Leisa: Hello, I’m Leisa Holland-Nelson, and welcome to another edition of Women Mean Business, where we’re going to take you up close and personal with extraordinary women doing extraordinary things.  My guest today is Raissa Evans, the Founder of Running Reload, an extraordinary agency. Raissa, tell us about Running Reload.

Raissa: Thanks, Leisa. Thanks for having me on. You know, I founded Running Reload because I was seeing a very specific pain point in the market, and that was, I was seeing business owners and marketing teams that were too busy, frustrated, and overwhelmed to get enough things done to reach their growth goals.  And so, they were just not getting there, whether it was a side project, or whether it was a confusion as to what to do next. They weren’t reaching their goals, whether or not what they had intended to do was funded or not.

Leisa: So, you found people working in their business, which is very normal for all of us, and you’re offering them an opportunity for them to work on their business. Tell me how you’re doing it.

Raissa: Correct. Yeah, I’ve got a long background in technology, in fact, I’m the current President of the Houston Interactive Marketing Association, and so I leverage technology, people, and processes primarily, in order to create a strategy that’s execution focused and gets to the root of what they need to get done for growth. And that can be for all different types of businesses, professional services especially, but I’ve worked with everything from caterers to AC companies, to financial services companies.

Leisa: So, what does the typical project look like for you?

Raissa: I’ve got a couple of different models I’m working with. With companies, I can be an outsourced CMO, or a retained consultant, which could be training or consultation; or, I’ve also had a really good time doing one day boot camps, or two half days, really is what it’s boiled down to. And that’s a roll up your sleeves time, let’s take a couple of targets that you want to reach, or that are frustrating you, or metrics that you want to pin down, and let’s create a strategy to get those things done.  And so, it’s anything from a customer journey map for a sales lead generation plan, or I’m also working with an Austin client now on rolling out their customer relationship management software system, which had really stymied them for a full year before contacting me.

Leisa: So, last but not least, is it really focused on marketing, or customer retention, or both? Or more?

Raissa: Anything growth related. I like to say that, you know, marketing is so intricate, I like to tell my friends that I know everybody in town and I like to make referrals myself, so if it’s anything marketing and growth related, think of me, and if I can’t or won’t do it then I’ll pass it along to somebody that I already know their talents and know that they can. So, pre-vetting things isn’t necessarily important.

Leisa: Ok, super. Thank you for being here.

Raissa: Thank you.

Leisa: There you have it, another extraordinary woman doing extraordinary things.  I’m Leisa Holland-Nelson, Author and voice of Women Mean Business. You can find me on Facebook at Women Mean Business, or follow me on Twitter @lhnelson. We’ll be back again next week with another edition.