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

Hani, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

This admittedly was hard for me when I first started my company. However, burnout became real and a vacation was the only way to solve it. I went on my first unplugged vacation last year in 2021 to Montana to visit national parks with my family. I literally had no cell service or WiFi and relied completely on my team, which was nerve wrecking, not because I didn’t trust my team, but because I had never left my business for that long. The first day was super anxious, but as I went through the 10 days, each day became easier and when I got to the airport, to my surprise and pleasure, my inbox was not flooded and my company hadn’t crashed and burned.

Since then I’ve been more okay with taking a day or two off randomly or taking planned vacations. Clients understand and my team can handle it!

Hani, 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?

I started in the finance world in 2020 doing corporate marketing for a VC and on the side was freelancing for a bunch of brands. Due to COVID, they really needed the marketing help so I started working with them and found it super rewarding. As I grew my freelance clients, my job was pretty toxic and I found myself wanting to work full time on my clients rather than my 9-5 (or 9-9 rather). In January 2021 I quit my job and went freelance full time however my client load almost doubled through word of mouth that I was doing this full time.

I immediately had to hire my first full time employee and now we’re a team of 6 full time, soon to be 7 and we handle all aspects of digital marketing and PR for cultural, minority owned and women owned brands. We specialize in the South Asian diaspora because as a founder there was no agency and still isn’t specializing in south Asians but there are so many south Asian businesses!

Specifically we work in social media management and strategy, content creation and creative direction, paid media, brand development, PR and influencer marketing, events and email marketing.

We pride ourselves in our personalized approach and communication. We love our clients and do everything it takes to make them succeed, we go above and beyond where we can to help them thrive!

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

Relationships matter, and I think networking has built my entire business, from who I’ve hired to sourcing clients to partnerships and honestly any opps that have come my way.

I think the key about networking is honestly, firstly to be kind. Kindness can go a long way and people will remember that, so whether it’s a thank you note, or a polite response to an email, remember to be kind.

The second tip I have is not to approach networking SO transactionally. You want to build a relationship just like you would in every day life and not come in to just ask a favor. I cannot tell you how many times I have either spent my own money or just done something for free because I knew it would build a relationship and eventually lead to a client or deal close. Building a relationship leads to building trust and people want to work with people they trust.

My third tip is to send that cold email. You never know what someone will respond so if you think someone is cool and wanna get to know them, ask for a coffee chat. The worst that will happen is they won’t respond!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I thought having a business meant to constantly have to work, which is partly true but I realized that your company is only as healthy as you are. So this means that when I do my wellness practices, and get enough sleep, I am operating my company at my highest potential.

This also goes in line with taking breaks and days off, this only increases productivity!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Kahanidigital.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/kahani.digital
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kahani-digtial-marketing/