We were lucky to catch up with Christine Lacayo recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Christine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
It’s funny but I really didn’t come up with it, my best friend and business partner did! I had been working in the communications field with other environmental organizations for the past 7 years helping to grow their community and brand awareness through social media, blogging, impact partnerships, and email marketing.
My goal after graduating with a Master’s in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development was to find an ocean conservation organization I could do this for, but well-paid ocean work is hard to come by, especially for a woman of color.
Suzie, my best friend, knew I kept up a blog where I would write stories about ocean initiatives and living a more conscious lifestyle. She
also knew how much I loved writing and using storytelling to ignite change.
One day she told me, “You know you should really look into copywriting and start your own business.” I had never heard of copywriting before and I never really considered myself a business owner, I don’t necessarily like to manage people and I hate staring at spreadsheets and numbers.
But frustrated with the lack of ocean opportunities, the thought intrigued me. Working from home, choosing my own clients, doing what I love doing, and no limits on how much revenue I generate. So I decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship with a lot of risk. I’m not advising anyone to do what I did. I quit my full-time job, moved back to the US without really any savings at the time, and no real plan on how I was going to start my business. I just knew I needed change in my life and I wanted to get paid to write and to help the causes I believed in most, ocean conservation.
Thankfully, I have a super supportive family. I moved in with my sister and brother-in-law and helped nanny my twin niece and nephew from the day they arrived home from the hospital while I built my website and services, identified my target audience, and figured out how to invoice and set up payroll. My brother-in-law set me up nicely with ADP, if you’re interested reach out!
It’s been a whirlwind of experiences, challenges, wins, surprises, and failures mixed in with a global pandemic since then!
Christine, 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 help mission-driven brands grow their brand awareness using multilingual storytelling through a multicultural lens. I provide three different services with what I call my multilingual content reef:
1. Blooming Blogs – For brands interested in increasing their web traffic and leading as the expert voice in their niche through blogs.
2. Letters from the Deep- For brands wanting to build trust, loyalty, and an intimate connection with their audience through newsletters.
3. Multilingual Storytelling- For brands interested in venturing into new markets and regions through translations or multicultural marketing.
What sets me apart are my languages! I speak French, Italian, and Spanish and can work with clients in need of copy or content in any of these languages.
I’m most proud of starting two businesses. When I launched my personal brand, Christine Marie Lacayo, I had no idea it would birth another brand, Siembra Studios, just a year later. Siembra Studios is the business I co-founded with my best friend where we offer our services combined; branding, storytelling, and WordPress Websites for Changemakers and Purpose-Driven brands. I’m most excited about watching both of these businesses grow with the communities we’ll connect with and impact over the next coming years!
The biggest lessons I’ve learned are that it is absolutely impossible to succeed without trusting in the process, the importance of holding strong to my faith, that I had to invest in myself to grow, and to keep taking the faith-filled risks.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Being able to use my voice and my writing to advance truth, beauty, and a better world.
I used to work at CNN as a tour guide, and working there made me realize the massive potential mass media has in influencing culture and society. One time someone on my tour asked me, “how do you choose what stories to air and keep on repeat?” I told him, we don’t. You choose that.
With a lot of influence, comes a lot of responsibility. If such a massive network can sway such a large majority of people to live and act a certain way, why aren’t there more channels and media networks spreading stories based on what is true, just, and a more regenerative way of living?
My goal is to be a small contribution to that problem.
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
My mission is to encourage and inspire others to live a more conscious and purpose-driven life. With the climate crisis and environmental degradation accelerating more and more every year, the most vulnerable impacted the worst, and society living without any convictions or purpose for something greater; something outside of themselves, my creative journey and mission-driven storytelling serves to inspire more actions and initiatives rooted in purpose, values, and ethics for our environment and humanity at large.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.christinemarielacayo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinemarielacayo/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-marie-lacayo/
- Other: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/61f3114d60ada4164ea6f95b
Image Credits
Kelley Raye