Today we’d like to introduce you to Ransome Tucker.
Hi Ransome, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My early career was entirely sales oriented. I sold insurance my last summer before graduating college; My first job after graduating was walking the streets of Austin selling coupon books and promotional packages for local businesses; I then became a sales manager for a local roofing and remodeling company before eventually getting into the world of inside sales. I ended up spending nearly a decade in the inside sales world selling digital marketing solutions to small businesses across the country. Throughout this time I experienced multiple acquisitions before eventually finding myself a part of the largest online advertising company in the world at the time.
I ended up getting recruited into the real estate space as the director of sales and agent performance for a prominent central Texas brokerage. During my time there I noticed how antiquated the industry was and the glaring need for innovation across pretty much all business practices and client engagement. It was during this time I became aware of Blended Sense and joined the team as an investor and advisor in early 2019. Then in May 2021, I became the Chief Operating Officer for the rapidly growing start-up and continue to serve that role today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Yes and no. A bit of a cop-out answer I suppose but I can explain. I’ve always approached everything I’ve done with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm and so, in that respect, I was always having fun. The competitiveness of sales, as a former athlete, was a driving force that kept me from getting too down during the hard times. Otherwise, walking the Austin streets when it’s 100 degrees out in a suit and tie or making 100 phone calls only to be rejected by 95 of them would have been pretty tough to deal with. I would say, though, those experiences are what I’m most grateful for in retrospect as they allowed me to learn a ton about consumer behavior, what small businesses appreciate and the value of resiliency.
When I became a leader and had the privilege of building, coaching and managing teams, that is when things really took off for me. I found that I very much enjoyed watching others develop and seeing the impact that was possible with the right teachings and guidance. The challenge with leadership is earning the trust and buy in from your people. I became a manager in the digital sales world in my mid-20s and was tasked with managing employees twice my age. You learn very quickly that every person is different and the way to connect with one person may be the complete wrong approach for another. I was forced to embrace the process of relationship building and grasping the concept that not everyone can, or should, behave just as their boss would. An employee’s unique personality is often their most valuable resource.
Upon transitioning to the real estate space the need for buy-in was dramatically enhanced. Now I was teaching, training and coaching seasoned professionals that were already successful in an industry I was brand new to. Good luck, right? It took me a bit but once I started to notice that the same skills and behaviors that worked for me previously also applied perfectly in the world of real estate, it was game over. Now, I was able to provide a perspective to my agents that they hadn’t seen before and could immediately apply in their day-to-day to drive better results. I just had to be patient and trust my knowledge and skills.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Blended Sense is a media-tech platform that uses “creative intelligence” to match local creative freelancers with local businesses to produce digital assets like photo, video and audio. These assets are delivered, stored, organized and tagged within a customer dashboard that acts as their digital asset management system (DAM).
You should know that we were the 2019 Start up of the Year out of Capital Factory right here in Austin and we’ve been rapidly growing ever since. We’ve now got 25 full-time employees, a handful of contractors and have serviced clients all across the United States.
Our specialty and what we are known for is providing an economical and efficient solution to local businesses who desperately need to produce consistent digital content to compete in their markets. The rise of social media and the impact it has had on consumer behavior is undeniable. Over 80% of consumers research a company digitally before making a buying decision so producing content has now become an essential part of doing business.
What sets us apart from others is that unlike a typical agency, our price points and credit system actually make high-quality production accessible to local businesses. We assign every customer their own content producer to help with content strategy, project management and execution because we know that most business don’t have the time, resources or know-how to do it themselves. There are several open marketplaces to source creative freelancers from but the problem is business owners have no clue what to look for and even if they find someone they still have to manage them, negotiate and still may not get what they were looking for in the time they needed it. Blended Sense de-risks the creative relationship by managing the entire process for them making us the reliable source of quality content that they need.
What I’m most proud of, brand-wise, is the amount of money we are putting into creative freelancers’ pockets and allowing them to make a living doing what they love. My time in the sales world managing hundreds of employees taught me that many of them were just there to pay the bills but their passion lied elsewhere, often times in the creative space. On the flip side, we are making a real difference for small businesses allowing them to tell their stories and connect with their audience in a way they never thought was possible. Personally, I have a soft spot for small businesses after listening to thousands of phone calls with them over the years and knowing how hard they work for everything they get. Providing this service and knowing how needed it is for businesses everywhere is what gets us excited to keep building what we’re building.
Blended Sense is what we call “A New Kind of Production” and we aim to be the most trusted and reliable source for creative services in the world. Currently, we are most prominently servicing Austin and central Texas. Whether a business is looking for ongoing content or simply needs a one-time project, we have a solution in place to quickly create exactly what they need at an affordable rate.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Finding a mentor or networking oftentimes comes from pure effort. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? I would encourage anyone out there looking to take account of the resources you have whether that’s people, groups, networks, etc. and just be vocal about what you’re looking for. Many people enjoy providing guidance and if they see that you are genuine in your attempt to seek it will gladly help out where they can. We are extremely fortunate to be part of Capital Factory which has an incredible collection of individuals who generously provide their time and knowledge when asked.
People won’t just walk up to you and ask if you need help, you’ve got to know what you need help with and be persistent in finding it. If you can do that, you’ll likely end up where you need to be.
Pricing:
- $199/mo – Production Management service
- $1050/mo – Starter Blend
- $1500/mo – Essential Blend
- $2700/mo – Immersive Blend
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blendedsense.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blendedsense/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blendedsense
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqrj6OYDNzdjTZ71XBrNh0Q
- Other: https://www.blendedsense.com/asset-menu
Image Credits
Blended Sense
