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

Stephanie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

If I were to start over, I would do two things. One, get a mindset coach earlier on and two, keep my “blinders on” and not stop moving the needle at all! What the greats always tell you is that mindset is the key to all success. The power that solely believing has is immense and when your mindset is right, there truly is nothing you can’t do. I also so I would “keep my blinders on” because when you are just walking in your own lane, you are focused on your own journey no matter what. Even if it’s “cringe” you don’t notice. Even if others are doing things differently, you don’t notice. While in business I fell into a space where I took my blinders off and began looking at what others were doing; don’t do it it’s a set up. This slowed me down as comparison kicked in. This also made me stop moving the needle forward. While this also relates back to mindset, it was very hard for me to keep going at one point when I felt like I did not reach the level of success I wanted after doing something for all of three seconds (lol). I would get scared and chicken out and think “it just doesn’t work” when in reality, I just had to keep going. if I could go back, I would tell myself to keep moving the needle forward, no matter how scary or uncomfortable it may be and to remain consistent because that is what brings results.

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

My name is Stephanie (Steph.thegreat on IG) and I like to call myself a multi-hyphenate as I do (lot but never too much). I am a Haitian American plus model and public speaker, primarily speaking about self improvement, confidence and self love. However I am also a Creative Director and Brand Strategist at LaFortune Branding which is an agency that I founded in 2020 to help brands be good and look good. Everything I do is driven by my purpose which is to make things and people better.

I started my business by becoming interested in making graphics and selling them for $25 / graphic. One client was purchasing a number of them weekly and I thought she had been spending so much money so I decided to create a package of graphics for her and post them… turns out it was social media management. I always say my business came from serving others. From there, ‘Start With Steph’ was born and my clientele grew rapidly through word of mouth marketing. I was the SMM / media creation girl as I would make graphics and go shoot content on my iPhone for brands to post. Quickly, I learned that I could not help people with their social media if they did not have proper branding in place. From there, I began coaching for brands and doing brand strategy. Now honestly, from the beginning I knew I wanted to do media creation for brands, however, I had gotten so persuaded by other industry leaders who told me I should be a coach and so I did. (Tip: DO YOU!) I eventually began creating content for brands through a service called “Content Day” where I would get 1 month worth of content in one day but I felt like I needed change.

After feeling unfulfilled and confused in my business, I finally decided to do what I wanted. I hated SMM or rather, I hated people expectations of it and I did a complete rebrand and became LaFortune Branding. ‘LaFortune’ is my great grandmothers last name meaning “the wealth” so I thought it was a great fit as I wanted to help brands show the wealth that exists within them by helping them look good. I changed to an agency model and hired contractors and got to work!

My signature service now is my old Content Day up-leveled and is called Mind your Look. This is a creative direction and media creation service for brands who want to have unique visuals that match their brand identity. Or as I like to say, visuals that slay! Clients leave with a quarters worth of photo content with the Essential package or photo + video content with the Complet package. This is all shot in ONE DAY. Concept creation, location scouting, on set creative direction, styling (scouted), photography, editing, videography all handled by my agency. Clients also receive an in use guide to know how to use their photos across multiple mediums. This service is great for launches, special campaigns or rebrands. (can you tell I’m obsessed with it?) I service clients through having brand strategy experience and ensuring that clients do not just leave with “pretty photos” but instead that they leave with strong photos that help to tell the brand story. I often teach about how as humans we use our senses to make designs and that how a brand looks matters.

I also offer a service called Build my Marque which is a brand design service. Included in this service is a Logo suite (Main, alternate, sub logo), Color Palette, Typography, Messaging/ Positioning, Marketing Strategy, Content Strategy (For written, photo, and video content), Business Card, Promotional Flyer, 9 Social media graphics. Finally my last service that I offer is called Marque Strategy (brand strategy) where I have a 3 hour working session with a client and build map out their internal, external brand identity, content and marketing strategy. This is one service I have kept as my former clients expressed that they not only received clarity but also actionable steps to get their brand where they want it to be.

At LaFortune branding, one of my slogans is “Your brand goals become our brand goals” and I would want people to know that before they work with me. I am most proud of being able to bring a thought to reality and the way my clients react when that is accomplished makes it all worth it. In my time in business I’ve learned and accomplished so much and I am only getting started. I look forward to being in the story of many more brands and brands to come.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn and still actively unlearning is what “hard work” looks like. Being a first gen American daughter of immigrants you gain a different understanding of what hard work is and begin to question if you are actually doing it. I remember one time I was in my home office all day creating content, and then I heard my mother say on the phone “all she does is make videos all day”. Although I know know that I am laying down bricks, it disrupted my thinking and led me to think that I was not “struggling enough”. I had to unlearn that and understand that “the grind” will look different for everyone, so long as I am moving forward and I know i’m working hard, it doe snot have to look like my parents’.

Another lesson I had to unlearn was my thoughts around money and investing. You think having and holding onto your money and pilling it up will benefit you but I had to learn that there is a difference between a cost and an investment and unlearn that investing money on yourself is unnecessary.

A lot of what I am unlearning stems from my First Gen American, first daughter identity of which has given me a great deal to unlearn but also of which I am so proud of.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Impact impact impact. For LaFortune branding when I’m mapping out concepts for photoshoots or giving on-set direction I am most excited to see how my work will impact the viewers, the brand, the brand industry; really anyone who will lay eyes on it. Through my personal brand when I create unique deliveries to explain concepts in my speaking, I am thinking about who it will impact and how. Everything has impact not matter how “small” it may seem.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lafortunebranding.com
• Instagram: @ Steph.thegreat | @Lafortunebranding

Image Credits
Lafortune Branding