Jessica Zweig, Entrepreneur and founder of the SimplyBe Agency

Sick, tired, lonely and lost. That's the point where Jessica Zweig, founder and CEO of the SimplyBe Agency knew her path with Cheeky Chicago had ended and something needed to change. The story of changing paths - especially when it means shuttering something that's gained public recognition the way that Cheeky Chicago had - may be a topic that some guests on our podcast #WeGotGoals would avoid. But for Zweig, her willingness to share this journey was the perfect mix of authentic emotion and magic for the live audience in attendance for our recording of this episode during January's #SweatworkingWeek. Zweig shared the inception and co-founding of the online lifestyle magazine that gave women nightlife, restaurant and lifestyle tips as well as deals and events in Chicago. Behind the events, the nights out and the years of hard work, Zweig told the audience that she was suffering during what should have been high moments. "I ran cheeky for six and a half years and I was really burnt out by the end," Zweig said. "Inside I was miserable, especially for the last year or so." In a downtrodden moment following chronic sickness and surgery, Jessica understood a nearly universal truth: that if she moved on, she would almost certainly be OK. "If you've ever created anything, right, it like, doesn't feel like it's something that's separate from you. It's you, it's your creation. And that's how I felt about Cheeky. The ability to learn from moments like that - we've found through episode after episode of #WeGotGoals - is what makes guests on #WeGotGoals successful. The lesson's that you'll hear Zweig share are useful for anyone not interested in learning them the hard way. --- JACAre you guys ready? I think we are too, right? JZ: Yes, we’re so ready. JAC: OK, we're going to do this. I'm going to get my official podcast voice on. JZ: Woo-hoo, me too, then. JAC:  Hello, Jessica Zweig. JZ: Hello, Jeana with two last names. JAC: Yes, OK, good, we’re ready. I'm live with Jessica Zweig on the #WeGotGoals podcast. Hi, Jessica! JZ: Hi Jeana, so good to see you! JAC: Good to see you too. Thank you so much for being here with us and with our live audience during SweatWorking week. JZ: Thank you for having me. JAC: So on #WeGotGoals, we talk about big goals we've accomplished and big goals that we're striving to accomplish, but first we want to get to know you. So talk to us about how you spend your days and what you do for a living. JZ: So I run an agency called the SimplyBe Agency. So we're a personal branding agency, which means we work with people as our clients versus a typical agency that works with products and businesses and brands. We work with actual human beings in developing thought leadership for our clients. So what that looks like is we help them clarify their message, build their digital platforms, launch their initiatives, help them grow audience, ideally revenue, a new opportunity to live what they love. And what do I do on a daily basis? Like every entrepreneur, it's totally different. A lot of our time is spent strategizing and building the identities of our clients because they're, they’re—we’re all brands, right? Hello personal branding. It's the space that I'm in, but a lot of our clients, a lot of people don't know how to really articulate what they bring and their value and their, their message in a way that's clear, consistent, compelling. So we really say that that's our sauce at SimplyBe is helping really define what makes you amazing and articulating that in a way that you couldn't for yourself without us. And then a lot of our clients, we actually manage their personal brands. So we're creating content, managing their social media channels, helping pitch them for speaking engagements, all the things. So we're full service and uh, that's, that's the core of what my agency does. But we do a handful of other little things, which I'm sure we'll talk about too. JAC: So live what you love. I love that phrase and it sounds so simple, but I bet it's more difficult, wouldn’t you say? JZ: Absolutely. I mean I run my own business and live what I love, but it all has its own challenges. No day is perfect. You never feel like you're there, there. Where is there? I don't even think it exists. And I think you know what? People really want to do though is feel like they're getting paid and monetizing their genius and what they're good at, you know, what they're good at and what they love to do. And sometimes those things are not always the same. You know, ideally most people are searching and striving for that. And today we live in a beautiful world where anyone can be a media channel and audience is currency, right? So if you grow your own audience, that's a commodity that you can leverage in a lot of different ways to live what you love. So that is really why I think personal branding is so relevant right now. I don't think I could have built this business five years ago. A lot of people are like personal branding that's interesting or what's, what's that? And I get either one of those reactions and I think now we live in a really exciting time where you can, if you're intentional with how you're showing up online. You can open up a lot of new doors for yourself JAC: And obviously you're doing very well with it. You've got a team that's present here today and you’re incredibly successful. So congrats on all of that. JZ: Thank you. JAC: So, let's get to the first big question. So talk to me about a big goal that you've accomplished and how you got there. JZ: So I've had an interesting career track and I'll, I'll keep it tight, but I used to run a company called Cheeky Chicago. We were an online magazine for women in the city. We were around for seven years. If you were a millennial girl living in Chicago between 2008 and 2014, you knew what Cheeky was and I left that business in 2014 to launch SimplyBe. And I took a kind of a winding road full of detours and I ended up working for a corporate company for two years out of those these last three years. So my goal when I quit that job to relaunch SimplyBe was just to make money and pay my rent and you know, work for myself. It was really truly that simple. I say that 2017 was the year that I built a plane in the air. Literally that's how it felt. I was just in reaction to wanting to get away from another situation and sort of re establish myself in Chicago and I didn't really know what that was gonna look like. So unlike I think a lot of entrepreneurs in and in 2018 we've gotten clear and we'll talk about that. But you know, are all about having that plan. I always advise people have a plan and I didn't have a plan in 2000, the very beginning of 2017. I just wanted to take on some clients and make some money. And within 11 months I grew from a team of two to a team of five. I have a full roster of clients, we have our own office space in the Google building and business just keeps coming and so it's a testament to, you don't always need a plan. You should, but you don't always need a plan. You just got to put the right people around you, hustle, work, work hard, and you know, believe you can do it to half the battle. JAC: So I'm interested to know what you lea