Meet Ellie White-Stevens | Creative Director, Dirt1x

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ellie White-Stevens and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ellie, how does your business help the community?
I’ve always believed, since my very first quarter of starting my business fourteen years ago, that giving back is the hallmark of a good business. That’s why I launched O Christmas Tea, an annual fundraiser I chaired for over a dozen years, which raised money for causes helping women and children. And it’s why we still contribute to many local fundraisers either in dollars from Dirt1x or in in-kind marketing services. And a member of my team always serves on at least one fundraising committee and/or nonprofit board every year.

Giving back isn’t just something we do, it’s also something we teach to our Dirt1x clients as good marketing strategy. I like to say that in the Bible, the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing while giving. In business, however, the right hand should be writing a press release, while the left is giving.

We’ve built profile raising activities including charitable giving into the plan of every business that we have created Dirt1x Sustainable Marketing plans for. From giving to galas to launching events for children to learn STEM, hosting signature golf tournaments to conducting annual food drives, our clients have done ALL the good things.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My agency Dirt1x serves businesses from solopreneurs to large manufacturers with a complete outsourced marketing department. Our special sauce is the ability to think both creatively and analytically as we create marketing strategy for our clients.

Recently, we helped our client Yamaha Motor Manufacturing fill over 600 open positions through solid local recruitment marketing. And we did it partly by promoting the corporate social responsibility that they were already doing to great effect. I love make a difference marketing.

But we didn’t start out by working with big names like Yamaha. I started the agency in 2009, almost as an “oops” when I was offering marketing advice to people I was networking with while working as a marketing director for a small healthcare clinic. Every person I talked to wanted to know how much what I suggested to them would cost, and so I launched a business.

My biggest business lesson is to know when to outsource. For my business, that’s in accounting and legal. Early on, I didn’t have bookkeepers and hadn’t figured out how the state sales tax system worked. I thought I filed everything correctly, and hadn’t. It was big fines for my little business back then. I quickly learned to trust experts, and hired professional bookkeepers.

That’s what I teach my clients about marketing, too. That they need to know when to have an expert come in and handle it, so they can do the big work of making more money in their field and managing the things that only they can manage. So my team can handle their websites, video, social media, design, print jobs, direct mail and other marketing paraphernalia. My team at Dirt1x is the experts they hire to do that work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When I’m showing out-of-towners Metro Atlanta there are two places I love to take them in a day trip, to the Georgia Aquarium which is astonishing, beautiful, and simply the best one in the world. Then we’ll end with dinner at Mary Mac’s Tearoom, an Atlanta classic, where they serve the BEST Southern food. It’s not to be missed.

If my friends have a little longer to stay in town, and they can get tickets, a show at the Fabulous Fox Theatre is incredible. I saw Wicked there recently, and it reminded me of why it is an Atlanta landmark. Incredible architecture and appointments and great acoustics. After the show, stopping by The Melting Pot for some fondue is fun, and is just down Peachtree Street. Or Poor Calvin’s for Asian-Southern fusion is beyond delicious, and also very close to the Fox.

I’d also stop over to the Georgia Tech campus, where my younger son is a current student in Mechanical Engineering. He would give us a tour and show us the sights at Tech. A short drive from Tech is our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Desta, spicy, hot, flavorful and healthy food at bargain prices.

Last, we would be sure to invite them to dinner at our house, where my husband would make an amazing homemade meal. His butter chicken and homemade creme brulee are to die for.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Raissa Chandler is my Project Manager and right hand. She parents two young adults with autism. When they were small children, she found that where we live on the southside of Atlanta had very few resources for parents with special needs children. So she founded an organization called Southside Support. With in-person support groups, an online facebook group for frequent questions, and other services for special needs parents, Southside Support has made a huge difference to local parents. From navigating our local school systems and privates schools to helping parents figure out respite care, Southside Support has taken a life of its own. And Raissa started it all.

She’s got an engineering degree from Georgia Tech, so she brings the best of innovation and organization to Dirt1x. Her impact to the community has had waves, not just ripples. She chairs an annual fundraising event with the Business Women of Fayette and Coweta, supporting a long list of nonprofits, and serves on the fundraising committee for the Griffin chapter of the American Business Women, which raises funds for scholarships. And I’m so pleased that she works for our community and for us.

Website: www.dirt1x.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dirt1x

Image Credits
Chey Holbrook, Chey Photography