We recently connected with Gilda Safowaa and have shared our conversation below.

Gilda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

So I actually discovered my talents in 2016 when I was interning for a local black owned cosmetics business based in (at the time) Clarcksburg, MD. At the time she [Owner of Omolewa cosmetics- Irene Dele] was looking for a social media manager that could also intern in person to aid in creative direction and filming marketing content. Lucky for me, an amazing family friend that I had worked for in the past knew I was looking for work as a broke undergrad student and instantly thought that it would be best that we interview and meet. Seeing as this would be something completely new to me, I’m not even gonna lie I was nervous but so excited. I never saw myself turning social media and social media marketing into my passion because at the time everyone used to say “there was no money in communications”, “what could you possibly do with that?”, etc. and every now and then I thank God that I never lost sight of my end goal. It was after working with this amazing brand that I started getting jobs with other companies that needed help with their social presence, rebranding, revamping their content, etc. that actually led me into creating GildaTheMogul which later on would lead me into birthing my digital marking business Social Society. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t sure where I’d end up and even in this moment I’m still not sure, but what I do know is that I recognized a problem that was embedded in a lot of small owned businesses and decided that I was going to be their solution. Running a business definitely isn’t easy but looking at some of the people I’ve helped is what allows me to hold faith in myself as well as my business. I know to some it may sound cliche but believing in myself despite all the obstacles I’ve faced and will face is what really keeps me going.

Gilda, 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?

My name is Gilda and I’m a beauty influencer, a Digital marketing specialist with a focus in social media management and content creation and creative director. I provide content creation assistance, brand and creative strategy, social media management, creative direction, makeup services and social media marketing assistance. Honestly, I’m someone that’s usually wearing a lot of hats. My focus is social media management and marketing but despite these 2 main roles, when it came to figuring out what I wanted to do or how I could make myself stick out from my competition is I found an issue that was very present with a lot of small businesses as well as my 9-5 and decided that I would mold myself into being the solution that they needed without any gimmicks, just real results from real people. I’ve been a social media manager since 2016 and it was actually because of the internship I had that year that led me to where I am today. I think my proudest moment would have to be when my client and I had landed her first brand deal because of our hard work. 6 months into rebranding her from her content, to how she was putting out her message, advertising her work as well as her image, we had landed her very first deal with Hyundai and it was the most exciting period of my life. To be able to work with a big brand went from being a dream to reality and I had never been more grateful especially since my client even included me in that project with her as her creative director. If you’re every questioning whether your dreams can be brought to light, I’m here to let you know that they absolutely can.

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

Funny enough I’m actually very shy so when things started to pick up for me as a freelancer, I always struggled a lot with being the person in the front [talking with brands, networking, dimming my own light, etc.] while carrying this intense weight of fear on my back. Its wasn’t easy at first especially since I always had my anxiety in my head saying things like “What if they don’t like me?”, “what if they don’t think I’m good enough” and I had to come to the understanding that it’s my fear of failure that was stopping me from being open in order to be seen and respected. Even if you fail today, you can pick up tomorrow and just start again. The fear of failure no longer carries weight when you understand and accept that you’re not always going to get it right on the first try. A lot of things take a lot of trial and error, that’s just apart of life. Just pick yourself up and try again

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There was a time period where I had to put my business on hold and return back to traditional work and it wasn’t an easy decision to make. I had come to the realization that I wouldn’t be able to lean on my business the way I had wanted and for a while I didn’t even want to acknowledge it out of embarrassment because honestly who even wants to admit that they’re tapped out and can’t afford to keep going? I didn’t create a concrete business model that was a proper funnel to keep me afloat because I had overlooked a lot of things due to being impulsive. I beat myself up over it for the longest time but if I could give advice to anyone else, I’m here to tell you there’s nothing wrong with going back to work for other people until you’re able to pay yourself. Learn from me when I say success is not a race, but a marathon

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/gildathemogul & www.instagram.com/glambygilda_
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/itsgilda
• Other: TikTok: glambygilda_

Image Credits
Photos by @Domoshotme, @praya1 & @fifwilson Models: @The_odditty, @DunnieO & @HeyitsAlexis