Something For Everyone
Hexahive proudly advertises that they will scale their operations to the client’s needs, increasing success through a tailored experience.
Jade Scherr, CEO Hexahive
Hexahive is a marketing agency that helps North Dakota companies meet their business goals through strategic marketing. This includes nearly all facets of marketing and advertising, with a large portion of their work falling within branding, website development, social media and strategy. Founded in 2019, Jade Scherr had a vision for not only a successful business of her own, but to support other businesses in their journey.
1. What was your journey like for you to get to the position you’re at today?
My journey was much more organic than most. I had some risks in starting my business, but there wasn’t a big leap at once. While going to school for Graphic Design, as well as Marketing, I took part in freelance work. I continued growing my freelance work while simultaneously working as a designer. I really enjoyed helping businesses step back and see WHY they wanted things and pivoting to focus on things that actually mattered to the success of their business.
Eventually, I knew that I needed to decide between my full-time job and freelancing— chose to make the jump into pursuing what was my side-hustle full-time. I was quickly overtaken with clients and needed to hire out work. I did this more and more until I got to where I am today, with my team of four other full-time team members.
2. Which parts of taking this risk will stick with you forever?
There are so many! Overall, the thing that sticks with me is that I don’t want to look back and think, “What if.” I want to learn, grow and adapt, and I can’t do that if I choose to stay within my comfort zone. Plus, the sense of accomplishment after taking a leap (starting a business, hiring, hitting a new milestone, etc) is something that fuels the fire for me, and I’m sure it does the same for every other entrepreneur.
A giant leap for me was hiring my first fulltime staff member. I had this weird fear that I would fail with full-time team members, but once I found the right fit and dove in, it was obvious that it was the right choice. Quickly after, I hired other full-time staff within the following months.
3. What steps were the hardest when taking the leap to start your own business?
The hardest step was always knowing where to start. I’m incredibly passionate about the client-facing portions of my business, but I didn’t know what to do with the behind-the-scenes aspects of it like taxes, benefits and more along those lines at the beginning.
4. What was a typical day in your life like when you were beginning Exceptionally Nuts?
When I first started, I was doing almost all of the task-based items within the business, along with the sales and client interactions. This meant juggling client interactions and meetings with design work, research, social media ads and scheduling, alongside anything else that needed to be implemented based on what our clients’ needs were.
5. What would you have done differently if you could go back and start again, knowing what you know now?
Every mistake or hiccup I’ve had along the way has taught me a valuable lesson. Because of this, I wouldn’t go back and necessarily change anything. If I had to go back though, I’d tell myself a few things:
- Lean into your connections and network right off the bat; you don’t need to wait to have everything figured out to do that.
- Prioritize time for fine-tuning your business from the start; it’s easy to get caught up in clients’ needs and push your own stuff to the wayside.
- Give yourself some credit!
6. What advice do you have for readers considering taking this leap?
As corny as it sounds, just believe in yourself. Make sure that you have goals and a well-thought-out plan ahead of taking action. Once that’s established and you have a clear path of where you want to be heading, get started.
Sometimes, that’ll mean getting started by starting small. Other times, that means taking a dramatic leap. Whatever that is for your situation, define what you need to succeed and start walking down that path.
7. What else would you like to add regarding your personal experience in taking this risk?
I’ve learned a lot from taking the risk of starting a business, but I learned a lot more when my husband left his full-time job to have a drastic career change and start his own business as well.
That brought a completely different level of risk to the table, as both of us were pursuing entrepreneurship. However, it has also made it easier for us to push each other to move forward and do hard things, because we know that hard decisions have to be made in order to reach our goals.
“I often think of Bismarck-Mandan as a “big little city”. It’s founded on relationships and connections, yet also big enough to not know everyone.”
– Jade Scherr
8. What made you decide that the BisMan area would be a great place to start a business?
I often think of Bismarck-Mandan as a “big little city”. It’s founded on relationships and connections, yet also big enough to not know everyone. It makes it a perfect hub for our business to begin, expand and be seen while having the ability to stand out and be creative across all of our client’s industries.
9. What do most people not know about HexaHive?
Our team cares deeply about our client’s success—and we don’t just say that for show. We aren’t afraid to put in long hours, all-nighters and extra research to ensure that we’re doing the best job for our clients. Similarly, we care so much for our clients that we tell them what they need to hear, not necessarily what they want to hear.
Oftentimes this means that what they want for marketing isn’t going to be the most impactful thing for their business goals, so we’ll tell them what will help, regardless of how that would impact HexaHive. We set a standard above expectations because we believe that each client should not be treated as just a number, but rather as a part of our hive.
Along with this, I don’t think people realize just how much we scale with companies. Oftentimes, people know we can scale down for startup businesses, but not that we can (and already do) scale up on large, complex projects and industries.
10. What is something you wish more people knew about your company?
I wish more people knew one of the most critical components of HexaHive—why we do it.
Marketing isn’t only about putting up billboards or sponsoring things. Sure, those are great aspects of marketing, but they aren’t enough. Many businesses don’t think of the people they’re trying to reach, how those people will connect with those advertisements or how that relates to them as a customer or as a stakeholder.
Strategy and marketing psychology are some of the biggest players in marketing, but too many businesses keep those key players on the bench. That’s why HexaHive was founded – to help businesses realize the necessity of prioritizing strategy and ensuring that businesses are investing in marketing tactics that make an impact on their overall goals.
What is a day in your life like for you now?
I still do a lot of juggling, but I’ve been able to adapt it to just juggling my favorite things. At HexaHive, I balance client meetings, consultations, creative direction and high-level strategy with fostering team growth and fine-tuning our processes. Outside of my business, you’ll find me sipping on coffee, enjoying time with my husband and two kids, playing volleyball and finding ways to make an impact and get involved with the Bismarck-Mandan community.
12. What’s one thing the local business community could do to help your organization?
Keep the buzz going about the new marketing agency that does damn good work!
13. Are you looking to expand HexaHive? If so, how?
There are a few areas that we’re open to hiring and expanding in. Overall though, we’re focusing on pushing ourselves internally to continue to level up for our clients.
Get In Touch
(701) 989-4880
[email protected]
hexahive.co
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811 E Interstate Ave Suite B
Bismarck, ND 58503