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

Alright, Gina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

It’s been important to me since day one of being a business owner to celebrate women’s accomplishments in business and provide a platform that encourages feedback and support. I look forward to every day I get to hold space for women to grow and improve their businesses. Another aspect of Babe Crafted’s mission is giving back to non-profits that empower women and girls in our respective communities. We do this through group volunteer days, donation drives and donation funds raised from the raffles & ticket sales of certain events. We can grow farther together!

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 background and context?

Before launching Babe Crafted, I had the opportunity to get hands on experience coordinating unique events, building community, and creating authentic content. I’m really proud I get to share those lessons with my (currently!) 157 members and the community we serve.

The biggest problem I solve with Babe Crafted’s membership is helping women entrepreneurs feel less alone. One of the things that makes being a business owner tough is facing loneliness, imposter syndrome, and FOMO. There are so many ways to create a successful business and be a happy human, but we need positive people around us who are working through the same challenges. That network of people will remind us we’re awesome, that we’re not alone and that we can do it!

One thing that sets us apart from other memberships is that we help members up level their marketing and storytelling skills and we also provide them with actual opportunities to get featured and have their business showcased. We pack a lot of punch with our workshops, virtual education events, online community, resource library, & chances to get featured.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I’ve had to unlearn is that it’s important to make myself and my needs a priority. When I started my career, I made it my business to be the first one in and last one out of the office. I never stopped working. I responded to emails at 11 p.m. I would answer calls on my days off. One time my Marketing Assistant told me I was “like a machine.” I took that as a compliment, and unfortunately, carried that machine-like mentality through my next position and then into my journey as a business owner. I started therapy one year into being an entrepreneur and learned from my therapist that boundaries were super important. I also learned that having an identity outside of my business was paramount. I’ve been working on practicing boundaries ever since and am proud to share that today, I don’t check my email during my time off. I also continue to develop my personal identity so that no matter how my business is doing, I feel good about myself.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience on social media by being approachable and transparent. I have always been all about sharing a behind-the-scenes look at building a business, hosting events, and connecting my members. I really believe it’s important to talk about my successes as well as my challenges. I never wait until “later” to share about what’s happening with Babe Crafted and myself as well. I was also an early adopter of video content and that helped me build relationships with the wonderful people who were following me.

My advice to anyone looking to build their audience on social media is to not pay attention to how many followers you have or how many likes a photo gets. Share what will resonate with your dream client and speak from the heart. Post consistently, do not play the ‘stop,’ ‘start,’ stop again’ game because the only way to build momentum is to be consistent. And use video! Don’t be shy about experimenting with Reels, live video, and long-form video.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.babecrafted.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babecrafted/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/babecrafted

Image Credits
Photos by Christina Jones Photography