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

Hi Katera, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I graduated from college when I was 8 months pregnant with my son back in 2022. I actually pushed and graduated a year early, so that I could be sure that I would finish. I had my son a month after I graduated from college and I knew that I did not want to go straight into the workforce and have to put my son in daycare. I knew that I had to try and figure something out so that I could stay home but also be able to help out my fiancè financially because one income in this economy just won’t cut it!

I started out trying every side hustle in the book. Every thing you can thing of, I probably tried it. I went through a series of side hustles starting at the top of 2023 such as UGC content creation, virtual assisting, and also survey apps but in the midst of trying out content creation, I also began to post on Pinterest so that I could widen my reach since I did not start out with a following on any of my accounts.

Pinterest was the very first social media that I ever hit over 1 million views on, and I figured that there had to be some way to monetize it but at the time I wasn’t sure.

Fast forward to September 2023, I was still trying out various side hustles and even applying for jobs to utilize my degree, but I had no luck! So I researched one last time and came across something called digital marketing and that’s when my journey began.

At first I invested into a course that had something called Master Resell Rights attached to it, which meant that I could resell it as my own product. I made my first $1,000 within 48 hours of launching! Although that was a huge accomplishment, after those two sales, it was CRICKETS, so I went back to the drawing board and discovered that it was only crickets because there were so many other people selling the same exact course as me and I had no way of standing out unless I had already made thousands of dollars.

I did notice there was a gap in the market of business owners who did not know how to utilize Pinterest and I had utilized it before to make another $1000 with that course before I decided to pivot and create my own digital products. Since then, I have made over $5000 utilizing the platform, and I started my own coaching program teaching other business owners how to sell their products through Pinterest.

Katera, 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 am a 23 year old stay at home mom who has been able to utilize her skills to create a full time income from home.

I started my business because I wanted to be able to show other moms and business owners that it doesn’t matter what your current situation currently looks like, it’s up to you to make the mindset shift in order to make physical and financial changes in your life.

Before I started my business, I was in a very bad space mentally because I had family wanting to ridicule me for not working but I was actually trying to get a job and God had other plans for me. It was finally time for me to walk in my purpose and live my life for ME and not anyone else.

I come from a small town where not a lot of people understand the power of starting an online business and the online space. I used to get bullied in school for wanting to be a “YouTuber” but I always knew I was destined for something bigger than ME.

I think what sets me apart is that I really care and nurture my students. They never feel alone. They all feel as though they have gained a new bestie, which they have! But I allow my program to be a safe space for those who are wanting more out of their lives.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Jan. 1st 2024, I launched my very first program called Pinfluence. It’s actually my program that is currently live and thriving but when I first launched, I had only ONE person join. I promoted my program for 6 weeks prior and had over 125 signups for my waitlist, which at the time my social media accounts were still under 2k. I wanted to give up. I felt like I had failed and I felt that I was bad at “launching” but it wasn’t that, I just didn’t have enough people who saw the VALUE in what I had to offer. I went back to the drawing board and figured out a new strategy to get more students to join, and I am currently have had 30 students join my program within two weeks of repositioning myself and my marketing, as of February 2,2024.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

At the beginning of 2024, I was at 2,000 followers and as of today I am at 6,000. I have gained 1,000 followers a week since I started a new strategy and I have a few tips to grow your accounts quickly. The first thing is the make sure that your account is optimized. TikTok is now utilizing SEO so make sure that your name is something that is searchable such as “Katera | Monetizing Pinterest.”

The second thing is to create valuable, and engaging content. Start a series teaching your audience how to do something, and give them a reason to keep coming back for more. Also, CTAs (call to actions) are important. Tell people what you want them to do, such as “follow me for more.”

Lastly, if you have the ability, GO LIVE! People want to engage with you and they want to get to know you. Be personable. Make friends and make an everlasting impression on others. Of course you don’t have to go live if you are shy, but if you don’t mind showing your personality and meeting new people, this has helped me a lot on my journey!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://stan.store/katera
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digitalmillikb
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thekateralashae
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@digitalmillikb?_t=8jaJGW1Ukmc&_r=1