We recently connected with Bree Chester and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bree, thanks for joining us today. Let’s go back in time to when you were an intern or apprentice – what’s an interesting story you can share from that stage of your career?

When I was an undergrad seeking my degree in Communication specializing in Public Relations, with a minor in marketing, I was fortunate to take my internship with United Way of Etowah County as a Marketing Intern. I assisted the Director of Marketing and the Success by 6 Program in my role. Success By 6 supports a whole-child approach to education, focusing on both cognitive skills and the child’s social and emotional development. To be more specific, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income.

As an intern, we were in charge of executing the annual Girlfriend Gala hosted by United Way of Etowah County formed to raise money for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. We met with local businesses who sponsored and extended the monetary efforts to grow the event. We came up with marketing strategies and followed protocols for communication while learning how to work with others to achieve a common goal. Simultaneously, we went into the community and connected with the youth with resources designed for growth development and more.

I remember going to the centers and meeting young teen moms that came from rough backgrounds and this program was light on their situation. I feel like God used me as a vessel to give those girls hope that they can be whatever they needed to be. The fact that they showed up made me a believer that no matter what life throws your way, you can preserve especially if you’re surrounded by the right people. The way the locals and center worked so hard to create a better outcome despite their circumstances gave me a push that I didn’t know I needed. Coming from a city like Birmingham, the odds were indeed against us. In my early 20s, I had already defied multiply stereotypes such as graduating high school and attending college or doing so without being a teen mom. I was so anxious to graduate and be able to give back like Etowah County inspired me to. The Girlfriend Gala was able to raise over $67,000 and overall the event was immaculate. I meet people in high places that I didn’t feel worthy of connecting with yet honored.

Since being a full-time business owner, it’s moments like this that pushed me to create an organization that is designed to create impactful brands through effective marketing solutions. It has also been my motivation to give back to the community through other organizations that serve the enrichment of our youth such as Girls Inc. Every thriving business that has worked with us embodies a purpose to give back to the community in some way whether it’s financial to self-care. The program also taught me to also move in the room with bosses and CEOs, it made me confident in networking with the right people and showed me the importance of building relationships in business.

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

I am a Birmingham native, who graduated from Jacksonville State University with a bachelor’s in Communication (concentration in Public Relations) and a minor in marketing. To take things into perspective, my craft dates back to middle school, I believe I’ve always had a knack for marketing as I was a member of the promotions team and different organizations throughout grad school. The creativity began with those flyers and customized artwork for early social media channels like Bebo and Myspace. I was always the person promoting events and planning ways to grow the crowd. Fast forward to college, I held positions in national Public Relations organizations, the Publicity Committee for the NAACP, and was a rotation DJ for the university radio.

When I graduated and moved to Dallas, I wanted to be in Radio but my talents led me to a role with a thriving magazine/publication. I was a client service manager, social media manager, and photographer liaison. I helped businesses through Dallas and Houston figure out how to market their businesses to our intensive target audience. In my first and only corporate job is where I learned where businesses struggle with marketing and what the world was missing. What set me apart from my colleagues was that I was the only one with a marketing degree, the youngest, and black which made it a challenge.

I later realized that I was more significant than where I was because what I offered was more than I could give while working on someone else dream each day as an overworked employee. I started Iconic Minds as a freelance while I grew my creative skills via Adobe training and graphic courses. On August 23, 2016, Iconic Minds was established and the following year, I became a full-time business owner and visionary architect that has now helped over 450+ businesses throughout my career.

Iconic Minds is a business development firm and merch line. We help serial entrepreneurs create impactful brands through effective marketing solutions. We specialize in Branding, Rebranding, Marketing, Systems, and knowledge gaining opportunities for businesses to grow/scale. Working across a range of industries for 10 years gives me both experience and a fresh perspective to offer. What might be a conventional approach in one industry can be an intriguing, new take when applied to another field. Managing a brand can be hard but we make it easy on the backend so that our clients can perform center stage while doing what they love.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2019 I found out I was expecting my daughter with a fairly complicated pregnancy. As long as I was able to work, I build and saved with no idea what to expect as a full-time business owner and new mom. My daughter was born in January 2020 and after my 6 weeks checkup, the world shut down due to COVID-19. Everyone was home including us and I struggle with PPD for a while. I had past clients that reached out with good wishes and were anxious about my return. While the world was shut down, the digital world was in need of content. More people were starting online businesses and others that already had a digital footprint had a higher demand. I was needed.

I had to shake the funk and find my creative juices so that Iconic Minds would flow again. Aside from content creation, the demand for our comfort wear was in demand. The downside was that many of our vendors were shut down, shipping issues, and manufacturing was struggling. I had to find a different approach. I decided to relaunch in June 2020 for Juneteenth. That was the most profitable month I ever had in those 3.5 years in business. I made my collection limited edition and outsourced much of our apparel through third-party, dropshipping manufacturers. This was my best bet considering I had a breastfed newborn and couldn’t physically keep up with production. The pandemic also gave me a different view of boundaries and elevated my determination to learn how to reach audiences from different sales channels.

I also got my first speaking engagement in 2020 that pivoted my business into making a combination of all prior years in 2020 alone. Although for me it was a rebrand because I was no longer the CEO from 2016, I still had the same mission which was to help serial entrepreneurs such as myself prepare for the bigger picture and the unknown.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

When I think about where Iconic Minds started offering a la carte services such as a single logo or single flyer. A business is more than a logo and marketing are more than a flyer. Non-creatives often times look for the quickest way to execute their ideas rather than creating a strategic plan. I always tell my clients that branding is the body and marketing is the soul. My most prominent example is a house, your branding literally has to build from the ground up. I refer to myself as a visionary architect because I help serial entrepreneurs bring their visions to life.

When it comes to branding, we help you down to establish your brand colors as colors are psychological in themselves. Something as simple as color can evoke an emotion just like the walls in your home. Much like an architect, we help create a blueprint that conveys your brand personality and brand message. Once we’ve built the brand, my team works similar to a brokerage or realtor would sell your home (brand) to the public. We help the seller create their marketing message based on the qualities and attributes of the home (brand).

That’s just the surface. Through our services, we help educate our clients on every aspect of business, not just branding and marketing because the biggest misconception is that all you need is a logo or a good flyer to start a business when there are so many layers.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.iconicminds.net
• Instagram: instagram.com/iconicmindsinc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IconicMindsInc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iconicmindsinc/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8QWfPoo4W_hZMfQkM4167g
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iconicmindsinc? Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/iconicminds_inc

Image Credits
Trezzle Landry of Flawless Images (@flawless_images_studio)