In 2019, Eva Jannotta was 30 and had been a successful consultant for four years, but she was unhappy with her positioning and lack of niche.
She founded Medusa Media Group in 2015 and was “positioned kind of generically as a marketer for women entrepreneurs.” Although she had no problem attracting clients, she knew her offer was both too confining and too broad a category. The label confused people because it could mean so many things, from audience engagement to brand identity and everything in between.
As a result, Eva was spreading herself thin: creating bespoke contracts for every client, adjusting her skillset and offer for every project, and doing whatever people would pay her to do. She was caught in a delivery trap that left her little satisfaction and that did not result in recognition of her expertise. And she struggled to distinguish the high level work she did from a sea of marketers offering “hot tips” about how to kill it on Tik Tok.
Discovering Eleanor by chance at an event, Eva was impressed by her messaging and started following her to get insight and advice she could apply to running her business.
One message in particular really landed with Eva — the idea of committed and consistent action being a precursor to confidence. It inspired her to reevaluate her own assumptions about confidence. As a result, she decided to apply herself to BUILD the confidence she had been sitting around waiting to appear.
Making the Commitment
Prior to that, Eva had invested little in herself or into the company she had successfully bootstrapped. Spending money on her professional development wasn’t a decision she took lightly. But, based on her conversations and previous encounters with Eleanor, she was convinced that the program would address her concerns around her messaging — explaining what she does with clarity.
But, after making the purchase, Eva was struck with immediate regret. On re-reading the criteria for the Jewel Business Foundation (JBF), her initial reaction was that she didn’t qualify and shouldn’t have applied. She had doubts about her experience chalking up. But her panic prompted some important reflection. Instead of looking for external validation, her readiness was her own choice. “You can decide you’re ready for something and then make it so by doing the work.”
Her mindframe harkens back to the research finding that women do not apply unless they have ALL of the qualifications. The highly-referenced Hewlett Packard internal research found that men apply with 60% of qualifications while women hold off until they have 100% of qualifications.
The JBF program focuses on working with people who are the right fit. It’s not about criteria or ticking all the boxes, it’s about creating an ecosystem where success is guaranteed by following a structured process, getting personalized support, and working with the right people.
“I was often resistant to niching programs like ‘help you choose your niche’ type programs because they felt so artificial — you’re just plucking a niche out of thin air. But the process in the PPP program felt much more collaborative. It didn’t feel like we were just picking something arbitrarily, but excavating and giving words to something that was already there.”
Community, Accountability and Results
Once she started the program, Eva quickly realized the value of placing herself in a community of like minded women. “It made me realize I need to prioritize being around people who inspire me and make me think differently and challenge me.” The group coaching and Eleanor’s advice had an immediate effect on her focus, and her commitment to consistent action.
In the Jewel Business Foundation, established founders focus to scale. They niche down, craft a scalable business model, and develop a powerful message that positions their company in a true Category of One.
Eva repositioned herself from a generic marketer to be in a Category of One as a thought leader advisor and trainer. She now helps women entrepreneurs amplify their influence and expand their wealth and power through thought leadership and her slow marketing philosophy.
Eva started booking more and more prestigious clients. Today, her clients are among the most sought after thought leaders in the women helping women economy — a term she coined working with Safi Media and that strengthened her position as a thought leader. Her clients have included Ali Brown and numerous best selling authors, Harvard Business Review contributors, and consultants to Fortune 500 companies. Eva’s clients have been named LinkedIn Top Voices as a result of their work together and featured on Brené Brown’s podcast Dare to Lead.
“Hockey Stick Returns” on Investing in Herself
Making further investment in herself and her company by joining The Jewel Business Accelerator was a natural next step. Eva wanted to build on and amplify the momentum she had created from working with a coach and a peer group of baller women entrepreneurs. She wanted to scale and she wanted to achieve new, ambitious revenue targets.
“I’ve gotten a ton of ideas from my peers and I’ve really enjoyed the programming in the incubator that highlights the successes of our peers.”
In Year One of the Accelerator, Eva built a foundation and scaffolding for the tremendous changes she would make in her business the following year. Those changes include building her team and launching a second scalable offer. For Eva, the results were everything she wanted: increased impact thanks to her clearly defined and articulated niche, a business that could scale, and an exponential increase in revenue.
“It was like a hockey stick — I more than doubled my revenues in my second year in The Accelerator. I also raised my prices. I debuted a scalable offer. I renamed my business, updated my brand, and invested in branding and graphic design for the first time.”
Now in her third year of The Accelerator, Eva has done a U-turn on her initial concerns about investing in herself and her business.
“The Accelerator was really the kick in the pants that I needed. I made my money back many times over in year two and year three. It’s one of the greatest ROI investments I’ve made.”
If you want personalized support creating a lucrative selling system that you can communicate through clear and direct messaging, check out The Jewel Business Foundation Program