Member Spotlight Q&A: April Davis of Breakout Marketing Group, LLCAnn

I first met April a few months ago when I attended a social media seminar that I found through Meetup.

April was the host of the seminar, and we hit it off right away. I invited her to take a tour of our space and not too long after that, she joined our community of entrepreneurs here are Office Evolution Ann Arbor.

She’s been running her marketing company, Breakout Marketing Group, LLC for over 20 years and has valuable experience to share with our readership. In fact, she was also recently spotlighted by the New Enterprise Forum, a local organization dedicated to mentoring local start-ups!

April’s combination of resilience, liveliness and entrepreneurial spirit made her the perfect candidate for our next Member Spotlight Q&A! Keep reading to find out more about April, her business and why she’s chosen Office Evolution as the home for her business.

Q: Tell us about your marketing brand and why it’s unique.
A: My marketing brand is unique in the way that we focus on building strong customer relationships. This takes more time than usual. Most [other organizations] would not spend time on customers whom they believe will not buy their product or service, but we do. Our strength is in design strategy. We walk you through a process that will result in growth.

Q: What does an up-and-coming marketing professional have to do in order to set themselves apart from the competition?
A: Setting yourself apart from the competition is a process. You must first know what the completion is doing and how they are doing it differently from you. Finding your unique position requires research, thought and strategy, which most people don’t spend enough time doing.

Q: What is the most rewarding project you’ve ever worked on?
A: My first thought goes to getting a call back from Opera Studios in 2009. That was the most rewarding business experience I’ve ever had. I was in Johannesburg [South Africa] on my way to speak at a school for teen girls. There, I was going to be interviewed and meet the [Opera Studios] team. However, because of unrest in that area at the time, we were not able to get inside the school [for me to speak or interview]. I was amazed that they were interested in me enough to call me back and arrange another interview.

Q: What is one of the hardest things about what you do?
A: One of the hardest things I have to do is helping clients to appreciate marketing as a valuable aspect of their business. It’s like selling the invisible. Like air. You can’t see it but it’s there, and you need it to live. Businesses need marketing to live but they often cut marketing when starting out or when they fall on hard times.

Q: What are the differences between your business now and when you started it?
A: When I started my business in 1998, we used a lot of traditional methods to advertise. Now the landfill has changed into a more digital, scientific, and social platform and you must be retrained to stay connected to customers where they are, 24/7.

Q: What is one thing you wish you knew about entrepreneurship in the beginning?
A: I wish I knew that you must stay balanced in all areas of your life including your mental, and physical health. I am a Type A personality and true workaholic. [Work] can be very addictive when you are trying to achieve excellence.

Q: What first drew you to Office Evolution and why did you want to stay afterwards?
A: The atmosphere, the people who managing the location and the community.

Q: Tell us about the community at Office Evolution Ann Arbor?
A: The community at OE is amazing! I have never been so motivated to come in and work on my business, daily! When one of the other members wins a contract, we all celebrate (with champagne or whatever else is on hand)! Chuck and Tim [two of the other members] cook homemade meals for us and the OE staff is always here to cheer you on and make accommodations for you. At OE we are a family, a family of hard-working entrepreneurs. I don’t know what I would do without the team!