Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gina DeFord. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Gina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

After lots of feedback and careful planning, I hosted our very first member event in January of 2018. We had 30 Founding Members, all women based in Tampa and St. Petersburg, FL who owned unique businesses. A few of the women in the room were Kelly Nova and Ilana Karcinski of FairyTail Pet Care, Amy Braswell of PaperFinch Design and Heather Saunders of Wellspring Wealth Partners (an Ameriprise private wealth advisory practice). Seven years later, and these women are still Babe Crafted members! Kelly and Ilana have since been featured on Shark Tank and have locations in 6 cities around the U.S. Amy has built up the wholesale side of her business and continued to launch her signature map designs on new products and cute gift items that are sold across the country. Heather has gone on to become a Certified Financial Planer and the Owner of the firm. Being a part of the journey of each of these women and seeing them encourage one another as well as all the other members in the group has been a joy. Seeing Babe Crafted’s community and resources working has been nothing short of magical!

Gina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Before I became a business owner in 2017, I created several projects that would bring people together to share ideas and support for the local, creative community. The first was a travel and storytelling event series called, “The Travelogues” and the second was a live interview series called “Folklore” where I’d highlight business owners and community builders from around Tampa Bay. My professional background and passion for events led me to starting Babe Crafted, a business development club where women can come together in a judgment-free zone to learn from one another and continue building the business & life of their dreams. Being a business owner is an exciting path, but it can also be isolating and hard to open up yourself up to others when going through challenges. At our core, Babe Crafted is all about community and eduction. In our group, we rally for one another, share feedback and expertise, connect one another with helpful contacts, and so much more. I’m really proud of our membership culture– it’s full of real kindness and encouragement and our members make space for growth, both within themselves & others.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I had a comfort with social media before launching my business from my past jobs working in social media and public relations. I made it a priority to jump in on conversations that were already happening, like holidays (Valentine’s Day AND National Coffee Day!) and pop culture moments. I was also an early adopter of video content, which has become more important than ever! My advice for new business owners building a social media presence is to show up – show up, even when you don’t feel like it. Show up even when you feel like no one is listening. The only way to build connection and grow your audience on social media is to be consistent and post content that your audience wants to see. Don’t think about it only in terms of ‘what do I want to say?’ Think about it from your audience’s perspective, ask yourself: What does she want to hear? What is she going through right now? What would make her life better? And go from there!

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

Transparency and embracing diversity have helped me build a solid reputation for Babe Crafted. We continue to educate ourselves and make it a priority to elevate voices, voices of women from all backgrounds, including but not limited to race, religion, and sexual orientation. Our Member Directory is public and always has been so you can see who’s at the party before joining our membership and also use the Directory as a resource to find the pro you’re looking for. Our events are open to non-members so women who are thinking about joining Babe Crafted can attend events as the guest of a current member or snag a general admission ticket. We share our virtual and in person event calendar on social media and with our email list as a resource to women in the community to have access to authentic networking opportunities and chances to up level with our workshops. We have a reputation for being real and being truly supportive and that lends itself to not only having great relationships with our members, but also inspires members to refer friends and peers to the group, too. I’m super proud of that!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.babecrafted.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babecrafted/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/babecrafted
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@babecrafted4181

Image Credits

The photo credit is in the title of each photo. Thank you!