We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marina Girgis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Marina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Being a business owner doesn’t automatically guarantee an unlimited supply of joy and happiness, that’s one thing I can assure you of. But it makes you feel like you are working towards something that is your OWN. Something that is purposeful and creates impact or change in this world (if you chose to go into business to help others or for a deeper purpose)

That to me is what keeps me grounded even on the days or months when I start to question “is this really worth it?”
When that thought comes to my mind, I think of how many people I was able to help and impact through my services. I think about the freedom (emotional and financial) that my business model has created for me. I also think about my toxic corporate job back in NYC where every day was dreadful and filled with anxiety to perform way beyond my capacity.

That is more than enough to bring me back to a sense of relief and internal joy that I am a business owner. I would rather have a crappy business month than years of joyless anxiety-filled office job.

Marina, 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 my business Livin Vivaciously INC because of a deep knowing that we, especially as women of color, have options when it comes to how we earn money, create ownership in our lives, and live our own way. I wanted to create a platform that can guide women towards building and designing their brands in a way that supports their ideal lifestyle, not the other way around…because what’s the point, why not continue working a regular 9-5 job then?

I currently coach women entrepreneurs, new and seasoned, on how to build a personal brand that reflects who they are as multi-passionate humans and helps them share their stories for more income, opportunities, and freedom!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I graduated with a degree in fashion design with multiple awards and the foundation for a strong fashion brand that I built from scratch. I then moved to NYC to pursue my then dream of becoming a fashion designer, I landed a job at a big name in the fashion industry and was getting paid well but I quickly began to realize how toxic the fashion industry is and how much I did not fit into the company culture of “hustle hustle hustle” way beyond your capacity…

I had to quit. It felt like I was giving up on my dreams but I knew if I didn’t, I would be stuck and I knew that what I wanted most was to do purposeful creative work that can support my ideal lifestyle of travel and adventure around the world.

After quitting my corporate job with no backup plan, I decided to take a shot at building my own brand, not in fashion, but simply sharing my passion for travel and lifestyle online. That evolved into my business today which helps women do the same by guiding them in building their personal brands and business to live the life they want.

I couldn’t be more grateful to have made this pivot, because now, 4 years later, my business has grown so much and I earn way more, doing meaningful work that brings me joy and supports my ideal lifestyle. I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I stayed in fashion or my corporate job out of fear.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I remember when I started out on Instagram, I was pivoting from one niche to the next playing around and seeing which of my passions— since I’m totally a multi-passionate girl— would “stick” and become a viable business for me.

I had less than 3K followers at that time when I decided to quit my job and start my own business around showing people how they can live with more freedom. I was sharing my travels and personal journey, but my online presence started to really pick up when I started finding an even more niche topic like “building a true-to-self personal brand” and a specific audience like “freedom-obsessed and multi-passionate women” to speak to and create educational content for.

I made sure that my content stood out by bringing in my unique global background and making the content fun and easy to digest through videos (IG Reels weren’t a thing at that time). I was also going live with other content creators within similar niches and that helped my audience grow to 7K+. However, I want to point out that I was still making good money and attracting ideal clients when my account was smaller.

I really think it’s about finding ways to expand your brand presence by collaborating with other accounts that are complimentary to your brand or even within the same niche, finding an edge (aka niche) to your content so you can stand out, and keep doing it…a lot of people stop after a few months of sharing content but success really happens when you continue to create content that positions you as an expert or is different or unique in some ways over a long period of time to build that brand momentum. And you really have to define what your goals are, is it to build a big audience or attract aligned clients and sell your services? Some businesses don’t really need a big audience to start selling, like service providers!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://livinvivaciously.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivaciouslymarina/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/girgismarina/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2CQ-KAFme8TLV2qfGuhbzQ?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
Photos in nature are by Lisa Sophie Richert