We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Princess Burch. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Princess below.
Princess, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you think about spending on things like coffee when times are tough?
It’s really funny looking back on when I was making no sales at all. My self-care, or “treat yourself” financial focus has always been food and travel, but I soon realized in order to continue to enjoy myself as a mom I would have to be unconventional. As a college student, I would travel anyway I could. I would jump in the car with friends, go on service work trips, join clubs that visited different states, I think it really prepped me to enjoy travel however I could. Once you’re a mom, you have to think about purchasing food and drinks, accommodations and being confident about safety for you plus all your little ones. Being creative and paying attention to details became key so to save money to create for travel, I would attend time-share presentations, offer content to hotels in order to get upgrades, I would pay attention to key rules for flights, like children under 2 fly free and they also get diaper bags, strollers, car seats allowed at no cost. I realized I could pack a cooler, choose hotels with free breakfast, and even check how much security deposits would cost ahead of time. Looking at the small details allowed me to still participate in what mattered to me most without compromising on safety for my family. It’s also what eventually led me to realize I wanted to show other families how to have fun together through travel, food and events.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The Best Marketer Wins, businesswoman Ming Lee told us all about this in her book years ago, and we often hear it repeated to this day. As a kid, I was selling suckers in school and serving Kool-Aid on the sidewalk in front of my grandma’s help. Entrepreneurship has always been big in my family, but I didn’t really know the power and complexities of marketing until 2016, my college sophomore year. I first made money marketing while looking for other ways to get cash in college. One business professor in particular was always keen on giving us case studies during a class my teacher was talking about an innovative company in Chicago that had a new way that workers could pick up shifts and how interesting the gig economy was. I researched the company, interviewed to have access as soon as I could, and once accepted, a new world was open to me. I started off working Ipads to help guests make auction bids at some of the biggest charity galas and golf tournaments in Chicago. Getting paid would be as simple as my phone notification telling me a shift was open then accepting the job, showing up on site, giving the best customer service I could, and receiving a direct deposit a couple weeks after. It quickly became my favorite way to make money, much easier than babysitting and way more fun housekeeping mopping the University’s dirty basements. The real key to getting into marketing though was networking. The more I spoke to my coworkers at events, the more I soon found out that there was an even cooler side to the gig economy. Companies like T-Mobile, Google, Comcast, Annie’s showed up to the city’s largest events like the Chicago Auto Show, The Black Women’s Expo, every major festival, concert, party or special event. At these events, I stood as a company representative setting up a pop-up version of the brand, explaining the company’s newest offerings and handing out free branded trinkets. Our teams would spend our time taking pictures for social media, collecting customer emails, taking client comments and complaints and overall making the customer feel connected to the brand.
By the time I graduated with a management and marketing degree, Experiential Marketing work was my full time job. From all the networking I did picking up random shifts, I found out that gig work even crossed over to entertainment. It even led to me loving showcasing others’ work so much that I started modeling and acting, at the height of being a brand ambassador, I was receiving IBDM credits, and walking in Chicago’s Fashion Week show. However, as I reverted to Islam and started growing my family, my interests changed and while I loved doing marketing, I knew brand ambassador work in person just wouldn’t fit my lifestyle anymore.
Eventually I found myself in a place that left me confused about what was next in my career. It was like overnight I became a stay at home mom that didn’t comprehend what it was that I really wanted to do, but it did give me much needed time with my newborn son. As I slowly dipped my toes back into business vending just trying to make extra coins at small pop up shops selling food networking, and then following these small businesses I would meet at events on social media, it dawned on me that there was actually a need for ambassadors for brands online. Companies that I met while vending desperately needed marketing but didn’t have the know-how to get their items and services in front of their target market. I was the connecting piece that could use all my previous skills of capturing images of products, creating reviews, and having a pulse on the customers’ pain they needed fixed. I added that with my knowledge from school and found that companies needed someone to create pictures and videos to make their product look appealing + a strategy to get their new content onto social platforms. It took me quite a while to understand how to package it in a way that would make the business owners everyday work easier, and take the load off being creative for social media away.
Now my brand has grown so much that I work with small businesses and I also create content for larger companies too. I have even received over 5 Million views on my work @TheHustlePrincess, been a part of Panera Bread’s national campaign, been media at the Travel Adventure Show Chicago, and the best work is still yet to come! My clients have chosen me to design layouts for books, create commercials and paid ads for, aid them in building charity campaigns, create brand ambassador programs for their products, set up their Amazon shop images and even just build their content calendars full of amazing image edits and catchy reels. It has brought me joy to know that I put my heart in my work to make it fit every individual client and the results have shown client satisfaction time and again. So I encourage you, if you ever feel stuck think about what you already know and love best and how good you were at it and it might just be your, “Ahah!” moment.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
The first thing I always suggest is the Quran. It’s the only book I’ve read more than twice and in fact, every time I’m done, I read it again. It keeps me focused on my larger why and reminds me of my principles. A few of my favorite business books and some of the top recommended are How To Win Friends and Influence People, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Good To Great, Outliers, Never Split The Difference, and Atomic Habits.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
My absolute favorite thing about being creative is being able to connect a brand to the people that need it. It’s so satisfying to make an image that pulls a person to a place of feeling that the needs that they need fulfilled can be met. When working with small businesses, it’s so cool to see their wins and knowing that the sales matter that much more in taking care of their everyday needs puts a sense of fulfillment in my heart.
Contact Info:
- Website: Thehustleprincess.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehustleprincess/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehustleprincess/
- Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/thehustleprincess
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@TheHustlePrincess
Image Credits
Princess Burch