Meet Amelia Horton | Founder & Digital Marketing Guru

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amelia Horton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amelia, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started down the path of starting my own business because I wanted more freedom with my work and knew I had enough self-motivation to go off on my own. In addition, when I was in the corporate world, I become bored with jobs very quickly and was constantly seeking a change or the opportunity to learn more. I figured if I could find my passion and work in that capacity on a daily basis, I’d be more satisfied and fulfilled with my work rather than constantly seeking something better. After drawing these conclusions, my business was born!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I founded serene mktg in back in 2019, which now seems like forever ago. We offer highly personalized/custom social media management and strategy, WordPress website design, blogging, branding and graphic design, email marketing and more. I founded the company while I was still holding down a full-time job, so I’d say getting to where we are today wasn’t particularly easy, but the mentors and support I had made a positive impact. There were a lot of long hours/nights/weekends and putting in the effort to make the right connections – COVID threw us a curveball there – that went into getting to where we are. In addition to making the right connections, keeping a business alive is about meeting and exceeding client expectations, so this has always been a priority for us. We strive to make our clients happy always! What sets us apart from many others in the industry is that we customize everything to the client’s needs. You won’t find packages or anything like that on our website for clients to choose from. Instead, we go in-depth with each client and really formulate a strategy based on their exact needs and goals. We realize every business is different and therefore needs differ. Instead of fitting our clients into a box of our services, we conform to fit into their digital marketing gap. I’d also say the fact that our clients have a direct line of communication to me is also a differentiator. Of course, there have been challenges along the way, but I like to look at them as opportunities or lessons instead of “challenges”. I’ve learned that having solid processes in place can truly make or break your business – if you don’t have processes, you’ll have a million things on your plate, but have no clue where to start. That was me at one point. I’ve also learned that achieving perfection isn’t as important as listening and understanding feedback. Look, I’m in a creative space and whenever you’re doing something creative for a client, you leave your work open for feedback, which is totally okay! Instead of looking at not getting it 100% right the first time as a failure, I’ve learned to look at is as an opportunity for further discussion with the client and more creative exploration. All in all, I’ve learned to embrace challenges and those times of discomfort and unknowns – all they’ve done so far is support growth at the end of the day.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Although I love downtown Denver, if my friend were visiting we would spend almost all our time in the mountains (or at least I’d hope they’d want to). I am a skier in the winter and a hiker in the summer so depending on the season, I’d convince them to try one of those with me. Estes Park, Breckenridge, Evergreen, The Flatirons, Grand Lake, Pikes Peak, Glenwood Springs – any/all of those areas would be spots I’d take someone to who is visiting. I think the most exciting thing about Colorado is the opportunity to unplug and enjoy nature. The beauty of living here is getting outside and exploring and I would want my bestie to experience that. Everyone needs a little dose of the Rockies – the mountains are just good for the soul.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have two people that I consider mentors to thank for where I’m at today. The first would be Pamela Cheng O’Donnell. She was my boss and mentor at the company I was at prior to going full-time with my business. Pamela empowered me to make change in that business by spearheading social media efforts and diving deeper into blogging and email marketing – none of which the company was really doing at the time. She knew I had an interest in these things though and created space for me to explore that. The second person that deserves a shoutout is Tina Walther. Tina is a longtime family friend that quickly grew into my mentor as she owns her own marketing company. When I was first exploring the idea of branching off on my own, she “took me under her wing” and tested my skills at her own agency while also teaching me the ins and outs of running a business. To this day, I know I could turn to both of these wonderful women for support, advice, and lessons in the marketing realm.

Website: serenemktg.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serenemktg/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelia-horton-053a549a/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/serenemktg