We recently connected with Chántelle Agbro and have shared our conversation below.
Chántelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?
This is probably one of the hardest lessons that I’ve encountered as an entrepreneur. Do I believe there’s an inappropriate way to ask family and friends? No, but once the “ask” becomes an obligation or expectation, that’s when it’s not only disrespectful to your family/potential customer but also to the integrity of your business and yourself as the owner. The first rule of thumb I learned is not to not expect family and friends to continuously support me through a purchase. I know that may sound weird considering our friends and family are our first customers but you ultimately are making your product/service for those who don’t know you. In addition, on a more conscious level, know that sometimes it’s the closest people to you who may be jealous and don’t know how to be happy for you because they aren’t happy with themselves. Either way, this is okay and it shouldn’t hinder you or your divine destiny. Just remember that if you’re sending updates frequently about new items, it’s in your best interest to stay trendy and creative focusing on your target audience. With the short attention spans that exist these days, it’s easy for quality to become white noise or spam, if not promoted effectively. When I launched my first batch of calendars in 2019, I had so many sales and an outpour of love and support. When I saw how fast they sold out, it was such a good feeling and encouraged me to keep making the calendars an annual product. Then once I started to take it more seriously, and invest in the quality of not just the calendar but the photoshoot aspect, I believe the momentum from family and friends kind of died..they knew what to expect and weren’t as interested. THIS IS OKAY. This is not a sign of failure, but rather a clear indication you need to pivot and strategically target your audience so that you can create that longevity. I’m also guilty of letting the false illusion of social media and always getting compliments dictate my consistency at a point. Always remember why you started, and let that guide you through these normal emotional waves. What you’re doing is not easy, it will challenge you and you will push through!
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?
Chántelle Adanna Agbro is a Nigerian-American literary artist, self-published author, spoken word poet, and self-love/wellness enthusiast, currently based in Los Angeles, California. Born & raised in Maryland, her two-parent home was always surrounded by undying love. From developing a passion for journaling at 10 years old to then publishing her work through WordPress sophomore year of college, the path to becoming her own wasn’t easy. Yet, despite her perfectly flawed journey, she’s persevered to self-publishing everything she touches, including her memoir, journal, and annual calendars. As an avid lover of black literature and black women, she created her sole proprietorship “Chantelle Adanna Publishing”, and her trademark “She Carries,” to provide creative and logistical services in helping teach the ropes of self-publishing to rookie writers and enhance their writing careers. She offers 1:1 coaching, an online course, and literary services like EPK’s, Book Promotional Plans, Short/Extended Bio’s, Book Synopsis, and more materials that are essential for effective self-marketing.
I created Chántelle Adanna Publishing after realizing that as a black woman and an author, there were discrepancies with the number of publishers that pushed our stories and the number of untold stories. The issue many have is not knowing where to start, not knowing the steps to build a reputable brand, not knowing who they are targeting, not knowing the importance of the “why” factor, and not knowing what they need to publish a quality book that reaches their market. My company closes this gap from every angle by providing what you need to present and market yourself professionally and authentically. I target black women rookie writers, setting my audience nationally at over 500,000. My course provides the necessities for becoming your own brand, a self-published author, and your own agent on a BUDGET, with several accountability elements implemented!
I am most proud of being able to take the pain I felt at such a pivotal time in my life and recreate it to liberate myself emotionally and to let people who truly saw me and who related to my story, know that they’re not alone.
Self-publishing my first memoir at 23 is truly impeccable. Knowing that my voice and words will continue to echo through generations is indescribable. I create for black women to feel their embedded emotions because we’re often too busy carrying everyone else’s. I also love performing spoken word and connecting with those who take their artistry seriously!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the biggest lessons thus far that I’ve had to unlearn is the misconception that if I don’t see the physical results from my efforts right away, then progression or impact is none existent. Growing up in the early stages of social media, it was a lot less pressure to be perfect, it started off as just an outlet for people to express themselves. Yet, as time went on and technology continued to advance, the scale by which I measured success became much more blurry. I got sucked into the false reality of what it truly meant for me to be this “newfound” writer, author speaker, and educator. There were many moving parts and it was just me, so the momentum started to dwindle. There were so many other people in my field that were seemingly doing “better ” than me. Not to mention that the stardom rate grew a lot overnight for kids that were barely in their teenage years and I allowed that illusion of what and where I thought I should be to shake my confidence, and that was both a heavy and humbling experience for me. It pushed me to revert to my “why” to revert to the reason I started writing in the first place. I realigned and allowed my “why” to be the driving force for how I carried my writing career forward from there on. As I get older and the world continues to change, I noticed a lot of why I felt stuck, resided within me. I had to unlearn where and how I placed value. I had to remind myself whose I was and that I had the power to create my own reality.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the limitlessness to creativity. I think as artists so much of who we are and who we let people see can sometimes create grave discrepancies, if we aren’t truly free. However, when you are free, and you allow that raw liberation to bleed into your artistry, such unworldly and beautiful things happen. For instance, though there are areas we all should keep sacred, if I hadn’t stepped into vulnerability none of what you see now would’ve come to be. Being honest about the generational trauma that I carry, about the fact that I hated myself (skin tone, being African, and being chubby) growing up I wouldn’t have been able to help myself and connect to the world as I have been. I wouldn’t be able to heal the way I need to, I wouldn’t be able to see people as deeply as I do, and I wouldn’t be able to carry myself in the manner I’ve learned to. It’s the most rewarding to release any and all judgments from others and to just authentically and wholeheartedly find and be you. I am still on this journey but truthfully there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
Contact Info:
- Website: chantelleadanna.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantelleadanna/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chantelleagbro-/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chantelleadanna
Image Credits
@photobee13 @mikemajors @lnaynay