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

Mariah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Belle Âme Creative Agency was inspired by my studies abroad in Europe while attending the University of North Texas. I was studying Merchandising & Home Furnishings Merchandising & was fortunate to be selected for a 2 and a half week trip to Paris, London & Edinburgh.

During this magical trip we visited top retailers & their executive teams, met with prominent designers & toured museums. One of my favorite memories was touring Pierre Cardin‘s private museum in Paris. Seeing some of his space age designs right in front of me was a surreal experience I will never forget.

Belle Âme means beautiful soul in French. Fascinated by French culture, I wanted to create a brand that would forever carry the memory of a dream come true. Traveling to Europe & soaking in the history of the cities I visited was a huge inspiration for me & opened my eyes to the world. Belle Âme Creative Agency is a reminder to myself that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I created Belle Âme Creative Agency in the Fall of 2018. I graduated college that summer & was working at a furniture wholesaler in Dallas. I had minored in Marketing, but took more logistics classes than marketing classes for that minor & didn’t think marketing would be my path forward.

Right before I graduated college I met a man while working my retail job at Coach. As I was trying to sell him a handbag for his girlfriend, we got to talking about what I was going to school for. It just so happened that he had a furniture store & was interested in pursuing digital marketing for his company for the first time. This small interaction ended up launching me into my now 4 year career in Marketing.

In order to graduate college, I needed an internship. My first client put me in touch with his wholesaler & they hired me on to be a fresh perspective to the company. I completed my internship there & accepted a full time position afterwards.

Commuting from Denton to Dallas M-F for a traditional 9-5 was eating away at me though. I spent most of my time in Dallas working for a company where I didn’t feel happy. I’m beyond grateful for the experience I got there, but over time I understood it just wasn’t for me. Having done social media marketing for my first client, I realized that this could be what I do all the time. In my free time, I was profusely studying how to create a marketing business & searching for marketing agencies to work at in Denton so I could learn more.

After some time, I was hired on by Aspiro Agency, an amazing marketing agency right on the Denton Square. My hour commute turned into ten minutes. I wasn’t required to sign a non-compete & was allowed to have my own marketing business at the same time. I still work for this agency & couldn’t be happier. I have learned & grown so much since joining this agency & it has allowed me to expand my services within my own business.

With time, I took on more & more clients for Belle Âme Creative Agency & learned how to effectively market for different types of industries, my favorite being the beauty & tattoo industries.

My focus with Belle Âme Creative Agency is to provide small, local businesses & organizations with affordable digital marketing services. My services include social media marketing, website design, search engine optimization, Google Ads, email management & scheduling.

Through my work I was able to help grow The ReVamp, an organization that hosts clothing swaps that give back to the community & provides a platform for creatives to express themselves. The ReVamp was founded by Amanda Sweet in Denton, Texas and has now expanded further to Detroit. When I met Amanda I fell in love with her energy & her clothing swap event idea. She let me take creative control over the digital marketing & together we were able to grow something beautiful that helps people practice sustainable fashion, gives people access to clothing & brings creatives together. Working with The ReVamp has always been my passion project & is something I am most proud of in my marketing career.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word of mouth has been my best source for new clients. I know this method solely won’t work for everyone, but it has worked wonders for me. I have done a lot of work for my friends with my agency & they always share my name and business when someone mentions they need marketing help. I have considered running ads on social media when I’ve had availability for new clients, but never have because the right client has always come at the right time for me. I do work full time for an agency as well as manage my own clients so therefore I don’t have to heavily rely on new clients. Creating meaningful, lasting relationships with the clients I do have for Belle Âme Creative Agency is more important to me than generating tons of new clients. I know my limits & want to make sure my clients are receiving the quality work they deserve and pay for.

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

I believe reputation is everything in business. If people don’t feel they can trust you, then why would they purchase your services? Especially as a Digital Marketer where we have access to social accounts, websites & more. It is of the upmost importance that my clients feel safe & comfortable handing over logins.

I think that being honest & transparent about what I can and can’t do has been the most helpful with building up my reputation. If a client is wanting me to try something I never have before I won’t lie and say that I know what I’m doing. I always inform them that I don’t have much experience with it, but am willing to learn how to do this for them & we can go from there. If a potential client is wanting more from me than I think I can give, I will let them know & include what I am capable of so they are aware & are able to make a fully educated decision. I always want to build trust between myself & my clients.

Having created trusting relationships with my clients & delivering what I say I will has built up my reputation, and as I mentioned before, word of mouth is my strongest form of marketing for myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://belleame.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belle.ame.agency/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MariahhSierra
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahsmith2/
• Other: Google Listing: https://g.page/belleamecreativeagency?share

Image Credits
Personal photo photographer: Ashlee Harris – @ashharrisphoto First photo of me & girl: Amanda Sweet & I at ReVamp Detroit Clothing Swap – no photo cred 2nd photo of Amanda Sweet & I: Photo by Erin Palmore – @erinjusalex 3rd photo of Detroit ReVamp group: Photo by AWBSA$S – @black.s3 4th photo of clothing swap: Photo by AWBSA$S – @black.s3