Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bruna Monzoni. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Bruna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
From a very young age I’ve had people underestimating what I could accomplish. I grew up wanting more.
I was probably about 7/8 years old and I remember looking at the window from my apartment and observing the movement from a busy street, all the tall buildings surrounding mine, the people walking on the street with a purpose of going somewhere, and all I could think about was how big and full of possibilities the world was.
I had a very traditional and restrictive family growing up, which meant I couldn’t do anything without coming up with really good arguments on why I deserved whatever it was that I wanted. This made me very good at convincing people to believe in me. It gave me superb argumentative skills as I needed to think about all the counter arguments that could happen before asking for it; thought me persistence and insistence are crucial to achieve my dreams. As a kid this wasn’t always the ideal scenario. I lost the arguments a lot, had to deal with the frustrations of seeing my friends going out and having fun while I wasn’t allowed to do the same most of the time. I so desperately wanted things to change!
I also grew up with undiagnosed ADHD and even after I learned about the problem, I opted to not get treatment. My fellow neurodivergents will understand the struggles that this might have caused at school, socially, professionally… People would frequently underestimate me saying I wasn’t good enough to get the job I wanted, get in the school of my dreams, have a stable relationship, or even find happiness in a foreign country away from my family. I hated feeling different. The “i wish things would’ve been different” was a recurring issue in my life.
It was only after I moved to the US, a little over three and a half years ago that I finally started to understand, heal, and overcome from a lot of this. Spending time alone makes you reflect. We were also going through a global pandemic, I was fresh in a new country where most of the people I had just met decided to fly back home to be with their families, and I was adjusting to a new culture. Wow. I wanted change and the universe said take that! So the past few years I’ve been learning more about what growth, change, and transformation actually mean and how I could apply that in my life in a way I was also able to help others.
The overall point here is I grew up envisioning change, growth, and wanting more. This is the core of my agency. Growth. I want my legacy be transformation. I’ve always felt passionate about coming up with ideas on how I can make people fall in love with experience, a business, an idea, and life itself. I want to be able to change people’s lives, make others believe in their potential, and achieve growth together.
Bruna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I came to the US three years ago to finish my bachelor’s at the University of Colorado Boulder. I graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and Leadership. Throughout my time at CU I worked at TEDxCU in their marketing department and later on I was invited to lead the team on my senior year. I’ve always knew I wanted to work with experiences. Seeing a sparkle on people’s eyes when they’re having a good time, and knowing you had something to do with it always makes my heart a little warmer.
As an international student, I had a very hard time finding a company willing to hire me. If you’ve applied for jobs recently you probably noticed how the vast majority asks if you will, now or in the future require sponsorship. As an international applicant you depend on the company saying yes to even be considered for the position. News flash, nobody is sponsoring. Not getting too much into this, but if you’d like to know more about the job lottery system that happens each year you should look it up. Anyways, after applying for over 150 jobs I was not hired by anyone. I did find an intern unpaid position but I can’t pay bills with just good vibes. I then realized that my work authorization actually allowed me to hire myself and start my own business. BOOM, Prism Creative was born.
I started doing what I did best, which was recommending people the best course of action to take and how to better market themselves. When I was a kid, my mom used to take me to her photography classes with her, and my friends always considered me the photographer of the group, but never in a million years I ever dreamt to be charging people for it (and I loved it!). I was using photography to get in front of potential clients, build a brand and a portfolio, acquire experience, and network. Believe and it shall work.
Prism Creative now offers photography (events, corporate, social media content, portraits), branding (logo design, consulting services), social media (content creation, video deliveries, graphic design work, social media management, strategy building), and web design services. Since the core of the agency is transformation, we focus on businesses that are looking to revamp their visuals and build a stronger image with eye catching images that are essential to create superb storytelling. We’re located in the heart of Denver and are currently accepting new clients. The majority of our clients is in the food and beverage industry, but we also work with product based businesses.
I am beyond passioned about what I’m creating, and I hope that if you reach out we’ll be able to build a legacy together. Your success means my success too.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
Starting a new business from the ground with no help is no easy task. Luckily, I’ve had business mentor this past year to help and uplift me when I thought about giving up. The one thing I’ve struggled with the most, from the start, was sales. How can I get my services in front of the right buyers? And Zach time after time would tell me: cold calls, door-to-door sales, insisting, messaging an average of 8 times each business until you hear no. I hated that.
Feeling like a bother has always been an insecurity of mine and what’s more annoying than someone constantly bugging you to buy something?
To achieve my desired goal Zach wanted me to be reaching out to an average of 200 businesses a week… I am still a one person does all type of agency with a bruised ego. 200 people a week was a LOT. I ignored his advice and saw my sales tanking during the months of December-February. During that time I made less than $2,000 and saw my life savings going away to try and keep my business afloat. My family wanted me to give up and go home, I was barely spending money with food much less going out as an attempt to keep trying. At one point, it was the beginning of the month and I only had $160.00 in my bank account. Sometimes I wondered if I was just delusional, but a voice inside my head kept saying it’s not over yet, keep trying, keep going.
Time to listen to Zach. Bless the heart of all the sales people I ever called annoying, it takes a lot to do what you do haha In a matter of a couple of weeks after listening to my mentor’s advice I saw an increase in responses from potential clients. It was the start of my sales finally taking off. I wish I had a better advice for when its time to make the tough decision of taking the loss and moving on, but right now I would say keep being delusional and believe in your dreams. If you want something really bad, know you have the power to make it happen.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Have you ever heard about Simon Sinek and the Golden Circle theory? I first learned about him in college. We were assigned to watch his TED talk about the Golden Circle on theory value proposition. I’ve always felt myself very drawn to psychology and trying to understand why people act the way they do. What motivates a human being? Psychology and marketing intersect more than you may think.
The Golden Circle is the idea that people will buy WHY you do things and not WHAT you do. You might be thinking, duh if someone has a better product than the other I will clearly go for the better quality one. Quality is a matter of perception. Simon gives a few examples on how companies apply that theory to their brands. Think about it this way, I will tell you these two statements:
– I have the best product and you should buy it because it’s widely recognized in the market as the best.
– I couldn’t find a product that would help me solve my problem, after years agonizing over the lack of care and a solution in the industry I created something that helped me. Now I want to share it with you.
Anyways, if you’re not a business owner and you don’t know what the Golden Circle is, you should definitely look it up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.prismcreativee.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p.rismcreative/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruna-monzoni/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@monzbruna
Image Credits
Prism Creative LLC