Women Branching Out Interviews
Women Branching Out: Sammi Johnson
I’m very happy to have Sammi Johnson of Sammi Is Social here on the blog today as part of the Women Branching Out interview series.
Sammi rocks social media with a fun, just do it attitude and straight forward advice for both online entrepreneurs and brick-and-mortar businesses.
Her new Kickstart service helps businesses grow their online presences with custom social media content.
Here’s Sammi…
Tell me about Sammi Is Social. Who do you love to help and why?
Sammi is Social is about teaching, inspiring and encouraging. I love to support people and see that little light bulb go off when I teach an entrepreneur something new. I mostly work with women who have an amazing message, and the drive to get it out in the world, but they just aren’t sure what steps to take. I have an uncanny ability to come up with marketing strategies that aren’t always mainstream.
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When did you first start to recognize the impact social media could play in your own business?
Years ago, about six or seven, I used Myspace to blog and post pictures for family and friends. Then I became the social events director for a singles group at my church. Immediately I put up a website but I quickly learned I had to direct my audience to the website pretty frequently or they would forget to check out the upcoming events. I started using a newsletter and yahoo groups to keep everyone involved and to get feedback — and a crazy seed was planted inside me for all things social media!
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I’ve seen you vlog in pink curlers and talk about social media while putting your makeup on and you always seem so at ease. What advice do you have for women just starting out in their online businesses about putting their “real” selves out in the world for everyone to see?
I was not born with that self-conscious gene I see so many women have. I love to be on camera to share my message and I’m always trying to think of ways I can relate to the women I’m trying to reach. Sometimes a crazy marketing stunt can be just what you need to help your message reach more people.
If you really have trouble with being on camera I always tell my clients: Here’s the deal! (I say that a lot!) People in your life see you all the time. This is not a big deal – it’s only new to you! No one else sees that weird zit on your forehead or that your right eye is bigger than your left. If you are really passionate about your business and helping as many people as possible – use video.
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What is the biggest stumbling block you see women having with incorporating social media easily into their businesses?
When it comes to social media I see a lot of women sweating the small stuff. They worry about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and somehow ‘messing up’ – although there are some general guidelines with social media – it all moves VERY fast and one post or tweet is not going to make or break your biz. Keep learning from other people in your industry (just by checking out their social media) and ASK your clients! They will tell you exactly what they need from you. Maybe they love inspirational quotes or tutorials or contests. Don’t guess – ask!
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What is your favorite social media management tool?
I’m a huge huge fan of Hootsuite! I use it to bulk schedule promotions and my friends promotions – it’s been a huge time saver and stress reliever. I always know I can stay offline for a day or so and I still have messages scheduled to reach my peeps!
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Where do you tell social media newbies to start first? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest?
I’m a huge Twitter fan but I know it can be super overwhelming and confusing to a lot of people. Most everyone already has a personal Facebook account and generally know what’s going on over there. So start with that! You can even start by telling friends and family about your biz if you don’t want to open a business page. Don’t stress about content or wording or timing – just tell people – hey I am selling sports memorabilia – anyone interested!
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What is your favorite aspect of your running your own business?
I love, love, love being home when my kids are home. I can meet them for lunch at school and drive them to the bus stop when it’s raining. The whole reason I work from home is so that I am home. It’s unbelievable to have the freedom to set my own schedule.
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Who are your business role models and why?
My most recent inspirational business role model is Leonie Dawson. I’ve only just started following her a few months ago but she has helped me so much with encouraging me to build my own business model and not just copying someone else. She also seems to have started working from home for many of the same reasons as me – freedom to raise my kids and be there for them when they need me – not just when I can schedule time off work.
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What did 7 year old Sammi say she wanted to be when she grew up?
I always said I wanted to be a school teacher. I would make my sister play “school” all the time. She was super smart by the time I was finished with her but I think I was pretty bossy which she didn’t like. I also remember laying in my bed at night fantasizing that there was a secret door in my closet that led to an underground office where I ran a company. Seriously? What kid wants to sit in an office? I think from a really early age I knew I would run my own business – it just took me a few decades to have the guts.
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Is there anything else you’ve like us to know about kickstarting social media for our businesses?
The best thing I’m finding out by working with so many women entrepreneurs – is that they just need a plan. I’ve been writing 30 days of content for the past month or so, and the relief and excitement about receiving pre-written Facebook posts is unbelievable! Once they see it all, the whole marketing thing seems a lot less cumbersome, and maybe a little bit FUN! Although I would be more than happy to help you with taking that first step, it really is something you can do on your own by creating a spreadsheet and just filling it in with links to your blog posts, quotes from your own writing or someone you find inspirational, links to your products, and questions to your audience. You can do this, start creating your biz buzz now!
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Sammi Johnson is in love with mind maps, launching, and strategizing social media coups. She lives in Middle America with her three kids but travels all the time. When she’s not working to help entrepreneurs grow their biz, you can find her with a plate of Mexican food or at the soccer fields screaming her head off! Right now she is creating custom social media content so head on over to Kickstart! You can find her at Sammi Is Social, on Twitter, and Facebook.
Women Branching Out: Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick
I’m very happy to have Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick of nestingNYC and Photosanity here on the blog today to start up another session of the Women Branching Out interview series. Alethea is a family photographer and photography coach. She’s offering a free workshop Quickstart your Photosanity on September 18th, 2012, at 9 p.m. Eastern. You can sign-up for a replay of the workshop, if you’re reading this after that date! Her fall workshop begins on September 25, 2012.
Here’s Alethea…
Tell me about nestingNYC and Photosanity. Who do you love to serve and why?
I’m a family photographer and photography coach for parents and I’m on a mission to help parents more fully experience the precious fleeting moments of their children’s lives through photography. nestingNYC is my family photography business. I also teach an online photography workshop for parents and offer customized one-on-one photography coaching for parents through Photosanity.
I like to say that I help parents who want amazing photos of their kids – taken for them or by them!
I love working with parents of young kids and their families to create beautiful portrait artwork that captures everything they love about their lives and what they want to remember about this time. As a mom myself, I know that the cliche is true – the time really does pass by quickly, and without photography, it’s so easy for the special, every day moments to fade into a blur and be lost for ever.
But more than that, I love to show parents how seeing like a photographer (which anyone can learn to do by the way) can heighten their emotions and memories, keep them in the moment and bring them closer to their kids. Photography does this for me daily and I get such joy and delight from it, I want every parent to experience this!
Photo by workshop participant Susan Malat.
When did you first pick up a camera?
Back in the day, cameras were not as ubiquitous as they are today, but my father was an avid amateur photographer so I’m pretty sure it was at a fairly young age. Certainly my sister and I would “help” out in the darkroom we had in one of the bathrooms of the house. I first got my own camera when I was around 14 years old.
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When did photography turn from hobby to business for you?
Although I went to art school (for architecture – I’m a former architect and interior designer) and took photography classes in college, it absolutely did not occur me to pursue it professionally until I had my first son, Liam, who is now 3.5 yrs old. Although I shot with an SLR many years ago, I actually didn’t get a DSLR until just before he was born… and I fell in love with photography all over again. And when my maternity leave was over, I decided to pursue it professionally rather than return to my career as an architect. I wanted to have my own business and the flexibility it would give me to spend some time at home with my son, and I also wanted a career where being a mom would be an advantage rather than a conflict.
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In your workshops you help parents capture precious moments in their children’s lives. What’s a precious moment you recently captured of your kids?
Liam and my second son Jack (9 months) are at this really fun stage where they can actually kind of play together now, with a lot of supervision and yelling at Liam to be “GENTLE!!!” Actually, I realized that when Liam is a little rough, really all he’s trying to do is get Jack to laugh, which he absolutely loves to do. The other day at the park, I captured this moment where he succeeded – Jack is laughing and looking up at Liam, and Liam is responding, and I just love how this photo captures the very best of their relationship right now. Parents often struggle with sibling photos I think because they are hoping to capture their kids with their arms around each other, smiling and looking at the camera – and if that doesn’t actually ever happen in real life, you’re only going to frustrate everyone trying to make it happen for a photo! So I encourage parents to look for natural interactions and emotions to capture, not only because it’s more likely to happen, but because those photos will be more meaningful.
How has the experience of photographing your own children influenced how you teach your photography workshops?
My experience of photographing my own children is a MAJOR influence in how I teach my photography workshops – I draw heavily from my experience as a mom. It’s one of the things that my workshop participants really like and what makes the strategies I teach accessible and achievable for moms. Most workshops are taught from the perspective of a professional photographer, which is not what my participants are looking for as beginners. Of course, I draw from my experience as a professional photographer as well, particularly for the technical aspects and it’s also given me experience working with kids of all ages, personalities, skin tones etc. But I downplay that aspect because Photosanity is NOT about becoming a professional photographer, or being trained as one. It really is about photographing your own kids.
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In a recent blog post on Photosanity.com you gave some really great tips on “How to turn your iPhone photos from “blah” to “wow”! What’s one tip you can share that parents reading this interview can use right now to start taking better photos of their kids?
As I mentioned above, I think a lot of parents think that they need to get their kids to smile and look at the camera for photos, which generates a frustrating experience for everyone. Your kids don’t want to stop what they’re doing to pose, and you can’t get a good photo. Instead, think about what you most want to remember about this time that your kids naturally do every day and capture that. Shoot first and foremost from your emotions and the technical stuff can follow.
Photo by workshop participant Karine Baczynski.
You’ve worked as an architect and interior designer, how are those experiences reflected in your approach to photography?
I use my background as an architect and interior designer to show parents how they can best display their photos in their home – most parents have no idea where to even begin figuring out the location, size, type of frame, and which images to use. Having photos in your home that show your family naturally interacting at their best can bring such daily joy and pride, not to mention a confidence boost for parents and kids alike.
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What’s your favorite aspect of running your own business?
I love being able to create a business that reflects how I most love to help people.
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Who are your biggest supporters in life and biz and what does their support allow you to do?
First and foremost my husband is my biggest supporter in life and biz! His support has allowed me to create the life I want – running my own business and also spending time at home with my kids. The rest of my family, especially my parents, plus my entire network of friends from various parts of my life have also been big supporters, especially all my mom friends and my growing group of entrepreneur friends. Running your own business and being a mom can be lonely if you don’t reach out and find those connections and support.
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What did 7-year old Alethea say she wanted to be when she grew up?
The funny things is, I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up – I was too interested in too many things! It’s why I ended up studying architecture, which is a really broad and open subject. Becoming a mom was what really enabled me to focus.
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Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Actually, I’m offering a FREE live online workshop – Quickstart your Photosanity on September 18th at 9pm EDT and anyone is welcome to join. I’ll be giving away tips and strategies on taking better photos AND more fully experiencing your children’s lives through photography. If you can’t make the live call, there will be a recording available afterwards, but you do have to sign up to get access.
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Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick is a family photographer and photography coach for parents. She is on a mission to help parents more fully experience the precious fleeting moments of their children’s lives through photography. She is also an entrepreneur, mom of two adorable if rambunctious boys, Liam (aged 3.5 yrs) and Jack (aged 9 months) and a former architect and interior designer. Born in the UK, she went to Pratt Institute, where she studied architecture, and now resides in NYC.. She is founder and owner of nestingNYC, which specializes in baby photography as interior design, and Photosanity, where she offers online workshops and private coaching. You can find her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/nestingNYC and http://facebook.com/photosanity, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nestingNYC, YouTube http://youtube.com/photosanity, and Pinterest http://pinterest.com/aletheafitz.
Women Branching Out: Erin Giles
I’m excited to have Erin Giles of ErinGiles.com with us today. Erin Giles is on a mission to teach women how to use philanthropy from day one in our businesses.
She recently launched End Sex Trafficking Day and in just 30 days raised $10,000 to fund a book featuring contributions from thought leaders like Seth Godin and Danielle La Porte. (See Erin’s interview with Danielle La Porte.)
Here’s Erin …
Tell us about ErinGiles.com and your newest offering Rocket Your Revolution. What does your business do and who do you love to serve?
My bright spot on the web is to encourage shining business ladies to do good + do business. When you AMP the WORLD, you AMP your business. Rocket Your Revolution is a 4 week course that starts June 4th that teaches female entrepreneurs how to build philanthropy into their business.
I LOVE to serve women who are passionate, focused, creative and wanting to truly make a difference in the world.
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You recently created the philanthropic event End Sex Trafficking Day, raised $10,000 in 30 days and garnered participation from Seth Godin, Carol Roth, Danielle LaPorte, and others. Tell us a little bit about EST.
EST Day came out of nowhere at just the perfect time. I was stuck in my business and didn’t have an idea what my true businesses purpose was. When I read Screw Business as Usual + watched a documentary about global sex trafficking– EST Day was born. I knew End Malaria Day was highly successful and since I didn’t have millions of dollars to give to fight sex trafficking. I did what I could.
It was scary reaching out to business big shots, not to mention raising 10k in 29 days, but fear doesn’t have anything on my faith! The 10k was raised so that the End Sex Trafficking book featuring 60 essays from 60 brilliant writers could be released on EST Day September 26, 2012.
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What personal growth have you experienced as a result of launching End Sex Trafficking Day?
Oy, I could write a book in response to this question:) What didn’t I learn?! I learned the power of asking for help (most importantly), the power of speaking positive and the power of going after what your heart is calling you to do.
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What is the first question women who want to build philanthropy into their business model should ask themselves?
What pisses me off?
No really, the first place they should start is to recognize what tragedies and injustices in the world piss them off.
Choose the one that ticks you off the most, now that is your philanthropic passion.
I knew sex trafficking was mine, not only because of stories in my past involving domestic abuse, but because I wanted everyone to watch the documentary Nefarious, and of course it made me cry…that was a sign it had me.
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What is one easy way to start being philanthropic today?
Be the giver, don’t wait until you are making millions. Start today. Find a need and give.
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Who are your online business role models? and why?
Erika Lyremark because she whipped me into shape and always goes above and beyond to serve. Danielle La Porte because she is so sincere and embraces generosity.
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Who in your personal life is your biggest supporter and what does this support allow you to do?
Without a doubt, my husband. He always supports my big crazy ideas by listening, designing my websites, praying for me and speaking the truth when I get discouraged. I wouldn’t be coaching if he wouldn’t have pushed me to go after it.
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What is your favorite aspect of running your own business?
Not having to put on slacks, dress shirts and high heeled shoes. Don’t get me wrong, I love to dress up, but when I want to, not because I have to. I love wearing workout clothes and flip flops most days. Comfort makes business that much sweeter.
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What did 9 year old Erin say she wanted to be when she grew up?
A personal trainer! At 9, I loved doing Denise Austin exercise videos with my Mom and loved encouraging people. And today, I am still working out and encouraging women to change the world!
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Is there anything else you’d like us to know about becoming unforgettable through philanthropy?
Do not feel like you have to wait until you are a full grown, million dollar business. I can’t stress this enough. Do it now, make it a part of your business strategy and the growth will happily follow.
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Erin Giles is the founder of End Sex Trafficking Day and teaches women how to start their own revolution by building philanthropy into their business model with her 4 week program, Rocket Your Revolution that starts June 4th. You can sign up for a free 15 minute Launchpad session by clicking here. You can also find Erin on Facebook and Twitter.