Creating the workplace culture she always craved as the head of a human-first agency bearing her name
Lilli Izumi | Izumi Agency
From propelling a once wholesale-focused business to e-commerce hyper-growth to leading strategic campaigns for one of the biggest DTC fashion startups in the world, Lilli has been at the helm of numerous brands’ rises to success.
Her passion for health and wellness has led her to become a certified Yoga Sculpt instructor and Reiki Master. She brings the same intentionality and groundedness from her mindful practices into her marketing, always taking a customer-first approach to her strategies.
When it comes to e-commerce and building bonds between brands and the people who love them, Lilli has a long roster of experience. After nearly a decade working exclusively on the brand side, she decided to take her learnings to help emerging brands create their own success stories.
THE PROBLEM
The Director of Marketing for large e-commerce brands, Lilli sought to leave her 9-5 to serve the brands she was inspired by and foster the workplace culture she longed for throughout her career.
Lilli knew she had the talent and experience to succeed on her own, and when faced with 4 new leads, knew she needed the structure and strategy to build a profitable agency to replace her corporate salary.
She was quoting an hourly rate, knowing she needed more structured offerings, and felt unprepared to secure the clients who were interested in her services. When we met, she specifically sought to:
- Package robust offerings that would attract clients with the right budget, and meet her goal of $13k months to leave her corporate job
- Price her services accurately and nail her sales strategy to competently lead sales calls
- Make a difference in the world and positively impact society through working with brands she believes in
You see people for who they are, not what they can do for you, and lead values-first with vulnerability and consideration.
THE RESULT
Lilli’s story reflects so many of the individuals we love working with: qualified, kind leaders trading up from their corporate portfolio to pave a path only they can lead.
In working together for 3 months at the start of 2021, Lilli:
- Replaced her corporate salary and quit her job in just 4 months
- Hit her goal of $13k months — ahead of schedule
- Signed her first contract for $16k as a result of clear offerings, compelling messaging, and a values-first approach
- Transitioned from projecting a “random, hourly price” to value-accurate pricing to make 40% more in her own business than at her old job
- Began working with sustainable, positive purpose, health and wellness, and values-based businesses — directing her positive impact on society
- Hired a small team (and growing!) to support her completely full client load
- Is influencing workplace culture in the way she’s always craved, and is leaving a legacy that has her feeling excited to create every day
HOW WE DID IT
We worked with Lilli to build IZUMI Agency from the ground up, including:
- Full Stack approach: We touched every area of Lilli’s business, layering and sequencing each element to create an integrated whole — allowing her to go-to-market in a stand out way, sign clients more efficiently, and serve her bigger purpose
- Offering development and pricing: We structured her offerings to provide robust support to brands, mapping revenue goals that would allow her to leave her job, and eventually hire a team
- Client management: We supported Lilli in saying “no” to clients that were not the right fit, and helping her feel stable to pursue bigger clients
- Sales strategy: We crafted proposals that communicated her data-driven (proven) impact, allowing her to feel equipped going into sales calls with dream brands
- Resource: We guided Lilli to own the strategy and planning process using our spreadsheets and templates, equipping her to be the leader she wanted to be, and feel good about replicating processes for herself to keep up with quick growth
Not only is Lilli leading the work and workplace culture she’s always wanted; she’s become the competent, confident business owner she always knew she could be — so much so, she stamped her agency with her own surname: a brand and business built to leave her mark and leave a legacy.
IN HER WORDS
“Pia and her team were wonderful. Wonderful humans with a wonderful program. I didn’t have many expectations coming in. I had never signed up for a commitment like this before and was a bit skeptical, to be honest. But what I got out of this program was more than I could have dreamed of. Yes, there is the emotional support. But what truly helped propel my business from practically not existing into now allowing me to leave my 9-5 job to pursue it full time was the tactical and strategic support provided by Pia. Worksheets, accountability, and action plans are what helped me structure my business into the VERY real entity it is today.”