Community Highlights: Meet Nielle Cook of Avercom Virtual Solutions®

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nielle Cook.

Hi Nielle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
When I was little, my dad would tell me, “You’d be a great business owner.” I hated hearing that because I saw how hard he, my grandfather, and my uncles worked and wanted no part of it. Yet I started Avercom while I was studying mechanical engineering at Southern University A&M in Baton Rouge, LA. I began building websites for small businesses in the community. By working closely with businesses, I learned that more than having a website was needed to drive revenue. By working with so many businesses at different stages in their development, I learned the unique challenges they would face. This strengthened my business by learning from their mistakes. Avercom began gaining traction when I found my voice and unique offering. I became obsessed with listening to the dreams of others and ideas for websites that were never built. This ignited a fire in me to deeply understand how to build a legacy brand. I desired to know how small businesses could keep their doors open while increasing the quality of life of the owners and their teams when implementing technology. When we located from Louisiana to Los Angeles, we were welcomed by many woman-owned businesses that were on the same path, and like black girl magic, we blossomed.

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?
I would not say the road has been rocky or smooth, but it has been challenging and rewarding. Business as life is a marathon. Challenges never cease, and if you approach it understanding that you’ll have to fight for every inch, you’ll be able to enjoy the ride. As Rudyard Kipling says, “meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same.” Because statistically, black and brown businesses do not have equal access to capital, we had a hard time getting funding and even to this day, have only bootstrapped. We can say we have been fortunate in this way. We have overcome these challenges with TREMENDOUS community support. We were awarded a grant and mentorship by Lauren

Maillian, the gracious CEO of Digital Undivided. The amazing Arlan Hamilton, whom we could never thank enough, supported us by providing our beautiful office space in Culver City at the Blackbird House. We also receive continuous support from GLAAACC (The Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber) via their BEP program, which connected us with a huge community of business owners, mentors for government contracting, and a $5K grant from IKEA.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
Avercom® is a digital business strategy firm. We build websites with the goal of driving traffic and the understanding that having a website is not a sales strategy. We live by the saying, “Having a website is like having a boutique in the middle of the desert; if you don’t drive traffic, no one will know that you’re there.” To support our partners, we offer online and in-person training:

Don’t quit your job!: Series for the cor-preneur (corporate entrepreneur) who wants to run a successful business while working a full-time job.

Launch Pad: a program for startups to build their essential Playbook: “Who is your customer? How will they find you? What will they see once they find you?”

Small biz Glo Up – built for legacy businesses, covers government contractor certifications, becoming a LA county/city vendor, creating a five-star onboarding process, and client automation using Dubsado, Monday.com, Honeybook, and more.

What we are known for is helping the disheveled or overworked entrepreneur who has a great idea but doesn’t know where to start. We take your idea and put it into action with a Playbook that details the entire strategy. What sets us apart is our data-backed process rejects hustle culture by building a business model that maximizes revenue while allowing the business owner to step out of the minutia of the day-to-day tasks of the company. The playbook allows service-based founders to function as CEO of their businesses instead of an employee overcome with non-revenue generating tasks. With two levels of service, our online platform allows you to DIY it, or we can be booked for personalized services.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Self-care, sitting on the balcony reading books, retreats, finding inspiration in others’ stories.