We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrea Ledbetter . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrea below.

Alright, Andrea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

I would have to say telling new brands and influencers that they have to pick a niche to dominate. I operate in the Social Media Realms, and a common misinformed tip that a lot of brand coaches and social media strategist tell you is to find one niche and dominate in that niche. I am a cybersecurity analyst and I study the analytics on social media to build successful platforms for my customers. I have learned, from watching my clients analytics and pulling patterns from their content, that niches do not matter. The audience wants to know YOUR KNOWLEDGE. They do not care if it comes from multiple niches. They want to know what you know. By sharing free stuff that you have learned along the way of creating your processes for your brand, your targeted audience will flocked to you to learn that information about the niches THAT THEY LIKE. The brand is YOU. They support your brand because they liked the way that YOU presented the offer. You solved a problem for them that they may not have known existed because YOU made it simple for them to understand.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am Andrea Ledbetter also known as Coach Bev. I am a wife t my loving and supportive husband, Marcus and a mother of my two beautiful children, Latreal and Aubrey. I am a social media marketing manager and content strategist. I am a business owner for over 7yrs and Influencer for over 3yrs. I am also a Cybersecurity Analyst and use my skills to track patterns across platforms to grow visibility for brands and help influencer start their journey without having a huge platform.

I started this journey as a way to help my business acquaintances who were struggling with selling their brand on social media. Most of them just did not know how to be transparent with their audience or “what was allowed” without their brand being judged or frowned upon by viewers.

I help my students and brands find places where their targeted audience is located and help them become visible with curated content, course creations, social media marketing, or hand in hand mentoring via Zoom or in person. I teach my brands how to maneuver on social media without having to be on screen and still make the connections to build healthy relationships that turn into paying customers. As a Coach, I have created a community of creators to help them establish connections with global brands using education and resources.

I am someone who has been known for their honesty and bluntness. I am genuine and honest, with my students and clients, and use my analytical skills to back up my information. I show them THE TRUTH and teach them how to use that truth to maintain connections and grow their authenticity on social media. What sets me apart from other strategist is my honesty with my students. They trust me to be blunt with them and tell them exactly what things mean without the “Glitter and Glam.”

I started the new year with a new passion of mines which is teaching and public speaking. I hosted a content presentation at an Event named “The Mastermind Tour” headlining @streetpoet_1125 and @iammesh_monroe. I was also a guest panelist, along side @iamnekajohnsonplusmodel, @theemyeshanicole, and @juztmeme and the experience was AMAZING. To be in the room with such amazing women, and helping them learn different ways on how to make content easier for their brands. I am honored to be able to share my obsession and add public speaker as one of my many talents.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My brand, Bev of Hi’La Management, branched from my original brand, Hi’La Decor. Hi’La Decor is my home decor brand that I am revamping at the moment. I started off creating funny saying on satin pillows in my home office. And as a Sublimation artist, I watched as my brand skyrocketed, so did recreations of my brand and saying across social media. I watched my brand came to a complete halt. There were months where I made no income. Months where I had no idea when my next sale would be made. So I started using social media to speak about my business and brand. I started showing the background process of what I was creating for my customers and went viral for a video about washing pillows. (Yes, I know how ironic). Because I was one of the very first social media accounts to be monetized on Facebook, when it wasn’t a thing, I started to speak about the experience of being monetized and able to make money from the videos I made for my Decor brand.

During the time of my video going viral, I was in school with Per Scholas, Inc. studying to become a cybersecurity analyst. I had saw what I needed to see with my brand and was looking for job security to bring income to my family. I signed up for a course building class, and had my focus on launching a Beginner Crafting Course. I had my heart set on building these videos and hand in hand courses to help crafting simpler for other. As I got ready to take my CYSA CE certification, asked God if this was the right lane for me. I said give me a sign and just help me figure this out. I took my Certification and FAILED, TWICE!!! ( I can laugh now because the certification isn’t needed to secure jobs, most companies just want you to know the work) After failing twice, I dug into building my course and put all of my focus into my business.

With the mindset, what’s for me is for me and nothing can stop it, I kept getting called to help my business acquaintances, become monetized. I had read the terms and conditions of my monetized contracts and learned that as long as you had more than 20 reels on Facebook, had a public account, no restrictions, and your following button turned on that you qualified for the Professional Mode on Facebook (this was when the Reels platform was first introduced). I kept explaining the steps to my business acquaintances and as soon as they turned their following button active, Facebook sent them an invitations to join the Professional Mode. Word gets around that I was the person to help your activate getting paid on Facebook. I asked God again, if this was the right lane for me. And person after person was reaching out to me to get the information. So I created my Monetize Your BRand Ebook and the rest is history. From my eBook, I have launched a community of influencer on Facebook Groups named Content That Sales. I also branched into Social Media Marketing Management for other brands and run their social media accounts for them. I launched a Brand Coaching cohort, where I teach brands how to run their social media pages. I also launched Influencing Coaching cohort, where I teach influencers how to connect with global brands using the tastics I have learned using my cybersecurity analytic skills.
When its time to pivot, trust in the universe to have your back. Lead with the mindset that what is for you is for you and no one can take it from you. Create your own lane and learn to manuvuer around people who tell you NO! Be your own cheerleader and clap for every single accomplishment you achieve. And NEVER SEEK VALIDATION FROM OTHERS TO BE GREAT!!!!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I do this for all the lil black girls who were told they were not enough. Your existance matters and you matter. I am a black girls from the poorest city in America. I grew up in a broken home and family. My biological mother is a victim of physical abuse. I’ve lived in group homes, shelters, friends houses, and anywhere we could stay to have a roof over our head. I was a foster kid. I was raised by my aunt Pearl Beverly, who saw the beauty in myself and siblings. As a teen, I struggled with abondonment issues and identity issues with trying to find myself. As an adult, I dealt with homelessness, job security, and mental health issues that I see a therapist about every single week!!! I do what I do for my daughter, Aubrey, who is always watching me and to help her understand that she can be selfmade. I do this for the victims who were not dealt a good life. The ones who are doing everything that they can to stay ahead and find stablity in a world that pretends they do not exist. I SEE YOU!!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bevofhila.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/obsessedwithcontent
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bevofhila
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@obsessedwithcontent
• Other: tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@obssessedwithcontent