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

Asha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

Navigating social media as an entrepreneur with multiple businesses has been one of my biggest learning curves.

When I started my wedding photography business back in 2016, I went from having 1 Instagram account (which I used to share personal photos and videos with my family and friends) to having that one, plus a business account strictly for sharing my photography work and reaching potential new clients. Jumping from one account to two was more exciting than daunting for me—the transition wasn’t hard because there could still be some overlap when it came to the content I shared (behind the scenes, showing my personality, etc).

I kept my personal account and my business account separate for years. It made sense for me as I grew my brand, launched photography education, and established myself in the industry. In November 2020, I launched The Place Studios—a space for creators and photographers to use with their own clientele. This added a new Instagram account to the roster. This addition made it more difficult for me to juggle, simply because the studio was its own entity versus an extension of me the way my photography brand was. Instead of sharing my work or personal things I loved, I had to focus on growing a new business from scratch, building a new community, re-sharing other artists’ work versus solely my own, and reaching new potential clients.

As if two businesses weren’t enough, in September 2021 I launched Anthea Bridal, a modern take on bridal apparel and accessories. The learning curve was similar to the one I experienced with the creation of the account for The Place Studios—except this time, I was selling physical products. I had to learn the “shop” features on social media, as well as the whole backend process of shipping things to customers. Juggling three business accounts and one personal account was hard, especially because they all demanded such different content creation and management. I had some help with content creation from my best friend/assistant, but overall it was a huge task that I had to learn to manage.

As my photography brand expanded, the overlap between Asha Bailey the business owner and Asha Bailey the human being blended together more and more. A huge part of my business’ foundation rested heavily on my authenticity as a person first, and business owner second. This overlap eventually prompted me to retire my personal account in December 2021, and effectively merge it with my business account. I continued sharing my work, but I would also post photos from my personal life to my feed instead of relegating them to my stories only. If you’re following along, this takes our Instagram account count to 3 total.

I had 3 accounts for a while, and my merged personal/business account slowly started turning into a place where I shared more content from my personal life versus photos of my work. In November 2022, I decided to keep my main account (previously strictly my work account) for lifestyle content, and created a new business account dedicated to my photography work. So now, we’re back to 4 accounts.

Until August of this year, I launched my apparel brand Neighborhood Love Club. The challenges of managing 5 accounts is a lot (just like it sounds). Currently I don’t have a dedicated person helping me run any one account, but my assistant does help me with content creation and I heavily utilize Instagram’s post schedule feature. It can get very overwhelming, but taking things slowly and remaining organized is the best strategy for success when it comes to running so many different businesses.

Asha, 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 Asha Bailey—I’m an entrepreneur and business owner residing in Southern California. I wear lots and lots of hats…

– wedding photographer — @ashabaileyphotography
– studio owner — @theplacestudios
– new mom — @ashabailey_
– clothing brand owner — @nbhdloveclub

I think the problems I can solve for you will depend on what you’re looking for—and that’s what I’m the most proud of. I’m a very passionate person, and I love that I’ve been able to grow so many businesses from the ground up. My personality is so entwined into everything that I do, which is why I feel like my businesses are able to foster the connections they do within the community.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Everyone thinks that to grow on social media, there’s some secret sauce, or special algorithm that you have to play into. Maybe there is, but for me, it couldn’t have happened slower or more organically. I think the biggest key to growing on social media is to cultivate your community and show up as yourself. The moment people were able to see the person behind the account as a REAL human and not just someone existing on social media, they were able to connect with me on a deeper level. They were able to become invested in my life and my brand and my story, versus just scrolling through more content that they didn’t care about.

The best part about this strategy is that once you adjust your focus to your community, social media becomes less work and more fun, and you eventually stop caring about the numbers altogether.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

“Keeping in touch with clients” turns into “checking in on friends” when you approach your work on a more personal level instead of looking at it as strictly “work.”

I find it so much easier (and more fun) to foster those relationships when the clients that I work with genuinely turn into people that I want in my life outside of a B2C capacity. Getting to that point isn’t always easy, but showing up online as your authentic, genuine self allows the clients that relate to those parts of you to find you and connect with you much easier.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ashabailey.com
• Instagram: @ashabailey_