Episode 91: 101% Revenue Growth, 50% Profit Margins, and 2 New Hires with Jayci from Happy Girl Marketing Co

Samantha: Welcome to the Creative Minds Smart Money podcast, where we turn financial confusion into creative confidence. I’m Samantha Eck, bookkeeper and fractional CFO for creative entrepreneurs. Each week, I’m sharing my financial expertise and actionable strategies to help you build a thriving creative business. Plus, you’ll hear from industry experts who bring fresh perspectives on growing your business beyond the numbers. Because building a successful creative business starts with strong financial foundations. Your next chapter starts now.

Welcome back to the Creative Minds Smart Money podcast. I’m so excited. I told you guys last week that we were going to be diving into a couple of case studies with some of my clients. Today I’m here with Jayci from Happy Go Marketing. Hi Jayci, and welcome back to the podcast.

Jayci: Thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here today.

Samantha: Absolutely. So we’re going to talk all about how everything has changed for you since working with Firestorm. I really want to talk about, before we even get to working together and before we talk about all the growth and everything that’s happened — what did it really feel like before we started working together? Were you still kind of stressed about your numbers? What were you constantly worried about? What felt really heavy to you?

Jayci: I think I was confident in some of the tracking processes. I understood the basics of needing to track what money is coming in and what is going out. But to me, it was such an equation of: this much money came in, I’ll subtract what needs to go out, and I can spend the rest. I quickly recognized that as I was growing, that wasn’t going to be sustainable. It was starting to create some stress. I was bringing in contractors and thinking about wanting to bring in employees in the future. And I knew this simple equation — just spending whatever was left — wasn’t a sustainable method. I was feeling stressed and not really sure how to navigate all the things that needed to be in place to feel peace with my business finances.

Samantha: Yeah, for sure. Now, when we first started, we were just in the Flames of Ascendancy, which is the middle tier — bookkeeping only. And then I think we had some strategy calls and things like that. Obviously the packages have changed. But what changed from just having a bookkeeper that gave you clean books to when we started working together with Flames? Did it help you notice more patterns? Was there anything that kind of surprised you as we started to really work together?

Jayci: Yeah. After having really consistent, solid bookkeeping, I knew I wanted even more numbers and data to make stronger decisions — because the bookkeeping was fantastic, but I still felt like I was in this spot of: okay, I have all this awesome data, what do I do with it? Where do I go? What does this mean? I remember reaching out to you and saying, I want to do more, but I don’t know what to do more. And you said, okay, let me put something together for you. You reached back out and said, I think we should start with some budgeting and cash flow forecasting. And I said, okay, let’s do it. The budgeting really helped take that simple equation out of my head and put it on paper. I could see all the milestones I wanted to hit, the goals I had, the daily operations — but even things that happen less often, like annual expenses, were all coming into play in the budget. I could see it all on a screen, and I loved it. I loved having that accountability. When I would reach out and say, this is something I really want to do, can we put it in our goal sheet? Getting to see the percentages grow every week almost lit a fire under me in a different way. Instead of just making money and growing, it was: no, I want to make more money so I can reach all of these goals we’ve set up. And then in conjunction with the budgeting, having cash flow forecasting genuinely allowed me to make two employee hires in the last four months, I think, since September. I was able to come and say, hey, this is something I want to do — I’m kind of nervous. And you said, don’t be nervous, let’s just look at the numbers, let’s look at the data. You literally plugged it all in and said, okay, here we are, here’s our decision, this is how much we have, here’s the budget. It’s been really helpful to feel peace in the decisions I’m making, but then also be really excited about new decisions and new opportunities. Because decisions I was waiting on before the budgeting and forecasting started — I’d think, well, I hope one day I can afford an OBM or getting my website done. But instead it became: here’s exactly when you can do those things. You were able to tell me in November, okay, January we’ll have enough for your OBM. And it was so awesome.

Samantha: That for sure answered it. Thinking back to when we first started in January of 2025 — before we even added cash flow and budgeting, you were at about $31,000 in revenue for that first half of the year. And then when we started adding the budgeting and the forecast, your average monthly profit increased by about $1,200. In the second half of the year, looking at the percentages, you grew over 31% over the first half. I feel like that made your decision-making stronger, but it also allowed you to start thinking ahead instead of reacting. I know you said you felt a lot calmer, but did it also change how you ended up paying yourself? Because now we know how much we can afford. I remember we were talking about how to make sure you’re paying yourself on a more consistent schedule instead of just taking whenever.

Jayci: Absolutely. Because before, it was that equation — at the end of the month I’d say, okay, there’s $2,000 left, that’s what I get. Or on a month where maybe I didn’t spend that much, great, now I get $4,000. It was bringing a lot of stress into my personal finances. I always knew being a business owner there was going to be some strain on the personal finance front, but it was difficult to plan out my life. When we shifted that, it was so much easier to say, this is how much money I want to make — let’s put that aside for the month and cater the other things going out to make sure I’m reaching that. Something you were able to help me with was identifying, okay, you don’t always have to cut things out, but sometimes it does help to cut a little. We were able to prune some of those things — maybe we don’t need Loom because we use this, or maybe we don’t need the other subscription because we use this. We were able to shave off some expenses to then put toward other things, which really catered toward the peace it brought me. Because I knew every month I was going to get that consistent paycheck. And since then, we’ve been able to make plans for when we’re going to increase my pay, and it feels more stable.

Samantha: Absolutely. And then looking at everything on a year-over-year basis — we are over the year mark of working together — your revenue ended up doubling from 2024 to 2025, about 101%, which is fantastic. But what do you feel like changed for you personally? Do you feel different as a business owner now? Do you feel like you approach your money differently? How does that all feel now that we’ve been working together for a year and you’re seeing the impact the numbers have brought?

Jayci: I think one of the biggest impacts is recognizing that every dollar spent needs to have a purpose — within reason. I think we’ve built some fun things into our budget, but it has a purpose. I don’t just have a million subscriptions to have them. Every subscription is getting its full use, and if it’s not, we’re looking at alternatives. It’s really forced me to see every single dollar as a tool — it has a job and it has a purpose. That was one of the number one shifts. It wasn’t an afterthought anymore. It’s my first priority. I was able to restructure some of our pricing and packages to lean into higher profitability, because I know that when there’s a higher profit margin, I get to do more things with that money. I get to feed more into my employees and give them more opportunities and educational things. I get to take it for myself, I get to save it — all of these other avenues that don’t happen if you’re not profitable.

Samantha: That’s always helpful, right? Margins stayed above 50% even though revenue grew. So looking at everything with our expenses, it was above 50%. The growth, which usually creates chaos and confusion, didn’t create any of that because we were already working together and in progress. Do you think if you didn’t have me, you would have felt like that level of growth was stressful? Do you feel like you would have been a little lost without the budgeting and forecasting in play, having your revenue double but not still having that same feeling you had before we started working together?

Jayci: 100%, because I think the choices and actions I’ve been able to take are heavily impacted by the work we’ve done through the budgeting and the cash flow. If I had continued on this same pencil-and-paper style of figuring out my budget, I wouldn’t be able to foresee all of the things that come up. The budget you’ve created and helped me execute takes into consideration annual subscriptions, tax estimates, things that come up that you forget about — like my state annual fee, whatever that is. Before, it was reactive. Now I think we’re really being proactive. I don’t think I would have been able to scale as fast or as confidently as I have in the last year.

Samantha: Absolutely. And I love that. For the listeners out there — me and Jayci have grown really close since we started working together, because she’s also my social media manager. Jayci has been a guest on the podcast before, actually just after we had started working together on bookkeeping. So to see the impact and the growth she’s had just makes me so proud — as a bookkeeper, but also as a friend. It’s really cool to see in real time, not just how the numbers are growing, but what happens when you have someone you can fully trust and the impact that has on your business and your ability to make decisions.

Jayci: I think that’s huge. Finances are such a personal topic, even if they’re business-related. For founder-forward brands, finances are extremely personal. Finding someone I could wholeheartedly trust only made the experience better. You’re a safe space. When I’m struggling with something or having a lower month, you’ve not only been able to provide the facts with the numbers, but genuine encouragement, understanding, and perspective. Every month when you send an analysis of my numbers, there’s opportunity in it — here’s what I recommend trying differently. We’ve had strategy calls where you said, this is what I would try to implement, or let’s think about this differently. Having a genuine partner has been incredible, and I think it’s something everybody should strive to find, because finances are extremely personal.

Samantha: Yes, I love that. So if someone is feeling anxious about money in their business right now, what would you tell them? Not just from the context of working with me, but just in general about bookkeeping and finances.

Jayci: I think when there’s more structure and more order, it brings peace. Whatever that means for them — whether it’s keeping a really detailed organization system for themselves or outsourcing — I think there’s a lot of peace in knowing where the money’s going, having it allocated, having savings. I would say: get organized and get clear on where you are in your finances.

Samantha: Short and sweet, and I love it. Being able to give you tangible numbers and seeing that we’ve grown on a year-over-year basis, but also hearing your feedback and knowing that you feel very supported — that’s gold, because that’s my goal. I’ve always told you: one, I want you to feel supported, and two, I want you to feel like you have the education and the power to make decisions. So I just want to say thank you again for coming on and talking and being able to open up about this. Finances are deeply personal, so to be able to talk about this on a platform and say, hey, this is how successful we are — it’s exciting, but it’s also a little scary because you’re letting people in. So thank you again. Is there anything else you want to add?

Jayci: Honestly, I’m really excited. I think we should do this again next February and see where the numbers are, because I have some pretty big income goals and the work we’re doing is supporting that. I’m excited to see where we are next year. And I think the one thing I want people to really take away is that it is a marathon. It’s not overnight that you’re going to go from zero dollars to a million, or that things are going to be cleaned up and perfect overnight. But it’s worth the work, and it’s worth the weight of putting in that work — I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve come away with.

Samantha: Absolutely. And just so you guys know — if you want to reach out to Jayci directly on Instagram, she’s at @happygirlmarketingco, and she checks her DMs every single day and is happy to chat about her experience. Jayci is currently on the Pinnacle Pire package, which is the very top tier, and also has cash flow forecasting and budgeting. So if you want to ask her any questions about that, or reach out to me about anything, I’m more than happy. Thank you, guys, so much for tuning in every week, and I can’t wait for you to hear more episodes like this. Thank you so much for coming on, Jayci. Thanks, everyone.