TN72: How to start a successful business from scratch – Marcelle Yeager
Marcelle Yeager is American she recently moved from Chile to DC. Prior to Chile, she and her husband also lived in Uzbekistan and Russia. It was in Uzbekistan, despite being in a remote, unknown location, that she started a successful business. In this episode, she shares some of her advice as an entrepreneur and how she managed to grow her business.
To know more about Marcelle, check out Episode 29 when we first interviewed Marcelle. In that episode, she discusses her identity challenges of being an expat spouse and dealing with culture shock. Marcelle’s background is in strategic communications. When she and her husband agreed to take the first assignment abroad that he was offered, she quit her promising career back home. She took some jobs and did some freelance work in Uzbekistan but very soon she launched her first business, Career Valet. Career Valet helps people looking for a job perfect their resume and adapt it to their career goals. She started her second one, ServingTalent, a service specifically help military spouses find a job and build their professional success while moving from a country to another.
Highlights from Marcelle’s episode
- The interesting stories of how Career Valet & ServingTalent started
- How she decided what business on which to build her portable career
- How jumping around in her career became a strength in her business
“This is something I’ve always done for my friends, so I decided to do it as a business”
- The steps she took to start a successful business from scratch
- Her tips to encourage word of mouth
- The marketing strategies she implemented to implement to launch and grow her business
“Giving personal attention made my clients come back and refer me to other clients”
- The hurdles she encountered while starting a successful business without formal training
- Her challenges and how she deals with them
“It is important to know who are the clients you really want and what real value you provide”
- How she manages to balance being a mom and running a successful business from home
“Running a business and a family can be tough, but it is important to accept it and enjoy the flexibility it also provides”
Marcelle’s Book Recommendations
Marcelle’s Online Resources
Find Marcelle online
- Web Career Valet (resume writing services):
- Web ServingTalent (job placement for military spouses):
- Blog articles: US News.
- LinkedIn: Marcelle Yeager