We recently connected with Tata Potesta and have shared our conversation below.
Tata, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?
I’ve wanted to work at a very young age, I didn’t love school but I loved making money and I wanted to get out there as soon as possible to start working! I started my first job when I was 15 years old at Limited Too and prior to that I was already babysitting. I’ve had 60 plus jobs throughout my years working and it took me to move to California to figure out that I should start my own business and take all my learnings from my previous jobs and apply it my current agency, To The Moon Social. I’d worked in hospitality, customer service, tech, fashion, sales, marketing in carouse different industry so it allowed me to be very nimble when it came to working with different types of clients in my agency. I could speak on food, fashion, beauty, tech etc. because I had lived it already. I mean don’t get me wrong I learned a lot along the way that I did not pick up from other jobs but it was so wonderful to have my experiences which untimely propelled me further as a business owner. I also new how to work with startups and larger business because I had done it already in my previous years.
Tata, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m actually not sure how I got into marketing but it’s where I landed. I went to school for fashion design and marketing so I think I always had an interest in marketing. I love storytelling and so much of great marketing is storytelling. After working for startups and corporate for many years I decided to move to California for a fresh start. My first job here was a marketing director for an eyewear manufacturing company. It was fun but not where I wanted to be so I moved to LA and got a job at a talent agency representing directors, photographers, hair/makeup/wardrobe artists as a media director and loved it! It was there where my boss and another colleague really pushed me to start my own agency. They saw something in me that I did not see for myself. The universe guided me in that direction with little to no force so I followed with open arms and an open mind. I’ve learned so much throughout the years, things school never taught me. I met some of the most amazing people throughout the way who inspired me to keep going. And now I’ve been in business since 2015.
My agency, To The Moon is a digital marketing and content house based in Los Angeles, CA. We have and continue to work with clients in various different industries such as Ryan Tedder’s CBD sparkling water MAD TASTY, Chelsea Handler’s CBD/THC company Leisuretown, Good Catch Foods vegan seafood, John Legend’s wine company LVE Wines, gourmet chocolate company Compartés, Arey Grey hair care, and many more. We specialize in all things digital from creating content, producing and shooting branded video/photoshoots, Instagram/Facebook/TikTok/YouTube Shorts/LinkedIn/Pinterest management, and pretty much anything needed to get your brand noticed online.
We are storytellers who bring your brand to life on all things digital! We’re a small but mighty team and I think what sets apart from others is that we truly care about our clients and stick with them for years. We operate as your in-house social media team vs. a traditional agency and I think that type of care goes a long way for our clients. It’s why we’ve always been referral based since day one.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I had zero dollars to start my business, so I decided I would trade my skills with other creators to get the things I needed for my agency to get started. Things like copywriting, photoshoot, a brand identity for the agency, a website for the agency. In trade I would offer my social media services to those creators. The idea worked so well I decided to launch a second business a few years later called Barter & Be, connecting other creators to do the same thing.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Our clients come to us on a referral basis which is a great way to establish loyalty from the jump before you even start working with a client. We’re great communicators and we make sure our clients learn our systems so we can work effectively and efficiently together. We love using programs like Slack, Asana, Airtable, Later etc. These programs help us tremendously to stay on track and work together in a seamless way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tothemoonsocial.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tothemoonsocial/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/75607975/admin/
Image Credits
Kendal Lovejoy Luke Strege Valorie Darling