Hispanic Heritage Month & Women’s Small Business Month Series – Keren Herrera of Launch Growth Marketing
Q&A Featuring Keren Herrera of Launch Growth Marketing
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year from Sep. 15 to Oct. 15. October also signifies Women’s Small Business month. In partnership with Cherokee By Choice investor Georgia Power, COED is honoring Cherokee County’s thriving Hispanic community as well as Cherokee’s numerous female entrepreneurs by sitting down with some of the county’s Latina business owners.
This week we’ll hear from Keren Herrera, founder and CEO of Launch Growth Marketing. She has been working as a digital marketer with home service contractors for over seven years. Her passion is helping contractors reach new levels of growth. The marketing system Keren has developed is tried and tested for home service contracting companies, no matter what stage of business.
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What inspired you to start your business?
With Launch Growth Marketing, we wanted to start our own digital marketing agency for home service contractors. I was born in Costa Rica. My family came to the U.S. in 1996. My father was an electrician growing up and my mom worked cleaning houses and buildings. They worked really hard. As Hispanics, you’re just trying to make your way in this world.
I had the opportunity to expand to this field and was able to triple my father-in-law’s HVAC company sales over a few years by creating him a beautiful lead generation website.
My husband and I saw the impact that had on revenue, and that really inspired us. If we could do that for him and for our family and improve the lives of other people that we care about, then we wanted to do that forever. That’s what drives us, and that’s why we started Launch Growth for home service contractors.
How has being in Cherokee County helped grow your business?
I’ve been able to go to a lot of networking events, like the Canton Business Club and there’s even one in Woodstock at Reformation Brewery.
Going out there and networking and letting our business name be known has provided a lot of opportunities and resources, and even partnerships. I love collaborating with other people in the industry and leading people in the right direction.
Facebook groups are awesome too. The Cherokee Connect Facebook group is huge. A lot of people in Cherokee County connect through social media. That platform has been really great to promote my business.
I also started a Latina Facebook group along with a Latina Doula in the area, called Latinas in Woodstock/Canton. I have been able to meet other Latinas in the Cherokee County area. It’s nice to know there are people from other Latin American countries like Guatemala and Puerto Rico, and even more Costa Ricans. It’s good to connect with other people that are from the same culture.
What can we as a community do to continue to support you?
Spread the word about Launch Growth Marketing. I hope to engage the community by doing more workshops in the future. I want to start a podcast, and I recently launched a book you can buy.
I’m a mom of four and navigating the journey of raising four children while writing a book feels monumental, so I hope readers will benefit from it. It’s called Boost Your Sales: the Step-By-Step Guide to Digital Marketing for Home Service Contractors, and you can get it on Amazon.
I share some of the knowledge that we have accumulated over the years. In the book, I go through how we were able to triple my father-in-law’s HVAC sales. It’s really a step-by-step guide for home service contractors to help them dominate online.
Engaging with Launch Growth Marketing’s social media platforms would also be helpful to spread the word within our networks and the community.
What advice would you give to other small business owners in Cherokee County?
I would say don’t underestimate the power of community and collaboration. Surround yourself with mentors and other professionals. They can provide guidance and support.
Don’t ever hesitate to adapt and learn from challenges, because they will come up as small businesses, especially when you’re starting out. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into when you’re just starting, and it can be hard.
Leaning on others in the community to help your business grow is essential.
Sep. 15 – Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. What does Hispanic Heritage month mean to you as a business owner?
Hispanic Heritage Month is a time of celebration and reflection. Being Costa Rican and seeing everything that we’ve been able to accomplish to this day, it definitely makes you want to go back and reflect on your accomplishments and look into the future.
It makes you want to be hopeful that there’s other Hispanic communities that are rich in our culture and embracing each other and inspiring others to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. It’s exciting.
October also celebrates Women’s Small Business Month. How is being both a woman and a part of the Hispanic community impacted your decisions and experiences with your business?
I feel like it’s a double bonus. I am truly blessed to be a woman and a Hispanic. It’s fueled my determination to keep creating and letting my voice be known in the community.
It also helps me connect deeper with our target audience. We work with a lot of second-generation Americans who are building their companies – people in masonry, painting, roofing, landscaping – and it’s inspiring to see the impact in this community. They’re trying to make an impact in this community and they’re also Hispanic. It’s been awesome to give them our advice and work hand in hand with these home service companies.
To learn more about Launch Growth Marketing, visit www.launchgrowthmarketing.com and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.