you define success? For me, success is when you reach the point where you are so excited about, and engaged in, what you are doing that you don’t want to stop—not for the ice cream truck, not for a bee in the room. It’s a recurring moment rather than a coveted, quantifiable destination.
Biggest Success: Every time a client from over ten years ago tracks me down to see if I’m taking on new projects. Bonus points when their business goals have similarly evolved.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Scheduling time for promoting my business. My clients come to me primarily via word-of-mouth, and when I’m working with someone my top priority is telling their story, not eyeing new prospects. I’ve set aside one day a month where I pine for new clients. This involves making a wish list of who I’d like to work with and playing six degrees of Amanda Avutu until I can connect with them without feeling stalkerish.
Related: Growth Culture: Building a Big Company By Winning Hearts and Minds
Who is your most important role model? I’m constantly inspired by the other women entrepreneurs around me who have carved out the life they want, need, and deserve. Also: Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and Malala because, well . . . Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and Malala!
[box_light]Website www.goodeggbranding.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/GoodEggBranding
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/goodeggbranding?ref=hl
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/goodeggbranding/
Other https://www.linkedin.com/pub/amanda-avutu/0/a9/475[/box_light]
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Edited by The Story Exchange