We recently connected with Amber Braswell and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amber , thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Let your 9-5 work for you! Like many business owners I still work my 9-5. I currently work in the public health field and received my Master’s degree in Human Service Administration from Coppin State University a couple years before I started Studio D 360. Like many others I come from a household where college is a “must” and while I am thankful for my college experience, I am also thankful that I tapped into the entrepreneur side. I went to an event recently called Power Play in downtown Baltimore hosted by Color Vision and The WELL and on the panel some of the speakers spoke about the benefits of keeping your 9-5. I feel like today’s society social media makes entrepreneurs feel rushed to leave their 9-5, or that their success does not come until they leave their 9-5 and for me my 9-5 is working just fine for me! I have been able to fund a lot of my business needs with my 9-5 income and fully invest in my business. While I do hope to get to the point in business where I am able to retire from my 9-5 I continue to enjoy the partnerships that I create at my 9-5 while turning some into Studio D 360 clients.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the owner of Studio D 360, a business designed to be one of the most memorable activities at our clients’ events. Studio D 360 offers photo booth rentals, back drop rentals, and captures memories for you and your event guest. Studio D 360 allows me to be creative and challenges me to think outside of the box. Since undergrad I have always loved planning events big or small. In 2019 COVID hit us, and I decided to tap into my entrepreneur side. It felt good to connect with people who were facing the same challenges as me. I continued to sell lashes through social media which then grew bigger, and I opened a lash vending machine under New Era iCollection at Annapolis Mall. In 2021 I gave birth to my daughter and a few weeks after bringing her home from the hospital while feeding her Studio D 360 came to my mind. At first, I did not understand the assignment that God had for me, but I prayed on it, and I could not shake the idea. I did research for weeks before I decided that I was going to start Studio D 360. Let me tell you honey I quit Studio D 360 about five times before it even got started. I felt like it was too much work, I was a new mom and I felt like it would be a lot of work and not much reward. But then I had to remember that birthing my business was part of my story that God already wrote. The D in Studio D 360 is for my daughter Daniella in hope of passing this business down to her one day. Studio D 360 is not just a photo booth company, we bring the vibes to all the events we work on, we make people feel good, and confident when they get in front of the camera. I plan to build this small business into a larger business and service other major cities outside of the DMV. Never know when we will invade your city!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My journey with Studio D 360 has not been an easy path and I have had some challenges that I had to overcome but seeing my clients and guest let loose and enjoy themselves while capturing memories with us makes it worth it. One of my biggest downfalls is I always doubt myself, I doubt my skills, and my ability to be great. We currently live in a generation where Instagram is the be all end all and people thrive off what other people’s success looks like from Instagram. I had someone message me and tell me that because I did not have a lot of followers on StudioD360 business page that she did not know if she would book with me because I do not seem popular. I did not even know if I wanted to continue doing the business because at that moment, I felt like there were so many other photo booth companies who were already established on Instagram, they had a lot of followers, a lot of events they previously booked, and a lot of connections. I started asking myself “Why would anyone want to book us?”. Some days I get discouraged but then when I have clients tell me that they are happy they decided to book with us because the experience we bring is magnificent, our customer service is excellent then I get excited because I know I am doing something right and what is for me will always be for me. I decided that I must believe in myself, and in this company, for it to be successful and have clients believe in us as well. I also realized that our words are powerful, as we speak, we are speaking things into existence and planting seeds into the universe. I now speak nothing but positive and powerful statements when speaking about StudioD360 in the present and future.

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

Most of my business clientele comes from Instagram. I decided way on that I would leverage social media to my advantage for growing my business and it has worked well for me. Even though our follower count may not be in the thousands we are booked and busy. Now I am starting to focus on building partnerships in real time outside of social media with people, companies, organizations, and many more by sending personable emails to introduce Studio D 360 and the services we offer. Some advice to new business owners or existing business owners still building their brand, whether it is a hobby or a fire-burning passion you have hit the ground running and do not look back. Do everything you say you want to do while you are here. Even if you have a 9-5, still pursue that hobby and turn it into an outlet for yourself. Use Instagram to your full advantage, never feel pressured to do or have what the next business is doing. With Instagram you can do paid ads that allow you to customize the audience that is reached while your ad is running. Get back on Facebook if you have not already and join some Facebook groups and get to know people in those groups and let them know what products/ services you offer. Tik Tok! You may not want to show your face or make videos, but clients/ consumers love to see you, hear from you, and connect with you, Tik Tok is a great platform for that. Social media can be a curse or a gift for many business owners so remember to do what works for you and your business because what is for you will always be for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.studiod360.net
• Instagram: @studiod360_

Image Credits
Monae Photography IG @monae_photography