We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexandra Henry a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alexandra, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

My documentary is titled Street Heroines, which I came up with to recognize the heroic work female street artists are doing to beautify communities around the world. Being that they are very underrepresented in the street art movement, making a film was my way to raise awareness of the art work they create and the impact it has on society. They are heroines because they have made something from nothing and contributed positive messages to the world all the while overcoming obstacles like sexism and gender-based discrimination. That type of perseverance takes a heroic feat.

Alexandra, 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?

Since an early age I became fascinated with exploring other cultures through beautiful photography books by Henri-Cartier Bresson and trips to the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. with my grandparents. I knew I wanted to travel the world and step foot in the diverse places I discovered through the photos and exhibits. When I was 11 years old my family moved from Virginia to New Mexico and after the culture-shock subsided I began to have a deeper understanding of how even within your own country life can be dramatically different. Travel and exposure to things outside of your day to day teaches you so much as a person and helps develop your emotional intelligence. I believe that notion was a huge inspiration behind making a documentary film about women who feel a need to artistically express themselves and share their world. And certainly as I’ve grown-up and experienced my own set of obstacles due to my gender, I could relate to how they’ve had to persevere in certain situations to advance their careers and gain respect. My biggest achievement, thus far, has been to finish my first feature-length documentary film that has traveled the world and inspired many audiences along the way and enlightened them on something they don’t necessarily pay attention to, the power of art made by women.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

In 2016 I started to work with a friend, Jordan Noel Hawkes, who would later become the documentary’s producer. She was very instrumental in helping kick-off the successful Kickstarter campaign that we launched in June 2016. We started charting our strategy in January of that year and prepped for six months, in which we cut a trailer, we built a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, we created audience charts based on close contacts and acquaintances, and we launched a mailchimp newsletter. We knew that there would be two types of supporters of our project, those who knew us on a personal level and had confidence in our mission and those who were street art lovers and followers. So we didn’t target just one community, we had a multi-pronged approach. This allowed us to build our own bespoke audience and use word of mouth through the artists in our project via their social networks. The Kickstarter campaign gained momentum and it then became a domino effect thanks to instagram and twitter. We also received organic press from publications like BUST, Rolling Stone Brasil, Marie Claire Italy, The Creators Project: Vice, Indie Wire, and local NYC TV Channel Pix 11 News. Had we contracted a PR company to spread the word, there was no guarantee that any publications would have picked our campaign up, so thanks to our diligent preparation and outreach we probably gained thousands of dollars’ worth of free press. The biggest piece of advice I would give to someone just starting out, is to build your project is the more preparation the better. And be mentally ready to act as your own community manager as you are your most authentic voice of the brand or business you are launching.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

One book that was quintessential in my creative journey and thus my entrepreneurial motivation, is called ‘The Artists Way’ by Julia Cameron. It is a book about unlocking creativity through doing activities such as writing morning pages everyday for 12 weeks and taking yourself on weekly artist dates. In 2012 I was on my weekly artist date, where you are supposed to do something you enjoy but by yourself, and I decided to take photos at the graffiti mecca called 5 Pointz located in Long Island City, Queens. That day I came across two young women spray-painting a wall together and realized I had never seen that before. It was very much this ‘ah ha’ moment because I had been documenting graffiti and street art since I was a teenager and had never considered the female experience in the subculture. So I always recommend and gift this book to anyone feeling a bit stuck along their path, whether it is starting a business or pursuing a creative project, this book provides you the tools to persevere, as long as you are willing to be disciplined and brave.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.streetheroinesfilm.com
• Instagram: @streetheroines
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/streetheroines
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandrahenry/
• Twitter: @streetheroines
• Other: Street Heroines Documentary Trailer: https://vimeo.com/164267661

Image Credits
Courtesy of Amber Gress Courtesy of Colby Blount Courtesy of Alexandra Henry