We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Rector a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I was a full-time attorney working as in-house counsel at a publicly traded company that owned malls across the country. It was a stable position, but every time the phone rang I knew it was me having to clean up a mistake, error or do something that honestly didn’t light me up inside. It was unrewarding and I knew it wasn’t filling my cup. I decided to explore other creative endeavors which gave me the confidence to launch my own business and take the leap of faith to leave my 9-5PM. One of those endeavors was a female empowerment magazine, Harness, it shared stories from women around the world. I grew that digital and print magazine to over 6,000 writers and 25,000 followers years before social media was in everyday use. The skills I learned cultivating a community gave me the confidence to start my own social media marketing agency. When you decide to stop working for someone else the safety net under the tight rope disappears. You have to be quick, careful and calculated as you make your way through this entrepreneurial journey.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Laura Alexandria Marketing is a social media micro-agency focusing on the strategy, creation and execution of social media content. Uniquely positioned in the space, experts focus on writing compelling copy, creating beautiful graphics and actively building your community through active social outreach. Organizations that work with us include professional sports teams to fintech startups. We absolutely LOVE cultivating online audiences.

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

You need to be authentic on social media. Gone are the days of highly curated, professionally polished photos and feeds. Consumers want to know who you are, what makes your organization different and why should they purchase from you? Finding unique ways to showcase the human side of your company is what I highly recommend. Additionally, engaging. You need to make sure you are actively engaging with your audience. Consumers use social media now as a customer support function and if they are having a poor experience online – they will not be repeat customers.

If you want to grow and grow quickly – determine what your content pillars are, get on a posting cadence and actively interact with your community.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

It is so important to treat your workers and external partners with respect. We have instituted wellness checks for employees and freelancers. We check in once a month to see how they are doing, if they are overwhelmed, how they can be additionally supported. It allows us to get a pulse on what is going on within their personal and professional lives. We are all human at the end of the day so making sure employees are supported during hard times and celebrated during happy times is a good way to retain good talent.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lauraalexandriamarketing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraalexandriamarketing/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arector/