Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Leavitt Ouattara.
Hi Jessica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Wow…well, I was born in a snowstorm in April in Iowa…maybe not THAT far back?!?!? I grew up in a small town in Iowa and loved reading and swimming growing up, still things I love! Because I went to a small school in a small town, I was able to do any and all things that interested me, no tryouts for sports teams, not a lot of people vying for the roles in the school plays, and you went to kindergarten with the same people you graduated high school with. I was able to indulge in all my interests playing sports every season [except summer] and participating in the arts as well through choir, speech and art club. I always loved crafting and art. I told my mom in second grade I was going to be a fashion designer. Fast forward to attending Savannah College of Art and Design and then graduating with a BFA in Fashion, minor in Metals+Jewelry. I moved to New York City to work in the fashion industry after college, then the siren song of Savannah called me back where I have had a winding career journey but all the pieces of the puzzle have come together to form a picture now! I worked retail, managing Nourish, a handmade bath products store on Broughton street, then started my first business, The Scout Guide Savannah. From there I worked the next 10 years with past clients and their referrals, including Bluffton Center for Dentistry, Savannah magazine and Alair Homes. I honed my management, leadership, marketing and creative skills during each one of those stops on the path. In October 2025, I started my own company, CLEM Coaching + Consulting. CLEM stands for Culture, Leadership, Experience and Marketing, the areas I see as intertwined for setting up a business for success. I work with my clients to offer limited time or retainer contracts where we help identify their values and mission first. We use those data points to discuss how they align their operation and marketing strategies to help tell that story to their target audience and attract the right employees to help them crush their goals. I have also been involved in various communities throughout my time in Savannah and am happily still engaged with some of the most satisfying ones to date! I am involved with my church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah, where I am currently the congregational president. I have also spent the last 6 years being a member of the local chapter of National Association of Women In Construction [NAWIC] as well as being on the business advisory council of Woodville Tompkins High School. I also recently joined BuyLocal, an organization I am excited to be more plugged in with moving forward!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
HA! I saw that any road that is too smooth isn’t the right road! Now don’t get me wrong, I am all about that #SoftLife but you have to be able to know when the road is smooth which can only come with the contrast of a rough ride once in a while! Starting my first business at 30 was a roller coaster, I bought a franchise, The Scout Guide, which is an amazing, beautiful publication that highlights local businesses. It had a lot of wonderful moments and the clients I had during those years are people I still have a lot of respect and fondness for! I love and live for building relationships so it was very satisfying in those way. Also, it was a business model that relied on business to business sales which was totally new for me so that came with its own challenges. After 4 years in that role, the next few years saw a lot of job turnover and hustling life, which is challenging in its own right but then it ultimately led me to the landing place I had at Alair for the last 6 years which was a time of growth, learning and personal changes to my life as well. I think that the ways we fail, move on from things, and the lessons that we learn when things don’t go as planned, are just as important as the successes. I am an eldest daughter, so it has taken me a time to come to terms with this!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
CLEM was started last fall with the mission of bringing a fresh approach that helps businesses get clear about their mission and values and then helping them live those things out loud. We work side-by-side with you, translating that mission into cohesive, action-oriented operating and marketing strategies. Our personalized solutions are designed to create organizational alignment and help you plan for the future, while dissecting your goals into actionable, achievable bites.
What makes me different, is my genuine love for small businesses and my desire to see them succeed. I pay attention to details without losing sight of the big picture. I love to motivate, hype you up and offer encouragement while also not being afraid to give you the hard truths when necessary. I am a connector and a true collaborator.
One of my favorite mottos is : having fun while getting sh*t done! I love to dream big and then get it done.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t think I like the word luck. Maybe because I think we can make our own, or find it when we need it, if we are sensitive, willing to try new things and paying attention. Also, I think sometimes my privilege allowed me to not have to be concerned about if things went wrong, I had a supportive family, partner, community, to help me, which makes is easier to take risks and rely less on luck. I have a very strong sense of believing that whatever happens I will be able to deal with it. I think that resilience will get you further than luck anytime! I also believe that being open to new things, curious, and approach life with a “I’ll do anything twice” attitude, like I do, oftentimes it becomes easy, in hindsight, to say it was luck that got me here, or it was lucky I made it out of that alive. But I do think that takes away some of our autonomy and the knowledge that we possess, energy we can feel and our own figure-it-out ability. I want to just say that while coincidence and being in the right time, in the right place is important, YOU got yourself to the place! If you aren’t willing to do the follow-up or the actual work, then none of it ever comes to be, which makes it nothing. Being intentional, understanding my strengths and finding joy in life have led me to a lot of great rooms, relationships and opportunities. Those same traits have also led to me jobs with micromanagers, unsatisfying romantic relationships or misaligned friendships, but that’s not bad luck, it’s just part of learning, growing and being human.
Pricing:
- Packages start at $1,200
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ClemCoaching.com
- Instagram: @CLEM_Consulting
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clem-coaching-consulting/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaleavitt/
