We had the good fortune of connecting with Janae Peterson and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Janae, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I think one of the [many] biggest challenges to running a business is figuring out how to balance working 80 hour weeks and still being there for your family — and yourself. Businesses ebb and flow – so if you finally figured out how to juggle that extra ball that’s been thrown into the mix, another ball will either be thrown in or one has been eliminated which will mix up the rhythm you just found. The trick is to always run scared, because if you’re expecting it, it’s easy to adapt and respond. In the beginning, Ben and I never made time for ourselves. We always catered to our projects’ every beckon call. We never made time to go to the gym, to make a salad, or to cater to our well-being. Over time, we realized there is ALWAYS going to be more work to do, but if we aren’t in a good state-of-mind, then we won’t be at the top of our game for our clients or to even grow our business. While we will still work weekends and late nights, we have recently set aside time for our workouts, to spend time with our boys, and to reset ourselves. We’ve noticed an increase in productivity in our work since blocking off time in our schedule to do so.
What should our readers know about your business?
I am so proud of BPetersonDesign. Everything about it – where we came from, how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go. There are many things that sets us apart from other website design companies and digital marketing agencies. After asking business owner after business owner what’s both important to them and also what they don’t like about website design/digital marketing companies, we have come up with what we feel close-to-perfect packages. Unlike other companies in our industry, we have no contracts. The reason we set this up is because we know once you hire us, you will stay with us because you feel it’s easier with us, not because you’re roped into a contract. It also allows us the opportunity month-after-month so prove our value to every single client. What also sets us apart is also unlike other website design companies, we host your website on our own hand-built servers that are stored right here in our Arizona location. We do not use third party hosting companies such as GoDaddy – so your website is not hosted on a shared server with hundreds upon hundreds of other websites. This gives us full control and allows your website to have a quick loading time without paying all the hefty fees! While we do offer marketing packages for Paid Social Ads and GoogleAds, we also offer Facebook Business Page Management. Most digital marketing companies only offer paid advertisement campaigns, but what we found was important to most business owners, is they want an affordable option without having to hire someone in-house for Facebook Business Page posting. We are also Facebook Blueprint Certified, which many marketing companies or freelancers are not. Our team is always taking the latest Google Courses – and are even certified. This means when you hire us for your website blog to keep it from being stagnant and keep it relevant, our digital marketing specialists are in-the-know of the latest information. And YES – we hear this a lot now. Even with all the negative propaganda happening with Facebook, it’s STILL the #1 leading social platform for small business advertising. Growing a business is NEVER easy! Challenges look different for everyone. Ben and I enjoy a good challenge, but let’s admit sometimes it’s just nice if things go smoothly once in a while. We have recently opened our second location almost 2 years ago. That was a struggle between setting up a second office, hiring a new qualified team, and lugging the kids around back and forth from Colorado to Arizona. But Ben kept reminding me: “How do you eat an elephant? One step at a time…”. So that’s what we did. We just crossed a bridge when we got to it and kept going through the motions until we came upon our next bridge. Wash, rinse, repeat. Today, we have 2 successful locations – but just because you’re successful, it’s doesn’t mean the challenges stop. If I could give advice to anyone it would be what Rocky Balboa said, “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done”.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh, this is a fun question! I’m going to talk as if this was pre or post COVID… As a Cave Creek resident in old town Cave Creek, the first thing Ben and I like to do is show-off our neck of the woods. That means we first go to Old Town Cave Creek’s Frontier Town and check out the charm this area has to offer. It’s fun visiting the shops. My favorite shop to date is The Olive Oil Company. They sell handcrafted Balsamic Vinegars and Olive Oils in different flavors. And I even pickup my face wash from there. Great locally owned company with amazing small business owners! You’ll fall in love with all the shops, though. The businesses are the backbone of Cave Creek, so they are very important to us. Places to eat I highly recommend Horny Toad’s dog-friendly patio and order the Jalapeno Popper appetizer. Local Johnny’s is also “the place” to go here. I would also catch a movie at Big Earl’s Greasy Eats’ drive-in and order the best burgers in town while sipping on an adult milkshake. Then we would spend a night at ‘Buffalo Chip’ for drinks, appetizers, and a night of dancing – or bullriding. Depending what night we go. 😉 We would spend a day hiking Spur Cross Ranch Conservation’s Jewel of the Creek. My favorite trail so far has been Dragonfly Trail as it’s easy enough for kids and the water makes it really enjoyable for the dogs. You can even stop halfway at the water and let the kiddos play in the sand and in the water. You need to spend some time at M&M Stables for some horseback riding! A fun experience for sure. Then afterwards, we would have to stop at Roadhouse to enjoy a cigar and drinks with our friends. And we would have to make time for the speakeasy in Scottsdale: Kazimierz Wine & Whiskey Bar.
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?
The joys of being a business owner, especially in our industry of working with business-to-business, is we are constantly crossing paths of people who motivate us and leave us in awe. However, family is very important to Ben and I, so I’m going to start there. Ben and I have both grown up in entrepreneurial families. We both lived in homes that were always brainstorming, were part of the day-to-day production, and were always in arm’s distance of conversation after conversation about what steps to take next, how they can better something, and how to stay afloat or keep up with the workload. So Ben would agree with me, our first shoutouts go out to our parents as they have set the bar for us. It takes hard work and late nights but at the end, the blood, sweat, and tears are worth it – even if we didn’t get that as kids. It’s still engrained in us, and we have had endless support and encouragement from our parents and/or siblings when starting BPetersonDesign. We have read many books that have helped us on this crazy ride as well. Ben’s favorite book that he still brings up in meetings in “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. It’s helped us change up some things within our company when one thing was working and another wasn’t. So I am grateful for the mentorship this book offered. There’s many shoutouts I would love to give – but those are definitely the primary ones!
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