Breakfast is more than just the most important meal of the day; it's a lifestyle. So you might as well dress it up like Audrey Hepburn did in the classic film Breakfast at Tiffany's. This month, we've caught up with Melanie Marie, a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist business owner, mentor, mother, motivator, jewelry designer among other things. Check out what Melanie share on Branding For Breakfast.
1.) Where is your favorite place to eat breakfast/brunch? Sons of Essex in NYC is my favorite brunch spot.
2.) Tell us a bit about you and baby AnnDrew? My name is Melanie and my daughter’s name is AnnDrew Marie and she just so happens to be the coolest 1 year old I know. She is such an awesome sweet spirited baby girl. She is my partner in crime and is such a good sport. Before I had AnnDrew, I was an entrepreneur with a custom jewelry line, Melanie Marie Accessories and considered myself extremely ambitious. After I had her, my ambition went through the roof, resulting in me having two custom jewelry lines, a blog and doing one on one business coaching. Now I consider myself to be a serial entrepreneur.
My daughter is with me everyday and we do everything together – travel, work, do photo shoots and more. I love that I am able to show her the world and she will be able to experience so much. I even named my custom baby jewelry line after her – AnnDrew Marie Accessories. It will be something I can pass down to her when she is old enough.
3.) What was your start up investment? My start up investment was a little more than $1000. I remember setting up a photo shoot for my products, getting a website made, getting business cards and some custom stationary. A little went a long way. Of course, when I began my business, I wasn’t as savvy as I am know and didn’t know all of the best ways to go about things, but it was a all a learning experience.
4.) Social Media has a lot of people believing that success is accomplished overnight, how long did it take you to become profitable? I tell my mentees that people show you what they want you to see on social media. Very rarely do people show the good and the bad. When it comes to business, you don’t see the obstacles people have to overcome, you see their wins. To get to a level of what you deem as a successful, you will hit a lot of bumps in the road. I know for me, it took a few years before I was making as much/more than my 9-5 and was able to quit and become a full time entrepreneur.
5.) Where did you find yourself struggling? When I first started out, I struggled with having to invest all the money I made back into the business. It was hard not being able to do the things I wanted to do due to a super strict budget, but I realized the bigger picture so it was worth it. There was a lot of parties, dinners, and hang out sessions I missed. I do not regret any of it.
6.) What competitive edge does your brand have that makes it a strong brand? I think the competitive edge I have is that I, personally, am my brand. I have the personal edge behind me and people love to be able to relate to a person. They love to see success is obtainable by learning about you and the path you took. I put a lot of info on my blog, so people feel like I am relatable. It is a known fact, that people have millions of options to choose from when it comes to shopping, but they go with who they like. I truly believe having my brand being mixed with personal and business gives me an edge.
7.) How do you make your content engaging enough on social media? When it comes to my social media content, I am always myself. I write captions based on how I talk. I like to show my personality and what interests me in my pics and captions. I also know what my audience and target niche likes, so it’s easy to stay in that arena. My followers love to see pics of my daughter, pics of me and her or my family, my jewelry pics and fashion pics. Between all of those, I represent my brand well.
8.) Three business/branding tools you can't live without?
Canva- I love this graphic design tool. I will be releasing a Canva 101 Webinar before the month is over.
Buffer- This is one of the apps I love for my social media automation
Evernote – this is a great organizing too
STAY CONNECTED
My Websites;
www.InDrewsShoes.com (blog)
www.MelanieMarie.com (custom jewelry)
www.AnnDrewMarie.com (custom baby jewelry line named after my daughter)
www.consulting.melaniemarie.com (my business consulting site)
Social Media;
@MelRwhite (personal)
@_MelanieMarie_ (business)
@AnnDrewMarie (baby jewelry)
Latest News- I recently started offering one on one business consulting and I have a Membership Business Network. This business network is a personal and professional mentoring network that will provide members with connections they normally would not have, support to help motivate and inspire you to reach your goals and will provide you with a place to be around like - minded entrepreneurs that are already succeeding in their field and some who are just starting out.
Members Receive:
Access to my inner expert circles - each month, I will introduce one expert from my network. They will speak about certain topics in the group.
Private Online Community with daily updates - our group will uplift each other every day with quotes, answers to questions, share valuable information, motivation and more without any judgement.
Masterclasses - We will have monthly masterclasses on different topics that will assist in building your business or personal life.
Access to an online mentor network - everyone in the group is good at something. Some may be better at things than others. We will all pick up each others slack and support one another.