We were lucky to catch up with Freya recently and have shared our conversation below.

Freya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I remember the first time I wanted to start a business and do grand things. I expressed my goals for the future and what I wanted my life to look like to somebody I thought I was close with, and they told me that I should just be OK with being average.
Something about that started a small fire within me at 20 that wasn’t fully cultivated until later.
I mostly started doing little things here and there and attended farmers markets trying to sell different things, but it wasn’t quite where I was supposed to be at just 24. I remember opening up my first storefront at 25 and continuing to run into problems with people who just wanted to see me be torn down.
I closed up that storefront and we ended up moving about an hour away from that town. But before we had moved, I started as a freelancer in marketing in the same year I closed my storefront because that was the one thing I was really, really good at.
And while we were moving, I ended up not getting re-contracted and feeling like I was failing all over again.
My passion was to help people, but I felt like I failed myself at 26. I ended up writing my first book in that three month timespan while moving and found that my job title applies everywhere.
From there, I went full-time for myself doing content strategy work for small businesses and even in a publishing house as a contractor.
If I could do it all over again, I would definitely start earlier and make sure that other people knew that they couldn’t actually tear me down. I would be completely and authentically myself in my endeavors to help other people succeed, because that’s where my real passion is, and the craziest part is that marketing really does help people if you’re in it for the right reasons.
But if I ask myself if I *should* do it again or do it earlier, I don’t know that I would’ve had the same experiences or willpower to create what I have. While I’m still in business infancy, I think my life experiences that have led up to this point put a better perspective on how I work as opposed to just running a business and consulting. My drive to make other people’s dreams come true come from that one person who told me to just be okay with being average when each person has so much beautiful potential that they just need the right person to tell them is there. And that’s why I do what I do—to tell those people they CAN achieve and to always want to strive for whatever their goals are. Because I’ll be right behind them while they do it, helping them.
That person changed my outlook, and for that, I truly do thank them. Because at 27, I found myself and my calling.

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

I work freelance as myself and for myself in the book industry. My specialty is content strategy.
Content strategy is a mix of all of my favorite things: what to do marketing wise and why. It involves so much data and a prediction for the future, and each project is its own beast to conquer.
To authors and book service businesses, I curate plans to grow and repeat past success. I take you from A to Z on all of your marketing platforms and perform a full audit to identify strengths and weaknesses. Whether this be a content calendar, a full email campaign plan, or optimizing your website content to perform better, I dig into everything the person or company has, and I plan out how to make it better.
Long story short, I work with numbers every day and do the thinking so all someone would need to do is post.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

The SBA! Score.org connects you with a free business mentor to go with you on your journey free of charge. They have endless resources (like the library!) to help you succeed in your endeavors.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being authentic and kind. I will never turn someone away.
I might be hard to pin down from my endless work hours, but I will always find you a source of support and a potential solution to your problem without asking you for a dime.
Kind people are hard to find, so it’s far better to just be one.

Contact Info:

• Other: I’m on TikTok! @bookalchemistfaye where I offer free marketing info weekly and answer questions for authors who just need a hand.