Tamara Edwards With TE&CO.

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Chicago, Illinois, it’s time for Chicago Business Radio brought to you by FirmSpace, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firmspace.com. Now here’s your host.

Max Kantor: [00:00:20] Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of Chicago Business Radio. I’m your host, Max Kantor. And before we get started, a quick shout out to today’s sponsor. Today’s show is sponsored by firmspace. Thank you to firmSpace because without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories and we have a really great guest today. She is the founder and director of communications at TE&CO. Please welcome to the show, Tamara Edwards. Welcome to the show, Tamara.

Tamara Edwards: [00:00:48] Hey, thanks so much for having me, Max.

Max Kantor: [00:00:50] So let’s jump right in. Tell me a little bit about what te&co. is and how you guys serve, folks.

Tamara Edwards: [00:00:57] Yeah. So Tiangco is Tamara Edwards and Co. And quite literally, it’s the company I keep to support the strategies that we put out for our clients. But the history of our business in a very quick and personal story is I was working for a I’m from Chicago, but I moved to D.C. after college and pursued a career on Capitol Hill and found myself working for a very media driven congressman as his scheduler and on the communications team, and really quickly gained a lot of experience in campaign politics and managing crisis communications and building a personal brand. And my DC life was thriving and fantastic, but I’m from Chicago. My family’s here and I wanted to find a way to get back to Chicago. And so fast forward five years, a couple of inaugurations and a lot of fun stories in between. And I started a business. I started with the idea to service the personal brands of business leaders who want that clarity and visibility and crystallization of their message the same way that perhaps a member of Congress would enjoy. It’s really built into what they do. And so I think more and more now folks are thinking about their personal brands or how executive leadership makes their voice makes a difference. So we we service our clients in all kinds of ways. We do corporate communications. I, I stick with personal brands through their investment portfolios. We are sort of tagline is we can help raise the profile in a way that makes sense for your business goals. So it’s very strategic and targeted PR communications and personal branding.

Max Kantor: [00:02:51] One of the things that first stood out to me when I was reading through your back story was your time working in the U.S. Congress. I mean, because that’s such an interesting thing. And so now that you’re working with business people, what are some similarities and differences that you have found working with politicians and now working with business people?

Tamara Edwards: [00:03:10] Yeah, it’s funny because even some of my clients have political aspirations, but I really find and I think this is true for perhaps a lot of your guests or a lot of people listening. But a lot of people just really want to do good in their community or in a in a bigger picture. It’s not just I want to make money. I want to be a United States senator. It’s not these short term goals. Most people really at the end of the day want to help others, and there are so many ways to do that. And that’s that’s the the thread that keeps me super excited about what we’re doing and really getting behind the mission of our clients. And so we have clients that do things that members of Congress can’t do in their in their in their private practice. So the common thread really is is the interest and ability of doing doing good, whether it’s in your immediate community or in your industry. But we all want to be cutting edge and leading decisions, and the folks I work with are in fact doing that, whether they’re aspiring members of Congress or CEOs or ready for their next promotion.

Max Kantor: [00:04:31] So you started to talk about, you know, what some of your clients may be doing, but for you and T and Co., who are you guys? Is ideal client.

Tamara Edwards: [00:04:43] We so we actually have a really nice portfolio of clients right now, I have a a hair salon owner, which was newly added as a in November, and that was that was something I was really clear what I was taking that client on that I wanted to work with the CEO. It was really that the the jockey, so to speak. And but we have clients who do pressure and satellites. We’re in blockchains, we’re in manufacturing. And so the ideal client that we want to work with is not anybody in everybody, but individuals or companies or brands who are interested in communications and want to articulate themselves through PR, through communications, through things like having a clear social media strategy but aren’t sure exactly where to go. And what I found is they there’s it’s kind of there needs to be somebody not necessarily like me, but someone thinking the way that I do that, it’s really threading the needle between brand and what the marketing strategy is and what’s the what is the story that we’re telling as an organization? And so you can hire a brand agency to build you a beautiful logo. You can hire a photographer to take a great picture of you. But what are those individual pieces doing that all work towards the same goals? And I want people to think more about that. So whether they hire us today or tomorrow, or follow us on social media, we have a magazine coming out January one. We really want to help people get into that mindset. That streamlined, cohesive and comprehensive communications is pretty much the only way to go. And the fun part is the best part is not only does it work, but it actually makes the overwhelm of social media. And all of these daunting things kind of quell down when you have an actual plan in front of you.

Max Kantor: [00:06:40] Totally. And it is daunting. I mean, for someone who’s just starting out building their personal brand, all the checklist of items they have to do to build that up is an intimidating thing. So what are some tips to help somebody build their personal brand if they’re just starting out?

Tamara Edwards: [00:06:56] Yeah, I would. It’s a little bit of mind mapping, I’m actually in a few coaching programs with wonderful executive coaches here in Chicago. Shout out to O’Rourke of somewhere in between coaching, but really starts off like forget the tactical steps. Start with a strategy. And if you’re not sure what a strategy might look like for you, start off with your why and how and how am I going to show up the world is our oyster, right? So we can be very specific if you’re a consultant. How are you going to position yourself as a consultant or are you going to be very high touch, very buttoned up? I brand myself as a casual Midwesterner, and that’s how I my voice and tone comes across and all of the work that I do. And so starting off with those very clear, a little bit of again like by mapping a little bit of the will, who am I? What am I doing? Why does it matter who I want to help? And then I think from there you can start applying the tactical things so you can work towards a photo shoot as a as a first step. We love to do that as one of the early steps because it helps bring the brand to life.

Tamara Edwards: [00:08:03] It helps get everybody excited. But it’s not just again, that headshot photo shoot is, you know, we just did a shoot for. I mentioned Jen at a hair salon owner. Well, her unique positioning is she wants to make her salon more competitive, and it’s really her around the ecosystem running the place and they’re expanding into a new venue, a new location. So the way we structured the photo shoot, for example, is having her the team around her and her educating and her hands on with other women. And certainly we did photos, group shots. Everyone’s kind of in parallel, but some of those, a few of those shots, she was standing a few few feet a foot or so in front of everyone to make her the centerpiece. So that’s just one example of the many. But you want to get very clear about how you want to shell out who your audience is and how you’re going to market to them. And then you can apply the tactical things like a photo shoot, like a biography, like actually putting together a communication structure of what your message is going to be.

Max Kantor: [00:09:12] So can you share a story that illustrates maybe a person who came to you and you help them turn into a success story?

Tamara Edwards: [00:09:21] Oh, my gosh, yes. I love to talk about my first ever client, John DeBlasio, who is an incredible philanthropist and entrepreneur, and I actually known him from my days on Capitol Hill. The the story that we like to tell or I tell is here was this incredible, incredible foreign policy mind coming to Capitol Hill. And at the time I would, I would. If you can, if you can think back to if you’ve ever been to DC or been in the capital, the one side is the house, one side is the Senate. So us on the House side, we would take meetings and I was always really important to me to have numbers. Excuse me. It was really important to me to have folks from Illinois whenever they were in town that they could meet the Congressmen. And so that particular day, I took John to the steps of the steps of the Capitol, and I texted the other chiefs of staff and the delegation, and just about every member showed up. So here’s this person who came for a purposeful meeting. The day was a little hectic, so we moved the meeting outdoors and had great relationships, was really involved as an advisor, as a confidant, as a trusted member of the community for members of Congress. And I just always held him at a high regard. So fast forward to we’re having coffee in Chicago.

Tamara Edwards: [00:10:46] I just to catch up coffee and kind of starting this new venture, starting this new life wasn’t really anticipating pitching him. But long story short, he really didn’t have a Google presence. He didn’t have a LinkedIn. He didn’t have an up to date headshot, and he has big ambitions for himself. And the way that his sort of internet profile showed up didn’t really represent that. So I said, Hey John, give me six months. Let me test out some ideas. Within six months, we had a feature in Entrepreneur. We had beautiful new headshots. We had an op ed that was placed in national publications around at the time, what was happening on the the border of Donbass and Ukraine. He had been on Chicago tonight talking about some of at the time, some foreign policy pressing foreign policy issues, which is something that is very much his background. He’s a lieutenant colonel. So what we did was we started a newsletter. So lots of little tactical things that led up again within six months really had a transformational brand. And to date, he is now the CEO, and he is sort of one of those interim CEO, type of mentor, venture capitalists and investors. And his opportunities have expanded because we’re communicating consistently what he cares about LinkedIn. We’re not showing dollar signs. We’re not saying rah rah rah.

Tamara Edwards: [00:12:07] He’s giving away x amount of dollars. He’s a very, very good philanthropist. We’re not showboating all of the great things he’s doing. We’re more so very clear on. We’re celebrating the things that he’s excited about. We’re taking pictures of the things that he’s doing and communicating the message as to why. So one of the examples of something that we do very consistently is support and promote the emerging leaders program at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, which right now through I think, mid-March, they’re accepting applications for their program. And John is a huge mouthpiece for them and through the power of social media and the power of just having your strong network in a brand and a following, you can really support and endorse these types of organizations. So, you know, I don’t have a dollar amount. I don’t have a I did this and thanks to me, he did it on his own. I just luckily was by his side to help storytelling integrate that into the avenues that we communicate. Right now, it’s LinkedIn and Twitter and say in 10 years, you know, we have a website for, but say in 10 years, it’s some, you know, maybe everybody’s on TikTok in 10 years. Maybe we go there. Maybe not, probably not. But but just to say, think about the channels that you’re communicating. And again, we have checks every few months where we go, what is our message? What is our message and what are we trying to convey? So that’s one example, but that really led to a lot of different corporate opportunities.

Tamara Edwards: [00:13:29] So another quick, quick, quick example is we have RCAF Artinian, who has a show on her YouTube channel and a really amazing Instagram CIAC, and the show is called Smart is sexy, so she wants. She sees herself as an Oprah type, and I know that sounds like super. Everybody wants to be like Oprah, but she has this incredible platform and very, very well-produced, beautiful videography. Beautiful imagery show where she goes around Chicago and meets with business owners and meets with nonprofit leaders and meets with women who aren’t just aren’t having a good season and tries to tell their story and sort of meet them halfway and lift them up and where we’re going. So one of the tactical things we did for her personal brand was, of course, we. We help underwrite the show and scripting and a little bit of the just day to day ops, but one of the things we’re doing for her personal brand for the past year and a half is really get her involved and make her story known in local media. So we’ve had top stories. We’ve had her feature on Chicago’s very own. I remember one day we were dropping off checks to business owners who were really affected by the looting and rioting last summer.

Tamara Edwards: [00:14:46] And regardless of your your opinion on where that all started, RCI wanted to step up and say, Look, this is just terrible. People can’t even pay for their new windows. So she wrote some checks and came down to the south side and particularly in that neighborhood we focused on. We worked with the Inglewood Chamber of Commerce and a few churches to get some ideas as to whom, and we shared that with the media and we had a top story in Chicago. We did things like that a few times. And now when she goes to the grocery store, people are excited and her viewership numbers are up. And yes, she’s not necessarily in the millions and millions and getting sponsored ads. The goal wasn’t to make her a social media influencer. The goal is to make her somebody who’s who’s setting the standard for how just an average person can be involved in their community and tell stories. So it was an extension of her. Smart is the new sexy show. So those are two really different examples just to show the range on how really thinking clear about how you can raise your profile can can have an impact on your business, on your life and your philanthropy. On your, on your, your community.

Max Kantor: [00:15:52] Totally. And it’s very interesting to hear about how you and t-e and co. kind of adjust and mold yourselves for whichever unique voice and story come to you. That’s really cool to hear you for two totally different clients. Tell me how you know you were able to help them succeed. And so in addition to all the stuff you’re doing for all your clients, can you tell me a little bit about T and Co magazine? What’s that all about?

Tamara Edwards: [00:16:15] Yeah, nice. So, you know, this all started actually a few months ago. There’s a multitude of things that sort of kicked off the thinking, right? One, I’ve never really marketed myself. It’s really we’ve been so lucky writing this wonderful wave of of of people who are just knocking on our door. I think my my clients are my marketing. And so we’ve been really lucky. And so looking ahead to twenty twenty two, I wanted to serve at a higher scale, not necessarily just cash in for my ideas. I love doing the work. I was a staffer on Capitol Hill. Always had that mindset. Truly. I mean, I I’m so involved in the day to day meetings like you do to you’re a CEO, you’re running our company and I’m like, No, we need to do it right. So. So all of that to say is we really wanted to serve and share our ideas and get people thinking. And I found that in a lot of my conversations with friends, with people who are perhaps shopping or exploring our services. We really got them thinking and they came back to us and wanted a strategy. And so I I just thought, if I could storytelling and showcase and share, you know, share some of the tactical things that led to success of X campaign or X project or X client.

Tamara Edwards: [00:17:34] Perhaps I can inspire other people’s right people to take it and run with it themselves. Maybe give us a call for a free 15 minute consultation. I’m always down for that. The other thing that really drove us to invest our time and energy and put our best ideas forward behind the magazine are I realized that PR is very expensive and we’ve never really skyrocketed our rates because we want to be approachable. We want to be affordable. We also know that takes a little bit of time to turn a brand around. So we actually have our clients on four and six month strategies. So I think about my style of comes as a ferris wheel is very low and slow, and smart and steady takes a little time to experience that shift. And we’ve kind of outdone a lot of our clients who have had big PR firms. And a few months ago, I took on a client in D.C. who we’re going to be launching a few satellites in a few years that’s called High Spec IQ, and we shopped for a few big, fancy expensive PR firms that were just sums that at this point, the startup that that high spec is, you know, wasn’t really ready to pay. So I’m talking twenty thousand a month beyond, and to me, that was a pretty shocking figure.

Tamara Edwards: [00:18:49] I could charge that right and still deliver, but I wasn’t willing to do that. And I think again, when you get to those big, expensive and fancy PR firms, it’s you’re paying for the zip code, you’re paying for the account managers and it’s very transactional. And I think that’s perfectly acceptable. That’s their business model. They probably have a yacht and I don’t. But. And that’s what works. And there’s a need for that when you when you are a big company. But what about everybody else? What about the small businesses? What about the the folks who are just getting started with their ideas? What about the personal? How do you attach? How do you attach a strategy to a personal brand as a PR firm? So I really wanted to kind of reset the way we think about PR, personal branding and communications in this new era where everybody does have a personal brand. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you have a personal brand. And how do we normalize this conversation about thinking about ourselves? I mean, I think every single person should have sort of their their their social media strategy or their campaign because people are inherently interested in each other. The example I talk about a lot is we watch each other more than we watch TV.

Tamara Edwards: [00:19:57] You probably scroll Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn or TikTok more than you just scroll the channels, right? We all binge. We all have Netflix and things like that. But the first thing that we check in the morning, I think for most people is probably our phone and probably our social media. So give them something to look at, give them something to know. And that really is just going back to like really basic tactical steps. So to answer your question, it really was kind of cutting through the noise, but also us really put ducking our heads up and saying, Hey, we’re out here and we’re doing really fantastic things. Here’s what we’re doing. And again, 15 minute consultation calls are very, very welcome. I joke and say, I’m the best, worst salesperson because I really just want to help other people again. That staffer mentality, I came from a congressional office and a congressman who taught us to be in service. We were servant leaders, so I can’t turn that off. And so I really do see it as my responsibility to help sort of turn that tide and help people cross, cross over and be better at communicating what they’re doing, what they’re excited about, especially if they’re in service of others like, I’m so here for that.

Max Kantor: [00:21:11] Totally. And that is awesome. And if someone is looking at building their brand, trying to figure out how to tell their story or even wants to learn how to just get started on social media, anything like that, and they want to learn more about T and Co. How can I reach you guys?

Tamara Edwards: [00:21:27] Yeah, we have a nice and simple website. Tamara Edwards, CEO, Tamara Edwards, CEO. We have a magazine that’s going to come out several times a year, which I’m very excited about. And then there’s always an option you can email me at. Hello at Tamara Edwards, CEO, not for a free 15 minute consultation. I’d love to chat and hear from you.

Max Kantor: [00:21:54] Do you all have any social media as well?

Tamara Edwards: [00:21:57] We do. Yeah, we have an Instagram. Tamara Edwards, CEO and then my personal Instagram is a little bit of I’m a newlywed. A little bit of that, a little bit of PR tactics, a little bit of a little bit of everything. And it’s it’s Tamara Edwards, Edwards. That’s it. I just changed the handle, so I’m getting used to it. Tamara Edwards.

Max Kantor: [00:22:20] Awesome. Well, Tamara, it’s really been so great to hear how you’re impacting the community and how you’re really helping, folks. And it’s been great having you on the show tonight.

Tamara Edwards: [00:22:30] Thanks so much for having me. Max, really appreciate it.

Max Kantor: [00:22:32] And thanks to all of you for listening to another episode of Chicago Business Radio. I’m your host, Max Cantor, and we’ll see you next time.

Intro: [00:22:40] This episode is Chicago. Business Radio has been brought to you by firm SpaceX, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firme Space.com.