SpotlightBrochure-September17-MeshMediaNetwork

SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER 2017

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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2017

By David MacDonald S o Jody, I know your readers want to hear about you and the Mesh Media Network. When and how did it all come together? I launched Mesh Media a little over a year ago. It was really about combining my passions of media and marketing with my skills of teaching and selling. I had done corporate sales for the majority of mycareer, selling everything you could possibly imagine. I’ve worked for HSBC Bank, Canon Canada, Carnival Cruise Lines – so I have a really strong sales background. And then I had an opportunity to take a position with Advocate Printing & Publishing where I did media for them for four years. I really enjoy media and the creativity that comes through experiential marketing and realized there really wasn’t anyone in Atlantic Canada doing partnerships and sponsorships. And that kind of work is really a combination of everything I’d done throughout my career to that point. That’s basically how I started Mesh Media Network. It seems like the kind of business where pre-existing connections were vital to your start-up. That’s the funny part about it. I was in the corporate world for 15 years and every sales position I took- on I was always asked if I was coming into the job with an established network. I always took pride in the business relationships I had in the community – I worked hard to nurture them. I got to a point where I realized that I was using my hard-earned connections to benefit a lot of other people’s businesses. I started to wonder how I could use my skills and network to exercise my own creativity rather being confined and working off someone else’s rule book. I’d say most successful entrepreneurs have a bit of rebellious streak, wouldn’t you? Well, I grew up not really knowing what I wanted to be; I wanted to be everything, really. And that, I think, is the power of curiosity. I wanted to be a lawyer; I wanted to be a sports broadcaster; I wanted to be a physiotherapist – and that’s really been my journey, dreaming big. I’ve also had the opportunity of a great education. I grew up in Hilden, Nova Scotia and graduated from CEC [Cobequid Education Centre], I went on to Dalhousie University in Halifax where I graduated with a BA, and from there I went to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario to do my Bachelor of Education. I taught for a couple of years before I realized teaching grade eight just wasn’t a good fit for me straight out of university. I went back to university, to St. Mary’s in Halifax, to take some marketing courses toward my MBA – and to play another year of basketball. But my career has really benefitted from the amount of industries I’ve been fortunate enough to work in. I wouldn’t have the diverse list of clients in my network that I have now without my back- ground. Your list of current clients is impressive – and, as you

Readers, meet Jody Euloth. Jody, you’ll discover in the months to come, knows just how to close business deals by selling authentically and provide a unique experience for audiences. She’s a sales trainer and coach, network connector, marketing activator, keynote speaker – and as of this month, the writer of a monthly column here at Spotlight on Business. And I discovered as we chatted over the phone in early July that Jody is every bit teammate as she is coach – which is fitting as she’s a former AUS Basketball player and Dalhousie alum. Her column is ultimately an extension of her business, The Mesh Media Network, a full-service sales, marketing and PR agency which helps entrepreneurs, businesses and brands ‘Get Noticed, Get Leads, and Close Sales.’ Jody wants to share some of the strategies and tools her team at The Mesh Media Network uses to create integrated, multi-platform marketing campaigns, to secure partnerships and sponsorships, and to make activation development and custom-built communication strategies work for you. She’s on your side – to a fault. “I’m also going to share a few of my missteps starting out so that my readers won’t make the same mistakes I did,” she laughed. Becoming a part of the Mesh Media Network puts your business in good company alongside – or meshed with – the likes of Nike, DOVE, Casino Nova Scotia, the Port of Halifax, DIYMom, Steele Jaguar, Land Rover Halifax, Porsche of Halifax, the Nova Scotia Dental Ass ciation, and Atlantic Fashion Week.

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SEPTEMBER 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE

say, diverse. Is there any one thing that connects them in terms of what they’re looking for from you? They’re all looking for different things. One of the things we do as a company is connecting brands with property through partnership or sponsorship – we help to create an experience for the audience. We do everything from mar- keting strategy and PR to sales training and coaching to experiential marketing, which is one of our main focuses. Experiential marketing really engages a brand with poten- tial consumers and it evolves the brand by creating a memo- rable experience. Take, for example, Atlantic Fashion Week. We partnered with Porsche of Halifax and Steele Jaguar – because sexy cars align well with fashion – because it was a perfect fit with Atlantic Fashion Week. We created a unique experience for our clients and for the people in attendance. Being in sales is easy when everything clicks like that. It’s easy when you are providing a solution to problems and helping your clients generate brand awareness and ulti- mately increase their bottom line. What you do clearly goes beyond a keen business sense. You really have to have a genuine sensibility to do what you do. And I really take pride in that. Connecting with people has always been one of my strengths. It’s helped me in school and in sport and in my career. I thrive when meshing minds with people and building those relationships. I value having the opportunity to help my clients by providing them with strategies to be more successful in their businesses. They trust me to put them in a position that is most beneficial to them. And my teammates and other experts in my network who I collaborate with are so amazing – I learn so much from each one of them. How important is your image personally in creating networks like this? I would imagine you would have to do a lot of rubbing elbows. That’s the fun part, David; I really enjoy people. I always compare being in business to playing sports, which is a natural environment for me. You learn how to work best with teammates, how to get the win, how to get the com- petitive edge and how to learn from your losses. Our signature sales training, corporate workshops and keynote presentations are derived from our personal and proven success strategies and experience. We intimate- ly connect with entrepreneurs and business profession- als in either one-on- one or group settings to share our expertise. I work with a lot of experienced entrepreneurs in creative industries like art and fashion who are amazing talents in their fields, but admittedly, some know little about business and marketing. I’m there to get them out there, to help them with the sales process. I also help entrepreneurs who are asking things like, ‘What do I do when I do get

that meeting with the CEO? How do I conduct myself in a meeting? How do I close with confidence? How do I ask for the business without being salesy or coming across pushy? So in a sense, you’re as much a team player as you are a coach, aren’t you? I like to think so, David. It’s funny, when I went first considered entering the world of entrepreneurship, my vision was part isolation. There’s a lot of work that allows you to hide from the world and I get where people are coming fromwhen they say that it just takes a lot of energy to put yourself out there. But I always tell people my experience: When I did finally share my story and my journey, I saw how it actually helped and guided others who were looking for support or inspira- tion. I’ve been in sports my whole life; I’ve been the captain of the basketball team in high school and at University – lead- ership was always a natural role for me, so I think taking it into the business world is a natural fit for me. I know we’ve touched on it, but the scope of what you do is impressive and your website has it all so wonder- fully laid out. Has there been a lot of learning-as- you-go since you’ve launched The Mesh Media Network? You know, that’;s interesting. I’ve probably had to make fewer adjustments than you’d think. I have great business mentors who share their knowledge with me and I’m grateful for that. It was a leap to go out on my own, but I was so fortunate to be able to get top-quality training from the global brands that I worked for. HSBC and Canon, for instance, had top-quality sales training – as you’d expect. I’ve had training with Mary Jane Copps – “The Phone Lady” – who is an expert in the art of selling on the telephone – so really my skillset is pretty rounded. I share the systems and transferrable skills that I’ve had success with. I consider myself an ‘authentic seller.’ If I know I can’t help you in the exact way you need help, if I don’t believe it’s the right fit, I’ll let you know. My mission is to provide solutions for our client’s problems and if I’m confident we can do that for you, we will. “Connecting with people has always been one of my strengths. It’s helped me in school and in sport and in my career. I thrive when I’m connecting with people…” Your lead creative man, Zac Quinlan, has a solid reputa- tion entering the business world, doesn’t he? Well yes, Zach is extremely talented. He was valedictori- an at Mount Saint Vincent University here in Halifax – and he’s truly a bright go-getter with an entrepreneurial spirit like no one else. He has a degree in public relations; he’s a web developer, a graphic designer, and a digital marketing expert in general.

He really looks after the digital portion of The Mesh Media Network.

of. I use this knowledge and apply it in my sales training and coaching in both one-on- one and group settings. Ultimately, it is business and the best way to do business is with those people who see the total value in partnership. The beauty of the landscape of media right now is that it’s truly global – it’s easier than ever to find people who see the value in win-win partnerships. My long-term goal is to have a network in every possible country. I have a particularly strong connection with Toronto because I’ve spent a lot of time there and in Ontario over the years and I have friends there, but that being said, I think it’s import- ant to be bigger than any one local business climate. I stay as proactive on global a scale as I can. I do business coaching for entrepreneurs in the United States and all across Canada – and it won’t be long until I branch out from North America. In your monthly column for Spotlight on Business, will you be responding to questions and comments on social media? Absolutely. I really want it to be as interactive as possible. I’ll be using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to interact, get ideas, and get some feedback. I want to chat with people, really get the conversation going – I’m really going to value that, for sure. I think there’s so much value in the kinds of learning opportunities that an online community and dialogue can offer.

Depending on the project that we’re working on – and this is where the network comes into play – I’ll hire out or sub-contract out different experts to help us. I have many contacts in Toronto, for instance, where we work on differ- ent initiatives, so I can pull someone from my network there to really get the job done. I’m a fan of the website, but I understand that you have a revamp in the works. By the time the article launches, I’m hoping that the fresh new look will be up and ready. It’s a good lesson in the world of entrepreneurship and business in general, that you always have to be able and willing to adapt. The landscape is always changing. This is an opportunity to really explore the minds of other entrepreneurs and educators in a variety of different fields. We dive into their success stories and experiences with the goal of inspiring and educating others to ‘Find a way to do what MOVES you.’ We’ve partnered with and been supported by organiza- tions such as the Dalhousie Entrepreneurship Society, the Community YMCA, Basketball Nova Scotia and the Halifax Regional Municipality’s Souls Strong Program out of North Preston. In November, we brought in Dion Walcott, owner of iDEEa Consultancy, and a real visionary entrepreneur out of Toronto and students and aspiring entrepreneurs got to pick his brain for about a week in a multimedia platform. Through this relationship, we were then able to secure Akil Augustine, host of NBATV Canada, to come and join us for MOVES. We’re actually looking at expanding the format within the year and including one-on- one mock interviews, panel discussions, and podcast. I really feel like MOVES has given me free reign, which is something I felt like I didn’t have in previous roles. I get to control content now, I get to share my interpretation of the business world and see if it sticks with other entrepreneurs and business leaders. It helps to satisfy my curiosity of other professions. I’ve learned that if something intrigues me, it’s going to intrigue other entrepreneurs and professionals. So MOVES really depends on the expressive qualities of entrepreneurs, doesn’t it? Well yes, you can’t go on this journey of entrepreneurship without sharing your story, which I think is great in terms of mentorship opportunities and just being able to help up-and- coming entrepreneurs. I know that kind of arrangement has been valuable in my experience but MOVES is also about individual goals. People want to know how to seek out the same kinds of win-win situations that my network is made up Last fall, we launched a platform called MOVES – Minds of the Visionary Entrepreneur/Educator Series.

MESH MEDIA NETWORK

(902) 401-0546 jody@meshmedianetwork.com

www.meshmedianetwork.ca www.facebook.com/MeshMediaNetwork

as spotlighted in the SEPTEMBER 2017 issue of SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE

www.spotlightonbusinessmagazine.com

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