Read the Interview with Shelby Elmore

Brandon Steele (Host): This is Brandon Steele. Welcome to the Mainsail Financial Group Podcast series, where we host industry experts and local professionals to really help share some tips and guidance into the areas that we don't necessarily get to focus on day-to-day. So we want to thank Shelby Elmore, for joining us. Shelby does a lot; she heads up a lot of the marketing department for Ascend Hospitality Group, which owns a lot of restaurants here, especially in the area, but across the country as well. [She also] does a lot of marketing, like, you know, customer experience branding. I mean, you name it. And she was also in 425 Business Magazine's 30 Under 30 this year and actually got the cover, right?

Shelby Elmore (Guest): Yes.

BS: So we are super excited to have Shelby on today and just kind of talk about the state of marketing, how you can maybe carry some things over to your personal branding, or you know, if you run a business, how that might translate to you. But before we jump into that, so we're here at Rouge Cocktail Lounge in Bellevue, off of like, Old Main Street here, can you maybe share why we're here and kind of why this is important to you?

SE: Yeah, of course. So obviously, working in hospitality, we always like to support other local businesses. And then currently, as a hospitality group, we're designing and almost ready to open three new concepts. So part of that is always doing research and grabbing inspiration. So I figured, you know, we're doing three new cocktail menus right now. So we might as well go try out a new cocktail bar and see if we can grab some inspo!

BS: Yeah, and obviously, you know, we're here, and it's March right now; this will be going live in April. But hopefully, things are starting to slow down a little bit with COVID. And so maybe I want to start there. Because I know you mentioned earlier that you're kind of starting to get back out. Yeah, share just a little bit about maybe the let's start with the the the restaurant industry first, and how that's shifted through COVID, I guess over the past couple of years?

SE: Sure. I think the main thing that shifted is we learned how to do a lot more with a lot less.

For a while we were just in survival mode, you know, it was just one day at a time, how do we keep our doors open? How do we keep as many people staffed as possible, and through that, we actually had to do a lot of innovation. So an example, at Ascend Prime here in Bellevue, [they] didn't have a true catering or takeout program at all. It's a really experienced-based restaurant. So we like to always have the guests in the restaurant to be able to provide that. We had to figure out how to provide an amazing experience outside the four walls that people could enjoy in their homes.

Another one, you know, our Famous Dave's Barbecue Restaurants, we had to figure out how to serve more people in to go. We also, as a Hospitality Group, are really passionate about providing service to the community. And so we started a meal match program, where people could donate a meal to anyone: hospitals, schools, [etc.], and we would match every one of those meals. It was just innovation, innovation, innovation, and it was people stepping into other roles. You know, we had some people who were in sales who were running expo. Me personally, I was running the pastry line for Mother's Day just to get to go orders out the door.

Everyone just figured out how to do a lot more with a lot less.

BS: It sounds like, and yeah, pivot quickly. It sounds like a lot of like, basically creativity and what you're doing to try and build up that experience. What do you expect? As we kind of, hopefully, get back out of this, what do you think will still carry over or what might change in the years to come?

SE: I mean, I think a lot with COVID has changed. I think that a lot of people in hospitality have, you know, unfortunately, gone into other industries. Unfortunately for hospitality, they've had to figure [it] out. Hospitality got hit really hard. It was so up and down. It's really, really, really hard to lay off hundreds of people and then ask them all to come back into work and then lay them off a few weeks later.

So, getting people to come back and remembering what makes the hospitality industry hospitable is something that we're working on at the moment. But again, the doing "more with less" is something I think we'll continue.

People have been able to show, me included, all these other things. When the pandemic started, I was head of marketing, right? And now we had to create new brands, create new lines of business, and I was fortunate enough by our ownership when I put my hand up and said, "Hey, like I can build websites, I can do logo branding. I can, I want to try concepting," and they said yes. For me personally, being able to take the pandemic and show that I can help the company do more with less has benefited our business and benefited my career.

BS: Sure. Let's go down that path because I think you were telling me before we started recording a little bit about how you got to where you are. Can you maybe talk to that a little bit? It's very interesting. And yeah, I think speak to a lot of folks as far as career progression and personal branding?

SE: Sure. Yeah. Well, I think to preface this, I've always been the type of person where no matter what I did, I was always going to be the best at it, in my opinion. Better than myself even, I mean.

And so, I started my marketing career as the first-ever women's fitness writer for the sports retailer Finish Line. And I got that job just by putting myself out there and overcoming fear. And even though I was so incredibly underqualified, with no degree in journalism, no degree, and you know, not a lot of experience in copywriting, I put my hand up, and I asked for a chance. And they said, Yes. And so fast forward later, I then become a personal trainer, I have clients, I'm working six jobs. I'm literally folding towels at the gym, but I was like, I'm going to be the best towel folder they've ever seen. And because of that, I was able to make friends with our clients. And then I had a client I was just talking to him one day after one of my classes, and I was like, "I literally get off at the bar at three in the morning. And then I have to be at the gym at five in the morning. And then I get off at 11. And I'm writing my Finish Line articles. And then I have to go to a photo shoot. And then I have to go to the retail store. And then I have to close the retail store. And then I have to go to a liquor promo!" And he gave me an opportunity to basically quit all of those jobs to help him go build this company based off of influencer marketing.

So again, super underqualified, but just said, "You know what, I can do this!" So I put my hand up and said, "Give me a chance!" And I said, "If I'm going to do it, I'm going to be the best that I ever can be at it." So I had about 40 hours to pack my suitcases and move to LA for a few months and help build this company, largely based on influencer events, because, at that time, "influencer" was really new. And the best way to use influencers in marketing was through events. So I got really, really good at throwing events really, really fast.

Then I found a gap in traditional marketing where brands thought, you know, they could just pay Kylie Jenner with some free product, and then they'd be famous. And that's not really how it works. And influencers have their own personal brand that correlates with the businesses they work with if they're true content creators. And I had to help brands understand that before an influencer would even consider working with them, their brand would need to match their personal brand. And so, I basically started a freelance agency to help small brands develop the right assets that they needed to attract influencers and then would launch their brand with an influencer campaign. So websites photography, graphic design, marketing, digital in-person events, etc. Whatever they needed, I raised my hand, and I said, "I can do it!" Even if I didn't know how.

Yeah, I just knew I would figure out how to do it one way or another.

BS: So that was really the first introduction to a lot of the stuff you're doing today?

SE: Yep, absolutely. And you know, I did that for a while. And it was really, really, really hard, because I had no idea how to position myself. And I knew I really wanted to go work for someone else that could really mentor me. I'll be the first one to say when I don't know how to do something. And there was a lot I still didn't know. And so I went, and I sought out jobs all over the country. And I moved to Seattle with no knowledge of Seattle. And I was really fortunate enough that, you know, Elaina Morris, who's the owner of Ascend Hospitality Group, really saw a lot of her in me and wanted to take me on and mentor me. Even though once again, she was sort of like, well, I think she might be a little underqualified, but she knows a little bit about a lot because I was able to show my portfolio. At the time, I was hired for the position, which was a lot of social media-based [work]. And I was able to show that I had my own credible social media, know social media, and have also done some website building and photography. The company needed a little bit of everything at the time.

BS: I feel like if I'm catching this theme correctly, that a lot of what has gotten you to where you are is is kind of like going out of your comfort zone, like jumping into something before you're technically ready. But you are just jumping into the deep end and learning it as you go. Is that fair to say?

SE: Yes. My career has been a lot of resilience. It's been a lot of really low lows and high highs. It's been a lot of, "Oh crap, let's just do this and give it everything you have and overcome the fear that goes along with it." I trust myself that even if I don't know how to do something, I can always figure it out. And so I've always taken really big risks, and I've had big rewards because of it.

BS: Yeah. So now, here you are, and you're doing a lot of this marketing. Like, it's not just social media marketing with brand new experiences, all that. Can you maybe talk to how some of your background and what you're doing today? I guess [how it] ties into like, personal branding as well, and what you're doing to make sure that you're [receiving] exposure and opportunities as well.

SE: Absolutely. I think personal branding is really important because it's your credibility. I think it's how we used to look at athletes, musicians, and they would get endorsements, right? And that was them, correlating another person's brand to prove their credibility. And nowadays, we have this amazing thing called social media, where before we even get a brand endorsement or a collaboration, we have the ability to give ourselves credibility for what we're talking about what we're doing. It's not just in food; it's every industry.

I've seen dentists with large social media followings, because they do awesome stuff. I've even seen servers on TikTok. There's this girl I follow; her whole TikTok is videos of when she comes home after shifts and tells stories about the funny experiences she has at the dive bar. But she's talking about her personal brand, which is: a server at a dive bar. And, you know, a jokester and a comedian.

So throughout my career, my personal brand has sort of changed to help make myself credible. It also goes back into that I'm always giving something 150%. So when I do something, I fully put myself into it. So there was a point where it was fitness. When I was working with Finish Line, and as a personal trainer, I wanted to be credible. I knew I was an industry expert, even as it has changed. Now, my personal brand is very much travel, food, and lifestyle. But that's what I'm selling every day when I go to work; I'm selling a lifestyle experience within food and beverage. And so my social media has transitioned that direction to empower; specifically, women that they are allowed to care about aesthetics and be beautiful and also want to be a boss in any industry they're in. And they're allowed to do both.

BS: Sure. Yeah, and yesterday was International Women's Day. And it sounds like I didn't necessarily expect our conversation to go this route, but I think it is really good. It sounds like, as you have transformed yourself, would you say that it is doable? I mean, I assume so. Because I think a lot of people will like go down the path of, well, if I brand myself this, I'm never going to be able to, you know, reposition or go a different route. It sounds like that hasn't been your experience.

SE: It's scary. It's overcoming that fear, though. It's caring more about where you're going than what people think about it today. It's the, you know, long term rather than the short term gratification. So sure, when I was doing fitness, my reach and my engagement was far, far higher. And because people were following me for fitness, okay, they follow me for food now. Not necessarily correlates.

So it's taken years for me to transition in that direction. And I knew I was going to drop off. (Sorry, I just touched my mic. I was like, what's on me?) I knew it was going to drop off. But you just have to overcome that fear. You know, who cares? Because eventually, it's going to be the right person looking at your brand again and caring.

BS: Yeah, that's good. I feel like that's probably a huge fear for a lot of people. So it's good to hear that. It's doable, right?

One of the other things that we were talking about before we started here was a little bit about what your role has turned into sounds like it is literally the customer, the client, experience from start to finish. So can you maybe talk a little bit about that, what that means, because I think a lot of folks can maybe get something out of that for themselves, but also if they do run a business.

I'll tell you, selfishly, as a financial planner, we think about this stuff all the time. I'd love to hear how you do that with a restaurant and some things that go into every bit of that customer experience.

SE: Yeah, absolutely. So marketing as a whole and branding is so much more than just picking out a logo and some colors. It's really every single touchpoint of the entire guest experience. So from the moment, and I think this is true of all brands, not just hospitality, but from the moment someone finds out about, we'll use hospitality and restaurants as the example. Because I know it the best. I know it better than any other example. So from the moment they find out about your brand, the website, the social media, the photography, the Yelp, the Open Table, to the moment they walk into the restaurant.

So what is the music playing? What's the lighting look like? What's it smell like? To the moment they sit down. What's the table? What's the furniture? What do they see, even if it's subconscious, like in here, we have a black marble table, which contrasts with a white marble bar backsplash which contrasts with like, you know, the tile on the walls and the finish of the furniture. And then it goes down to the menus, the plate presentations, what's on the menu, what does it look like, literally down to what's the pen that you sign out with is an entire guest touchpoint, the glassware is the same color as the couch.

Even if people don't know that it matters to them, they're taking it in, and they're it's making them feel a certain way. So when you talk about branding, you're creating a personality, you know, a person is going to look a certain way, smell a certain way, they're going to leave people with a certain feeling brands and restaurants do the same thing.

BS: Yeah, that I think, you know, it's interesting. I feel like it may be hard for some people to correlate the two maybe, but like the way you're introduced, for instance, a national brand, right? What you're wearing for a personal brand, and how that conversation ends for like, that's what you're saying?

SE: Absolutely. Absolutely.

BS: So whether it's a restaurant, an experience, a personal brand, like where do you start? Because that's a lot.

SE: Yeah, you know, so it all starts with the vision of where the company's going. So, you know, Elaina will come to me with an opportunity. For instance, we're working on a new steak and sushi concept in Utah. And she'll say, "Hey, we have this space, here's the demographic of the area, here's what the type of restaurant I want to put in it for us for to make sense for the business." And then that's where it starts.

And then it goes into a ton of demographic research. It goes into research in the area. And I really do create personas. So again, it's the personality of the brand; I say, you know, I will literally give them names and come up with the three people who would go to that restaurant and think, "Okay, what what do they wear? What do they do in their free time? What kind of music do they listen to? Where else do they go out to dinner? Or happy hour? What do they like?" And, and I'll work backwards from there. And then I'll draw inspiration.

So again, Aqua Terra, in Salt Lake City. It's in the Rocky Mountains. And so we drew inspiration for the color palette from things like the rocky mountain forests and the fish that you'll find in the river, the rocks in the river down to the sand of the ocean because it's a take on sushi. So there's a game focus, not just normal steaks, and then you keep drawing. So then you get a color palette that's based on the Rockies. And it's just one step at a time.

And then we come up with that vision and that persona and that feeling before you even get a name. I think people get so hung up on what's the name of it. And what's the logo? How can you come up with that before? You know, the baby has to exist before? Or you kind of have to; it's got to be in progress before it gets a name, you know?

SE: Yeah, it's funny. Jenn, who is behind the camera right now, always talks to me about that, like when we're recording something, she'll be like, you know, think of XYZ client. And so I hear where you're coming from. With that, it's like, if you can picture where it's going, it's a little easier to build the restaurant.

SE: Right. Right.

BS: Well, I think that's maybe a good place to start wrapping up. Anything else that you want to share on personal branding, or just that experience from start to finish?

SE: I think, you know, again, it's just not being afraid. I think fear happens in a lot of places. I think fear prohibits us from starting something. But I think it also prohibits us from finishing something strong. Usually, when you get to that 80% is when fear will kick back in. Even if you start something and you sort of kind of get cold feet, or you're afraid to totally launch it. You just got to do it to that last 20%. The first 1% and the last 20% will always be the hardest. And you just got to overcome the fear of left foot in front of right.

BS: That's great. And I think maybe the one thing that all add as far as a takeaway from this too is [that] I think a lot of a lot of people are working in a W2 job like, you know salaried job, they're just kind of clocking in clocking out. But regardless of what you're doing, whether you're building a business, whether you're clocking in, clocking out, like the personal brand is there. And if you're not aware of it, right, it's probably not good? So you can take some of these tips and implement that in what you're doing. You don't have to own a business or be in a marketing role to understand the value.

SE: Absolutely, yeah. And it can open up opportunity. Again, it's creating credibility and value. Whatever you're talking about, having a personal brand because there'll be opportunity everywhere. And you know, sometimes it comes to you because someone will correlate with that personal brand. And sometimes, you need that personal brand to prove that you know what you're talking about to get that other job.

BS: Yeah. That's great. So if somebody does want to follow you, any of our listeners, is there a good place to find you?

SE: Yes, of course. So you can find me on LinkedIn, Shelby Elmore. You can also find me on social media which is @ShelbyLElmore. And then my personal website is ShelbyLElmore.com.

BS: Awesome. Thanks so much.

SE: Thank you. Appreciate it.

BS: And if you have any questions for us, of course, you can always reach out to us directly info at mainsailfg.com. Thanks again, Shelby, for joining us. We got some good stuff today.