Meet Emma Tessler, the Founder and CEO of Ninety Five Media, a woman-owned digital marketing agency known for crafting high-converting content.
Emma got her start in digital marketing during an internship in 2015, when she discovered the power of social media. Fascinated, she decided to combine her background in design with her new self-taught marketing skills, which led to the creation of Ninety Five Media. Today, Emma and her team harness their custom strategies to not only capture an audience’s attention but also drive results. Their secret sauce? A deep commitment to understanding each client’s needs and building campaigns that resonate accordingly.
We asked Emma about the founding story of Ninety Five Media, the unexpected challenges she has faced, and what exciting plans she has for the future of her agency.
Tell us the story behind your company’s founding. How and why did you start working on Ninety Five Media?
In 2015, I was at an internship for my interior design degree. The person I was working for pulled me aside. She told me she heard that some people were growing their businesses with Instagram and wanted me to figure out how she could do the same. As I dove into the world of social media marketing, I realized we were on to something huge. I knew then what a massive shift this form of marketing was about to have on brands. As I learned more about how to optimize it, I wanted to be a part of that wave.
That fall, I started talking about this new work I was doing. I slowly grew my clientele over the next few years by tapping into my network, cold pitching founders I met, and growing my own social media presence. I was amazed at the reach I was able to get for my clients, the way their customers would rave to them about the content they had seen on their Instagrams, and the growth their businesses were experiencing. When I graduated college, I went into the corporate world as an interior designer as I had planned. However, I left just a few years later so that I could pursue Ninety Five Media full time.
With my background in design and self-taught marketing skills, I have been able to fuse together beautiful content with strategic messaging. Our incredible team and I have created content that’s yielded growth such as more than 4,000% website taps, more than 27,000 new followers, and more than 6,735% reach for our clients’ brands. This work has been so incredibly rewarding and challenging. My favorite part is that, nine years in, I know that we’re just getting started.
Being an entrepreneur brings all of your faults to the forefront, but this is a blessing in disguise, giving you the opportunity to grow into these spaces sooner than you would have otherwise.
What makes your Ninety Five Media different from other similar companies in the industry?
There are a lot of marketing agencies out there. But what sets Ninety Five Media apart is our dedication to our client’s success. While we’re often brought in to create a content strategy and scale the brand's marketing, we view our work as a true partnership that goes far beyond marketing alone. We develop our client’s customer journey, chat through new hires, work hand-in-hand to create beautiful assets that they can use on their website, and more. When you hire Ninety Five Media, you get a partner in business.
In what ways has your upbringing or past experiences contributed to how you operate as an entrepreneur?
Growing up, I watched my mom work during the evenings and weekends to support our family. Going to sleep to the sound of her typing away at her clunky 90s keyboard is one of my earliest memories. It wasn’t until my early 20s that I even realized this wasn’t the norm for most people. I’m incredibly grateful, however, that one of the best traits I inherited was her work ethic. I believe it’s been one of the key reasons I’ve gotten to this point in my career. Putting in the time when others aren’t has been something I’ve always been good at.
What’s been the most unexpected part of your entrepreneurial journey?
Growing a company and leading a team is the biggest mirror you’ll ever have. Being an entrepreneur brings all of your faults and things you struggle with to the forefront. This is a blessing in disguise though. It gives you an opportunity to grow in these spaces sooner than you would have otherwise.
Making my first hire at 22 years old, I made a lot of mistakes early on. But from every mistake, we learn and get better. Today, we have a team of seven. Not only am I still learning how to do better every single day, but I’m now developing leaders on our team to support their own teams as well. Having this unexpected mirror has allowed for growth not only in myself but everyone on our team, and we’re all better for it.
What resources or people have contributed the most to your successes?
My community. Being selective in who I allowed into the journey and leaned on for support has made the biggest impact.
Over the years, this network has looked like friends, other entrepreneurs, family, and partners. Today, the biggest community that I lean on is made up of other women who get it, many of whom are in Dreamers & Doers. They are uplifting, generous, supportive, and resourceful. I haven’t always had a community like this to lean on, but let me tell you, it has been a game changer and something I will never take for granted.
What’s next for you and Ninety Five Media?
2024 was our year of laying the foundation for what is to come at Ninety Five Media. As we look ahead, we are excited to be able to serve more brands with our expanded team and offer new services to support our clients growth. We are looking to serve more female-founded brands who are in need of support with their social media marketing; specifically creating high converting content and building unparalleled audience engagement in 2025 and beyond.
