Marketing Expert Bethany Mays Turned an Obstacle into an Opportunity and Hasn’t Looked Back Since

By: Emily Mook

I remember thinking, ‘If anyone is going to hire me, it’s going to be myself,’” said local marketing professional and founder and owner of Mays Media Marketing, Bethany Mays, as she recounted the unconventional journey that has led her to her current career and status as a standout in her field.

Before founding her marketing firm in August 2020, Mays had long envisioned herself in a different field: weddings.

“I initially had no interest in being in the marketing industry,” she noted. “From the time I was in middle school, I had wanted to sell wedding dresses. I grew up watching ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ and ‘Four Weddings’ on TLC with my mom and dreamt of owning a bridal salon someday.”

A serendipitous school experience put Mays on track to pursue that exact goal.

“In eighth grade at James River Day School, we had to do this career shadowing project, which required you to find and shadow at a business in the industry you foresaw yourself working in someday,” she recalled. “I chose Celebration Bridal and worked there for a weekend. Then, when I was in high school, Celebration reached out to me and asked if I wanted to sell prom dresses for them. That got my foot in the door, and within a year I started selling wedding dresses. I did that until about 2019. I loved it, but it felt like a stepping stone—I knew it wasn’t my end goal.”

As luck would have it, the owner of Celebration ran a wedding venue that they were looking to sell, and Mays and her mother, Robin—who was also working at Celebration at the time—purchased it. That venue was (and still is) Tresca on 8th. At that time, Mays was also pursuing her undergraduate degrees—she double-majored in entrepreneurship and human resources at Liberty University—and was set to graduate in May 2020.

A highly driven individual, Mays also decided to take on a part-time job.

“The year leading up to graduation, the Downtown Lynchburg Association had posted that they were looking for a part-time content creator,” she said. “I took that job and did it for about eight months. They offered me a full-time job, but I was still taking in-person classes at Liberty, so I declined.”
Then the pandemic hit.

“Two weeks to the day after I handed over the accounts, COVID hit—so there were no weddings,” remarked Mays. “I found myself getting ready to graduate with two degrees, nowhere was hiring, and I couldn’t work at the only job I had!”

Instead of despairing at this derailment, Mays courageously set out a new track for herself.

“After getting the content creator job, I learned a lot,” she noted. “So, I took that knowledge and immediately went back and got my master’s degree from Liberty’s online program in digital marketing and advertising.”

When it came to finding a job in marketing in the early days of the pandemic, Mays quickly realized that she was going to need to create a market for herself. After she reached out to various companies and learned that they were not only in a hiring freeze but also laying off current employees, serendipity struck for Mays once again.

“The pivotal moment for me occurred when a local photographer posted on Facebook in July 2020 that he had been getting all this content for all these different businesses, but he didn’t want to be their social media manager,” recalled Mays. “He said that he had all this content, that his clients didn’t know how or didn’t have time to post the content, and that he was looking for a social media manager. I responded to his post, and he told me that I needed to set up a business and get business cards so that I could present myself as an official business to the clients. So, I kind of started my business on a whim. As much as Mays Media is my last name and what I do, I had to come up with it pretty quickly—and within two weeks, I had my first three interviews!” Mays Media took off rapidly.

“One thing that I learned really quickly when I started my business was that marketing was one of the first budget cuts that companies were making during COVID, but it was the one thing that they needed the most,” Mays said.

“A lot of businesses didn’t have an online presence heading into the pandemic, but they quickly realized that they needed one. A lot of my initial clients were boutiques and realtors—industries that were struggling and impacted by the pandemic the most. I grew really, really quickly because I was affordable.

I didn’t have the level of experience yet to charge what I charge now. I was very unprepared, but somehow everything turned out great!”

Although Mays admits that she wishes she had studied marketing for her undergraduate degree, her unique journey has given her an edge in several ways: her wedding background has led to her having a sizeable wedding industry client base, her experience as a venue owner has helped her relate on a personal level to the small business owners she creates and manages content for, and her desire to “make up for lost time” has pushed her to the highest echelon of academic achievement: she is currently working on getting her PhD in strategic media.

With 28 clients and counting, a PhD in progress, and continued work at Tresca, Mays is a veritable time management marvel.

“My time management skills are probably my biggest achievement!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “I think my clients appreciate them too. When they hear about all the things I have going on, that can sometimes make them wary—but then, when I really invest in my relationships with them, they are both comforted and impressed by my ability to give everything in my life equal attention.”

Mays’ investment in her clients extends beyond the email marketing, social media, website, advertising, branding, and content services she and her team offer; she also strives to connect with all employees, to keep lines of communication open and consistent, and to ensure that clients have a sense of agency over and the knowledge needed to maintain their accounts.

“If a client has an employee base, I try to connect with the employees,” stated Mays. “Getting to know the people and what makes their particular company unique helps me give that company an edge, especially in oversaturated markets. I want to be able to spotlight not only what they offer, but also what makes them different from other companies in the same market. Building those personal connections with my clients is what I love most about the job. I tell my clients that they’re going to get tired of seeing me! I’m communicating with them via phone and email, and I’m showing up to take pictures and videos. I want them to know that when they sign up with Mays Media, they aren’t going to get one person showing up this month and a different person next month—it’s always going to be me. I also try to teach my clients. For instance, if I build them a new website, I teach them how to use it. I don’t want them to ever be left high and dry. No matter how long we work together, I want them to know that they are still in control of their accounts.”

As Mays Media continues to grow and flourish, Mays continues to blaze her own trail while also acknowledging and incorporating important lessons she has learned from two other successful entrepreneurs in her life: her parents.

“My mom and dad are both entrepreneurs, and they have definitely set a strong example for me,” she remarked. “Owning your own business can be very intimidating. Everything falls on you. My parents have always encouraged me to continue pursuing my education, to give everything 150 percent, to own my mistakes, and to be very transparent.”

“It means so much to clients when you own your mistakes and show that you are willing to grow with them. The strong relationships I have with my clients are built on that foundation of honesty and transparency. I follow my parents’ example every week!”

Mays Media recently expanded into Nashville and parts of Pennsylvania, and Mays’ ultimate dream is to have teams all along the East Coast, but when it comes to her own personal journey, she insists that there’s no place like home.

“I was born and raised in Lynchburg and have never had any intention of leaving!” Mays said enthusiastically. “I love it here and think it’s just a great place to do life. My fiancé is from Oregon and says all the time that the kindness in Lynchburg is second to none. Community over competition is definitely a thing here. I have been referred by other marketing companies and I will refer clients to other companies if there’s something I don’t feel equipped to do. I think that’s very rare. I feel like everyone really wants everyone to succeed. I think Lynchburg is the best place to be!”