Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Vasquez.
Hi Alex, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Well, I’m a small business owner. I hail from the great wet north (also known as Oregon). I moved to Southern California with a garbage bag of clothes, my grandfather’s truck, and dreams of sunbeams and warm weather. That was in 1994, and I’ve been hooked on this place ever since!
I have to go back to 2008/2009, when the inklings of my business were born. I was fortunate to be well-paid and work in IT (Information Technology) as a Network Analyst. Truth be told, I hated what I did; I worked too many hours, the work environment wasn’t the best, and my job wasn’t very rewarding. On the side, I wrote code for various freelance projects and found great enjoyment that came from problem-solving and making happy clients. I thought to myself that there was something there.
On weekends, I would go to a local game shop that sold collectible games, and I would play with other locals; some were kids, and others were closer to my age at the time. You’re probably wondering what the game was, huh? Magic: the Gathering. Yep! I was a dork, but playing strategy games with friends was my jam at the time.
A friend I met at the game shop, Chris Tolar, and I began talking about doing business together, what it would look like and how we could help businesses.
After a year of talking about doing things, we decided to start doing the darn thing. I folded my existing side-hustle clients into a new business venture called DigiSavvy.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
At first, things were exciting. Chris had a strong background in marketing, and SEO at the time was huge, so we could land clients for that service and folks who needed websites.
As exciting as things were, DigiSavvy was only a part-time gig for the two of us. Chris worked part-time and went to school; I held down a 40 – 60hr job, so I was more than full-time. The dream was to do DigiSavvy (DS) full-time and quit our other commitments.
Chris and I eventually parted ways as business partners, and I continued with DigiSavvy.
I was working a full-time gig and doing DS part-time, which was killing me. I wasn’t doing either of my jobs well and was stressed. I knew something had to give.
I was saving to build a nest egg, so I could leave my day job and have some “runway” (about six months’ worth) of funds to pay bills while I hustled and tried to build up DS.
I was watching Parks & Rec one day and saw Ron Swanson’s speech to Leslie Knope. Leslie goes to Ron for advice when she’s failing in her bid to run for office while failing at her regular job. And that’s when Ron Swanson tells Leslie, “You can’t half-ass two things; you have to whole-ass one thing.” As dorky and cliche as that sounds, that was it for me, my light-bulb moment!
If I was going to grow DigiSavvy, I had to give it everything and all of my time. So I did. I put in my notice at my job the very next day. My final day at work was February 28th, 2014. My friend Rachel Cherry dubbed it “I do what I want day.” So every Feb 28th, I celebrate myself.
I had good momentum when I left my job, lots of work from Agencies I’d partnered with. But that first Summer came, and then everything died. No leads were coming in. Leads I had dried up. Things looked BLEAK.
I experienced my first panic attack! Money was running low, and I wasn’t sure how I’d manage to pay rent. Eventually, a project came through, and things ended up working out.
Most projects are predictable, my team and I deliver them, and the clients are happy. There have been difficult projects; what I’ve learned through dealing with difficult projects is: to know when to walk away. Learn to say no… a lot. Always be accountable.
When you’re accountable and transparent, it takes much of the sting out of a difficult conversation and situation, and everyone moves forward together.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about DigiSavvy?
DigiSavvy is a boutique marketing agency that builds custom WordPress websites for businesses. We not only provide web development services, but we also provide search engine optimization, strategy, and implementation, with a focus on lead generation and marketing automation. In addition to WordPress, we also provide Shopify and Shopify plus consulting and ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo Consulting.
What sets us apart from our competition is that we always begin with the business goal in mind and work backward to determine the best business solution that helps our clients achieve their business goals.
Unlike our competition, we guarantee our client’s satisfaction with our work and always quote a fixed fee for our projects. Our clients never pay a dime more than what we quote them; if we miss something, we’ll make it right on our own dime.
What’s next?
I have a Crowdfunding product we took over in 2018. We keep plugging away at that to provide Non-Profits and underserved communities a platform to raise funding for their community’s programs on platforms they control.
I’m heavily involved in community event organizing with the WordPress foundation and Innovate Pasadena. We have a meetup series in Pasadena that I run. Our next event is coming up on September 27th, 2022. I want to continue giving back to and empowering communities with knowledge and skills they can take into their everyday lives.
Pricing:
- Website development: starts at $7500
- Website Redesign / Refresh: starts at $10,000
- ActiveCampaing Consulting: $2500 and up, one-time
- Website audits: $2500
- Search Engine Marketing: $1300 to $2k monthly
Contact Info:
- Website: https://digisavvy.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/digisavvy
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/digisavvy
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/digisavvy
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/digisavvy-pasadena-2
- Other: https://alexhasnicehair.com
Image Credits
Raquel Karina https://twitter.com/raquel__karina Nanor Zinzalian
