Bright, Bold, and Built from Scratch

How one Las Vegas woman left casino marketing behind to help other women light up the digital world.

A bright pink cactus isn’t something you’d expect to see on a digital marketing agency’s homepage. But for Tenaya Williams, it says everything.

It’s not just a logo; it’s a mission. Pink for passion and visibility. Cactus for resilience and growth. Glass for transparency. All stitched into a brand as bold and unconventional as the woman behind it.

Williams, co-founder of Glass Cactus Marketing, is one of those people whose energy doesn’t just fill a room—it lifts it. And if you ask her what she does, her answer isn’t about ad spend or search rankings.

“I help women be seen,” she says.

Leaving the Strip for Something More Meaningful

Not long ago, Tenaya was managing loyalty marketing for one of the largest casino groups in Las Vegas. Think gift cards, email funnels, reward systems—the backbone of how entertainment giants keep customers coming back. It was stable. Predictable. And completely uninspiring.

“I just couldn’t keep doing marketing for gambling,” she says. “It wasn’t fulfilling. I knew I had the skills to help people who actually needed it—people who were building something real, with heart.”

So she left. No parachute. No safety net. Just a vision.

In January 2025, she and her wife Dani—who brought years of branding experience from the casino world—launched Glass Cactus Marketing from scratch. They named it for the values they wanted to bring into every project: transparency, resilience, creativity.

They didn’t buy an agency. They didn’t take over someone else’s clients. They built it, pixel by pixel.

Growing Something Real, One Client at a Time

What sets Glass Cactus apart isn’t just its neon color palette or cheeky name. It’s Tenaya’s philosophy.

“I see so many small business owners who are incredible at what they do, but they’ve never been taught how to market it,” she says. “SEO, branding, content—it’s not taught in school, not even in college most of the time. So people end up stuck.”

She remembers one candle maker who came to her overwhelmed and ready to quit. “She had everything except a strategy,” Tenaya recalls. “We walked her through how to build a site, optimize for search, and show off her products on social—and now she’s growing fast.”

The work isn’t just technical. It’s emotional.

“Marketing is storytelling,” she says. “It’s about showing someone the value they bring, in a way that they can see it too.”

But passion isn’t always enough. Building a business meant learning tough lessons—fast.

“One of the hardest things for me was not overdoing it,” Tenaya laughs. “Someone would pay for a one-page website, and I’d give them three. I had to learn to manage my time and still give people great results without stretching myself too thin.”

And then there’s pricing. “We work with people on very tight budgets. Sometimes they're not making much money yet,” she says. “So we tailor everything—because I don’t want to turn anyone away who’s ready to grow.”

A Brand That’s Anything But Boring

Glass Cactus offers the full digital marketing suite: website design, SEO, social ads, and content creation. But everything comes with a twist of color and care.

“We’re not your standard white-and-blue agency,” Tenaya says. “We’re pink, green, neon. We’re fun. We don’t want to feel like corporate tech. We want to feel like you just walked into a creative space designed for you.”

Dani’s branding background adds polish and depth. “She used to manage brand integrity for huge casinos—making sure Paris looked like Paris, that kind of thing. Now she’s bringing that same level of attention to small businesses.”

Their clients aren’t just handed strategies—they’re taught how to use them.

“We’re big on education. If someone wants to do DIY marketing later, we want them to feel confident doing that,” Tenaya says. “We’re not here to trap clients. We’re here to empower them.”

“I Just Want to Help People Be Seen”

Three quotes stand out from Tenaya, all said casually but carrying the weight of her whole mission:

“I wasn’t passionate about helping people gamble—I’m passionate about helping people be seen.”

“We don’t just give someone a fish; we teach them how to fish for themselves.”

“If you’ve got a goal, just go for it. That’s what we did. I never imagined we’d be this far in just six months.”

Those six months have been packed. Glass Cactus has already grown a strong client base through word of mouth, Instagram, and LinkedIn. “Someone’s uncle always seems to recommend us,” she jokes.

But Tenaya and Dani aren’t stopping there.

On July 17, they’ll host their first in-person workshop in Las Vegas—limited to 25 entrepreneurs—teaching how to record and create scroll-stopping social ads. Each attendee will walk away with three professionally recorded and edited pieces of content, plus the skills to make more.

And beyond the workshop?

“We’re aiming for schools,” Tenaya says. “We want to get into high schools and colleges to talk about digital marketing as a real career path. Nobody’s teaching it, and yet every business needs it.”

Rooted in Community, Powered by Purpose

Las Vegas is full of lights, but Glass Cactus shines differently.

This isn’t a firm chasing Fortune 500 clients. It’s a local agency helping artists, makers, and dreamers turn passion into profit.

“Tenaya’s not just another marketer,” says one client. “She’s a builder. She builds you up while she builds your brand.”

And that’s exactly what she wants to do more of.

“Community is everything,” she says. “We’re not just doing business—we’re building relationships, creating opportunities, and reminding people they can do this.”

Ready to Grow with You

For anyone ready to bring their business to life online—or just finally understand how the digital pieces fit together—Glass Cactus is a warm, vibrant place to start.

You can find them at glasscactusmarketing.com or follow @glasscactusmarketing on all major platforms: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Yelp.

Whether you need a new website, better SEO, or just someone to explain how the algorithm works, Tenaya and Dani are ready to help you grow—and glow.

This feature is part of The Business View Journal’s Local Spotlight Series — your trusted source for discovering the best small businesses in your community.