This post is sponsored by the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Could Iowa be the secret to your career success?
When we think of powerful businesses and successful careers, we might paint a picture. We imagine tall skyscrapers, packed subway trains, stalled freeways, seven-dollar lattes, exorbitant rents, and booming cities like New York or Los Angeles.
But what if the key to your success exists on a different part of your map? What if the key to business success wasn’t in New York or California? What if it was in Iowa?
That’s exactly where Emily Steele, CEO and co-founder of Hummingbirds, found her entrepreneurial success. Hummingbirds is a unique twist on influencer marketing, where smaller, local influencers could share their personal experiences in their own cities.
Here’s how it works. Many brands turn to huge, singular influencers to promote their product.
Hummingbirds builds on that idea with a local twist. Their marketing approach involves gathering smaller influencers, or “Hummingbirds” to share one brand collectively—to “pollinate” locally. After all, those huge influencers can’t lead you to the best local florist or the most delicious pizza in your city.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority recently connected us with Emily Steele—and we took the opportunity to learn. We took to The Career Contessa Podcast to pick her brain about how she founded Hummingbirds, why the state of Iowa plays such an important role, and the other secrets to her success.
Let’s find out.
How Do You Define Success?
Before we can talk about success, let’s define it. There is no singular number, KPI, or achievement that translates to success across the board. It means something different for everyone. For Emily Steele, success means impact. Does her work impact the customers she serves? What does it look like? Is it different or innovative?
Of course, there’s the financial and stability part of success. It’s being able to afford your home, take care of your kids, and do it all while feeling happy and excited to go to work on a daily basis.
Other Ways You Might Define Success (Other Than Monetary Gain) Might Include
- Making a difference
- Work-life balance
- Personal happiness + fulfillment
- Making connections
- Helping others
- Values alignment
- Innovation
- Accessibility
So, let’s dive into Emily’s three unexpected keys to success, impact, and stability.
3 Unexpected Keys to Entrepreneurial Success
What started as Emily’s love of sharing local coffee shops turned into thousands of local influencers sharing their experiences and the brands they love in their own city.
There are many influencers out there with thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers, but how do many of us make decisions about local businesses? When deciding where to get your hair done, where to eat dinner with your family, or what breweries have the best happy hours, we often turn to our friends in the community.
Hummingbirds, as Steele calls them, are micro-influencers who typically have about 1,000 to 2,000 followers. They are the same people you might bump into at the farmer's market or grocery store.
Hummingbirds’ business model is perfect for smaller businesses looking to engage in hyper-local, community-based marketing—and it was born from Emily Steele’s own experience building a business in her home community of Des Moines. Here are her three secrets to success.
1. Location: Where Your Business is Born
“It’s foundational for me,” Steele explains, which is a great word to use when describing where to put your—and your business’—roots for longevity and success.
Having attended college in Des Moines, Iowa, at Drake University, Steele spent her college career connecting with the people of Des Moines. Many of these people would be integral to Emily Steele and Hummingbirds down the line.
But doesn’t a huge city like New York or Chicago arguably have more people to connect with, and, theoretically, more potential connections to help create success? Well, not necessarily.
What huge, expensive cities have in resources (people, buildings, restaurants, museums, etc.), they can lack real, personal connection and dependable community-based support.
“[In Des Moines] there is an entrepreneurial energy that has really blossomed over the last five years,” she explains, “It's that sense of community and pride and people really advocating for and supporting fellow business owners and entrepreneurs.”
While Steele is an Iowa native, she shares that her peers moving from out of state to Iowa have noted that same feeling of community and support. Then, of course, there’s the elephant in the room. How does the cost of living in Iowa compare to a place like Los Angeles?
How does that contribute to personal and professional success? A lower cost of living translates to a lower mortgage, lower salary requirements, and an easier place to start a business that costs less than coastal cities. Steele also explains that the lower cost of living allowed her to take bigger risks in her business.
Other Benefits of Starting a Business in Iowa
- Business-Friendly Environment: Emily Steele found that filing an LLC, moving toward being a C corporation status, and setting up payroll was much easier in Iowa.
- Incredible Local + Distributed Team: With local and remote workers, Steele created a distributed team that brings a business you wouldn’t normally find in Iowa.
- Burgeoning Culture: As small business owners start and grow their businesses in places like Des Moines, the culture inevitably grows and blossoms. With an emphasis on local support and community, it can flourish without the sense of competition that might exist in bigger cities.
2. Networking: Focus on Giving
“Networking is such an art and science,” Steele explains.
Steele started the largest women’s networking group, FemCity, in Des Moines, Iowa. In this group, she prioritizes giving. Instead of using networking as a way to steamroll conversation to talk about yourself, her group prioritizes helping others first.
In fact, Steele met one of her closest friends through this networking group, a local photographer. A few years later, she sees that the three or four introductions she made resulted in a local business that blossomed through word of mouth and community support.
Pro Tip: When it comes to attending local networking events, Emily’s best advice is to break into a circle of three or four people with a friendly face.
Networking events in smaller cities can be way less intimidating. Because there is an emphasis on local events, community, and genuinely helping one another.
3. Purpose: Purpose Above All Else
Purpose is the foundation of a successful career—and it’s the core of Hummingbirds’ work culture.
“Purpose is what motivates me to get to work, to make a difference, to stay up later, and to work.”
Sometimes, purpose means reevaluating, reflecting, and making tough adjustments when your work gets off track.
Hummingbirds exists to amplify local businesses by getting out there and supporting the community. ““Steele said great Hummingbird content is shared internally, providing real-time evidence that the work is making a difference.” Finding ways to celebrate wins, big and small, is a huge driver and motivator.
These small connections, even over Slack, create a stickiness or “emotional velcro” on your team.
In Conclusion: We Do Work-Life Balance
One of the most important things Emily Steele created when laying the culture groundwork at Hummingbirds were real boundaries.
“You’re not going to impress me if you email me at 5 am.” Steele means that there are no rewards for staying late, working on the weekends, or generally participating in the hustle culture that can be more prevalent in large, competitive cities.
If you want to learn more about living in a state like Iowa, check out the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and Hummingbirds, Emily Steele’s community-first influencer platform.
