We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brieanna Lightfoot Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Brieanna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I originally started Brands by Brie in 2014 after a family member requested my assistance in building a website for her nonprofit and asked if I could help with their social media management. Through this experience, I recognized my love for marketing because I realized at its core marketing is just a form of storytelling. After recognizing there were many other nonprofits and small businesses struggling in this space, I decided to take my side hustle and turn it into a full-fledged company.
I partnered with a local incubator that provided support to startup companies and that partnership really helped me gain my footing.
Fast forward almost ten years later and I’m using the skillset I built back then to help mom business owners share their story in a way that easily connects to their audiences.
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.
I’m Brieanna Lightfoot Smith, a business and productivity coach for moms and I’m obsessed with creating and cultivating community.
I help busy moms and aspiring mom entrepreneurs build their businesses with confidence and clarity through 1:1 coaching, group coaching, digital courses and my new monthly membership.
I grew up with a deep love of writing. I saw it as a form of therapy and have published 4 books. I also loved organizing everything from my sister and my childhood room to all my folders from Lisa Frank.
Everything I’ve ever loved helped lay the groundwork for the business I have today.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
There have been numerous times I’ve made mistakes as a recovering overachiever and unfortunately it often took some BIG DRAMATIC moment for me to finally hear God saying in essence “Chill Brie.”
One time in particular that comes to mind is when I was working two jobs and trying to build my business on the side at 7 months pregnant! (Smh)
I remember taking one of my mentees/little sisters out for tacos in New Orleans where we lived and when it was time to go I passed out in my car. My body had had it!
Though it was hard to recover from at the time, the lesson I learned was an important one: You can’t be everything to everybody all the time. Sometimes it’s necessary to pass on certain opportunities for a season and build up the trust and faith that everything is going to work together in God’s timing.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
I used to pride myself on pounding the pavement to get new clients and help them upgrade their visual brand. These days, I realize my energy and efforts are better spent connecting organically with individuals both online and in person, in addition to being intentional about leveraging pre-existing relationships. Over time I’ve also seen it’s not just about the visuals of a brand it’s about making sure my clients’ businesses have a firm foundation.
Since doing this, my clients are rocking it and nearly 80% of the moms I worked with last year were referral clients!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://masteryourmomentum.co
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/blightfootsmith