Turning a Tweet Into a Community with Founder of Black Girls Who Blog Morgan Pitts

Meet today’s Brava guest, Morgan Pitts, the creator of the social account Black Girls Who Blog, a community that celebrates and lifts the voices of black girls and women. Tune in to today’s conversation to learn her start-up story and the behind-the-scenes of how one tweet became a future network for more than 100,000 women to connect and amplify each other’s voices!

SHOW NOTES:

Morgan is the woman behind the online social account, “Black Girls Who Blog”, a community of more than 100,000 women that amplifies and celebrates the voices of black women and girls (0:30.)

After the creation of her own blog and reading the blogs of others, Morgan realized she would love to create an illustration of the phrase “Black Girls Who Blog” which then resulted in an apparel collection and the launch of the infamous Instagram handle (5:00.)

“Despite your best intentions someone is always going to disagree with you or have a piece of criticism. Remember where your heart is and take those comments in stride. Don’t let it diminish what you know to be true. ”

— Morgan Pitts

Through the use of the hashtag [#BlackGirlsWhoBlog], Morgan identifies women in the community to surprise-feature and honor on her platform (9:45.)

No matter how great of a marketing campaign you have, the best advertisement is word of mouth referrals. Readers develop a certain level of trust in the products and services bloggers discuss (15:10.) 

Morgan recommends to find your tribe, you need to expand your circle to communities with like-minded interests and build genuine relationships with people that inspire you (18:25.)

“Just be yourself and do things that are true to you. ”

— Morgan Pitts

What’s next? Morgan is taking things one day at a time and letting the universe guide her to the next project. She is appreciative of the amazing reaction “Black Girls Who Blog” has had so far and will continue to do her best every day. (22:10.)

Want to continue to follow Morgan’s journey and Black Girls Who Blog? Follow here!

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Thank you readers, to tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story! 

Creating a Following with Travel Influencer Adaleta Avdić

Today we go behind-the-scenes with global social media travel influencer Adaleta Avdić as she shows us how to create a following and community. With more than 700,000 followers, she’ll break down which platforms she thinks have the most opportunity for growth, how to continue to engage your audience, and how to build your brand’s following, or even your own - all by keeping it real on social media. Tune in now on iTunes, Spotfiy, and below to get inspired!

SHOW NOTES:

Adaleta is originally from Bosnia and came to the U.S. in the early 90s. From the moment she arrived, she always knew that she was going to have to work hard to make things happen. She watched her father pursue his dream and it inspired her to follow her own dream to develop a career that she loved (1:52.)

Before she jumped into her blogging career, she waited for a sign. That sign? In the fall of 2018 there were two trip opportunities she was offered but all of her PTO (paid time off) at her corporate office were used (5:00.)

She loves Instagram and has loved it since day one. The focus on photos and the visual aspect of it is what she finds so inspiring and motivating (6:32.)

Many influencers started blogging without the idea of making money and just because it was their passion. Adaleta strongly recommends going into this career path ONLY if you have a passion that is unique to you, and to not mimic anyone else. That’s where she finds her own competitive advantage (9:45.)

Follow your passion, and let social media complement your work (11:34.)

3 words that describe Adaleta’s branding: feminine, realistic and sassy (12:45.)

Adaleta is an advocate of giving back to her community. She makes sure to always do giveaways to give back to her followers. Responding to direct messages and comments are key to building a community (17:21.)

Trying to beat the Instagram algorithm? She thinks that posting consistently helps to increase engagement. She also thinks posting video is key to beating the algorithm (19:25.)

“Whatever your product is…when it comes to business you have to take the emotion out of it and roll with the punches…or you won’t succeed. ”

— Adaleta Avdić on resilience when building a brand

Adaleta works to give back to children, their environment, and their education. She works with a local non-profits in her community and Girls, Inc. She also is passionate about paying it forward (26:05.)

What’s next for Adaleta? She just created a necklace with Sequin jewelry and is interested in continuing styling with brands in the future. She also is interested in acting! I can’t wait to see her on the big screen (27:56.)

Interested in following Adaleta’s next steps? Check out her site here and be sure to follow her on Instagram.

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Thank you readers, to tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story! 

Transforming Communities with Female Founder Collective’s Director of Community + Brand Partnerships Elisabeth Leonard

“When women join together to enact change, ANYTHING can happen.”

Today I’m sitting down with the woman behind the Female Founder Collective. Meet Elisabeth Leonard. A dynamic woman that has partnered with fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff to lead a network of businesses led by women, that support women. Tune in for advice on how to start and transform your own community, learn what women inspire her along the way and much more!

SHOW NOTES:

Elisabeth is calling in from…Santiago, Chile! She works remotely by using email, Slack, Facetime, GoogleDrive and more to keep in touch with her team at Rebecca Minkoff (1:25.)

She worked with Rebecca for almost 6 years and started with the company as a temporary receptionist. It turned into her career! After her first 3 months in her temp position she was hired as Rebecca’s Executive Assistant. From there, she continued to work with the PR and Events team. Together they always had a shared passion of supporting female founders and women. For instance, be sure to check out their Superwomen Podcast as just one of the many examples of how the are creating change (3:30.)

Elisabeth focuses on community management and the growth of the Female Founder Collective and works alongside Rebecca as a mentor and friend (5:25.)

“Every female entrepreneur is fighting for the same thing. Recognition. Rather than fighting against each other we need to cheer each other on and support each other! ”

— Elisabeth Leonard

One of the greatest practices that the members focus on is collaboration. They do this by sharing resources, ideas, and experiences (9:15.)

Interested in joining the Female Founder Collective? You can apply here. Once you are part of the community, you can receive the FCC seal. Elisabeth adds that there are a lot of ways to support female founded organizations through sharing love on social media, mentoring, shopping and purchasing in their shops, and more (13:30.)

On being a receptionist, Elisabeth shares that you learn so many different things because you are the first and last face people see each day. She built relationships with so many people in the office from different departments. It gave her an advantage to understanding where she wanted to see her own career go. It was one of the most incredible experiences she was given (17:00.)

Elisabeth’s mom and Rebecca Minkoff are her role models as they always encourage her to always strive for happiness and never to stop asking questions (20:34.)

In the near future, the Female Founder Collective is hoping to continue pushing the FFC seal to change shopping behaviors. They also hope to continue growing the collective and encourage everyone to buy and support women-owned businesses (21:58.)

Ready to join the Female Founder Collective? Check it out here.

Excited to learn more and follow Elisabeth? Follow her story now.

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Thank you readers, to tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story! 

Starting, Owning & Operating with Brianne Conley

Have you every wanted to run a retail shop? A fashionista at heart, I’ve always been intrigued about the possibility…buying seasonal trends, decking out the store…but I have no idea where to begin! Brick & mortar in the digital world? Sounds like a fashion don’t.

Enter No. 14 Boutique, a one of a kind shop. It’s creatively curated and delicately designed. Plus, it’s spearheading a masterclass on how to best utilize social media for the retail space. Join me as I interview the savvy Brianne Conley, one of the co-owners behind the brand. We’ll be diving into the “how” behind starting, owning and operating a business and you won’t want to miss it.

Tune in below to learn more!

SHOW NOTES:

Brianne saw a need for an affordable, trendy, small boutique, family-owned spot in Pittsburgh. She opened her business with her mom and she doesn’t think she could go into business with anyone else (1:30).

Buying product really is a bit like shopping and it’s Brianne’s favorite part of her job. She goes four to five times a year picking out new vendors to fit different seasons (4:51).

When it comes to education, Brianne when to High Point University in North Carolina and majored in Strategic Communications which helped her exponentially learning about public speaking and social media. Even so, Brianne admits a lot of what she learned is from her experience in starting her own business (6:23).  

She believes there is quite the difference between branding her personal and company Instagram. On her personal, she may highlight her day-to-day as an entrepreneur, but on her business account it’s much more focused on new product and selling (8:30).  

We discussed “Instagrammable Moments”, to Brianne that encompasses creating unique vignettes in parts of her store. For instance, her fitting rooms have quotes on the floor title (10:38).

Brianne works closely with her team and bounces ideas off of them. She works to create a community where each can talk openly (11:54).  

I love Brianne’s hiring process advice. Once when she was hiring for a new intern, she gave specific directions via email. If someone didn’t hire the very simple direction in the email then it may show that the person may not be the best fit for the brand (13:19).

Brianne is constantly working ahead, buying for seasons to come. Right now what’s in style? Leopard. It’s making a huge comeback for Holiday into the new year (17:46).

Brianne’s tip to following and chasing your dreams? “Just do it and be as resourceful as possible” (21:26).

Loved this episode? Share your voice and leave a review on iTunes now!

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The Brava Podcast hosted by Stephanie Campbell has quickly rose to be one of Pittsburgh Top Podcasts and Top Women Business Podcasts to listen to. For more information, check out the Brava Podcast "About” page or reach out to Stephanie at stephanie@thebravapodcast.com.