We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ke’Asia Johnson-Bell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ke’Asia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Yes, I have been able to earn full-time living from my creative work. It definitely did not begin like this. When Covid came, I was not only homeless but also a first-time pregnant, single mother, entering into my last semester of college. I had also just lost my father during my pregnancy and was unsure if I could mentally deal with what was now my life. I worked any odd job I could find as a pregnant woman during covid, just so that I could quickly earn enough income to afford a cute intimate apartment before I gave birth, as I was already well into my last trimester. I switched to online classes my last semester at EKU and managed to finish all of my finals while I was waiting in labor, graduating cum laude. I even managed to land a position quickly in operations and marketing. I thought that my fight was finally over. It was not. I never really had support with the baby, and any childcare I could find was either inconsistent because of covid or too expensive. I even tried hiring private sitters, but no one was reliable, so eventually I was fired because the company could not have me in-person. I was devasted, because I was now again unable to find work. I noticed all of these Instagram lifestyle influencers were becoming a hot topic and thought to myself it is amazing how they can have a business for themselves online. I then said to myself that maybe I could take all of my talents and education online and build a virtual business as well but without the ego. I am not the girl who likes to be in front of the camera. I like to be behind the scenes making sure everything else is functional and efficient, so I didn’t want my business to be about me. Queenz With Brands was born. I was working with a lot of disadvantaged start-ups in the beginning and my prices were so dirt cheap for all the work I was honestly doing, but I was really just happy to be making income while being a full-time mom. However, I had to learn to not undervalue myself and my work. I am such an understanding person and some of my clients were taking advantage of that by not paying on time or at all. I had to learn to stop taking on everyone, because every client may not be aligned with your values, and it can drain your energy. I cleaned house and rebranded. I did not renew any of my previous projects, which was risky because that left me no clients, but I felt so free. I expanded my vision and was able to scale my company by making myself available. I now have been able to have contracts with companies like Popmenu, J.P. Morgan Bank, Daycare centers, Chick-fil-a, while also managing multiple creative accounts. I am now able to afford to extend career opportunities to women like myself who want to build a book of business for themselves and learn. I host youth workshops as well to teach kids more about financial literacy and partner with other non-profits who may want to add a marketing, communications, and finance curriculum to their summer camps. I don’t think I would I have been here any faster knowing what I do now, because I feel that it was really just me that needed time to grow as a person and in my craft, so that my business could match.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
Here at Queenz with brands we help entrepreneurs navigate the growth curve by offering print & digital business solutions, all-inclusive service & product branding, and project management. We also host free youth workshops in the summer for aspiring entrepreneurs, helping them launch their start-up and teach financial literacy. I like to call myself “The All-purpose Woman”, because I literally do pretty much everything. Some of our clients may not have the resources to create quality content from their equipment. We have added brand photography to our services now, so we can take the stress off of our clients and curate the content for them, edit it and construct their entire social calendar, automate their posts, and engage with their community while helping them generate their leads. We create unique, engaging content of all types & budgets (flyers, business cards, product labels, logos, banners, signs) plus tested digital marketing strategies, to get our clients new leads and sales. We also link our clients with a personal expert account manager who oversees their metrics and communicates that return on investment. For companies that need help maintaining the growth stage we provide workflow automation. (Lead management, Sales & Expense tracking, HR-payroll/hiring Client onboarding +communication). I really want my clients to be able to not only have work-life balance, but time to focus on being creative and relishing in why they started this in the first place. I want to get them to the right consumers, so they aren’t spending so much time on the wrong platforms and questioning their purpose. I want to be of service. As far as background I am from Atlanta. There I had my first taste of business with my mom when she opened a Daycare Center. I was able to learn operations and I knew then that I wanted to leave a legacy like that for my children. When I moved to Louisville with my father, I attended Eastern HS and was yearbook editor, developing skills in photoshop and copy that I didn’t once think I would even need later. I was an athlete (soccer and track & field) and after I was recruited to run D1 at Eastern Kentucky University, my life was literally track, my studies, and working 12 hr shifts to survive in college. Thankfully, I graduated with my degree in Business, Marketing & Finance, despite my challenges mentioned before. I have always been a person who has worked hard and had to pivot in life. I try to make the most out of every opportunity the Lord sees fit to gives me and now I want to share that with like-minded people. I want to share more opportunities and connect with digital creators, photographers, and any creative/business minded soul that feels they may be aligned with our Mission, especially my single mothers.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I started building my page, I was not focused on selling anything. I really just wanted to find my audience and connect with like-minded creatives. I was doing nothing but simply posting motivations, maybe some pictures of my work to keep a gallery of sorts for myself and shouting out cool companies I found scrolling on Instagram to my story. My following on my business page really is not huge, but I have high-ticket clients, because I made myself available and did not limit myself to just one platform. It is important to understand your true audience and how they consume content on that specific platform. Also understand that even with running ads if you do not tailor them to your audience and the content does not have the proper draw and call to action, you are not likely to see a return on your investment. Engage on social media but also step out into your communities and sell yourself! Tell those people you engage with to follow your page and build those relationships organically. The numbers will come.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I believe that being authentic and ethical has really helped me build my reputation in my market. Again, I am about service, and I think that my clients are always comfortable because of my honesty and fairness.
Contact Info:
- Website: queenzwithbrands.com
- Instagram: @queenzwithbrands
- Facebook: Queenzwithbrands (page) / Keasia Johnson-Bell
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ke%E2%80%99asia-johnson-bell-bb145622b/
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
lowkeyy_photography