The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Jacquelyn Son & Clara Coelho are empowering people to…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Jacquelyn Son & Clara Coelho are empowering people to leave their dreaded 9–5 jobs to start their own business

Just Go For It. I’m sure I can say this for most entrepreneurs, but we always wished that we had started sooner. There were so many insecurities that were holding us back, but we quickly realized that fear is really just fear until you deal with it head on. If you have a project that you want to start, JUST GO FOR IT! You never know until you give it a try. It does not matter if you realize you hate it, or it was not successful. You’ll learn so much along the way for your next adventure!

As a part of my series about social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jacquelyn Son and Clara Coelho. Jacquelyn & Clara are co-hosts of the top-rated entrepreneur podcast: Glow Radio. Glow Radio is a podcast for the sassiest of b*tches who are looking to dump their 9–5 for that #entrepreneur life. You can expect weekly conversations with unapologetic creatives, business owners and influencers. They discuss tips on how to reach your goals, manage your time and keep your sanity while being a major boss babe. Jacquelyn & Clara are your favourite hype women who will cheer you on and push you to create the life that you want.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

We are both die-hard health and wellness advocates and bonded through fitness. It really set the foundation to our partnership. The gym became a place for us to discuss our ideas and discover our entrepreneurial spirits.

The podcast life definitely chose us! We knew that we were personable and absolutely loved the idea of meeting new people and sharing our ideas to the world. There were a few other business ideas that we had, but we ultimately chose to start the podcast, as it was the easiest to manage and didn’t require a lot of capital while we still worked at our day jobs. At the time, we did not know that this was going to be our career. However, a few months in after the birth of Glow Radio, we knew that this is what we were meant to do. We ended up quitting our 9–5s and pursuing this full-time.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

Both of us are pretty confident at public speaking so we have no problem speaking in front of a large crowd. However, in the beginning when we first started bringing guests onto the podcast, we were actually SO nervous. We were especially nervous when interviewing guests that were out of town and who were very influential people that we admired a lot. It’s funny because listening back to those interviews, we weren’t really ourselves and would stutter over our words. Now, we’ve become a lot more confident and comfortable — but there are definitely still times where we get a little anxious! We are human afterall.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When we invited our first guest, we had prepared what we had thought were “a lot” of questions. The entire interview ended up being only about 15–20 minutes long and we had to scramble to figure out what to say or how to end it. We were super nervous and really stuck to the script rather than engaging in a free flowing conversation with our guest.

The biggest lesson we learned from that was to just relax and let the questions be a guide rather than a strict script. Yes, some episodes aren’t going to be that long, but that is the beauty of it!

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

Our mission is to empower all current & aspiring entrepreneurs to build successful businesses without sacrificing their health or happiness. There is no dream too big or too ‘unrealistic’ to reach. Helping our audience achieve HUGE goals is extremely important to us and we firmly believe that EVERYONE can create the life that they want.

On Glow Radio, we provide tools and resources for listeners to either leave their dreaded 9–5 jobs to start their own business or to further grow their existing brand. It was extremely painful for us to be stuck in our day jobs that we loathed, especially when we knew we were meant for something more.

Since discovering our own paths, we hope to inspire everyone around us to wake up with passion in the mornings to do meaningful work that they love. You deserve to live your best life!

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

Since we started Glow Radio, we have taken on the role as everyone’s favourite hype women. We will go to great lengths to encourage anyone who needs a boost. There is absolutely no one we wouldn’t help! Fortunately that had paid off first in our circle of friends. We definitely saw a huge impact on a couple of our close friends who are now working on building their own businesses and turning their passion into their full time commitment. One of them has started a business on Amazon and another is pursuing their goal as a spiritual healer.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

We started our podcast with just casual ‘girl talk’ without giving much thought to a theme. However, as we grew the podcast, we realized that our guests were individuals who were driven entrepreneurs with inspiring stories. That is when we discovered that we were meant to deliver these messages to all aspiring entrepreneurs to guide and help them to their goals.

We both had started as two girls with full time office jobs who just wanted to break free and do something meaningful. This podcast has given us the opportunity to make a living by doing what we love, inviting others to join our journey and growing an empowering community.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

The root of the problem is that people do not fully understand what they are capable of and are afraid to dream big. People often do not reach their full potential in life because fear is holding them back. Here are some ways that the community/society/politicians can help address these issues.

  1. Empowering Initiatives — brands and companies in our society can help more people realize that they are capable of achieving their dreams by launching campaigns showing regular everyday people reaching big goals. This can give encouragement to any aspiring entrepreneurs who are afraid of taking that first step to start their business.
  2. Educate Leaders — offer self-development courses or workshops to leaders in our society to help them improve their mindset and skills. Leaders can include anyone from teachers, parents, managers, etc. This can help them continue to mentor others to become successful individuals in our community.
  3. Entrepreneurship Courses — it would be awesome if a variety of entrepreneurship courses were available to students in school starting at a young age. We find that many people around us do not even think about entrepreneurship because they were not taught this as an option.

What specific strategies have you been using to promote and advance this cause? Can you recommend any good tips for people who want to follow your lead and use their social platform for a social good?

Networking is a main strategy that has been working well for us. In the beginning, we asked our friends and existing relationships to introduce us to like-minded individuals to collaborate. One connection eventually led to another and to this day, we continue to meet many awesome entrepreneurs through networking. We also make an effort to attend events that relate to our niche and meet others in-person. Building these genuine and supportive relationships has increased our word of mouth and helped grow our podcast. We discuss our specific networking tips in episode 30 on Glow Radio!

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Just Go For It
    I’m sure I can say this for most entrepreneurs, but we always wished that we had started sooner. There were so many insecurities that were holding us back, but we quickly realized that fear is really just fear until you deal with it head on. If you have a project that you want to start, JUST GO FOR IT! You never know until you give it a try. It does not matter if you realize you hate it, or it was not successful. You’ll learn so much along the way for your next adventure!
  2. Working Backwards
    Set your target, no matter how “unrealistic” it may seem to you right now. Then you want to work backwards until your starting point. You will realize that the path is not so crazy and you will have a solid growth plan that you can refer to and make adjustments along the way.
  3. Self Love Is Important
    Running your own business is no easy feat! Make sure you schedule in time for self-care. It is so easy to feel like you need to be working every second of every day, but that’s only going to cause you more harm than good. There are days where we will meet up and just not have any energy to even think about what we need to do. That’s when we know we have to take the next day off to recharge.
  4. Niche It Out
    Don’t be afraid to get specific with your business! Trying to appease everyone means you are targeting no one. Be honest with yourself and get really detailed to as what kind of audience you want impact.
  5. Failing & Mistakes
    Making mistakes or failing is inevitable. If neither of these things happen, then you are playing it too safe. We’ve taken jobs and agreed to events that we have never done before, and yes it was a huge risk, but we never regret a single thing!

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

We are currently developing an online course teaching others how to start a podcast. It would be amazing to inspire a movement of many people launching podcasts that offer empowering topics to millions, if not billions of listeners around the world.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.” ― Thomas H. Palmer

This quote speaks to us a lot because we are serial entrepreneurs who aren’t afraid of making mistakes. We’ve had multiple ‘failed’ businesses in the past, but we aren’t failures. They were all learning experiences and brought us to where we are now. Whenever we feel discouraged, this quote reminds us to keep trying another method until we succeed.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

We would love to have a breakfast/lunch with Oprah! She is, no doubt, one of the most influential figures who empower people around the world. It would be amazing to be in her presence and learn from her.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Yes for sure! You can find us on Instagram @GlowRadioCo, Facebook.com/GlowRadioCo and subscribe to Glow Radio on iTunes, Spotify and Youtube.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!


The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Jacquelyn Son & Clara Coelho are empowering people to… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Katina Mountanos is helping millennials to figure out how

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Katina Mountanos is helping millennials to figure out how to navigate adulthood in a conscious, happy way

I get dozens of messages and notes each day from amazing individuals around the world who are inspired to be more conscious, awake — and even grateful — for their lives and their ability to make change. One of the most gratifying pieces of this work for me is when I get to meet the On Adulting community in person. It always amazes me how driven, inspiring and all around cool these women (and men!) are. One of my favorite experiences was when I held an On Adulting meet up in New York City early on a Sunday morning, and someone drove in from New Jersey to connect with this amazing group of humans. She was really nervous to come to the event alone — but left feeling energized, inspired, and left with a bunch of new friends! It’s just a clear reminder that there are really awesome people out there who are craving the ability to connect in real life (aka — off our phones!) and talk about deep, life changing ideas. Even if you’re feeling alone right now, know that your humans are out there somewhere, waiting for you to meet them.

As a part of my series about social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Katina Mountanos, the founder of On Adulting, a viral blog and community of over 20,000 millennials who are figuring out how to navigate adulthood in a conscious, happy way (@onadulting). She is also a mindset coach, certified yoga + meditation teacher, and start up advisor. Her work has featured on HuffPost, Fast Company, Teen Vogue, Elite Daily, Mindbodygreen, and others. She started her career in environmental sustainability at Goldman Sachs, and since then has helped dozens of humans develop conscious decision-making skills, which allow them to make choices that will expand their mindset, happiness and health. Follow along on Instagram at @onadulting or The Space, a private Facebook group for the O.A. crew!

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Thank you so much for having me!

Ever since I was young, I knew that I wanted to do something that makes a positive impact on the world. I grew up in a family of small business owners, and saw first-hand the way that business could bring communities together.

Years later when I started college at NYU’s Stern School of Business, it seemed like I only had two career paths: do something can change the world while sacrificing my earning potential or “sell my soul” and work at a corporation. I naively ended up choosing the latter — like many college graduates I was burdened by loans and the definition of other’s version of “success.”

I started my career at Goldman Sachs, a large investment bank in New York and quickly realized that working at a big company wasn’t for me. I had a clear passion for social impact and an extreme entrepreneurial spirit, both qualities that led me to feel like I was settling for good enough at the time. And I knew that I wanted my career to be a choice rather than a negotiation.

While at Goldman, I switched groups to join the newly created Environmental Sustainability team. Working on social impact in a large corporation showed me that it is possible to use business for good. But, it also showed me how little I knew about creating long-term social impact. As a finance major, I didn’t know much about the nonprofit world — and needed to learn quickly.

So, a few months later I was lucky enough to be offered a role at a small philanthropic venture firm where I was worked with nonprofit leaders on their strategy, communications and operations. It was the ideal learning environment — but I still was searching for my personal version of what it meant to change the world.

That’s when I started a side project, On Adulting. It was a tiny blog that had one simple intention: share my journey of navigating adulthood in a mindful, happy way — and hopefully connect with others on that same path. Little did I know at the time that this side hustle would turn into a full-fledged business and community just two years later, helping thousands of millennials step into their power and lead more conscious lives.

It’s been a windy path — and I’m sure there will be more twists and turns — but I’ve found that as long as I am connected to my North Star, it all makes sense.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

Well, it’s all been an interesting ride! But, I think one of the most impactful decisions that came when I was faced with the choice of moving from my home, New York City, to San Francisco with my partner in 2017.

After he received an amazing job offer on the West Coast, we both decided to relocate. Even though I loved my job and On Adulting was just starting to gain traction, I knew deep down that taking a large risk both personally and professionally could only lead to growth.

So, I uprooted my entire life and got uncomfortable — really uncomfortable. My partner, Dupi, and I didn’t have any friends or family in this new city. I didn’t have a job. We were far away from everything we knew.

But, gaining this new perspective allowed me to take major risks, which led to me believe that I could take On Adulting full-time and turn it into a full-fledged business.

Bottom line: Sometimes the best outcomes happen when you’re a little scared or uncomfortable. Dive into the feelings and allow yourself to be open to all the opportunities that come your way.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Oh wow, there have been plenty of mistakes along the way. This one is difficult for me to answer, actually, because I don’t typically view mistakes as bad, or even funny. I just view them as experiences that shift my path in a way I would have never imagined.

That said, when I first started my career I often made silly “mistakes” like forgetting my work heels at home and getting stuck in sneakers and a business suit (true story). I also often emailed the wrong person (Jim C got a ton of misinformed emails!), and messed up during presentations.

But, whenever those “mistakes” would happen — I would allow myself to feel embarrassed, upset or ashamed for a few moments, and remind myself that we’re all human. Messing up is normal.

I know that these feelings can be overwhelming at times but remember: silly missteps are not the end of the world.

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

The entire mission of On Adulting is centered on the idea that we can all lead our dream life — in a conscious, mindful way. That navigating adulthood doesn’t need to be difficult or overwhelming. That we don’t need to feel like we’re settling for a mediocre life, just like I did back when I first entered the working world.

Through my social media presence, in real life events and individual coaching I am dedicated to helping millennials make choices that will not only expand their own mindset, happiness and health — but that of the planet. And most importantly, empowering others to see that their choices don’t need to be major life changes, like quitting your job or traveling the world with one backpack (though that’s cool if it is!). We are all capable of making tiny decisions each and every day that will result in more engaged, conscious and happy lives over the long-term.

Personally, I am passionate about environmental sustainability as a cause. It’s a great example of a topic that requires small, conscious, everyday decisions on each human’s part to make massive change. Through my platform and community, I share the ways that you can begin to shift your lifestyle to care for yourself and our world.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

Actually, there are thousands of individuals who have been impacted by this work — which still seems out of this world to me! But, I get dozens of messages and notes each day from amazing individuals around the world who are inspired to be more conscious, awake — and even grateful — for their lives and their ability to make change.

One of the most gratifying pieces of this work for me is when I get to meet the On Adulting community in person. It always amazes me how driven, inspiring and all around cool these women (and men!) are. One of my favorite experiences was when I held an On Adulting meet up in New York City early on a Sunday morning, and someone drove in from New Jersey to connect with this amazing group of humans. She was really nervous to come to the event alone — but left feeling energized, inspired, and left with a bunch of new friends!

It’s just a clear reminder that there are really awesome people out there who are craving the ability to connect in real life (aka — off our phones!) and talk about deep, lifechanging ideas. Even if you’re feeling alone right now, know that your humans are out there somewhere, waiting for you to meet them.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

There wasn’t necessarily a tipping point that made me decide to focus on these topics — it was more of a deep, primal need to share my story with the world. So, for those of you reading who may be on the fence about starting something or sharing your story — listen to your inner guidance.

A question that I get asked often is: how did you stop feeling scared or worried about what others thought when you began writing and sharing publicly? And, I think that being worried about showing your vulnerability, especially to strangers, is really scary. But, if you’re truly connected to your purpose, you realize that it’s much bigger than you. Allowing others to see themselves in your story — the good, bad and ugly — is what inspires us humans to make change for the better.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

I would say there are two problems that I am trying to solve through my work: (1) empowering people to believe that they can live the best version of their lives, and to make conscious choices along the way, and (2) protecting the health of our earth.

I think that both of these issues are deeply rooted in our society’s belief systems, especially in the United States. It’s important for all of us to be leaders in our choices and put the onus on ourselves to make change — rather than wait around for laws or companies to do something drastic. As I’ve said many times, change happens in the small, regular moments each and every day.

So, here are some actionable things you can do as it relates to conscious decision-making:

1. Cheer on a friend: Let’s turn ourselves into a yes and society instead of a no but. If a friend or colleague is doing something risky or scary, like moving to a new city or launching a new business — get them excited! What they’re doing is uncomfortable enough, and in our world we don’t need any more naysayers.

2. Do something uncomfortable yourself: We grow during moments of discomfort. Do something today that makes you feel out of your comfort zone and see what magic happens. Not only does it provide us with perspective, but it helps us become more awake to what we really want. Some examples you could try are talking to a stranger or going to a completely new neighborhood to explore.

3. Make it cool to be kind: Let’s shift our world’s perception that being nice isn’t cool. Pick up trash on the street. Help someone with directions. Get out of your bubble, off your phone and truly connect with another human — see how much it can change your day.

And, if you’re interested in environmental sustainability, try these three challenges:

1. Reduce your use: While recycling and composting is great, let’s try to reduce the amount of “stuff” we purchase. We live in a world that’s obsessed with buying things — so challenge yourself to do the opposite. Think before you buy anything today: do you actually need it?

2. Unplug — literally: It’s important to disconnect not only mentally, but literally. Remove plugs that you’re not using — appliances, computer chargers, TVs. We waste a ton of energy on electronics not in use. And hey, it’s also good for your wallet!

3. Inspire others through your actions: I love bringing my reusable mug to coffee shops, because every single time I get a comment from someone — whether it’s a customer or an employee — about how much they love it. Be a leader through your actions, and inspire others to be more sustainable. Whether you’re recycling correctly at work, or bringing your own bag to the grocery store — don’t downplay the importance of making change through action.

What specific strategies have you been using to promote and advance this cause? Can you recommend any good tips for people who want to follow your lead and use their social platform for a social good?

Building the On Adulting community has taken commitment, authenticity and a deep vision — even when no one was paying attention. It’s really important for anyone who is interested in developing a platform or community to continue showing up each and every day, no matter how many people are with you. The only way this can happen is if you’re truly connected to your North Star, your personal mission, and are committed to speaking that truth every day.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

I think this list could go on forever! But, here are my top 5 pieces of advice for anyone who is just starting to “change the world”:

1. Being an adult doesn’t mean you have it figured out: When I first entered the working world, I thought that everyone had the secret key to adulthood and happiness. I couldn’t have been more wrong, which was enlightening but also scary. If I stopped looking externally for the answers, and started looking within I would have saved myself a ton of stress and fear.

2. Your dream job probably doesn’t exist — make it up: Every single “job” I’ve had was extremely different than what I was hired for. And, when I started working for myself, I realized there never would be a perfect job that I didn’t create myself. I often work with clients who are bogged down by the reality of what is out there in the world — but we all have the power to create whatever we can dream of. Imagine the type of work that would light you up, and then go create it.

3. Collect as many experiences as you can: Conventional wisdom tells us to land a job after college, stay there for 2–3 years, and move onto another one for even longer. In my case, and others who have gone off the beaten path to find success, this isn’t true. I believe we are actually the sum of our experiences. So, collect as many as you can, even if they don’t necessarily have a “purpose” right now. They will.

4. The uncomfortable moments are the ones that make you grow the most: Even though I knew this concept was true deep down, I wish that someone had reassured me that how we handle the difficult, confusing times literally define our life. As long as we want to grow, we will find discomfort. Recognize it, lean into it and remember that it will pass — but not without changing you first.

5. You can change your mind as many times as you want: I wish someone had shared that there is no perfect answer for fulfillment in life. Our priorities and interests change over time, and that’s okay. You don’t need to have a clear life strategy from the moment you graduate college (or even before then!). While it’s important to get clear on your personal mission statement as soon as you can — the ways that you make that a reality shift over the course of your life. Keep checking in with yourself and be honest about what lights you up.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

My dream movement would be for all of us to stop doing things because you are “supposed” to and start acting consciously. The movement has already begun with the On Adulting community — come join us! J

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Do yourself a favor. Before it’s too late, without thinking too much about it first, pack a pillow and a blanket and see as much of the world as you can. You will not regret it. One day it will be too late.”

– The Namesake

This quote literally changed my life. I remember exactly where I was when I read it during my senior year of college. I had recently decided to graduate early, and was stuck between following the traditional route to start work early, or take a few months to travel.

As you can imagine, after reading this quote I chose the latter. During my four-month solo trip to Australia and New Zealand at the age of 21, my perspective and definition of success changed entirely. I saw first-hand how people can be happy, truly happy, by only owning a backpack. I was exposed to beliefs that I had never considered before. And, I learned how to trust myself.

So, if you have the chance — pack a bag and see the world. You will never regret it.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Wow — there are so many people I’d love to connect with. But, if I had to choose I would love to have breakfast with Oprah. She has always been my biggest expander and inspiration in showing us the power of making change through connection. She has always brought her truest self to the table — and helped so many others do the same. I would love to plot with her about how we can keep making the world a more kind, conscious place for all.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow along on Instagram at @onadulting or join our Facebook group, The Space, for conversations about growing up in a mindful, happy way.

There are also plenty of free resources available on the On Adulting website — from blog posts to free guided meditations.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

Thank you so much for having me! I’m excited to see what change this might inspire.


The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Katina Mountanos is helping millennials to figure out how was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Alexa Curtis is inspiring young people about how to get…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Alexa Curtis is inspiring young people about how to get out of their comfort zone and find their purpose

I wish I listened to my mom when she told me to stop comparing myself to people. I remember when a girl who I met through blogging who was featured in this Teen Vogue Snapshot article, and I had been so badly wanting the spot she got. I came to find out she was best friends with the editor, which could’ve assisted in her landing the spot. I wish I had realized early on that everything happens for a reason. It took me some time to believe that. The people who aren’t authentic are the ones who won’t survive in the long run.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Alexa Curtis. Alexa is a young adult influencer and CEO of Life Unfiltered with Alexa, the lifestyle site for teens and parents. Curtis also founded the nonprofit Media Impact and Navigation for Teens, along with the Be Fearless Summit. She is a sought-out speaker by many colleges and conferences, and runs her show Fearless Everyday on Radio Disney along with her weekly podcast This is Life Unfiltered. @alexa_curtis

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I started a blog called A Life in the Fashion Lane in 2011 when I was 12-years-old. I come from a small, sheltered town in Eastern Connecticut and never fit in- I was always the “weird kid”. I initially started the blog as an outlet for me to overcome my insecurities and the bullying I was enduring, with no intention of it becoming a full-time career! I’m 21-years-old now, and I run Life Unfiltered with Alexa (I switched the site to solely focus on social media and mental health) full-time along with the show I recently secured on Radio Disney called Fearless Everyday. I speak at colleges across the country educating young people about how to get out of their comfort zone and find their purpose. In this day and age everyone wants to become so successful and wealthy overnight, and I like to remind people that if I had ever intended of becoming successful by simply starting this blog back in the day, I don’t think I’d be where I am. Follow your passion first, the rest will come if it’s meant to.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

I have so many stories, it’s hard to pick just one! When I forced my mom to let me transfer to online high school my junior year (because I was still planning on attending college and frankly was failing out of high school) I had a terrible conversation with my guidance counselor who was so against the idea and tried to deter me from transferring. Within 1 hour after leaving the appointment, I got a phone call from Rachael Ray who had found my blog and wanted me to appear on the show the following week. I’ll never forget it.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I still make mistakes every day. To learn and grow as an entrepreneur, you have to constantly be pushing yourself which means getting out of your comfort zone! I had a few TV segments in the beginning of my career. I didn’t know I had to return the clothing to the brands I was using for TV. Needless to say, by age of 16 I knew everything anyone should know about cease and desist letters and not being able to be sued when you’re underage, as well as a variety of ways to keep your company safe even when you’re not able to legally drink! One of the experiences I faced with a brand is actually the opening of the first episode of the show my team has been pitching to different production companies! Who would’ve known all of that stress may just pay off!

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

What sets me apart from other people is my absolute transparency and authenticity when it comes to social media. Maybe that’s because I started blogging when I was so young, or maybe I’m just such an honest person in general that I don’t see why I wouldn’t share the highs and the lows of me pursuing this path.

If Instagram wasn’t around, I’m lucky that I’d still be able to make a living through the other parts of my company like site and podcast. That being said, I think social media is crucial in constructing your core demographic and engaging with your fans. I’m so incredibly vocal about the rejection I face, from boys to book deals because I want other young adults out there to know that they are not alone in the process of finding their purpose. Sure, I knew what I wanted to do at a young age but that doesn’t mean I know everything that’s going to happen to me in the future. I’m still experimenting and learning about myself everyday. I always wanted to be the model person I didn’t have to look up to when I was younger.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

I get so many messages a day from kids and parents whose story sticks out to me. Whenever I present talks on social media or mental health, I’m always flooded by kids who are suffering with anxiety, cutting, bullying, and finally feel like it’s okay to say they’re not okay. I recently put on an entire summit at Drexel University called the Be Fearless Summit, and after the summit a few girls told me that they took away more from the summit than they did at a women’s conference they each paid $500 + to attend. When I hear comments like that, that’s when I know I’m on to something. I know I’m filling the void out there, slowly but surely.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

From ages 14 to 16, I suffered with an eating disorder called orthorexia. At the time, I was still solely blogging about fashion but feeling more and more like I was being asked to speak on topics I didn’t feel were making a difference in the world (fashion surely impacted my life, but it wasn’t helping others that much). I ended up publishing an article called Role Model vs. Runway Model, an honest letter on my eating disorder that went viral. It wasn’t until girls from my high school started messaging me telling me about their eating disorders that I had this light bulb moment: I found my purpose. Shortly after that I was flown to NYC to speak on a panel on social media and mental health with a few older advocates and CEOs, and I decided to launch Media Impact and Navigation for Teens. Sometime later, I decided I had no interest in fashion and wanted to speak and share my personal life experiences openly and honestly. I figured if I could continue to make a career out of my honesty, I’d be doing good in the world.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

I might answer this question differently than others, but something that I think is crucial is parents educating themselves about social media. Parents should know about Instagram and Snapchat so that when their child addresses them about something they see online, they aren’t clueless.

I love Michelle Obama’s Better Make Room initiative, and I think that schools (high schools and colleges in particular) should be teaching life skills. Why don’t we leave school knowing about taxes, about finding freelance work, or how to not screw up our lives!? That’s why I launched the Be Fearless Summit, because I knew that young adults knew how to start Instagram pages, but didn’t necessarily know the difference between W9s + W2s.

Society in general could be more open about following nontraditional paths. I’m often asked and questioned about why I decided not to go to college, and I have the same answer every time I’m asked. At the end of the day, as long as you are willing to experiment and try new opportunities you will eventually find your purpose. Let’s encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone and try something new!

What specific strategies have you been using to promote and advance this cause? Can you recommend any good tips for people who want to follow your lead and use their social platform for a social good?

Don’t start an Instagram page for fame or money. If you want to pursue the entertainment industry, realize that 1% of people make it in this world. This might not be for you, and that’s okay. Working a 9–5 job does not make you “normal” or boring, it’s quite the contrary. I advise you not to compare yourself to anyone else. If you don’t yet know what you want to do for a career, that’s okay. Sit down with a notebook and a pen and write down where you’d like to see yourself in 5 years. Maybe that’s in a huge office, or maybe that’s with a smile on your face eating a cupcake! Many of us forget the bigger picture in life, and to make an impact in the world you have to find yourself first.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. I wish I listened to my mom when she told me to stop comparing myself to people. I remember when a girl who I met through blogging who was featured in this Teen Vogue Snapshot article, and I had been so badly wanting the spot she got. I came to find out she was best friends with the editor, which could’ve assisted in her landing the spot. I wish I had realized early on that everything happens for a reason. It took me some time to believe that. The people who aren’t authentic are the ones who won’t survive in the long run.

2. I certainly wish there had been a book on how to not get screwed over in the business world. Time after time, prior to me having a team and lawyer, I got screwed over by not reading through contracts thoroughly enough. The business world is very cutthroat, and it’s truly survival of the fittest.

3. When I was 18, I spent 6 months trying to launch this bra finder app. I even tried to get investors for it, and I eventually just couldn’t do it. I felt crappy, like I had settled because I couldn’t figure out how to make this app happen. Many times during your entrepreneurial journey you may find yourself feeling lost, and that’s totally normal. To find yourself you have to get lost! Embrace every bump in the road and realize that failures aren’t failures unless you’ve failed yourself.

4. People may think you’re nuts when you start out. To this day people question me, tell me I’m not good enough, I don’t have millions of followers yet so to them I’m doing nothing…and I’ve realized that the kind of success I’m looking for in life isn’t calculated by a number on a social media page. We each have our own idea of success, and numbers eventually won’t give you the value that knowing you’re following your passion and making a difference will.

5. Be a nerd! I wish I spent more time studying in middle school. Seriously!

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’d love to see more people putting on their own after school events or summits (it doesn’t have to be on the level mine was) to encourage everyone to find their purpose. By getting a group of people together, girls or boys, you will all have so many ideas and certainly walk away feeling motivated and inspired!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I don’t even think I have to explain why this quote means so much to me. I dropped out of high school, I couldn’t even get a higher grade than a C in math. I spent so much time beating myself up over not being able to succeed at school. But I realized it’s okay because I succeeded at something else in my life.

“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn’t be here. I guarantee you that.” Michelle Obama

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

YES! Michelle Obama, Halsey or Hoda Kotb. I’ve got millions more names if you want me to list them all!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow me at @alexa_curtis and the summit is @befearlesssummit, and my podcast is @thisislifepodcast.

Befearlesssummit.org

Tilupodcast.com

Fearlesseveryday.org

Lifeunfilteredwithalexa.com

Medianav.org

Do I seriously have 5 websites? Oh boy!

Thank you so much for joining us!


The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: Alexa Curtis is inspiring young people about how to get… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Emily Lyons of Femme Fatale Media…

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Emily Lyons of Femme Fatale Media Group

Know your target audience and appeal to them. If you’re a personal trainer then you probably don’t want to be posting photos of junk food everyday. You want potential customers ideally so posting fitness related things is a given!

Be consistent — Don’t post something and then disappear for weeks. Have a schedule and stick to it.

Be genuine! Be true to who you are and let your personality shine through in your posts. Everyone loves a good story behind a company or brand, show yours!

Don’t overthink it. It’s usually better to post something then to not post anything at all!

Plan your posts ahead. Get an idea of how the over aesthetic of your page will look with all your future posts together. Look at special events coming up on the calendar and how you can tie your posts into that.

Be unique. Obviously you want to stand out from the crowd. Fortune favors the bold!

I had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Lyons. Emily is a serial entrepreneur with a business track record that can be summed up in one word: unstoppable. Emily is the founder of Femme Fatale Media Group — an event staffing agency headquartered in Toronto, Canada (but with a presence sprawled across North America and soon into Australia). She’s also the founder and CEO of three other companies — an organic makeup business (True Glue), a luxury matchmaking agency (Lyons Elite), and a watch brand which contributes to research on cystic fibrosis (JWLS). In addition to this, she heads up a non profit in her late sisters name, The Julia Lyons Foundation, that helps Cystic Fibrosis patients in need of financial assistance.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I started my first company Femme Fatale Media in 2009, when I was 23 years old. Prior to that I was working as a promotional model and really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I then read a book that my sister gave me that inspired me to become an entrepreneur.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

Over the years social media marketing has been an integral part of my business strategy, so much so that we now offer it as a service through our PR division, FFPR. I’ve grown my combined pages to almost 400,000 followers.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

I once went into a meeting with a very large F & B company for a contract we were bidding on. The CEO entered the meeting, looked at me and said, “hey! I follow you on instagram!”

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I started my company with my small town values at the heart of everything I did, and I quickly got taken advantage of. I grew up in Stratford Ontario and I don’t think we ever locked our door! Everyone knew everyone and for the most part was filled with good, honest people. I quickly learned a happy medium between stay true to who I am, without being exploited.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

For business revenue I’d say Linkedin is definitely the best, followed by instagram. Linkedin you can interact directly with your target consumer in a professional capacity.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Know your target audience and appeal to them. If you’re a personal trainer then you probably don’t want to be posting photos of junk food everyday. You want potential customers ideally so posting fitness related things is a given!
  2. Be consistent — Don’t post something and then disappear for weeks. Have a schedule and stick to it.
  3. Be genuine! Be true to who you are and let your personality shine through in your posts. Everyone loves a good story behind a company or brand, show yours!
  4. Don’t overthink it. It’s usually better to post something then to not post anything at all!
  5. Plan your posts ahead. Get an idea of how the over aesthetic of your page will look with all your future posts together. Look at special events coming up on the calendar and how you can tie your posts into that.
  6. Be unique. Obviously you want to stand out from the crowd. Fortune favors the bold!

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

No more photo editing apps! I’m so guilty for this that it’s just become the norm. It makes me self conscious to meet people in real life. If we got rid of these we would all have better self esteem!

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Ellen, Jack Ma or Warren Buffet!

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!


How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Emily Lyons of Femme Fatale Media… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Shane Ragiel of Chacka Marketing

A topic that is important to me is equity and I find that there are very few institutions that serve to level the playing field. While institutions like public school and social services were established in attempt to address equitability, the execution can be muddied by personal interests. Social media has a similar ability to give everyone an equal platform to change things for the better. While social platforms provided the infrastructure to support great things like the 2011 Arab Spring, recent years have exposed vulnerabilities in our social media platforms and more so in our society. I would love to inspire a movement that would encourage people to become more civic minded, particularly in their local politics. Americans have a hard time relating the day-to-day policies that are being executed in Washington D.C. to their tangible life and that’s because many of those decisions are being made by city councils, county commissions, and state governments. If we use the tools we have to make this information more accessible and part of the national paradigm, civic involvement would be about more than just the Election Day Selfie.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Shane Ragiel, Digital Media Director at Chacka Marketing in Tampa, Florida. Originally founded as a search agency, Shane has built Chacka Marketing’s paid social media practice over the last five years, working with many national brands, startups and everything in between. Chacka Marketing has received national attention in recent years, earning a spot on the Inc. 500 for two consecutive years, along with being recognized as Interactive Marketing Awards’ Social Media Agency of the Year, and one of AdAge’s Best Places to Work in 2016.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My path was not a traditional one in the sense of high school-college-career. After working in a restaurant from the age of 14, I took a break from college in 2005 to begin working at a retail wine start-up that was building out its franchise company in Tampa, Florida. While there, I quickly moved up through the ranks and tried to absorb as much as I could, focusing on the business, branding development and advertising. Since it was a start-up, many of these practices had yet to be established, ensuring a 21-year-old with little business experience still had a voice.

Around 2016, I began listening to an up-and-coming podcaster and wine store owner named Gary Vaynerchuk, who brought his in-store experience far beyond the walls of his shop through a digital channel. From there it all clicked for me: even though a shop may be local, digital channels, especially those that emerged in the early-2000’s, enabled marketers to build a tribe rather than speaking at people and hoping they’d listen like traditional advertising had done in the past. Following the company becoming a casualty of the 2008 recession, I went back to school and changed my major to Advertising.

Out of college, I landed a position at a full-service, creative agency working on their newly-established social media team, focusing on content and community management. As organic distribution shifted to paid with Facebook’s 2014 reduction in organic reach, so too did my career when I accepted an opportunity to build the paid social team at Chacka Marketing.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

It’s a combination of experience and experiences. Paid social advertising at scale has really only been around for about 10 years. In that time, I have had the unique experience of managing millions of dollars of ad spending and working with extremely well-known brands like Barnes & Noble, companies that survived the tech boom like Shutterfly, and start-up companies like our most recent, exciting ventures with Innit and ShopWell food apps, and many more.

Working with such forward-thinking brands has provided me opportunity to being amongst the first advertisers to launch Instagram ads, promoting apps on Pinterest, and working with publishers on developing betas ad types. This unique blend has enabled the rapid development of my social media marketing knowledge based on experiences.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

In 2016, during Facebook’s Q’4 2015 earnings call, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg called out our client’s efforts on Instagram which Chacka executed:

“So, to share another example from a holiday, Shutterfly did a Facebook and Instagram, both a brand and direct response holiday campaign on mobile. And what they did was just beautiful pictures, but also targeting very specifically to women with specific interests, such as things like weddings and babies.”

I was not only excited for my client to receive such public praise, but it also served as validation of what my team and I were doing. This shined a very bright spotlight on Chacka’s efforts and showed that people were noticing the work we were doing.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I’d say the funniest mistake I made early in my career involved me going into a meeting and confusing it with one that was happening later on in the day. It wasn’t until I began speaking that I realized that we were discussing two totally different topics. At the time, being fresh into my career, it felt like I only just built a tiny sandcastle that was taken away with a wave, but it taught me to be prepared and understand that you need to shut up and listen to see what is happening around you.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

We have gotten to the point where the platform has less impact on business revenue than the tactics an advertiser employs. Brands should view their potential customers as an audience that interacts with all the different social networks and digital channels and focus on engaging them more regardless of their preferred channel. It’s all about aligning the paid strategy with the platforms customers use, understanding where they are in the consideration path, and measuring the impact of the ads they encounter. To impact revenue, advertisers should consider the lowest hanging fruit, getting users who have explored a brand to purchase, move up to ensure the brand is part of their consideration set, and move up further to drive awareness of the brand. It is important to move in that direction as a brand shouldn’t throw the ball of awareness without a mitt to catch the demand they drive.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Align your tactics to the targeting capabilities of Instagram. On Instagram, you can reach users at all levels of the conversion funnel, from awareness in building brand recognition to retargeting in driving conversion. It is important to understand who you are speaking to and where they are in the consideration cycle. Nearly every purchase we make now has a research phase in our data-rich society and asking someone to buy something from you on your first interaction can, at times, be as intrusive as a telemarketer call. People, especially millennials, are looking to build a relationship with the brands they associate with before making a purchase.
  2. Measure Success. I am a firm believer that everything you spend money on, especially for a client, should have some form of measurement behind it. Success often isn’t always conversion, it can be clicks, engagement, customer sentiment, and many other indicators. Measurement is required to optimize an execution and with new features and placements coming to Instagram, your tactics from last year will definitely change in the next.
  3. Consider the context of your ads. Instagram is an image-first platform. Make sure to take advantage and draw attention with strong images that capture your brand and communicate with your customers. Don’t be afraid of production value as a anyone with a current iPhone can capture pristine pictures. Also, don’t forget to take advantage of Instagram Stories, which do not adhere to the curated algorithm in news feed, to distribute your content easily.
  4. Provide value to your customers. When you are posting on Instagram or publishing an ad, consider the value that your post will provide and ask “why?” Again, you are building a tribe on Instagram — a page that users will want to follow.
  5. Encourage your customers to build content. People want to share what they are doing and the products they purchase. Encourage and reward users who are willing to put your product or service in their posts and share to their friends. Word of mouth doesn’t need to be as literal as a conversation; it can often be advocacy through sharing.
  6. Consider your ‘Instagramability.’ Packaging, product, and placement are all impacted by the promotion of products and services on Instagram. We are seeing whole museums, like the Museum of Ice Cream, being built just for the platform; the virality of sharing a photo of your dog when they receive their Barkbox is impactful. All brands should consider how their ‘Instagramability’ can help them stand out and drive customers to experience and share in their experience of their location, service, or product.

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

A topic that is important to me is equity and I find that there are very few institutions that serve to level the playing field. While institutions like public school and social services were established in attempt to address equitability, the execution can be muddied by personal interests. Social media has a similar ability to give everyone an equal platform to change things for the better. While social platforms provided the infrastructure to support great things like the 2011 Arab Spring, recent years have exposed vulnerabilities in our social media platforms and more so in our society.

I would love to inspire a movement that would encourage people to become more civic minded, particularly in their local politics. Americans have a hard time relating the day-to-day policies that are being executed in Washington D.C. to their tangible life and that’s because many of those decisions are being made by city councils, county commissions, and state governments. If we use the tools we have to make this information more accessible and part of the national paradigm, civic involvement would be about more than just the Election Day Selfie.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

There are plenty of conventional big names in business with whom I would never turn down a lunch, but one person I would love to meet with to pick their brain is RuPaul. It may seem completely unrelated to digital advertising and social media, but his multifaceted influence on television, music, fashion, movies and politics, through something as seemingly inconsequential as drag reminds me of how social media has influenced society at large.

Social media is the new channel on the advertising block and those in the industry have had to prove its tactics and ability within our agencies and with our clients, similar to how drag has had to prove itself as a valid artform in entertainment. RuPaul has been able to build an empire by mastering a fairly niche lane and his lifetime of experiences have provided insights that can be applied to what I do daily. I often think about his quote “What other people think of me is not my business. What I do is what I do. How people see me doesn’t change what I decide to do. I don’t choose projects so people don’t see me as one thing or another. I choose projects that excite me.” And, of course “Good luck and don’t f**k it up.”

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!


How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Shane Ragiel of Chacka Marketing was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Vicky Llerena , CEO of Social…

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Vicky Llerena , CEO of Social Vibes Media

…My movement would focus on cultural exchange experiences. I swear if this were to happen we would be happier people . We would have an appreciation and admiration for differences in culture, language, skin colors, and music. We would be more open-minded in realizing that the world is smaller than we think. Ideas would surface, inventions would be birthed, and creativity would flourish because of such global exposure. Ok, I guess I would replace college education with world-traveling college education. I would propose this type of movement. That , my friend , would be worth a $30K semester investment.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Vicky Llerena , CEO of Social Vibes Media, a digital marketing agency focused on helping organizations increase their brand presence. In 2017,Vicky was named Top 25 Brand Builder by Leading Women Entrepreneur . She works with organizations, such as Rising Tide Capital, Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of NJ, Fownders, and Small Business Development Center to teach entrepreneurs how to obtain online customers through social media. Her articles were featured in NJBiz, Huffington Post, CEO Blog Nation, and many more media outlets. And, did we mention she happens to be Latina!

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I found-her, that’ how I became a founder. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do but I knew I was sick of an 8–5 job and I knew that the fidgeting at my desk was a sure symptom of entrepreneurship fever. I itched for more, I craved for more, I desired for work that created value in my life. I was working for PRNewswire before I started the business . PRN is a corporate wire distribution service .

During my time at PRN, I learned about multimedia marketing and how technology helped connect people to a company’s message. This is where I really took off on my idea to start my own marketing agency — but still, it was a mess at the initial stages. Glad I’m not there anymore.

The freelancing eventually transformed into paid campaigns and that forced me to learn more on my industry. I would read articles, watch videos, attend seminars on inbound marketing. It was learning on the job!

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I like to identify myself as a content creator. I create content that tells a story. Preachers tell a great story and they connect , sales people tell a great story and they sell, directors tell a great story and they create blockbuster hits, speakers tell a great story and they sell out arenas, con artist tell a great story and they become millionaires. You get me , now? It’s all in the art of storytelling. This is exactly what I wanted to do for other brands and small businesses : teach them how to tell a great story.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

EVERYTHING is interesting because it’s completely different compared to my corporate job. At my corporate job, I sat down from 8–5 PM and completed tasks for my department that was part of a larger organization. When I launched the agency, I had the opportunity to reinvest myself. When I was awarded winner of Withum CPA Entrepreneur strength story, I was invited to Bloomberg corporate headquarters to record a radio promo. When I was awarded brand builder of the year (by Leading Women Entrepreneur) I was able to meet even more successful women who are killing the game. During these past two years, I’ve met millionaires, governors , senators, musicians, artists, and influencers . This experience alone has had a huge impact in my life because It made me realize that we have the power to change our lives. Those doors only open if we chose for them to open; if we take action to change our lives.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake is probably one of the most expensive mistakes I have made. I spent over $10K in software and video equipment when it was unnecessary at that time to invest in equipment. I increased my overhead expenses but failed to focus on my sales capacity. Every small business owner should focus on sales : how can you acquire more business? I focused so much on the product, the service, the delivery, that I failed to focus on the one thing that sustains a business: THE CLIENT ACQUISITION. I implore you, avoid my mistake. If there is one thing I learned it is that you have to reduce unnecessary costs when you firsts begin your business. Ask yourself: how is this cost making us more money or allowing our business to scale in size? Do we need this now?

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

I often get asked at social media seminars, which are the best social media platforms to be on — the truth is, start off with two social platforms. Start creating posts, publishing posts, reviewing your analytics, see which posts perform well or poorly, and then perfect your strategy. This is how I started — no shortcuts taken.

BUT, always focus on good content. The biggest trend predictor for 2018 will be social media content. Your website traffic will decrease by 20–30 % because users will spent more time on social media feeds than on a company website or blog page. Perfect your storytelling skills. Screw impressions; your biggest ROI will be engagement on posts, such as comments, likes, and shares. Your posts should connect with people, teach people, and bring value to your prospects. Storytelling skills are key to good content.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Yes — Instagram is definitely picking up in popularity.

  1. Change your description to you have bulleted one liners on who you are and what you do (make sure to add with emojis)
  2. Create Highlights and have a graphic designer create highlight covers . Think of these at categorical covers that highlight your services or brand
  3. Make sure to ONLY use high resolution images. Instagram algorithms favor high res images and will push your post up the feed
  4. Create 5–10 IG stories a day. Instagram will begin to push your account up the IG story feed if you do this every day.
  5. Make sure to tag organizations or individuals you admire on your picture . This notifies the account that they were tagged which may get you noticed. IG allows you to tag up to 20 accounts
  6. Make sure to ADD lots of emojis. Emojis attract attention and they allow the eyeballs to take a pause and naturally transition into the next text
  7. Download the app called HASHTAG — if you are stuck on which hashtags to use for each post
  8. Be Personal, avoid sounding like a robot because people connect with people and not robots

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The most amount of good to the most amount of people? That’s a tough one. Ok, perhaps to travel more, be more open minded, and expose yourself to different cultures. My movement would focus on cultural exchange experiences. I swear if this were to happen we would be happier people . We would have an appreciation and admiration for differences in culture, language, skin colors, and music. We would be more open-minded in realizing that the world is smaller than we think. Ideas would surface, inventions would be birthed, and creativity would flourish because of such global exposure. Ok, I guess I would replace college education with world-traveling college education. I would propose this type of movement. That , my friend , would be worth a $30K semester investment.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Someone please get me a sit-down lunch with either Chris Voss, Jordan Belfort, Phil Jones , or Jeb Blount.

Jordan Belfort is the author and creator of the Straight Line Theory and Chris Voss authored the book “Never Split the Difference”. These two individuals are masters at the art of negotiation. They nail the art of psychological manipulation. I learned tremendous amount of knowledge from these two men. The art of business and sales has everything to do with psychological strategies. I would love to sit down with either of these two experts.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!


How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Vicky Llerena , CEO of Social… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Model and Actress Anna Alimani: “Words are power; Your mind is a very powerful tool; Repeat to…

Model and Actress Anna Alimani: “Words are power. Your mind is a very powerful tool. Repeat to yourself what you want, what you want to be, where you want to be and you will have it.”

Repetition. Repeat to yourself what you want, what you want to be, where you want to be and you will have it. Words are power. Your mind is a very powerful tool. Every day I tell myself what I want to be where I am and that I am a winner. If you say it every day and you believe it, you start to attract those qualities to yourself.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Alimani. Anna is a young vivacious entrepreneur, model, actress and aspiring real estate agent. At the age of 21, Anna earned a Bachelor’s of Business Degree from Purdue University, and is also a published & signed model, actress and social media star. For the future; Anna aspires to have her own real estate brokerage firm and empower other like- minded, strong women as herself.

Thank you so much for joining us Anna! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

That’s a great question! I was born in San Francisco California. I grew up in Spokane Washington, then I moved to Beverly Hills and now I’m in New York City. I’ve always been very lonely and a little bit impatient. I knew from an early age that working for someone else and building someone else’s dream and dream life will not be something I will be particularly good at. I like to do things on my own time and in my own way, so for me taking orders and listening to someone else’s way of doing things would not be the best fit.

I discovered the world of real estate when I watched the show with the Altman Brothers; Million Dollar Listing. From there I figured it’s a great way to make money, interact with people, and also let yourself have the life that you wanted to have and live on your own terms. My career in sales and self-sufficiency started when I began working for McLaren of Beverly Hills, assisting in the sale and office activities of the operation, I was given a chance to see how the world of sales really works. Ultimately at the end of the day, we are all salespeople, we all do it everyday, it’s just a matter of how well you embrace and leverage it to your own advantage.

Can you share your story of Grit and Success? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

Absolutely! I know firsthand that the price of success is very expensive – it is definitely not free! You should not expect success if you’re not ready! Success comes at a hefty price. Success WILL cost you a lot of emotional drain, physical and mental you have to to have the tenacity, willpower and determination to reach the goal you wanted.

I moved from Spokane to California. At first I lived in Sacramento, I had no idea what I was doing. I worked odd end customer service jobs while studying, and ultimately I ended up going back home because I could not make anything happen for myself. I was extremely depressed and disgraced because everybody knew I had left for California to do bigger and better things, then I had to come back to Spokane and rethink my strategy, I felt like a total failure!

I had started a great job in an insurance company which allowed me to gain expertise and save money so I was finally ready to pursue California with a fervent fever. As a result I DID end up going back to California and living in Beverly Hills. My journey skyrocketed from that point. However it was definitely difficult moving to another state where you didn’t know anybody or anything; the whole experience makes you grow up fast.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

Honestly I don’t really know. I believe it’s something you are really born with. Some people live their whole life in the path of complacency and lack motivation. All of my family is all very motivated, my grandfather was a criminal defense attorney until his death at the age of 85 and at the same time was a national swimming champion in his native country of Bulgaria. On the other hand, my grandmother had her own radio factory which was passed down to her from her father as well. My own parents fled to democracy while their native country of Bulgaria was still under Soviet rule. I guess I come from a family of very driven motivated people who always pushed me to be the best that I can be. Not only that, but I really aspire to bigger things in life! Life is so beautiful and there’s so much to see and I want to have the freedom and ability to experience the best life that I can; you only get one life, one shot, one chance to do it all.

So, how are things going today? How did Grit lead to your eventual success?

I will be the first to admit things can still be difficult at times but I have learned that with a clear mind set, a level head, and a proper network of people who want to see you excel and do well in life Anything is Possible. I definitely have a long way to go, I can’t lie and let my pride get the best of me, but it led me from Spokane to Beverly Hills to New York. So I would say I have done a decent job up until this point and it’s only a matter of time, tenacity and patience and a little bit more work and I will be where I want to be.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Haha! Probably my own inexperience and also how gullible I was due to my tender age. I basically believed anything that seemed too good to be true which was a big mistake!

I had looked up jobs on Craigslist and there was a job advertising these stickers you can put on your car where they would pay you $1,000 a week to have the sticker on the car. So what did I do? I fell for it! It seemed legitimate at the time and they basically asked for my address and my name they mailed me a check, the check was for $4,000! Ff course I was 20 at the time and that seemed amazing to me! So being a silly as I was I went to my bank deposit the check, the next day the check returned, it did not clear and I got my bank account shut down. I felt like a total idiot but I definitely learned my lesson if it’s too good to be true it probably is.

What do you think makes your work stand out? Can you share a story?

Let me revise this question; I have yet to start my company, I will be honest, but I can revise question and put it towards myself. What makes me different is that I have always been my best friend, I have always held myself box, and I always believed in never giving up, I give 110% to things I’m very passionate about and I think long-term with every decision of my life. I work smarter not harder and I believe anything is achievable just every goal and target has Taps to it.

What makes me different is that I’m an old soul and I see beyond certain situations in life. I try not to dwell on something too long if it probably won’t matter in 5 minutes or 5 days. I’m a type of person that believes nothing is impossible its only a matter of faith that makes them possible and that you have unlimited power in yourself and unlimited potential and you can make anything in your life that you want to happen a reality.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Your network is your net worth. I cannot emphasize this enough you need to be around strong productive determined people that will help you and keep you up when you have times where you feel really down.

I would also definitely recommend watching self-help videos or tuning into Tony Robbins or Grant Cardone for encouragement and a little bit of push when you need it. We all know it’s hard doing things on your own and making your own path, but with the right people in positive mindset anything can happen.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

That is absolutely true! Although I know he would prefer to not be named, he did help me out exponentially and he was a great friend in my life who I will always respect and cherish deeply.

With his help, I was really able to decide where I wanted to go. With his guidance, resources and advice, I was able to move to New York and also push forward and never give up. He would always tell me “you are a star” and I will never forget that as long as I live.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Absolutely. I think giving back is a social and moral responsibility. I pay monthly to Exotic Life Animal Charities which help preserve endangered species and continue their existence. I also help friends who are worthy, and who want to help themselves and just need some advice along the way.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)

  1. Go exercise. I know it might sound a little bit off but working out repeatedly and making tha a part of your life does develop strength willpower and determination to push through everything. Working out your heart and your body is like working out your will power. You have to push to do things you don’t want to do and sweat and go through pain to achieve what you want. I worked out everyday because it really exercises my willpower even when I don’t want to get out of bed or I don’t want to move I go and do it and I apply the same logic to my goals and aspirations.
  2. Remember why you started. Always know your goal and your ultimate end point is bigger than what you’re going through right now. Look at that instead of the situation your in. Learn to detach yourself and just look forward and let go of the small things in life.
  3. Surround yourself with a great group. Having the right company can either make you or break you or can help be great backup in times of doubt or when you’re really feeling stressed out by life. I know when I was first starting out I didn’t know anybody. I found people who are always positive and uplifting.
  4. Don’t stop. Even when you feel like the world is against you just don’t stop. I know it may sound cheesy but literally do not stop and keep going. I know I’ve been in a point in my life where I felt really down and I don’t want to go anymore but I just literally keep going and I don’t stop. It’s almost like I’m on autopilot.
  5. Repetition. Repeat to yourself what you want, what you want to be, where you want to be and you will have it. Words are power. Your mind is a very powerful tool. Every day I tell myself what I want to be where I am and that I am a winner. If you say it every day and you believe it, you start to attract those qualities to yourself.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Great question! I’m not exactly sure yet. I can be many different things, whether its regarding fashion, the entertainment world, or health and Fitness, I have a lot of different angles about myself.

I definitely think I could be very influential in empowering young Millennials of my age. Alot of my peers have no guidance and no determination, no faith in themselves and lack the ambition and structure needed to move forward in their life. I think I can definitely be very encouraging and motivational, I’ve been told that multiple times. A lot of people look up to me and they’re motivated when they speak to me, so I think I could be a great platform for empowerment and helping support young Millennials in forming their a future for themselves regardless of where they started from, and in creating a movement of prosperity and success for the Generation to come.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’m Anna Alimani everywhere.

IG @anna_alimani

FB: Anna Alimani

Twitter: Anna Alimani

IMDB: Anna Alimani

Model Mayhem: Anna Alimani https://www.modelmayhem.com/annaalimani

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Model and Actress Anna Alimani: “Words are power; Your mind is a very powerful tool; Repeat to… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Of Travel, With Patrick Nichols, Chief Strategy Officer at The Cosmopolitan of Las…

The Future Of Travel, With Patrick Nichols, Chief Strategy Officer at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, & Candice Georgiadice

Technology is going be more embedded in every travel experience. AI will enable more personalization, and mobile and voice will make basic tasks faster and less painful on the wallet and mind.

Design moves to the forefront across all types of travel experiences. Digital experiences and physical experiences will be complementary and cohesive, and that starts with design.

Service and brand culture have a renaissance. Technology will replace some of the human element of travel and hospitality companies will find new ways to deliver great human-first service and create stories to tell and feelings worth returning to.

Wi-Fi will be free at every hotel and on every flight (at least I hope so)!

As part of my series about “exciting developments in the travel industry over the next five years”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Patrick Nichols. Patrick Nichols is the Chief Strategy Officer at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, a luxury resort offering a decidedly different perspective in Las Vegas hospitality. Nichols joined The Cosmopolitan in 2010 as a member of the pre-opening team and has excelled in multiple roles at the resort including director of strategic planning, director of business planning, senior director of strategic planning and vice president of financial planning. Today, Nichols holds an imperative role leading development, construction, retail and entertainment operations, and financial planning and analysis for the company. Nichols is responsible for identifying business development opportunities and overseeing the construction process for new projects spanning multiple verticals from food and beverage concepts to hotel and gaming offerings. Nichols oversees retail operations in addition to the entertainment team, who are responsible for producing concerts, boxing matches and lifestyle events. Leading a team of CoStars, Nichols spearheads the financial planning and analysis initiatives for the company including long-term strategic planning, near-term capital analysis and deployment, forecasting for all major business lines in addition to reporting to the property’s Board of Directors. In 2008, Nichols moved to Las Vegas right after college when he began working at Las Vegas Sands Corporation as a financial analyst before being promoted to a financial planning and analysis manager. During his time at Las Vegas Sands, he was a member of the pre-opening teams for Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Pennsylvania and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore where he was responsible for implementing all financial planning tools and reports for the resort. Nichols was named an “Emerging Leader of Gaming” by The Innovation Group (2016) as well as one of Global Gaming Business Magazine’s “40 Under 40” (2016). He earned an undergraduate degree in hotel administration with a concentration in finance and information systems from Cornell University. He grew up in Minnesota and got his start in the hospitality business early, working for his parents’ hotels. In his spare time, he enjoys sailing, golfing, scuba diving and spending time with his two nieces.

Thank you so much for joining us Patrick! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My parents own and operate a few small limited service hotels in Minnesota and because of that I literally grew up working in the hospitality industry. I started doing the odd jobs at the hotels like cleaning up parking lots and cutting grass when I was just a kid. And during high school and college breaks I worked pretty much every position you could imagine — front desk, housekeeping, maintenance, IT, construction, finance; I learned it all.

My childhood hospitality experience led me to The Hotel School at Cornell University and from there to the casino industry. I had the opportunity to work on the opening teams of some of the world’s great resorts including Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

I’ve been with The Cosmopolitan for over eight years and have worked in a few different roles. I’m currently the resort’s Chief Strategy Officer and in my role I’m tasked with setting the strategies to improve our positioning, guest service, and financial results in the future.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Being able to physically leave a mark on Las Vegas has been the most interesting story for me. In 2018 we opened Block 16 Urban Food Hall at The Cosmopolitan. Block 16 was the first food hall concept in Las Vegas and is a collection of six of our favorite counter-service restaurants from around the country. As a team, we knew the type of food we were after, and from there spent months on the road eating our way across the country to find the best quick service food and drink in America. We put them all together in a great environment and our guests love it. It was a pivotal piece to the resort and a must-needed juxtaposition to our existing Restaurant Collection.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Early in my career, I prepared a presentation for our Board of Directors that contained a financial analysis on restaurant performance. I was invited to present in the meeting, which was a big deal for me at the time. During my presentation, the Chairman pointed out that a couple of the numbers were wrong. I was caught off guard as I spent so much time checking and double checking the numbers and I was certain they were right. Discussion continued about a different topic while I sat there and reviewed the numbers. The numbers looked right so I interrupted the meeting with, “The numbers are right!” Conversation stopped, everyone looked at me, and, as expected it was super awkward. Turns out the numbers were wrong as our Chairman originally pointed out. Embarrassing!

Besides learning that you shouldn’t interrupt the Chairman, I learned that it’s ok to make mistakes. Own them, apologize, and make it right. That’s exactly what I did. I excused myself from the meeting, fixed the mistakes, reprinted the analysis and we continued like it never happened.

Can you share a personal story that defined the brand you work for? How did this experience make it stand out?

I vividly remember walking through The Cosmopolitan in early December 2010, a few days before the resort opened to the public. It was stunning and beautiful but there were no employees or guests. It was empty and eerie. I had this realization that no matter how good of a product you think you built, if your employees and guests don’t love it, it’s going to be “empty”.

Today, whenever we’re exploring new possibilities we always come back to the simple question: “who is our guest, what need does this serve, and why are we doing this?” If we can’t answer those simple questions we go back to the drawing board.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

First, if you’re looking to not only thrive but grow in your career, you need to replace yourself. I get a lot of weird looks when I tell my team that because the gut reaction is: he wants me to replace myself so he can eliminate my positon. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The fastest way to grow and earn that promotion is to already be doing the work that the role requires when it comes time for the promotion. This means passing on knowledge and developing your successors to take your job (scary, I know). If you replace yourself and your old work, that frees you up to take on new roles and responsibilities.

Second, find a few trusted advisors or mentors. A mentor will help a lot with “replacing yourself.” More than that, a mentor will help fill in the gaps, whether that’s how to deal with a tricky situation at work or providing the tribal industry knowledge that you can’t find in books.

Finally, I think everyone burns out at some point or another in his or her career. It’s important to recognize it and reset. The reset button is different for everyone — so do what you need to do to get back on track.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

My dad is at the top of my list. From a very young age, he taught me the importance of hard work and integrity. I really believe that if you put in the time and put in the work you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. And that mindset has been with me since I’ve been a kid.

Of course, my mom balanced out the message and told me to “be nice” every time I left the house as a kid. So today, my motto is “work hard and be nice to people.” It’s very simple and it works!

Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the travel and hospitality industries?

We’ve spent the better part of the last four year extensively redeveloping and redefining The Cosmopolitan. We’ve renovated nearly close to 3,000 rooms, reprogrammed 17 bars and restaurants, and extensively improved the casino offering. We’ve improved guest service in all areas but one experiment, in particular, stands out. Her name is Rose.

Rose is a guest service chatbot that can handle any request. We affectionately know her as our resident mischief maker because of her unique, sassy personality. Guests communicate with Rose via text message so no app download is required. We’ve found that guests that use Rose are more satisfied with their experience and they spend more during their stay as a result of Rose’s recommendations.

Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing this innovation?

Rose is all about simplicity, she’s about simplifying the guest experience and making it easier for a guest to get what they want when they need it. Guests can always call our guest services team if they have a question or issue but these days many people prefer texting to voice and Rose provides another communication option.

How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?

Rose was the first chatbot in the casino resort industry but now she’s not alone. I think the statistics we see around improved guest satisfaction and spend are likely a result of Rose’s unique personality and others in our industry will follow by developing more engaging personalities for their bots.

Can you share 4 examples of how travel and hospitality companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers like to travel?

Technology is going be more embedded in every travel experience. AI will enable more personalization, and mobile and voice will make basic tasks faster and less painful on the wallet and mind.

Design moves to the forefront across all types of travel experiences. Digital experiences and physical experiences will be complementary and cohesive, and that starts with design.

Service and brand culture have a renaissance. Technology will replace some of the human element of travel and hospitality companies will find new ways to deliver great human-first service and create stories to tell and feelings worth returning to.

Wi-Fi will be free at every hotel and on every flight (at least I hope so)!

You are a “travel insider”. How would you describe your “perfect vacation experience”?

The perfect vacation starts with great people. The ideal scenario for me is traveling with a group smaller than eight, where you know about half the people in the group. That keeps the conversations fresh and interesting, and you can splinter off into smaller groups when everyone can’t unanimously decide what to do next. The perfect destination is anywhere I haven’t been before, preferably international. I generally do a little research before I take off but I’m not a planner — I avoid the stress of agendas and go with the flow.

Can you share with our readers how have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Nevada is ranked at the bottom in Education amongst all the states. Improving education in Nevada is a priority for me because I see myself raising a family in this state and I’d like my kids to have a great public-school education like I had growing up in Minnesota. I support Junior Achievement, which works to develop financial literacy and work-readiness skills in K-12 schools. Junior Achievement has a program called JA in a Day that I find really rewarding. You spend a day in a classroom teaching students about financial concepts — entrepreneurship, budgeting, taxes, etc. — with materials and lesson plan scripted by Junior Achievement. JA is a nationwide organization and you should volunteer!

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would take what I learned from my parents as a kid and start a movement around that: Work hard for what you believe in and be nice to people while doing it!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Follow me on Instagram: @pnichs


The Future Of Travel, With Patrick Nichols, Chief Strategy Officer at The Cosmopolitan of Las… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Kat Nouri: “Why we need to start a plastic free movement”

…The facts are sobering. It’s said that about 8 million metric tons of plastic are thrown into the ocean and by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish. These ocean plastics leach toxic chemicals and gasses at an accelerated rate when subjected to heat, and these toxins travel through fish, eventually ending up on our dinner plate. BPA is just one of the hundreds of dangerous chemicals in plastics, and ultimately these toxic compounds find their way back into our food, water, and bodies. Plastic bags and containers have created a public health and environmental crisis that we must take immediate action to remedy. Stasher is driven to change our plastic habits and slow down the negative impact they have on people and the planet by offering consumers a better alternative.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kat Nouri, Founder and CEO of stasher. Kat is an immigrant from Iran, working mother, and innovative designer who invented the world’s first and only patented pinch-loc reusable platinum silicone storage bag you can cook, freeze, store, and throw in the dishwasher.

Thank you so much for doing this with us Kat! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Thanks for having me here to tell my story! I’ve always sought to live a healthy lifestyle. My parents are a nutritionist and professional athlete and have instilled the importance of being conscious about what I put into my body and on my skin. From beauty products to detergent to the food I prepare I’m always looking at the ingredient panels. When I had my three kids and was preparing organic, nutrient-dense and clean foods for them I started to notice that every storage option out there was plastic. Storage containers and bags are kitchen must-haves for every parent, but all of the options on the market were made of plastic — which leaches toxic chemicals and gasses that increases when subjected to heat and ultimately finds their way back into our food, water, and bodies. There had to be a better way to store food that didn’t hurt our bodies and the earth! I am the Founder and CEO of a thirteen-year-old silicone housewares company called Modern-twist, so I knew that silicone was the ideal material to work with from a decade of experience designing with it. So I got started on a 3-year journey towards inventing stasher and after launching in 2016 was met with consumer and retailer excitement! Consumers were chomping at the bit for a better alternative to plastic!

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

By harnessing the power of our mission, Stasher’s Instagram following has grown to 124K, 315% year-over-year and 1,883% since December 2016 and can be directly tied to our Plastic Free Movement and pledge where we educate consumers about what they can do to live a plastic-free lifestyle. As our social media following has grown, our sales numbers have quadrupled. @stasherbag is now generating 3M impressions per month and 25% of annual website traffic. It is our most powerful tool for brand awareness, relationships, and overall business growth and I’m incredibly proud of the impact and results we’ve continued to have.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

I think the most interesting part of my story since I started my first company Modern-twist then stasher is that I always wanted to have a business that scaled the awareness around plastic health and plastic waste. Stasher has replaced billions of plastic baggies since inception.

Many people think we are an overnight success, but we didn’t just happen by chance to be at the forefront of the plastic-free movement. It’s taken over a decade of dedication and hard work and the wave of awareness that we’ve sparked was no accident! From the start this mission has been my motivation, and as awareness around plastic water bottles and shopping bags has grown, it has lent itself to education around plastic baggie use and pollution. The timing was right, and when platforms like Facebook and Instagram became widespread they were the perfect vehicle to amplify our message. Powerful messaging and education is now our biggest strength as a brand and has led us to acquire a completely obsessed customer base that has elevated our goal of an environmental impact more than we ever dreamed of.

Our success enables us to support organizations on the research side like 5 Gyres, and groups like Surfrider Foundation that push for legislative protections for our environment while hosting amazing beach clean-up events. The most interesting part of this journey is that we didn’t start stasher because we wanted to just produce a product. It’s always been focused on providing a functional and well-designed product that helps to turn off the plastic pollution faucet. Thanks to a new generation of consumers that are optimistic and proactive about the future of our planet and vote for the environment with their dollars and influence on social media, the plastic-free movement has exploded!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I received my first order at my first company Modern-twist, it was from one of the top museums in the US. This is over a decade ago when I had a staff of one — me. You name it, I did it at that time. So, I accidentally shipped ten cases instead of ten units of each style. When the museum contacted me and I realized my mistake I decided to make lemons out of lemonade. I asked them if they could keep the inventory and if they didn’t sell it that I would gladly take it all back and that they only had to pay for what they sold! When they contacted me a week later, they had sold all their inventory and wanted more! They couldn’t believe it and neither could I! That same strong relationship exists with them to this day!

The lesson that I learned was that some mistakes are meant to happen. Don’t beat yourself up! If you’re honest and you own your actions in a transparent way, you’ll always be okay. We still laugh about that first mistake because it was a lot of inventory for me at the time! The buyers became some of my best friends throughout the years and that mistake gave us all the opportunity to trust our relationship! The other major lesson I learned was to let the professional warehouse staff handle shipping!

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Instagram! There is a new story every day worth telling, and most of them occur in our direct messages. Even though our audience has kind-of exploded, we’ve stayed committed to answering every single direct message we receive. This way, we get to build real relationships with every person who might just want to say “hi,” and I think they appreciate knowing there’s a team of real people just like them trying to do better for the planet, here for them any time. They say things like, “I convinced my Mom to get stashers and now she’s OBSESSED!” or “I haven’t bought Ziplocs in over a year!” People are in our DMs every day telling us how stasher has changed their lives, and that part of it has truly changed ours as well. An honest connection with our brand is what keeps people coming back.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Connect to your why: — we aren’t just here to sell the product. Obviously we’re not mad about it, but the real reason we created stasher, and the real reason we want everyone to use them is to reduce single-use plastics and plastic pollution. This is a very important cause to millions of people and it’s definitely helped us make authentic connections.
  2. Lead with empathy: We knew right away that we didn’t want to bully people into reducing plastic, or shame anyone who uses it. That negativity and self-righteousness is SO not who we are. We’re keepin’ it real and we want to embrace the authentic journey toward sustainable living. It isn’t perfect — none of us are.
  3. Drive the lifestyle with user-generated content (UGC): This has been a big part of our strategy, and while we have built up our own resources, UGC will always be part of our content mix. Every UGC post is like the ultimate testimonial — showing why and how individuals use the product and what they love about it. When we can put our brand champions on a pedestal, that individual’s vouch for us speaks volumes.
  4. Partnerships + Giveaways: Teaming up with influencers and other brands in our realm in order to tap into new audiences has had a major impact on our growth. Pairing stasher with like-minded brands for giveaways shows prospective audiences that we’re here to have fun, and we like what they like. It also helps us engage in a thriving community of mission-driven, conscious businesses and non-profits that are making a difference.
  5. Be social! We respond to direct messages and comments on our posts, and we comment on other users posts and stories. Our audience wants to know that we’re real people, and we’re honestly just like them. We truly want to be their friends and that moves mountains.
  6. Customer Service: Being available to help our customers when they need us is huge. We do our best to take care of order issues, shipping problems, and everyday questions about how to use the product through direct message. We’re even helping them experiment when we don’t have all the answers. It’s a very open conversation and we try to be as transparent as possible.

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Our Plastic-free movement is why we exist in the first place! The facts are sobering. It’s said that about 8 million metric tons of plastic are thrown into the ocean and by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish. These ocean plastics leach toxic chemicals and gasses at an accelerated rate when subjected to heat, and these toxins travel through fish, eventually ending up on our dinner plate. BPA is just one of the hundreds of dangerous chemicals in plastics, and ultimately these toxic compounds find their way back into our food, water, and bodies. Plastic bags and containers have created a public health and environmental crisis that we must take immediate action to remedy. Stasher is driven to change our plastic habits and slow down the negative impact they have on people and the planet by offering consumers a better alternative.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

I would love to have lunch with Howard Schultz. He’s an outspoken passionate human being who leads consciously and intentionally. He utilizes his platform to do good through business and exudes transparency and authenticity. I strive to be a business leader that utilizes profits for the good of our collective society and our environment! It should never be just about your bottom line. Coming up with innovative solutions to be profitable and to have impact is something that has to be built into the DNA of your company. Diversity and inclusion breed innovation. We strive to follow that same vision every day.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!


Kat Nouri: “Why we need to start a plastic free movement” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business: “Using competitions can be a great way…

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business: “Using competitions can be a great way to get followers to tell their friends about your business” With Foundr Magazine CEO Nathan Chan, & Candice Georgiadis

Using competitions can be a great way to get followers to tell their friends about your business — We use competitions all the time and we’ve found the best kinds that work well are giving away something that is going to attract the same target audience you’re looking to attract to buy your product. For example for our physical product business in the B2C space it’s a time marked drink bottle, so we do weekly giveaways where we team up with other brands and someone has to tag a friend to enter the giveaway. Super powerful. We get over 1000+ comments every time!

I had the pleasure of interviewing Nathan Chan who is the CEO of Foundr Magazine. Foundr is a global media and education company founded by Nathan Chan, an aspiring entrepreneur with a fire in his belly, launched Foundr back in 2013 with “nothing but a laptop and a fistful of dollars.” because he was frustrated with the lack of quality actionable content for entrepreneurs and founders. Fast-forward to the present, Foundr now connects millions of people every month with some of the most successful living entrepreneurs of our generation. Their magazine covers have been blessed by the likes of Richard Branson, Tony Robbins, Arianna Huffington, Mark Cuban, Tim Ferriss and many more. They break down strategies and experiences into actionable, battle-tested content through digital magazines, podcasts, videos, blogs, and online courses — so that everyone can build and grow a successful business.

View other Podcast Interviews here

View other Magazine Issues here

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was really frustrated with the work I was doing (working in IT support) so I decided to pursue a career in marketing. After trying (and failing) to get a job in marketing even after going back to university to study marketing, I decided to create my own passion project product to market. This product was a digital magazine on entrepreneurship. Little did I know I would fall in love with this whole process and from there Foundr Magazine was born. Purely stumbled onto it, and never planned or thought I would ever become an entrepreneur.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I don’t like to consider myself an authority and more than anything I see myself as a practitioner. I’ve built multiple businesses of my own from scratch using Instagram and have generated millions of dollars using this platform. These businesses are in different markets as well, ecommerce and publishing, I know what works because I’ve practiced and tested everything in my own businesses Instagram accounts.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

When waiting to interview Tony Robbins for a foundr magazine cover story, I conducted the interview via skype, and due time zones I had to wake up to do this interview at 4am. When I woke up to do it, and Tony was waiting for me on his computer from the otherside of the world the power to my whole house wasn’t working. I panicked and stressed out so much, in the end he was cool that we re-scheduled. What were the chances the power wouldn’t be working in the whole street?

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

We were sued for trademark infringement in the first 4 months of starting Foundr (it wasn’t called that back then it was called Key to Success Magazine) by one of the biggest business magazines in the states! I had to change the name to Foundr. This was crazy!

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Instagram by far. You can use it to increase business revenues without spending any money to acquire a customer. It takes time to build up, but if done right can be insanely powerful, especially in the B2C space.

When I first discovered Instagram for foundr, I was told it wouldn’t work for our business because we’re not in the health, food or fashion space by a friend that was crushing it on Instagram for his business. After playing around with it, after a few days I saw a massive spike in magazine subscriptions, and from there I dedicated a big part of the first few years of Foundr to understanding the platform and how to best master it.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Use influencers to grow your Instagram page and business, this is the key to rapidly growing your following and reach. At foundr to rapidly grow our Instagram page from 0–1m followers in 2 years we sometimes were getting influencers to post about our brand 10 times per week!
  2. Using influencers on Instagram isn’t just about accessing their audience and reach. It’s about content also. In one of my other businesses in the B2C physical product space, we work with many influencers by sending them the physical product to get exposure, but what’s even more powerful is getting the actual content with influencer using the product. You can use this to post on your Instagram feed + use in FB ads etc. One of the biggest requirements to grow an Instagram page is great quality content
  3. Using competitions can be a great way to get followers to tell their friends about your business — We use competitions all the time and we’ve found the best kinds that work well are giving away something that is going to attract the same target audience you’re looking to attract to buy your product. For example for our physical product business in the B2C space it’s a time marked drink bottle, so we do weekly giveaways where we team up with other brands and someone has to tag a friend to enter the giveaway. Super powerful. We get over 1000+ comments every time!
  4. Use Instagram to build awareness for your brand, then re-market to them using FB ads to bring them to your site and down your sales funnel. One thing people don’t realize with Instagram it’s an incredible platform for brand discovery. You can’t expect to generate a sale straight away, however over time you can, and if you can FB ads to re-market to your followers you can get a very strong ROI on time and money spent.
  5. Instagram stories are an incredible way to humanize your brand but also sell your products or services. At foundr we promote a lot of content via our stories using the swipe up feature (blog posts, magazines, books, free training etc.) — it’s super important to also to build a relationship with your followers, you can do with IG stories and show behind the scenes!
  6. Use Instagram DM’s to get personal with your customers and close sales. One really powerful strategy is using Instagram stories and using yes or no widget. If you’re talking about a product a few stories before you ask someone a question using the yes or no widget, you can segment and see who taps yes, then DM that person and close more sales. It’s super powerful!

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Exactly what we’re doing now at Foundr — helping build and develop the next generation of entrepreneurs from the movement we’re creating. I truly hope that our content can lead to someone or multiple people / groups/ produce a start up that drives humanity forward via the content we’ve provided to assist them on their journey.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Elon Musk — What he’s doing to drive humanity forward is incredible, would love to understand how he thinks and who he learns from, it would really help push my mindset to think 1000x bigger. The way he thinks about the world and our human existence is incredible.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!


How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business: “Using competitions can be a great way… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.