Episode 12 | Social Media, Purpose and Growth

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:

Tune in to this episode to learn about Alisha Kumar, who is the founder of The Social Project as well as our Seattle Business Babes Chapter Leader. Alisha talks about her journey of entrepreneurship and we discuss growth, learning, authenticity and diversity in the marketing space. She also shares some tips for overcoming comparison and showing up on social media.

Key Takeaways:

About Alisha
- Started entrepreneurial journey in 2017
- Got her degree in political law and was planning to go to law school
- But knew her passion was in marketing
- Started to come to business babes collective events
- Started her marketing agency The Social Project and now has 11+ years in marketing and PR
On starting her business
- She was so scared to start her own business after working in marketing in the entertainment and corporate spaces
- Went to a Tony Robbins event and walked out knowing that she never wanted to work for anyone other than herself
- Realized how much she truly loved marketing
- She started coming up with ideas on how to market people’s businesses
- Took baby steps figuring out her business name, pricing, offers, etc
Seasons of Business: 2020
- Knowing she needed to show up for her business even more after experiencing a significant drop in income
- Started putting efforts into her own business’s marketing
- Identifying who they wanted to work with, prices, how that reflects the quality of work, etc
- Huge transition in Feb 2020 and over 8 months it has turned into a 6 figure agency
- This transition came with a lot of sacrifices and strategic thinking
- Your business can change quickly when circumstances change
2020 Business Mindset
- Dealing imposter syndrome is real and difficult
- Alisha’s mindset shift came from looking at money no longer from a scarcity perspective
- Asking: What should I be charging?
- Had to let go of more tasks and delegate in her business
- Making sure she’s always educating herself and filling her cup so she can show up the best for her clients, team, and business
Ways Alisha Stays Inspired
- Therapy: helps to process in an unbiased space working through why you are in a certain headspace or circumstance and what factors are impacting you
- She looks at how she’s approaching situations: with an clear mind vs. a defensive mind
- Journaling
- Dance parties
Social Media Comparison Tips
- Stay in your lane and own it!
- Keep focused on your purpose and your dream
- Put on your blinders and set boundaries
- Setting boundaries
  - set a timer when you’re on social media to stop yourself from comparing
- Show up on your stories as your authentic self, you don’t need to feel like your 100% put together
- Put yourself out there because people will be grateful that you did and that you were yourself
Disrupting the Marketing Industry
- She was the only southeast asian woman at huge marketing conference and that didn’t sit right
- Inspired her to make room for people who look like her and other women in colour
- Look at your ID of your brand and ask what you’re doing to be inclusive and how to be authentic about it
- How are you staying true to yourself and your beliefs? How are you checking your own privilege? How are you making sure there are enough resources for people across the board? Are the brands you’re collaborating with on the same page?
Community
- Having people around you that are just as geared to owning a business is huge, because sometime your other friends just don’t understand and that’s okay
- Everyone has a different story and brings great perspectives and tips from their own journeys
- Go find a community and get involved because we’re all struggling through the same things!
Social Media Mistakes and Advice
- People are either only selling on social media OR not selling at all
  - Make sure you have a good mix
- Know your Hot & Warm audiences
- Reels are off the charts, IG stories are effective
- Video and audio will be huge going forward
- Build relationships and be authentic
- Whatever you know, don’t assume everyone else knows it as well, so share!

Show Notes:

Follow Alisha on Instagram: @alishakumar and @thesocialprojectinc
Seattle Business Babes: @seattlebusinessbabes

Check out our FREE Masterclass recording: https://www.businessbabescollective.com/masterclass

Hang out with Danielle on Instagram: @danilivinglife and @businessbabesco

HI I’M DANIELLE! AFTER BEING A BUSINESS OWNER FOR OVER A DECADE, I’M NOT AFRAID TO ADMIT THAT

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