Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in strategic brand consulting services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Diana Rocca, Founder of DREROC Marketing Strategy, located in Ontario, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

The stuffy, corporate explanation: DREROC is a consulting business for brand and marketing strategy that helps both entrepreneurs and corporations establish or pivot their brand principles, brand identity, positioning, and understanding of their ideal customers.

The fun, nitty-gritty explanation: DREROC helps any business build a kick-ass brand that consumers easily say “yes” to - whether that be through corporate consulting or coaching and courses tailored to business owners and entrepreneurs. I'm passionately obsessed with setting my clients on the right path to building a remarkable brand for themselves while avoiding pitfalls along the way.

Tell us about yourself

I'm a classically trained brand strategist coming from the corporate marketing world at companies like Google, Pepsi, Dare Foods, and Loblaws. Eventually, my purpose shifted and led me to entrepreneurship and DREROC.

My parents, brother, and husband are all successful business owners, and I’ve always felt strongly about becoming an entrepreneur myself. Call it a bit of intuition, a bit of "it's in my blood," and a lot of having to do with my purpose of helping business owners change their lives. To put it simply, I want to see other people win, and if I can be a part of giving them that opportunity, then I'm thrilled.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Making the decision to grow my team beyond myself as a solo member. Like many other small business owners, I had my hands in every aspect of operations. Learning to trust new team members and let go of responsibilities so that I could dedicate more time to serve my clients and grow my business was important.

Delegating tasks has allowed me to grow each year since DREROC’s inception in 2019, and thus getting recognized in publications like Yahoo Finance and Disruptors Magazine. It’s also allowed me to take a step back, pivot, and adapt in situations that are out of my control and still be able to serve my clients (i.e. COVID).

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Wearing many different hats and ensuring that my team and my clients continue to feel empowered in a virtual world where human connection has been minimized. In-person meetings with my clients and my team are a rarity these days - being able to find moments to prioritize and nurture those relationships are important.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Start then scale. Unfortunately - success doesn’t happen overnight, so patience is truly a virtue in building a successful business. Take a crawl, walk, run approach. Validate your idea first before investing too much time and money into launching it. Build a brand, not just a business, because brands are why people buy things! Your brand strategy is a key driver of your success.
  2. Perfection is overrated. I used to be a perfectionist (sometimes I still am), but if you wait for all the stars to align and everything to be perfect, you'll never get started. If you're 80% there, go for it. You’ll learn to optimize, and plan along the way.
  3. Network and surround yourself with people more successful than you. Put yourself out there, be curious, and meet new people. Never stop learning; sometimes, you need to invest in your learning to grow. Work with experts if you need to - all successful business owners do.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.drerocmarketing.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drerocmarketing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drerocmarketing/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drerocmarketing
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianarocca/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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