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Your Name: Shanna Webb
Business Name: Webb & Associates Public Relations, a pubic relations service
Type of Business: Marketing & PR
Business Location: Morgan Hill, California, United States
Website www.webbpr.info
Twitter @Webb_Assc_PR
Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Webb-Associates-Public-Relations
Reason for starting
In 2009 ten days after I graduated from San Jose State University I started my public relations business because I wanted ultimate control over my own destiny. Public Relations jobs had completely dried up due to the economy so I had to make some risky decisions. I could either graduate with no job and no pay or graduate with a job and a lot of potential. So I took the latter. This December I will celebrate my 5th year in business which is a huge milestone for a business owner.
How do you define success?
For me success isn’t defined by how much money I make but how much freedom I have to decide how much I want to make. When you work for a company they decide how much you are worth. They have all the control over your money. As a business owner I get to pick and choose the campaigns I feel are most suited for my abilities and the number of campaigns I want to work on at one time. I have the freedom and independence to decide how I will use my creativity for instance I might spend a month just working on projects that consist of authoring web content and then the next working on video and film production. It’s always different by choice. I also have the freedom to decide how I will use my time. One day I might work 12 hours but then I will take a Friday off. But
Biggest Success
This year I will celebrate my 5th Anniversary in business. This is a huge milestone for a business owner because 99 percent of businesses fail in their first 5 years. So I would say this year marks the biggest success.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?
My top challenge is to deal with the brick walls that occasionally appear in the life as a business owner. For instance, your ego can become a brick wall. It is said that a sales representative will hear five “Nos” from a client before they will get a “Yes!” And that can become deflating to a person’s ego and have them questioning their abilities as a professional. So I have to keep that in check.
Who is your most important role model?
The most important role model in my life is every single woman in my family and what they endured in their life so that I could live the one I have. Think about it. When my grandmother grew up in the Depression Era she lived in a chicken coup. She became the secretary to the District Attorney in San Francisco and retired with the city. My mother and father lived an unconventional life. My mother worked outside of the home and my father became the primary caregiver to the children. My mother has worked for a research and development company for the past 17 years. I can’t even begin to list them all and it is because of them that I have learned so much.