We were lucky to catch up with Aly Whitmore recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Aly , thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
As a young child I always knew I wanted to be an educator. From playing teacher with my friends in the neighborhood to having an obsession with school supplies, the classroom is where I wanted to be! I took every course imaginable in high school and then majored in Early Childhood Education. I graduated from The University of North Texas in 2016 and was ready to finally have a classroom of my own. Fast forward 5 years of teaching 3rd grade math, science, and writing-the realization of the effects of a pandemic on the education system as well as the major push for standardized testing had finally taken a big enough toll on me to decide to leave. The spring of 2021 I was newly married and then found out I was pregnant with my first child. I knew I was no longer passionate about the career I was in and I also wanted to give my child an incredible childhood spent making memories and not having a mother who stayed in a job she was unhappy with. So what did I do? I resigned at the end of that year and decided to launch an online boutique with my sister. Leaving a stable income, being pregnant, and trying something completely out of my comfort zone was a lot, but I was excited to be pursuing something new! The boutique only lasted about 6 months, but in that time I had found what I am truly passionate about and that is content creation. I had the responsibility of managing our social media as well as creating all the content for our website and online community. Soon after I had my son and we had decided to stop the boutique, I already had 2 referrals lined up for social media management, which had me eager to work and put my creativity to work for small businesses. I am now going into my 3rd year of content creation and social media marketing for multiple clients of differing size and I am so proud of how far I have come. From finding the courage to step out of a career I had always dreamt of having, to leaving and helping business owners market their brands through social media, I’ve found that becoming an entrepreneur and a mother has taught me many things about myself. Firstly, I still have a love for educating others and now I can do so through content strategy and online marketing. Secondly, that the most valuable aspect of my job is the freedom of my time spent with my son. So this is your reminder that it’s never too late to start something new, and to also do what makes you the happiest and it will pay off!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a social media marketing strategist, which means I wear many different hats and have had experience in many areas regarding brand marketing. I started by offering content creation and social media management, which in the beginning looked like creating graphics, writing captions, managing business Instagrams and Facebooks, but now my role entails a lot more. As my experience and clientele has evolved I now work with my husband and a small team of creatives to provide brand strategy for small businesses looking to improve their messaging and online presence, content strategy which provides a roadmap of content ideas, sales funnels, marketing best practices, social media guidelines, and more. In terms of content creation we do it all, from website copy, graphic design, photo and video capture, to email campaigns and everything in between in order to help businesses thrive in an ever-changing social media driven market. I had originally started my own brand, Grown Socially, to educate businesses on the benefits of hiring someone to manage their social media as well as offering tips on how to market themselves better on Instagram, but now since I have teamed up with my husband we own Lucid Media, which focuses on helping brands tell better stories and grow audiences faster through strategic content and brand awareness. My Grown Socially Instagram is now solely focused on educating others through social media marketing dos and don’ts, guides on effectively reaching your ideal audience, and what it looks like to scale your business online in today’s world. It seems as though everyone is a social media “expert” these days, so what makes us different? We are here to work alongside you, help you succeed, grow with you and celebrate your wins, big or small. We know how hard you’ve fought and done to get to where you are and your business deserves to be recognized, and that’s where we come in to put your brand in the best position to succeed through social media and online marketing, as well as working with you on setting goals you’ve aspired to reach. Our work is thorough, our system is organized, and you will feel confident trusting us as we grow your online presence. We have created so many friendships along the way and have many on-going repeat clients who rely on us for quality services.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Being 100% authentic with my online audience. I am not one to sugarcoat things and I keep it real in every aspect of my life, my husband might even say I’m a bit too blunt at times, ha! When I started out creating my Grown Socially Instagram account I had content going out daily and I was making connections with fellow mompreneurs and creatives through genuine conversations and relatability. This is huge and I often think people forget this crucial step in building an ideal audience and connecting with others online. People don’t want to be sold to 24/7 on social media, people want to feel seen and valued, especially when they are small business owners. They want to know their business has a purpose and that they are making a difference. As I continued to chat with others on Instagram and support their small businesses I noticed consistent growth in my following. I also show my audience actual proof of what I am teaching and how it is applied in my clients’ content/marketing plans. People want to see results and they want to learn how it can help them in their business, so showcasing what is working and discussing pain points we all face creates a raw look inside of my work. On the other hand, I continue to post about my actual personal life on my account. From behind the scenes of working from home with my husband, to being a mom, people relate to people and that is clear in the DMs and engagement I receive when I share a look into my daily life. The online community I have established knows that they can come to me for social media education, branding help, and support in their small business journey.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
How to properly measure my daily productivity. When I was teaching I was up at 6am and in my classroom by 7am and often times didn’t I leave my school until after 6pm. I was working almost 12 hours each day and would come home feeling and even looking like a zombie. I have always been a Type A, to-do list kind of girl and at school I wouldn’t leave to go home until everything for the day had been checked off. Not great on a mental level looking back on it. I never gave myself a break and my productivity was measured by how long I would work and how many items I could check off of my to-do list. Once I had a baby and transitioned over to the entrepreneur world I had a tough time, and sometimes to this day I still struggle with being okay with having a to-do list that doesn’t get fully completed at the end of the day. My days look different now. I have been lucky enough to have my son at home with us for almost 19 months while also running our own business. It takes a lot of coffee, late nights, and determination to get work done, but I no longer work myself to death. I start my day without sitting down at my desk. I spend the first half of my day taking my son out of the house and going to museums, playscapes, and many more places allowing me to create new daily experiences with him-something I wouldn’t have been able to do had I stayed in the career I was in 3 years ago. When we come home he naps and that is go time for me. On a good day I get 3 hours of uninterrupted creative workflow going, and somedays he doesn’t nap quite as long, so I tell myself I’ll work on it that evening after he is down for bed. Working at night isn’t ideal, but do you know what keeps me going? Knowing that I have stopped pushing myself to measure my productivity in the amount of items I can check off of my to-do list, but rather by looking at WHERE my energy was spent throughout the entire day. That means the days that I do laundry, grocery shop, take my son to go on a new adventure, or create a client strategy deck are all considered productive and I have learned to value my time more than ever before. So shout out to the parents who work from home with their littles, because it is not easy but the memories you get to make are so worth it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lucidmedia.io
- Instagram: @grownsocially and @lucidmedia.io
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grownsocially and https://www.facebook.com/wearelucidmedia
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aly-whitmore-27b60b78/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@grownsocially
Image Credits
Elizabeth Cox Sean Whitmore