We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Alexander. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin below.

Erin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about one of the craziest things you’ve experienced in your journey so far.

I think the craziest story, although I have many, happened when I launched my business. In March 2020, I decided I was tired of working in the mental health field and I was ready to launch my business. I spent every waking moment, including when I was at work unattended on the weekends, researching how to become a successful virtual assistant. You see when you find something you’re passionate about you want to research every fiber of that industry. You spend your nights dreaming about what it would feel like to have that lifestyle and you spend your days building towards that goal.

4 months after joining virtual assistant FB groups, talking to my mentor, and saving up my vacation days (secretly), I put in my two weeks. My heart leapt with joy! After 4 years of interviewing entrepreneurs from all over the world on my global podcast and radio show I was finally giving myself what I needed. Freedom to dream. Freedom to create. Freedom to break the cycle of paycheck to paycheck. Most importantly, freedom to travel! You can already guess I promptly booked my first solo trip to Tulum, Mexico to celebrate my act of rebellion.

Anyways, not even 2 weeks after I launched my business my father received a diagnosis of Stage 4 Kidney Cancer. It literally shattered my entire world into a million pieces. My joy turned into frantic 911 calls as his health quickly disintegrated. I decided not to cancel my trip to Tulum because I knew I needed the love of travel to get me through this. I cried, I screamed, I checked on my Mom, and then I got on that plane and took a two week vacation to hopefully sort out my emotions.

I fought the feelings of selfishness as I knew if I fall apart I’m no good to anyone. My Mom, his wife of 34 years, needed me and I had to have my energy right. This trip would be medicine to my wounded heart. When I returned to home, my father’s prognosis went from “he won’t make it through the year” to “he won’t make it through the summer”.

Throughout all of this I secured 3 clients in my first 30 days of opening my business. Those clients had no idea how much I needed confirmation and financial security at that time. I was grateful to be at home and not at work during my Dad’s final moments. I’ll share with you now the promise I made to him on his death bed. I promised him that I would walk away from anything that was toxic (including my husband at the time), because I know I deserved better. I cried as I said this as I wish I had the courage to do this while he was alive. I went home after I said my goodbyes and laid down. That sleep on August 30th, 2020 was the best sleep I had every had in my life. When I woke up I was getting calls and had a bunch of text messages, I already knew my father had transitioned into the spiritual world.

It was as if he was waiting for me to care about myself enough to start a new life. He was hanging on to make sure his babygirl , and family, would be able to survive in this world without him. Starting my business while carving my way through grief was incredibly difficult but it taught me how to take my business from survival mode to thriving mode and to give myself IMMENSE amounts of grace. I share that with all my clients in hopes that it helps them along their healing journey in business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Melanin Erin Marketing is a Human Design based Marketing Agency. We focus on the holistic well being of our clients because your business depends on it. We build a 1 of 1 brand strategy from the inside out. We give you your power back as the CEO to create a dream lifestyle that you want in your business. You can charge your worth, and work the days that make sense for your mental health and still attract clients with ease according to your HD.

I actually pivoted from Virtual Assistance to Brand Strategy because I too know what it feels like to have lost the passion I once had for my role in business. It keeps you up at night. You long to have a different role in your business but you feel stuck. So you keep waking up and marketing your business the way you always have because it’s safe. I actually spent a month in Mexico in September 2021 and something sparked inside of me. I called a virtual staff meeting and told everyone we would be closing all of our client projects by the end of the year and make quite a few changes. I wasn’t happy anymore and that’s all my team needed to hear. We spent quarter 4 of 2021 finalizing all our work, sending in our final designs (social media, media kits etc.) and closed our doors briefly.

Once I had complete silence and could think of the next step, I found that I loved digital marketing. As a 3/5 Projector (The Experimenter and Guide), I thrive on coming in on the ground floor and building up. I am hopelessly devoted to co-creating Brand Strategies that help my clients feel confident and seen in the market place. As a black woman that grew up in the suburbs, I know what it’s like to have many friends but to not feel seen and understood. I am passionate about finding the right Brand Strategy to help my clients identify their dream client, attract them with ease, and build a sustainable community fill with joy and authenticity.

Incorporating Human Design in my business has been life changing. I lean in on my natural gifts and “wait for the invitation”. I’ve done away with cold DMs, begging people to schedule calls with me etc. I focus on harnessing my pure and potent energy and clients come to me now. This is what I want for everyone that comes in contact with me. The ability to focus on your zone of genius, trust that more clients are coming, and enjoy creating content according to their design. I take clients from being confused and afraid of content marketing to being excited to share their wisdom with their timeline. As a black woman this shift is pure activism. I imagine the smiles on our ancestors faces when they see women of color scaling their business according to their natural light.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

As a 3/5 Self Projected Projector, my most effective strategy is “waiting for the invitation”. That means changing my work day to not exceed 4 hour days, prioritizing rest and play, and refining my storytelling skills. According to my chart, I attract people through my fails and my triumphs. My dream clients love watching my story unfold and my boldness to keep going. I inspire them to keep going, keep trying, and that it’s okay to make mistakes. As you can imagine public speaking has been critical throughout my entrepreneurial journey. From clubhouse, to Instagram lives, to virtual panels, to podcasts. These 4 formats have each brought me new customers because when I share my story I connect with my dream client.

Once, you have a clear understanding of who you’re speaking to and the power of your transformation you really can share your story in any format that feels good to you. Some of us are not “key note speakers” and that’s okay. There’s a stage for everyone. It’s about finding your circles, sharing your message, and everything else will fall into place.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that I have to dress, talk and act like everyone else in my industry. As much as it pains me to say, I spent the first 6 months of my Entrepreneurial journey trying to look as “polished” as everyone else. What I learned over time is that when you try to look like everyone else you blend in. You become invisible which makes it almost impossible for the right client to find you.

When I started dressing as myself and talking like myself, I attracted black women who wanted the same thing. They loved the fact that I traveled to 4 different countries in 2021. They loved that I was carrying the death of my father and speaking about it openly because 9 times out of 10 your clients are also dealing with mental health issues etc. As a service based business owner I had to learn that marketing is about connection. You have to make a deep connection between you and your dream client and the bridge is your business. Identifying how you are uniquely designed (either through Human Design or self help in general) will put you miles ahead of your competition.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://melaninerinmarketing.com/humandesignmarketingservices
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melaninerinmarketing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelaninErin
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaninerinmarketing/
• Other: Human Design Live Reading For $97 on Fiverr https://www.fiverr.com/share/lA7Kj7

Image Credits
Lichtfoto Estudio Panama, Panama ( I forget the photographers name)