We recently connected with Andrea Thompson and have shared our conversation below.

Andrea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

This is a slippery slope, because you don’t want to impose your business on your loved ones. They may not be in your target market. Support can be in many forms, it doesn’t always have to be in the form of a sale. A share/ repost to spread brand awareness can be just as valuable as a sale. You never know who on their friend list will see the post and be interested. I have been lucky on my journey because my family really loves me and wants to see me succeed, so they have supported me through all my entrepreneurial ventures.

Andrea, 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?

I’m Dreva Renello an actress turned business owner. I moved to California to be an actress and in the process decided to start a business called Dreva Beauty, we sold shimmering body makeup. I made the decision to put that business on hold and go in another direction. I started a new business called Beach Seven Hair which sells Hair Perfume and Hair Serum.

What inspired me to start selling hair perfume was a party I went to. I sprayed perfume in my hair before I went. (even though you shouldn’t do that) And from the time I walked in, to the time I left the party, it was like a had the secret sauce and all the guys wanted a taste, haha!. Guys were coming up to me left and right. One guy even said “You smell so good, I don’t want to walk away!” I thought to myself, “Have I just discovered the ultimate key to attracting any guy you want?”

I decided to do a little product research to see if hair perfume is a “thing”. Low and behold, it is! Every major perfume brand has a hair perfume. That means, it’s already established and I’m not creating the wheel. There is already market for this product with a proven track record of it selling.

Next I just needed to differentiate my hair perfume from the rest. I decided to make my hair perfume not only smell good but good for your hair also. All of my products are infused with Argan Oil and lots of other natural botanicals.

Then, I started hiring models for UGC content, YouTube influencers for reviews, and also advertising on IG, TIKTOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST, YOUTUBE SHORTS , and GOOGLE. I was very consistent with posting was able to build up my brand’s value pretty quickly.

What makes me most proud is the customer feedback. Every time I see a comment or review saying how much they are OBSESSED with the scents of the hair perfume and serum, it lights up my soul. I love making people feel happy and confident and that is the essence of how I want Beach Seven Hair to make customers feel.

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

Staying consistent and posting on all social media platforms even when it seemed like I wasn’t getting noticed. All it takes is one post to go viral to really sky rocket your business to that next level.

They say if you can learn to cultivate consistency in your work you’ll eventually beat talent, luck, skill and even quality.

I think my social media presence from years ago is still helping to boost my presence today. That just goes to show you that all of your decisions today affect your future. It’s up to you to choose if your actions will benefit you in the long run.

Also knowing who to network with has been highly beneficial with growing my brand. A lot of times we want to try to network with people who are at the top of our field with nothing to offer them in return. We overlook the people on the same level as us. Someone on the same level as you can provide value also. You can provide value to each other without it seeming super one-sided. That is something I would advise anyone in the beginning stages trying to build a reputation to do. Utilize the people around you and work together.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn the whole “Traditional Path Promise”. We have advanced past the industrial age. We are in the technology age that is shifting into artificial intelligence. Going to college and getting a degree does not guarantee you a high paying salary and job with benefits( Unless of course it’s Lawyer, Doctor, Engineer, & Tech) . I learned this lesson pretty quickly after I graduated back in 2011. Learning a specialized skill would be very beneficial in today’s age.

Most of the things that applied to previous generations, are no longer relevant now. We live in the easiest time to become a millionaire because of the internet. A book that changed my life in 2015 was “The Cash Flow Quadrant” by Robert Kiyosaki. It teaches you about employees vs self employed vs business owner vs investor. The ultimate goal for me would be investor and motivational speaker. You want to value your time and let you money work for you.

Gone are the days where you need to work 40 years for a company to retire with just enough to get by. If you are an employee I urge you to start creating a few different sources of income outside of your job. Crypto, Social Media Marketing, NFT’s Stocks, E-commerce, Real Estate, even Digital Real Estate or anything that is not depending on you trading your time for money.

My backstory for wanting to generate revenue beyond working a traditional job stems from me wanting control of my life. I never want to have the fear of being fired or laid off. I always found it unsettling that if an employer wants to, they can just let you go and boom your “stable life” that you thought you created isn’t so stable anymore. I decided to make myself the boss so I would never again have that fear and false sense of security that jobs provide again.

I want to leave you with this… Go For your dreams! You only get one life, so live it to its fullest!

Contact Info:

• Website: Beachsevenhair.com
• Instagram: @Dreva_Renello
• Facebook: @Beachsevenhair
• Twitter: @Beachsevenhair
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwD4B9aRmWBqHc8Ckl4FrLw
• Other: other instagram– @Beachsevenhair
• Other : website DrevaRenello.com

Image Credits
Dreva Renello