We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Molly Stephens. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Molly below.

Hi Molly, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

The internet has continued to grow, progress, and quickly become overwhelmingly advanced every day. In 2018 when I started this business out of my college apartment, I had no clue that it would be where I am today. I got my first client through a friend of a friend – mutual connections – for someone who wanted art as a gift. To this day, I still don’t know what day it was when my business grew so immensely, but am I glad it did. This business has consistently introduced me to new faces, new opportunities, and new experiences. I am thankful for all of my customers from day one. It is amazing how much it has grown in the last 5 years.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well hey! My name is Molly Stephens and I own Mezzy Paintings. I am originally from Birmingham, AL, but moved to Florence, AL in 2017 and haven’t left since. I am a double graduate from the University of North Alabama with my Masters in Business Administration – looking to go into Marketing or Sales. These two interests have stemmed from Mezzy Paintings. I do a little bit of everything creative, but my main focus over the last two years is Live Wedding Paintings. The most proud of myself and this business I have been is because of Wedding Painting. I did not have the confidence at first, but all it takes is that one leap of faith and you’re golden. The Wedding Paintings are a memorable keepsake for the couples I paint for. It is a different way to commemorate your wedding, as well as entertain your guests. Let’s chat if you’re getting married or ya know someone! It makes a great gift, as well.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Creating your brand and sticking with it. Throughout my business, I have made sure to stay consistent with social media platforms. This has helped me grow the most. While I don’t have 10K followers, what I do have is customer loyalty. Quality over quantity any day. Being consistent with your content is so important, but also being able to tell the story and mission of your brand without having to spell it out for your audience. I think the most important thing for those starting out is to make sure your logo, brand colors, and aesthetics are decided prior to posting on social media. You want your content to be quality – not quanity. If you aren’t giving your audience good stuff to look at, they aren’t gonna be your audience anymore. Take the time, do the research, find the accounts you want to look like, get inspired. ALSO – spend the money and get someone to create your logo. Make it relevant to you.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Be a good human. Get to know people. Customer service goes further than anything else. Make connections. You are your salesperson – especially if you are a one man band like I am. Be personable. I also strongly recommend to find your ideal customer and try to gear your product towards that audience. You will find your way through that, all it takes is a little effort.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mollystephens.net
• Instagram: mezzypaintings
• Facebook: mezzypaintings
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-stephens-mba-8752a215a/

Image Credits
Ellie Hallmark Photography