City Mom-Vitality Marketing, Michelle Tice

Say hi to Michelle Tice, CEO of Vitality Marketing. She is helping Vancouver moms with businesses get connected, and I thought anyone looking to meet and greet and take their biz to the next level would be happy to know of her services.

Jane Photo donates $1 up to a monthly total of $200 to a worthy organization every month, and this March we are donating to Pacific Post Partum Support Society, which offers moms going through depression or anxiety after birth, so please, take the time and leave a comment below for this post or any other post on my blog. And please tell your friends! It’s easy to organize a group of women to leave comments and help this worthy organization. Giving is easy! Pacific Post Partum Support Society.

Here are some words from Michelle:

Tell me about how you came to start your new company, Vitality Marketing.

I decided soon after my twin boys were born that I wanted to be closer to home and have a more flexible schedule than my corporate employment allowed at the time, but I still went back to the corporate world for a year and a half (after my maternity leave was up) before making the big plunge into self-employment.  One of the twins was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in September of 2008, making my decision to leave the corporate world that much easier.  I am still pursuing my career ambitions, and I am now also able to participate in their lives much more actively and monitor my son’s health more closely, too.

How did you decide on the name for it?

Vitality means energy and vigor, and vitalize means to give life to something.   I specialize in bringing product ideas to life: I work with my clients to develop the brand, the marketing & sales programs, and the product positioning and pricing.  Vitality has a strong positive meaning that embodies my approach to working with my clients.

What exactly does your company do?

I provide contract marketing and strategy consulting services for small to large companies across many industries (tourism, financial services and media, to name a few).  I also am very proud to be a local writer and social media manager for www.savvymom.ca.  I have been working with Savvy Mom for 6 months now, and love it.

What do you hope for, long-range, for Vitality Marketing?

I would love to see Vitality Marketing become an integral part of the Vancouver business community for years to come.  My goal is to continue to nurture the relationships and contracts I have now and work on growing the business more substantially once the boys are in school full-time.

You’re a mom.  Can you introduce us to your kiddos?

I have twin boys:  Jakob and Ryan.  They are 3 years old already…it goes way too fast!  They are an amazing amount of fun, and they have introduced me to an entirely newlevel of energy (where do they get it from?!).

What advice would you offer other moms thinking of starting up their own businesses?

Never underestimate the amount of hard work and energy required to get a business off the ground.  Be sure to join Twitter so that during those hours or days when you are feeling overwhelmed, you can draw on the talents of and gain support from the wonderful community of mom entrepreneurs who will answer all the questions that pop up along the way.

Any tips for mom business owners out there?  Things you wish someone had told you?

Get an accountant and keep track of all your receipts.  I wish I were more organized with the back-end side of the business!  Also, make sure that you schedule time during your week to take care of the financial side of the business.