Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dru Davis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Dru thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

It’s funny because when I first started my online business it wasn’t by choice- I had gotten fired from my job and truly had no idea what I was going to do. BUT what I did know… is that there was no way in hell I was going back to working corporate America LOL.

I had just graduated college and landed the job I once considered to be a dream. I got hired on at a digital marketing and advertising agency working as a content social manager who would essential run the Facebook pages of law firms across the U.S. and write their blogs, create graphics, etc. It felt GOOD at first, it really did but after the newness wore off and I started to see where the job fell short I started to hate it more and more.

With all the things I was learning about social media marketing and advertising all I used to think about was how I just knew that there was something better in store for me and how I would love to quit and start my own thing. It didn’t matter how much I would think about it though because I was living in downtown Dallas, 15 hours away from all of my friends and family, so quitting was absolutely not an option.

I had to ride it out and come up with a plan as to how I could work this job until I could get things going for myself. So that meant working 9-5 corporate and then 5-9 on my online business. I was in grind mode for sure, working 12 hour workdays 5 days a week and then still producing for my own business on the weekends. It was TIRING, it felt nice to know I was working on my craft but still SO TIRING, so much so that I eventually started to burn out. I hated clocking into work everyday and because I was becoming so invested in my personal business my work ethic at my 9-5 started to decline. The environment there was starting to become really stressful too, so mentally I was checking allll the way out. I was actually in a depressive state for like 2 weeks. It was so hard to come out of but I knew better was to come so I cleansed my energy and claimed a good week!

And a goof week I had!! M Monday – Wednesday was awesome, I felt like like I was getting back on top of my work and everything was going to be okay. I had a meeting with my boss on Thursday morning, but it was just a routine bi weekly checkin so I wasn’t worried at all… so I thought.

I hop on the call and she tells me I’m being let go, and as much as I wanted to feel like my world was crashing the only feeling I felt was relief. I was happy to be out of that workplace, but at the same time I knew this was my time to go full throttle with my personal business if I really meant what I said when claiming to not want to go back to corporate America.

So, I did just that. I gave myself a week or so to process everything that happened and ironically I was going on a cruise with my family the following week so it was literally perfect timing. Once I got back I gave myself a pep talk and decided from that moment forward I was officially a full-time business woman/entrepreneur! It’s now 7 months later, I have consistent client working, and am currently writing this article in Miraflores, Peru because I’m living out here for a couple of months :)

I share my story with the hopes of it being inspirational for anyone who has the idea and wants to start their business but id nervous or doesn’t know how to. Figure it out and just go for it!! Don’t be like me and be forced to take the risk- take it yourself because you’ll be so happy you did in the end when it all starts to pay off <3

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a UGC Creator & Digital Marketing Strategist!

The world of digital and social media has taken such a turn in the past few years. I started working in the digital marketing space about 5 years ago when I took on my first internship turning college and back then you could’ve never told me I would be doing what it is that I’m doing today.

UGC stands for user generated content. There are many layers to UGC and the business but in a nutshell UGC is essentially the ads brands are using to target their audience that are created by regular people and not the huge influencers you see on your timeline everyday. They can use the ads for whatever they want but typically get shared on their social media pages, websites, newsletters, in their marketing emails, etc. A lot of people often confuse this with being an influencer but there’s actually a huge difference. One being that ANYONE can do UGC it doesn’t matter how many followers you have or how popular you are on social media- as long as you know how to create convincing ad that converts into sales.. YOU’RE GOOD! Secondly, unlike influencers there is no requirement to post. Since mega influencers have such a large community the brand wants to see their face by their product and get it inform of the hundred’s of thousand’s of followers that influencer may have- however because they have hundreds of thousands of followers these influencers can charge a hefty penny and more times than you may think brands don’t always have the budget to spend on using a mega influencer in their marketing strategy. Which is great because it allows brands to work with regular people who enjoy making content and want to monetize off of it. The brand sends us their product for free, we film and edit based on the agreed deliverables and then we sell the finished content to the brand for them to use! And best of all, we don’t even have to post it if we don’t want to :)

I also dabble into digital marketing as well, so I work with business owners to help them better their company’s online presence. This can range anywhere from managing their social media accounts or creating websites to running analytics on their pages and then creating better marketing strategies for them.

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

Building an audience on social media can be tricky, trust me- I’m still working on it myself. But- like all things in life, it takes consistency, dedication and the willingness to try new things!

When giving advice on fostering a likeminded community on social media, I try to encourage these four things:

Authenticity: BE YOURSELF, because when trying to copy other content or give a vibe that isn’t true to you it ALWAYS shows

Consistency: As much as it hurts at times, stay consistent!! Even on the days you don’t feel like it, still show up because you never know- that may be the day one of your posts goes viral!

Confidence: BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITIES. It’s your work, your passion and your success on the line so when pushing out be confident in it! Social media makes it so easy to compare yourself to other people and their journey. Comparison is literally the thief of joy, so when on social media post your content confidently, be genuinely happy for other and engage with their post!

E.E.I.- “Educate, Entertain, or Inspire” this is going to be key to getting more eyes on your posts and attracting the right community! Content that is centered around one of these (or all of them if you can) will be so much more relatedly and is also more likely to be pushed out by the algorithm.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve had to pivot so many times as a UGC creator.. to be honest I’m sorta in the middle of pivoting right now. I am a firm believer in authenticity being the fuel of your content because not only will it seem more natural and convincing it will also be enjoyable to create. Who wants to make content for brands, or products that don’t truly resonate within?

When I first started doing UGC I would go for beauty and skincare brands… which was not my thing AT ALL. I quickly noticed my content began to looked forced and I decided to switch lanes a bit. Im a health and fitness enthusiast, so I figured it would be better to start working with brands that aligned with that. I started picking up gigs that focused more on vitamins, supplements, and fitness apparel and saw my light shine through my content so much more. I still felt like something was missing though, so I deduced to still do this type of content, but also make another small pivot.

Well.. maybe not so small actually. I LOVE TRAVELING, and was becoming so bored with my home base, so about a week ago I flew out to Peru with one of my friends where we will be living for the next two months :)

I’m feeling so much more inspired already and can see how my content is going to elevate so much during my time here.

Contact Info:

• Website: justlikedru.com
• Instagram: @digitallydru
• Facebook: Dru Davis
• Linkedin: Dru Davis
• Twitter: @digitallydru
• Youtube: @justlikedru
• Other: Pinterest: @justlikedru