Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amiana Patterson . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amiana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

When navigating the road of business owner and influencer, the biggest qualm I have is lack of authenticity. I believe there is a difference between having influence authentically and creating influence inauthentically.

As a business owner it has always been said that people buy into who you are and if your service and/or product is great, then that’s the additional benefit to your consumer. Although this is beneficial advice in my industry it has been used quite often in the wrong way.

I agree that people support who they can relate to, are inspired from, and ultimately who they can connect with. But I do not agree in being privy to that and portraying to be someone you are not for gain of any sort.

Amiana, 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?

My name is Amiana Patterson better known as Amiana Monik across the land of social media. I am a serial entrepreneur and influencer.

Entrepreneurship has been my avenue of passion almost my whole life. As a child I created and ran several financial generating outlets with the help of my family.

From providing a luxury all natural skincare line, Pampered Luxe, to capturing the most special moments through A Monik Photography, to leaving my heart on paper through amianamonik.com as a blogger, and managing a health and wellness community for black women through Midwest Black Girl Recess, the passion to provide service has been naturally curated from adolescence to adulthood.

Within my journey I have became certified as a Life Coach as well as a NLP Practitioner to better assist my own life’s journey as well as those who I connect with through my serial entrepreneurship and influencing.

Navigating through life is not as beautiful as entrepreneurs make it seem at times. I believe taking the initiative to pursue self development in certification has been a pivoting point in the marathon we call life as well as my customers and supporters to be able to properly communicate the peaks and valleys as a business owner and influencer while maintaining authenticity.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe what has been helpful to me in both business and influencing is transparency. Although transparency can be scary for some I leaned into it early on with the fact of knowing I won’t be for everyone. My brand is not for everyone, but for the ones it is for they know/knew exactly who and what they could expect. Allowing myself to take my customers and supporters behind the scenes, letting them in my life without censor built not only rapport but also trust.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Just recently I conducted Midwest Black Girl Recess in St.Louis,MO. Midwest Black Girl Recess is a community promoting health and wellness through double dutch, line dancing, hopscotch and other various activities for the black woman to strengthen camaraderie, healthy lifestyle choices & networking one recess at a time!

I was in the middle of a week long press tour to promote the event, as I was on my way to the last interview at Hot 104.1 one of the biggest radio stations in the St.Louis area, my car broke down. I had 30 minutes before we went on air and I was stranded.

I knew I couldn’t miss the opportunity to promote Midwest BGR and I was on a tight timeframe to make it happen. I left my car on the side of the highway and called an Uber making it to the interview with 10 minutes to spare.

When you believe in you and what you are doing sometimes you just have to take risks. Calculated risks of course!

Contact Info:

• Website: Amianamonik.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/amianamonik
• Facebook: Facebook.com/amianamonik

Image Credits
Image credit: Ces White/iDex Media