Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Acors. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

During the pandemic, I sat at home with both my kids, struggling to figure out things for them to do while also working a full-time job. I started surfing the internet and found a bunch of virtual activities and crafts for us to do. I documented them on my personal Instagram and Facebook, which led some of my mom friends to encourage me to create a Facebook Group dedicated to kid-friendly happenings around DC, Maryland and Virginia.

The more I heard “thank you for sharing”, the more I researched to find things that not only interested my kids but others as well. From there, I decided to trademark my name and logo and launch a business that amplifies kid-friendly events and adventures all over DC, Maryland and Virginia, not just the most popular or tourist prone areas. Not many DC bloggers amplify kid-friendly events, especially not covering the entirety of the DMV metro area, which is what makes 4DMV Kids unique.

The thrill of finding events and being able to express my creativity through posts on social media and through my website are the most exciting parts about developing this business. And I’m able to not only spotlight the events but also the kid-friendly businesses behind the events to assist families in knowing who to go to and for what.

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

I’m a marketing professional by day and a kids event blogger by night. I find joy in researching things-to-do with your kids and also experiencing those things-to-do with my own two kids. I’m really active on Instagram and Facebook. You will find many kid-friendly activities on my website and social media as well as upcoming summer camps, holiday and observance events and more. I also take content requests and ideas, as long as it helps someone find what they’re looking for in terms of kid-friendly DC, Maryland or Virginia, I’m game!

I’m most proud of how I’ve grown in the past year and a half. I’m able to create in half the time and put out content that more so resonates with my following. I’ve also grown to adapt to changing seasons and have begun to expand to a new age group with 4DMV Teens. Another platform I created within the past year called Black Children’s Books DMV+, which spotlights black children’s authors in the DC, Maryland and Virginia area as well. I hold weekly Wednesday author chats and spotlight children’s books written by local authors. Know that 4DMV Kids and all affiliated brands spotlight a wide range of events, activities and things-to-do for kids ages 3 – 12 in the immediate DC, Maryland and Virginia area and beyond.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Consistency, for sure! Although I think it’s much deeper than that, overtime your audience will begin to build a sense of familiarity with your brand, the more they see you and enjoy what you’re putting out there. This point is also why collaboration is key. The more you collaborate with similar or like-minded businesses, the more your audience will grow and the more their audience and other audiences will begin to build that sense of familiarity with you. I’ve always been one to share information I’ve learned from others, but always in a way that gives the creator of that content props. It’s helped me develop relationships with others in my niche and grow as a business as well.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn has been to stop trying to do everything by myself or on my own. Asking for help makes me stronger and wiser, especially when operating a business. Leveraging others and also allowing them to leverage you for your special talents is key to growing in a business. You’re not going to always have all the answers, ask for help. Asking for help is essentially investing in your brand, your business and yourself.

For the first year of creating 4DMV Kids, I tried to do EVERYTHING by myself. I told myself, I was saving money by not hiring help and could then do more with the money I saved. Needless to say, the exact opposite happened. I was doing less than my potential because I was spending more time doing mundane tasks that I could pay someone else to do, which would leave more time for the more creative tasks. Also, if paying someone seems like a daunting task, especially early on in a business, search for business grants to help you with funding!

Contact Info:

• Website: 4dmvkids.com
• Instagram: @4dmvkids, @bcb_dmv, @4dmvteens
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4DMVKids; https://www.facebook.com/groups/4dmvkids