The Ops Collective rebrand featured in Haute Stock Member Feature.png

Who or what inspired you to start your business?

I have spent years climbing the corporate ladder and leading teams in executive level roles at the expense of my health and family. This occurrence created a strong desire for time freedom and the ability to be fully present when spending time with family and friends. Having your own business affords you the ability to be as creative as you want with no restrictions and create a work schedule that suits your lifestyle. No more missing important recitals and practices!

What was your biggest struggle when starting out?

The biggest struggle I would say was balancing family, friends, and a demanding 9 to 9 all while building up my launch management business, The Ops Collective. Boundaries and putting in place mechanisms to enhance my time management skills has been increasingly important to overcome these challenges.

What’s the number one thing you attribute to growing your business?

Hands down, referrals. When you do a great job for your clients, they really go out of their way to tell their network about the great work you have done for them. I have been blessed to work with amazing clients that truly want to see my business flourish and grow. It may seem cliché, but most of my clients literally become friends because of the close nature of the launch services and systems setups I provide. I treat their business as my own and as a result it shows in my efforts and results achieved.

“I would suggest to those starting out or looking to scale up, really focus on providing stellar service to your current clients.”

What’s your favorite music to listen to when you’re creating graphics?

I love 90's RnB and Pop music. I have created a "In the Zone" playlist on Spotify. Like one minute I'll be bopping to "Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison, then the next minute I am crooning to Backstreet Boys "I want it that way"! Anything that has a great rhythm you can find me creating marketing campaign graphics to.

How do you decide on what images to use for your brand?

One thing I love about Haute Stock's library is that it is extensive and has a wide range of images categorized by color schemes.

“When I am designing an Instagram feed and want to incorporate our brand colors, I'll use Haute Stock's color search filters to easily find photos that fit the look I am trying to achieve.”

What’s your favorite Haute Stock collection?

That's a tough one because there are several. One of my recent faves is the Doer/Dreamer collection for its minimalist and clean aesthetic. The images work perfectly with any color scheme. I have used these images in one of my free downloadable workbooks and have received great feedback about the design.

How has Haute Stock helped you in your business?

As a launch consultant, it's important that things look great and professional because this is one of the critical credibility indicators clients look for when selecting a launch manager. Haute Stock makes this possible with its high quality relevant images that appeal to my audience. I am able to create a cohesive look with studio images without me having to take photoshoots every month.

The Ops Collective uses this image from Haute Stock's Je Ne Sais Quoi collection on their homepage to showcase coaching and training services.png — *“Also I love that the models used in the photos are diverse because that reflects my clientele.”*

What has been your biggest business lesson learned?

Getting out of my own way. Starting out I was a party of one, I wore all the hats in my business. But as my client base grew, I quickly realized that I needed to delegate more and empower my team to make decisions and execute on deliverables. By doing this, it freed me up from being the bottleneck within my own business. This way if I need to step away to deal with an emergency business still runs smoothly. Things have been able to move faster and my bandwidth has increased to focus on advancing my skills and really providing clients with that high level strategy and white glove service.