We recently connected with Amanda Bach and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

Once upon a time, there lived a passionate and determined, but struggling entrepreneur me. I had always dreamed of starting my own business consulting firm where I could bring my creative ideas to life. I hustled and changed careers four times, went to 5 different school (now is 6th, with law school), I’ve never stopped learning! I had honed my skills, and finally, built a decent l portfolio, and finally felt that I’m ready to embark on my entrepreneurial of investing in different businesses and get my clients to follow my journey.

One summer morning, while getting my coffee, I payed it forward to the person behind me, without knowing who she was! She had a bad morning so she thanked me for making her day! Then she recognized me from GoogleMap and Yelp, as Manda Bear, I’m also a food blogger! We mingled and she invited me to an event for entrepreneurs and business owners, and that was where I met my very first client, true story!

Over the next few weeks, I poured my heart and soul into the project. We collaborated closely with my other consultants, vendors, ensuring every aspect of the project reflected their vision. The dedication and attention to detail paid off, as the final product exceeded my client’s expectations.

Thrilled with the results of the event, my client spreads the word about our works. Positive word-of-mouth quickly spread, attracting even more potential clients.

As more projects poured in, our confidence grew, and our portfolio expanded. We are lucky continued to build meaningful connections in the business community, attending more events and forging valuable partnerships.

With hard work, determination, and a touch of serendipity, my entrepreneurial journey had taken flight. My clients had been the catalyst for success, and they knew that with every satisfied customer, my vision of a thriving business multiply was becoming a beautiful reality. And so, the tale of my journey, it’s just beginning and I truly feel like I’m just getting started.

Amanda, 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 had always been passionate about life and a thing beautiful about it. It doesn’t matter what product, event, or thing you create and provide for a client, it got to be the best as how you want it for yourself.

I firmly believed that businesses could be a force for positive change in the world. With a background in entrepreneurship, business, event planning, wine, jewelry, and as an ambassador for American Red Cross almost two decades, I have a strong desire to make a difference, I decided to pursue my dream of starting my own business, and in everything I invest in, it got to be with the people who have pure heart, beautiful mind, for me to get involve.

In very business I’m involved, it’s always some of the most trustworthy brands in that industry!

My journey began with extensive research on sustainable practices, ethical practices, and the overall community impact. I wanted my brand to be an embodiment of my values, promoting conscious consumption and responsible production.

I spent countless hours learning about the complexities of every industry/business I’ve involved and invested in, and attending workshops, schools on it. When I wanted to get into luxury, I went to Gemological Institue of America in Carlsbad, CA to learn about gems and diamonds. When I wanted to get into restaurants/bars, I went to Sommelier school in Miami, FL. When I wanted to understand the complexity of Social Media, I went to Columbia Business School for Digital Marketing, AI, and Machine Learning. When I wanted to teach health education to my clients at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, I took classes in health and nutrition risk management at Harvard Medical School. And now I wanted to be a better advocate for my clients and the less fortunate ones, I’m attending Law School at night now, continue to improve myself along the way!

I’ve faced various challenges along the way, being an immigrant and minority, I hurdles through it all, with sleepless nights and tears. Then from how choosing the clients of my choice, that aligned with my values to building my brand. It took me many investment failures, almost bankrupted me, broke off my personal relationships, but I overcame just about any obstacles. Each failure, taught me more lessons than anything I could ever learned in schools.

Now, I engaged with many of my audience through social media, sharing my journey and showing them the beautiful life that they could earn and create for themselves and their loved ones, as I’ve earned through my hard works.

As my brand gained traction, my dedication to sustainable practices began to pay off. I got to choose who my clients are, and those loyal clients appreciated my commitment to the best practice and the high-quality, service I offered. Positive word-of-mouth and media coverage further boosted my brand’s visibility.

My humble journey exemplifies how passion, dedication, and a strong sense of purpose can lead an entrepreneur to make a positive impact on their industry and inspire others to follow suit. I hope this inspire you to follow your dreams.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Certainly! Let me introduce you to my little a brand marketing professional who embarked on a journey to build a thriving social media audience for the company’s brand “Manda Bear.”

I was passionate about connecting with people and showcasing the uniqueness of my brand. I realized that social media was an essential platform to reach a broader audience and create meaningful interactions. In 2005, as a food lover, I eat my way through the globe, as my schools and businesses taking me around the world.

Starting out with Yelp and GoogleMap, almost 80,000 photos on Yelp, 5,000 reviews later, I made a log good friends along the way and some became my clients till this day! GoogleMap is incredible to grasp views, as of I’m telling you now I have 280,000,000 views, it all add up to your brand. I got recognized often walking to places/restaurants/bars, it was strange as first but I’m used to it and truly enjoy the power of social media connecting like-minded people around the world! Be authentic self, true to you, and your brand will thrive!

Here’s how some of my tips built her social media presence:

1. **Identifying Target Audience:** I began by researching my brand’s target audience. I wanted to understand their interests, preferences, and pain points to tailor my content accordingly.

2. **Choosing the Right Platforms:** After understanding the target audience, I selected the social media platforms most relevant to my brand and audience. I then focused on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Meta, and LinkedIn, where my potential customers were active.

3. **Consistent Branding and Messaging:** i ensured my brand’s visuals, tone, and messaging were consistent across all social media platforms. This consistency helped create a recognizable brand identity and built trust among her audience.

4. **Engaging Content Strategy:** I devised a content strategy that revolved around engaging and valuable content. I mixed promotional posts with educational content, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and user-generated content to keep my audience interested and entertained.

5. **Understanding Platform Algorithms:** I studied and familiarized myself with each platform’s algorithms to optimize my content’s visibility and reach. I used hashtags, posting schedules, and engaging captions to enhance her content’s performance.

6. **Influencer Collaborations:** To reach a wider audience, I collaborated with influencers and thought leaders in my niche. These partnerships helped expose my brand to new audiences and establish credibility.

7. **Community Engagement:** I actively engaged with my audience by responding to comments, messages, and mentions. I created a sense of community by organizing contests, polls, and interactive Q&A sessions.

8. **Data-Driven Decisions:** I analyzed social media insights regularly to understand which posts resonated most with my audience. This data-driven approach allowed me to refine my content strategy and make improvements where needed.

9. **Cross-Promotion and Partnerships:** I collaborated with complementary brands and businesses for cross-promotions. This strategy exposed my brand to new audiences and fostered mutually beneficial relationships.

10. **Paid Advertising:** As my social media presence grew, I experimented with paid advertising on social media platforms to further expand my reach and boost key campaigns for my clients.

**Advice for Building Social Media Presence:**

For those just starting to build their social media presence, here are some valuable tips:

1. **Know Your Audience:** Understand your target audience’s preferences, pain points, and behaviors to create content that resonates with them.

2. **Consistency is Key:** Maintain consistent branding and messaging across all platforms to build brand recognition and trust.

3. **Quality Content over Quantity:** Focus on creating high-quality and engaging content that adds value to your audience’s lives.

4. **Engage and Interact:** Actively engage with your audience through comments, messages, and interactions to foster a sense of community.

5. **Stay Authentic:** Be genuine and authentic YOU in your interactions and content. People appreciate honesty and transparency. BE YOU and DO YOU!

6. **Analyze and Adapt:** Regularly analyze social media insights to understand what works and what doesn’t. Adapt your strategy based on data-driven insights.

7. **Patience and Persistence:** Building a social media presence takes time, so be patient and persistent in your efforts.

By following these strategies and staying committed to my brand’s vision, I successfully built a thriving social media audience, enabling my brand to connect with customers, influencers, and partners worldwide.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Of course! As an immigrant from Vietnam, whose journey to success exemplifies my resilience and determination as a successful businesswoman. I was a teenager when I came to Los Angeles alone, without my parents, little broken English, true story.

I grew up in a beautiful hustling Saigon in Vietnam, where my family faced financial hardships after the Vietnam war. My grandparents lost everything. Despite the challenges, my parents was determined to create a better life for us. They hustled hard to give me a proper life and education in Vietnam. And then sent me to American to with a dream of pursuing higher education and achieving success, which I would not have equal rights and opportunities then if I was still living in Vietnam.

I left my homeland, my parents, and embarked on a new chapter. Arriving in the U.S. with little money and facing a language barrier, I knew the road ahead would be tough. However, my parents unwavering support, resolve fueled my determination to succeed.

I took on various odd jobs to make ends meet while studying English and saving money for college. There was time I didn’t have money for food, my college best friend and I split a Burger King whopper, because that was all we could afford. Through hard work and persistence, I was eventually able to enroll in a community college, where she pursued a degree in business, then transferred to a University, and continue on.

As I delved into my studies, I realized my passion for entrepreneurship and started dreaming of starting my own project. I saw an opportunity in helping others, I started a nonprofit for single moms, along with others, I hand built 1,200 web pages then with just HTML & Java Scripts, the good old days! The nonprofits have helped thousands of single moms and their children till this day.

Over time, I started more businesses, startups, investments, and more opportunities, word spread about my authentic personality, customers from various backgrounds were drawn to my brand, creating a diverse and loyal customer base. My warm hospitality, generous, genuine connection with my customers, further endeared my success to the community.

As my business thrived, I continued to innovate and expand my offerings. I then expanding my business beyond the walls, to restaurants, bars, event plannings, conference planning, business startups, mentoring, and more.

My journey was not without its setbacks and moments of self-doubt, but I remained resilient. I faced challenges head-on, learned from my experiences, and adapted to the changing market demands.

As my business grew, I never forgot my roots or the struggles I had overcome to reach this point. I took pride in being an immigrant entrepreneur who had achieved success through hard work and determination.

Beyond my business success, I also became a volunteer to advocate for immigrant rights and empowerment at Asian Law Alliance in San Jose, CA. I’m a Disaster Service for American Red Cross, as well as blood donor for 17 years. In addition, I’m a recipient for President Obama then and President Biden Community Servive Awards for my community service in Northern California.

I mentored other aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly women from immigrant backgrounds, helping them navigate the complexities of starting and running a business in a new country. As well as also teach Chronic-Diseases Self-Management class and Quit Smoking class at Vietnamese American Service Center for elderly and marginalized population.

Contact Info:

• Website: DepLifestyleMagazine.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/1MandaBear
• Facebook: Manda Bear
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-bach-schabert
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/1MandaBear
• Yelp: Manda Bear
• Other: GoogleMap – Manda Bear

Image Credits
Trevor Newkirk