We were lucky to catch up with Kendra Swalls recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kendra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later
I started my first business in 2012 when I was 6 months pregnant with my first daughter, teaching full time and going to school at night to get my Masters Degree. Looking back that probably wasn’t the BEST time to start a new business, but I tend to leap before I look.
Since I primarily work with moms to help them launch and build their own business I hear the comment more often then not “I wish I had started this before I had kids”…and I used to think the same thing. I would see other women building their business with so much more “free-time” or flexibility and wonder how much farther along I might be had I done the same thing.
However, the reality is that I don’t think I would change a thing about when and how I started my business. Was it hard…absolutely! It still is. I have to balance working with being a mom and running my kids to and from their events and practices. But knowing that I’m building something FOR THEM gives me all the motivation I need to keep going when it gets hard.
Without that ‘why’ in my business, it wouldn’t be the business that it is today.
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
Growing up there were two things I loved, taking pictures and going to school. After college I started a career in education as an elementary teacher. I taught for about 8 years before I started to feel the pull to do something else. I still loved teaching, but I wanted a change of pace.
I went back to school to get my Masters Degree and at the same time picked up a photography hobby. I would spend my free time taking photos of anything and anyone that I could. Eventually I got better and better and people started offering to pay me to take their photos.
In 2012 I started my first business Paisley Layne Photography. It was a slow build but in 2017 I was at a point in my business where I could quit teaching and run my photography business full time. As much as I loved taking photos, I realized pretty quickly that it was the business of running a business that I loved even more.
After leaving teaching behind I started getting other photographers and business owners asking me to help them grow their business so they could quit their job and go full time. This led me to open up mentor sessions and host a few local workshops.
I quickly realized that I loved teaching other women how to build their business just as much (if not more) than running my own. in 2019 I started the Girl Means Business brand and podcast where I shared weekly podcast episodes around running a business and started coaching other female business owners.
Today I still run my photography business part time while my full time focus is on my coaching clients, the Girl Means Business podcast and creating digital products and programs to help busy moms launch and grow their own businesses.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I have a love/hate relationship with social media. On one hand I love that it gives us access to a free global platform for reaching and connecting with new people, however it can be frustrating and overwhelming to deal with.
I started using social media early on in my business with Facebook and eventually moved towards using Instagram as my main platform of choice. I have made ALL the mistakes and tried ALL of the thing, but what has been the most beneficial for me when it comes to social media is staying focused on my brand and my audience.
It can be really easy to get caught up in trends or what is working/not working for other accounts, but when you stay focused on WHO you are serving and HOW you are serving them, everything else falls into place.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
When you run a small business your clients mean everything to your success. I think it is so important to foster the relationships you have as much as possible. My business is very high-touch and hands on by nature, but I make a point to help each clients feel like they are a VIP client. I do this by giving them ways to get in touch with me that non-clients don’t have using apps like WhatsApp and Voxer. They also get special perks such as early access to new products or services and discounts. The personal connection is really what makes them feel special and will hopefully have them sharing my business with others.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.girlmeansbusiness.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/girlmeansbusiness
- Facebook: Facebook.com/Girlmeansbusiness
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendra-swalls-74b602104/
- Twitter: twitter.com/KendraSwalls
- Other: Podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/girl-means-business/id1457458458
Image Credits
Mandy Lorraine Photography