Female Founder Feature: Jennifer Zick’s Inspiration and Journey to Authentic Brand

Jennifer Zick, Founder & CEO, Authentic Brand

I always knew I wanted to start and build a business. It’s been an internal drive that I’ve never been able to shake. But for me, it was a matter of timing and balancing the risks and rewards. My entrepreneurial inclinations were strong early in my career, but so were my fears. I came from a blue collar community in rural Minnesota, was the first in my family to graduate from college, and had no mentorship or guidance on how to successfully build a business. So when I had the opportunity to join a small startup in 2001, as an owner together with two other founders, I chose the “safe bet” of a salary instead.

I’ve had some regrets about that choice over the years, as that company went on to become one of Minnesota’s fastest growing businesses and greatest technology consulting success stories! But I also have a ton of gratitude for what that experience taught me. Over the 13 years that I spent with that organization, I had a “second row seat” to what it takes to build and grow a startup. I wasn’t an owner, but I was a founding team member, which provided me an amazing opportunity to experiment, learn, lead, and constantly evolve.

In early 2017, after adding a couple additional roles to my work experience, I made the decision to launch Authentic Brand. On day one, I was the company. But my intention was to build a team and a business, not an independent consultancy. That meant that — right out of the gates — I had to build a brand that was “bigger than me” and set client expectations that went beyond “engaging Jennifer Zick”.

I also knew that I didn’t want to be a broad marketing agency, but that I wanted to build a unique niche, supported by well-defined and repeatable processes and tools. In the first six months of the business, I gave myself permission to take on any business that I could personally deliver (so I could build revenue and pay myself!), while I continued to experiment with the model and test my hypotheses with potential buyers and partners.

Two things were surprising and incredibly affirming for me in this early start-up phase:

1. Relationships are everything. When you have a healthy network built on trusted relationships, these come back in a very meaningful way when you start a business. I was — and still am — truly overwhelmed by people’s confidence in me and how that translates into confidence in my business.
2. My hypotheses were valid. The Authentic Brand model and delivery structure certainly wasn’t perfect or even tested in the early months, but I was blown away by the positive feedback and excitement others had for what I was working to build. That feedback helped to focus and refine our offering and bring something truly unique and meaningful to the market.

Now, 18+ months into building the business, we continue to gain momentum and evolve quickly. To date, Authentic Brand has partnered with more than 25 businesses to help them gain Marketing Traction to support next-level growth. We have eight team members, and are regularly adding talent to grow our Fractional CMO practice. Our name and our reputation are gaining recognition, but we have a lot of work ahead of us to fully realize our growth potential and constantly improve the level of value we bring to our clients.

To be successful, we have to stay closely connected with local leaders and entrepreneurs. I’ve learned so much from other entrepreneurs who are 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, or 10+ years ahead of me on this journey. I’ve been especially grateful for the strong women leaders who have affirmed my vision, listened to my fears, given me confidence to take big leaps, and who have freely given of their time, advice, and networks to help me grow.

Twin Cities Startup Week has been a fantastic place for us to connect and pay it forward by donating our time to create events and content that support entrepreneurs. We’re thrilled to be involved in building and hosting TCSW events for the second year. There’s just no other event or conference that can match the entrepreneurial energy, diversity, and range of content that comes together during TCSW!

For 2018, Authentic Brand is organizing and leading two TCSW events:

• The Lifecycle of a Brand: Building Stories that Start, Scale, Sustain, and Sell Businesses
• TCSW + Two Or More: A special non-profit service event benefiting Free Bikes 4 Kidz

In addition to leading our own events, I’m looking forward to attending most of the TCSW Signature events, and especially excited for Twin Cities Startup Week Awards & Closing Party — hosted by our clients and friends at GoKart Labs. Last Year, still a “team of one”, I was thrilled to be recognized as a finalist in the “Newbie” category at this awards event. This year, I can’t wait to celebrate the achievements of all the leaders, drivers, builders, and trailblazers that make our community a great place to build and grow a business.