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

Vanessa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

If I could go back in time I would go back to 2016.. I had a successful t-shirt business Ruffles with Love. Business was great and it was the perfect time to kick off my influencing career. I would have been able to grow my t-shirt business while breaking into the influencing field before it got really inundated. In 2016 I was looking for something to help set my business apart and both businesses would’ve aligned perfectly. Influencing wasn’t something that was popular yet so it was a very gray area that I was unsure how to navigate at the time.

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

I am a wife and a mom of Mia who is 3 and Kam who is almost 2. I love fitness, fashion, home decor, beauty and creativity! I started sharing all of my favorite things in 2019 through my Instagram page and shortly after on Liketoknowit.com as well as starting a newsletter! I like to show my day to day on Instagram stories! The good the bad and the ugly. My two little ones are all over the place so it makes for entertaining and busy days! More recently I have been sharing more fitness finds and workouts which I am really starting to have a passion for! Many of my followers came from my t-shirt business which I still do on a much smaller scale now but I believe I’m lucky enough to have a loyal following that trusts my recommendations! I have become friends with several of my followers over the years and it always feels like I’m talking to my friends everyday through stories which makes it really easy for me to be genuine.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I try to always respond to everyone no matter how big or small the question! If it requires me to look into something (a product etc.) I have no problem doing that! People like to feel connected and social media helps people feel that way! I hate when I see a influencer sharing something and I have questions but they seem unreachable so I try to be the opposite!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Switching to influencing was a huge pivot for me! I soon learned that being a mom I wanted to be involved in my kids life everyday as much as possible and doing my t-shirt business required a lot of time that I would be taking away from them. I switched to something that allowed me to be present in my kids lives and also to share them and fun products and trips my family loves and I am able to connect with so many more people because of this.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vanessaalyson.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/Vanessa.alyson_
• Other: Join my newsletter: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5f7193852bc69e0251069903

Image Credits
Tyan Kathain Zara Habibi