(Photos Courtesy of Click Images Inc. )
What comes to mind when I think about building an empire? First and foremost, hard freaking work! Being a #girlboss has it’s ups and downs. Seeing so many young girls thinking that it’s “so easy” to build a brand, build presence, and build your company, always makes me laugh and roll my eyes.
I started SassyGirlPR in 2008. At first it wasn’t SassyGirlPR it was just me, Stephanie being a freelancer. I wrote for many blogs, many websites, and even did some ghost writing for celebrities and others. Then of course I started to write my own stuff and have a voice. My goal when I write, is not to have others know MY opinion, but to THINK about the other side of the story. Then of course I wrote my first book, “A Bird’s Eye View” which was a nonfiction book and talked about many topics. Once I got my feet wet, I guess you can say the rest is history! I got offered to write for many other sites, one being Blogher. Not only did I write for Blogher and have one of my pieces go viral,
“This Woman Does Not Support The Women’s March” but I was a third-party consultant for them and this is where I got my start with #SocialMediaMarketing –
I did campaigns for JcPenney, American Idol, AT&T, just to name a few. And I instantly fell in love with the concept and the idea.
Now I started to learn and teach myself all about social media and how to use it to market businesses, books, blogs, etc. And I have to say, I had very good success at it – I mean, my books and blogs were being read in other countries and it was just amazing on how I connected with so many people. This by the way, is the purpose of social media: to connect with others on a positive note, not like it is used today to spread hate and misinformation.
In the meantime while all this was going on, I was teaching Preschool, Pre-K and writing toddler programs for schools. I presented at the NAEYC in 2000 and loved teaching the little ones. We’ll get into this at another time, but I built my business Sassy Productions Inc, as a side job, and let me tell you, I tried to incorporate a lot of other businesses, but those failed. Those failures are what helped me grow, helped me understand business, and helped me become who I am today. I learned so much from the failed business attempts that is why I took eight years of building SassyGirlPR – now known as Sassy Productions. I wanted it to work. I wanted to be my own boss and play by my own rules.
Timing is everything in life, as is having patience. Life is process for that matter. We learn as we progress. So today, I not only run a social media marketing company, handle PR relations as well, write blogs, write books, and help other businesses, I did it all on my own terms.
2016 I became an Auntie. That was the perfect time to step away from teaching and focus on myself and my nephew. And things have just taken off from there.
So you see, life doesn’t always work out the way you think it will. There will be turns, stops, obstacles, at every corner, but with patience, perseverance and never stopping enthusiasm, you can start to build your own empire- one piece at a time.
Find The Diary of A Social Gal Parts 2 and 3 here:( Friday and Saturday)
Stephanie 's Corner 