How the CEO of this Audience Development Agency is Navigating Work and Life These Days
Melissa Chowning, CEO of Twenty-First Digital
“I took a hit to my pride when we started losing clients. I thrive on our business being valuable to the clients we work with. Suddenly feeling expendable is hard. I know these clients wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for COVID-19, but each one still felt like a loss.”
Melissa Chowning left her full-time job in 2017 and decided to try being her own boss. She started audience development agency Twenty-First Digital. With a lot of demand for her agency’s skillset, the company quickly grew to a 5 person team. Twenty-First Digital’s mission is to help local media companies not just survive, but thrive in the digital landscape. The pandemic has placed an even greater importance on that mission, as many of the companies Melissa and her team work with are struggling more than ever.
Twenty-First Digital works primarily with media organizations and they are being hit hard. They’ve lost several clients and many have asked for price reductions. Meanwhile, the pace of responding to the truly urgent needs of the clients they maintain is a new challenge for them.
Between adapting in real-time to the new realities of her business and balancing being at home full-time with her 5 and 7 year children, Melissa is finding new ways to maintain mental balance and continue to prove her company’s worth. Below she shares how she’s adapting to this “new normal.”
How have you redefined success these days?
The absence of perfection. I'm hard on myself and I tend to be a perfectionist. So currently I’m focused on giving to each of the areas of the business (and my life) what I can each day. Each day I try to split my time in half. A few hours in the morning with the kids, doing schoolwork, the second half of the day focused on work. I’m successful with this about 60% of the time.
What are some ways you have adapted the business?
Fortunately, we have not had to adapt too much in terms of working remotely. We were functioning almost completely remotely before the pandemic and now we’re entirely remote. I took a hit to my pride when we started losing clients. I thrive on our business being valuable to the clients we work with. Suddenly feeling expendable is hard. I know these clients wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for COVID-19, but each one still felt like a loss. Because of that, I’ve become more aggressive with viable prospects, which is a shift for the business as well.
What has a silver line been through all this?
More time with my family. We’re not rushing around from activity to activity right now and we’ve been able to spend a little more time just hanging out together.
What is something you are mourning?
Alone time. I need alone time for my own mental sanity and right now I’m not getting much of it.
What is something you have done that has made a huge difference?
Focusing on gratitude. Each night at dinner, each of us goes around the table and says something we were grateful for that day. It helps to focus on the small (and big) things that we are thankful for.
What is something you are proud of?
That ultimately, I’m holding it together. This morning, a Monday, I had already cried by 8:45 am, but I pulled it together and still made it through the day. Despite all of the privileges my family has, this is hard. It’s mentally and emotionally taxing every single day.
What are you continuing to prioritize?
Mental health. For me, that included renting a Spin bike and making playlists for myself to ride to at home. I already struggle with anxiety. Fearing the worst is usually a part of my self-dialogue.
What is something that hasn’t changed?
My love for what I do and my family and my work ethic. If anything, the pandemic has shown me just how much of those things I really have.
Learn more about Melissa and her company, Twenty-First Digital, here.