Episode 234: You’re Not Stuck, You’re Just Overwhelmed | Alexandra Generales | Founder, Little Social Co.
Social media and digital marketing can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re the face of your business. In this episode, Kara talks with Alexandra Generales, Founder of Little Social Co., about building a boutique agency that supports creatives, artists, and interior designers with marketing strategies that actually reflect who they are. They discuss how Alexandra went from underpaid freelancer to leading a thriving agency, why boundaries matter in client relationships, and how to market yourself even if you hate being on camera.
This is a conversation about redefining what power looks like in business, what to prioritize as a creative entrepreneur, and how to find freedom without burning out.
“Artists put their soul into their work, which means Instagram is a very emotional and very revealing platform for them. We are a support system for our clients through both the mental hurdles and the practical steps to grow your audience.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Becoming an Entrepreneur: From Friendship Bracelets to a Boutique Agency
(00:04:00) Career Beginnings in Fashion and the Pivot to Freelance
(00:06:30) Starting a Marketing Business With Zero Backup Plan
(00:08:00) Serving Interior Designers, Architects, and Artists With Empathy
(00:10:00) Taking Time Off and Scaling With Boundaries and Systems
(00:13:00) Strategy First: Why Instagram Isn’t Enough for Business Growth
(00:15:30) Common Marketing Mistakes and What Actually Converts
(00:17:00) Your Digital Presence Should Match Your Personality
(00:19:00) Content Creation Mindset: Letting Go of Perfection
(00:21:00) When Clients Aren’t Ready for Marketing Support
(00:22:00) Building from Scratch: Brand Identity and Business Naming
(00:24:00) Separating Self-Worth From Likes and Follows
(00:26:00) Redefining Powerful: Leading With Quiet Confidence
(00:28:00) What It Means to Be a Powerful Lady in Business
(00:30:00) Advice for New Boutique Marketing Agency Founders
(00:35:00) Prioritizing Health, Rest, and Hobbies as an Entrepreneur
(00:37:00) Finding Clients You Love and Believing in Their Dreams
I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, which is interesting. I remember being in elementary school and I was like selling friendship bracelets on the playground and like getting in trouble for taking kids like snack money. And that definitely got shut down immediately.
That's
Alexandra.
He, I'm Kara Duffy, and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Oh my gosh. Okay. We're doing it finally. Yeah. We finally have gotten you here to record the podcast and I'm very excited,
excited to be here. I'm a little nervous. I've never done a podcast before,
I think you're gonna do totally great, so don't stress out about it. Okay. Let's tell everyone your name, where you are in the world, and what you're up to.
Okay.
My name is Alex. I am in Mission Viejo, California, and I own a boutique marketing agency. And if you hear the dog in the background, that is Birdie who has destroyed my life.
It is not common that most people say a dog has destroyed their life. So what has Birdie done to you?
Yeah, God love him, but I definitely didn't get a dog.
I got a toddler and I didn't realize that. And so yeah, he has been an adventure and an interesting addition. Actually, it's been so funny because I feel like over the past year I feel like the universe has been showing me I need to have boundaries and there's nowhere I need to have boundaries more than with a dog.
So in some ways I feel like it's been a good addition 'cause he has really been
testing me, but that, yeah, he's a toddler. And for everyone who has never seen birdie, he is the cutest dog ever. He's so sweet. Yeah, he's right behind you. That picture's just adorable. Yeah. He's 10 times bigger than that now.
Yes. But he's sweet. And so most of what he is doing is just like being a dog and being rambunctious and wanting a lot of your attention all the time, like
Yeah. Which, as an entrepreneur and somebody who doesn't have a lot of free time. It has definitely been a struggle. But also it's so funny.
The other day we were on a walk and he doesn't like to walk. He likes to, to sit and observe. And I was like, this is interesting. 'cause it's a life lesson in slowing down. And I keep saying, I wanna slow down and I don't, I choose not to every day. And he chooses every day to push me to do that. And I was like, this is interesting.
People always say, you get the dog, you mean not the dog you want. So I think that's probably what's happened.
I wanna go way back to your origin story. Yeah. Where did you grow up? How did you end up in California, and how did you end up being the founder of your own marketing agency? Yeah,
so I originally I was born in Laguna Beach.
My parents lived there for a few years. My dad's from California, my mom's from New York City. And then when I was around the age of five or six, we moved to South Carolina. So I actually grew up in a very small town, about an hour south of Charleston called Beaufort. It is a bunch of islands.
It was a lovely place to grow up, but definitely somewhere I never felt like I fit in. And the moment I graduated from grad school, I moved to New York City and I was like, get me outta here. So I need space, I need, things to do. And, I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, which is interesting.
I remember being in elementary school and I was like selling friendship bracelets on the playground and like getting in trouble for taking kids like snack money. And that definitely got shut down immediately. So I had dreams of moving to New York when we used to go visit my mom's. Family. I remember we used to go to Bryant Park and I would watch all of the women in like their business suits going to happy hour at the Bryant Park Grill.
And I remember thinking like, I'm gonna be there one day doing that. And then I worked in the fashion industry, which is right by Bryant Park. So I did do that and yeah, that's what I wanted my life to look like. Yeah, that's my background. And then I I worked in the fashion industry in New York in marketing slash sales for about four or five years which was an interesting place to be in.
It's not as glamorous as I think people make it out to be. But it was a great opportunity and I had a really interesting, interactions where I realized oh, like I can be put in high pressure situations. Like I remember the first trade show we ever went to, the chief buying officer for Target came to our booth and they were like, we're gonna make Alex sell to him.
And I'd never pitched to anybody in my life before and I had to pitch to this man and I, I. Kind of blacked out. And I think I ended up hitting him in the face with a coat with a zipper. Everyone else was like, oh my God, what's happening? But I didn't even notice that it happened, and I just kept going. And yeah, so I think pushing myself and putting myself in positions where I don't feel comfortable is something that I, for some reason seek out.
So I think the entrepreneurial thing is always something I've probably wanted to do. And then, yeah, I found myself in a unique position. Before I started my business where a relationship that was really serious ended really really horribly. And my boss at the time had quite a few problems and I was at a place where I was like, clearly I need to leave.
And I didn't have a backup plan, so I just full blown, quit my job with no idea of what I was gonna doing. And then I got like random side jobs. So I was dog walking. I worked at a boutique, I was a nanny. What else was I doing? I airbnbed my apartments on the weekend so I could make my rent. And then I just started finding clients.
I found one client. It was a boutique fitness studio that used to be a client of myself. And I just started, like wandering around. I lived in Hoboken, New Jersey at the time, and I started wandering around Hoboken and like asking people like, do you need someone to do your social media? Do you need someone to do your marketing?
And I had no clue really what I was doing. So yeah, so that's kinda how this all started. And then I had this woman who was on HGTV at the time reach out to me, like out of nowhere and the rest is kind of history. And I ended up moving here like right after that.
And you spent a lot of time working in with interior designers and architects.
It's been one of your really. Areas of niche. We've had a lot of success with high profile clients and since you and I have been working together, you've been expanding into other more lifestyle products and things that are giving you a much broader diversity of clients, which I think is actually really fun for you.
How was it creating this on your own and trying to figure out how to make it all work? Are you someone who was raised to just be resourceful and figure it out? Is that something that you learned? Like how are you comfortable to jump into it? And maybe comfortable is not the right word.
Yeah. That's so interesting. I always think about that. I have conversations recently actually with my mom about this, about like confidence and how like doing things afraid. And I think that's something I, I do on a day to day basis. And definitely with this, I don't know why. I jumped into this without hesitation.
And I guess it's probably fair to say that there, there was definitely like hesitation there, but I did it anyways, which is interesting. And I think I continuously do that. And I keep going back to the fact that. People who say, I did this on my own, are lying. I did. They work really hard to get where they are.
Yes, but I would never have had the confidence to do what I'm doing now if I didn't have safety nets. I didn't have like my parents' support. And just like the confidence of people around me who were like, yes, like this is crazy, but sure. What's the worst that can happen? And so I think that's something I've carried with me throughout this is what's the worst that can happen?
And then working with interior designers and architects, it's not something that we set out to do initially. It's just what happened. But what I found is. As a very empathetic human. People who work in an artistic space, they're like putting a part of them, their soul online in some way. Like they've spent how many years putting together whatever that project is.
And so it's not the same as just like clicking post on an Instagram post. Like for them this is a part of them and the, and how is it gonna be perceived by the world? And are people gonna like them? It's very emotional. And so I think I. Tend to be in tune with that that type of person who needs probably a little bit more support.
We always joke, we're like part therapist, part social media manager. Because it is, it's, can you imagine spending like four years building a house and then you put it online and you're like, what if people hate it? It's, yeah, it's terrifying. So yeah. So we're like a support system in that way.
What I love about how we met is that you heard a podcast episode with Allison, a client of mine, and you called me and said, if you can give her maternity leave, you can get me a vacation.
Yeah. I hadn't taken a vacation. It's been six years. Yeah. And then with your help, I'm going on my first vacation next month for two
weeks.
Your first two week vacation? Yes. Yeah.
Yeah.
Because you've been doing a really good job of going, of traveling, of taking time off. How has like restructuring how you use your day and building out your team, like how has that changed how you relate to your business and are you really getting the freedom that you want?
Yeah, it's so interesting. We keep having this conversation about, am I a doer or am I like the overseer? And I think as an entrepreneur, you end up being like your own TaskRabbit. It's I'm doing accounting, I'm doing this, I'm doing that. And also, when you're working with high level clientele, you are customer service as well.
So there is a tendency to say I'm gonna drop everything and do this right now. I do that all the time. When I first started working on this, I was working seven days a week. It was just me. I was doing everything on my own. I didn't have a weekend for years. Pushing back and realizing there's always something to do, but we're not gonna die if it's gonna gets done tomorrow.
I think when you're just, especially when you're just starting out your own business, you are just holding everything together and praying. It doesn't fall apart. And so you tend to get into that space where you're like, if this is the expectation from the client and I. Move away from it, they're gonna leave.
And so I think you and I have been working on that and you're pushing me to say no, like you can sit back and let this have space. And people didn't leave. I actually have found, which I'm sure is not a shock to you, that the more you push back and the more you have back boundaries and systems and processes in place, the more respect a client gives you.
Because they're like, okay, this person has a lot going on as well, and they know what they're doing and they're telling me it's gonna be okay. Yeah, I mean it's life changing. Nobody becomes an entrepreneur because they wanna work seven days a week. They become an entrepreneur. Yeah. Because they see a life for themselves that they know that only they can create.
And I am to the point now where I have to push myself to take the time off. 'cause it's like, why am I doing this if it's not for that? Yeah. But it's hard to step away. I think there's this, which it's so funny because I think it's in some ways an arrogance that I am the thing that's keeping it together.
When in reality it's not like we're fine. We have systems, I have team members. Great. I do not need to physically be here all the time,
and I think what's also been really cool is, you mentioned a little bit yourself, like you really look at businesses from a 360 perspective.
We've been having a lot of conversations about leaning in on really giving clients the full service treatment that you want to, because you look at brands holistically, like you can't do social media without thinking about, okay, where's it going? What does the website look like? Oh, you're gonna need PR now.
Oh, your email needs to be fixed. You should probably do an event like you really think holistically about the clients that you're working with since you've been leaning in on giving them. More of your vision and strategy versus being in one place. Are you happier with the work you're doing? Are you more satisfied with it?
Are your, how are you and your clients feeling about becoming just, deeper partners with you versus having you in a very specific silo?
Yeah. Yeah, it's so interesting. So I would say emotionally I become very involved with clients, so it's easier for me if I have less of them. And then we're just doing more because I feel emotional about all of them.
Like I think I told you the other day, like. When somebody does well, like I cry sometimes I think I care, sometimes more than the client does. I'm like, oh my gosh, we have to make this work for them. But you know when someone's coming to you and they're like, this is my dream and my goal, and I only have X amount of money to get there, and they're a small business and we may be their only shot.
And I take that so seriously. 'cause I remember when I started my business and I was so desperate for it to work, and if I had spent a lot of money on X, Y, and Z and had gone nowhere, I don't know that I would've had the opportunity for a second chance. If you're crowdfunding on your own, you're, you've got five jobs and you really have this passion I wanna make it happen for you.
And so I feel a lot of responsibility in that way. And it's hard for me to tell someone especially if they don't have a big budget. I know that Instagram isn't gonna necessarily always get you there. TikTok, iss not gonna get you there. There's an opportunity for a virality on those platforms, but it's very rare.
So the reality is that you need to be doing everything within your power, even if we're just giving you the strategy to do it yourself. You can't launch a product on Instagram and be like, oh, and now we have a business. It's just not how it works. But I think that because some people go viral on TikTok and sell out of everything, it's something that people think is possible. But it's rare. Yeah, it's definitely made me feel like we are able to get people to the next level.
And o obviously there's gonna be that person who maybe just wants Instagram, but at least gives us the opportunity to be like, Hey we don't think that's enough and we can do the rest of it.
So how can we like, make this a full plan?
Yeah. There being the marketing expert that you are. You and I have had conversations about things that like make you crazy, that you see brands and businesses doing. What are things that you wish people would stop doing or really take a look at in their own businesses?
Yeah. I always tell clients you need to create the content that you wanna consume. We have people who will get stuck in the sense of we've heard that this works, let's do this. And I'm like, okay, you spend time on this platform as well. Do you ever look at that and feel like, oh, I'm gonna click the button now and get, become a client or buy this thing.
So I think the first thing and the best thing you can do is. Look at what you're consuming on every platform. What newsletter like pushed the dial for you? What made you push open and that's where you need to start? I think because of the industry we work in, it's, a little bit of an older demographic sometimes.
And so there can be this like we've always done it this way, type of looking at things and how do you take a step back and be like, we don't need to do all these things. We also don't need to be everywhere. You don't need to have a TikTok just 'cause TikTok or X, sorry, exists. You don't need to be on thread just because threads is there, like what's actually going to move the needle forward.
That's all you need to be doing. Stop making yourself insane.
Yeah. People put so much pressure on how they look and the content. I know that one of the audits that you provide for people is to assess if their creative content is matching the brand that they are or wanna be. And usually people are underperforming in creating videos and imagery that are where they against, like their comparable competitive set.
Yeah. And it's like how do you talk to clients about needing to level up in a gentle way?
Yeah. I would say the biggest thing that we see across the board is that. What you are telling me in our onboarding conversations or what I know about you as a person is not showing up anywhere in your digital presence.
I'm not seeing like any of your past experience. I'm not seeing your personality. We work with people who have such good personalities and I would wanna hang out with them. And when you're an interior designer specifically, you are hanging out with somebody for three to four years, because that's how long a project takes.
So it's not as, it's not just that we need the work to look good for that in, industry. We also need people to understand like, you're gonna wanna if you're gonna have a meltdown, this is the person you're gonna have a meltdown with, you're gonna have a drink with them, you're gonna have, because it's, it literally such a long process. So I think having your personality front and center is one of the things that we really push for and clients are the most hesitant about. But if I don't know who you are, why am I buying something from you? It's the only thing that's differentiating you from your competition.
But yeah, it's hard. Most people don't get into. X business because they wanna be talking to the camera on social media or a newsletter. It's not what, not their comfort level. But I always tell people, even our clients who are on television are not always comfortable on camera. And so you just have to do it anyways.
And Instagram is a place where things don't have to be perfect. And I think that there is a letting go that needs to happen for some people where it's it just needs to exist anyways, regardless of what it looks like.
Especially, I would imagine for clients like yours that are probably perfectionists and all the aesthetics and all the alignment matters, like everything is so easy to become an art project because that's where their head space is.
And social media should not be an art project because it disappears so quickly and you have to move on to the next thing. Getting stuck in perfect in any digital marketing means you'll never get the amount of content done that you need. But yeah,
no, to your point, like it is not possible. We always call it feeding the beast.
Like any sort of marketing, you're feeding the beast. 'cause it's continual, it's never ending. And people get lost in that. They're like, I don't know where to start. And then every day I wake up and I have to do it again. And it's overwhelming. And yeah, I think taking a step back and making a list, I always call 'em like a recipe of this is actually what I want people to know.
I want every month for someone to know that we offer this service, excuse me, or that, oh, bless you. Or that we do this specific thing, or this really cool project just came out. I'm like, just start there. It doesn't have to be that complicated. What are you trying to tell people? Write it down and then we'll make it sound good.
Yeah. But just start somewhere. And yes, interior designers especially actually even architects we find are just so nitpicky about let's move this one line to the left, a millimeter for the newsletter. And I'm like, okay. But then like now it's not going out on the optimal day or time.
We've missed an entire opportunity X over here. So yeah, letting go a little bit, there's so much content. People are consuming it so quickly and they're not absorbing everything that you're giving them. Make it snappy.
Something that I see happens with the clients I work with. I see it happening with the clients that you and my other marketing agency clients are working with dealing with, is that people will spend a significant amount of money to invest in experts like you or I and then not want to listen to the advice they're paying for and.
The control factor, like that not giving up part, the, not just surrendering and doing the recommended process is really what's limiting their ability to see the growth that they're so hungry to have. Yeah, that's true. How often do you have to tell clients just let me do my job.
Oh, it's every day.
And it's interesting, we've had clients and I can just spot them from a distance where people come to us and we wanna work with you. And I realize the thing that's the common thread through all of those types of clients are people who don't know who they are. And so they're hoping that maybe you can pinpoint it for them, maybe you can make the visual that's gonna click for them and they're like, this is how I want to be represented to the world.
Or the coffee, et cetera. And. There's so much backend work that they still need to do to get to a point where they feel comfortable with their business and themselves before we can even step in. And so it's gotten to the point actually the other day, I was telling someone like, I don't think we're, you're ready for us because you don't know what you want yet.
You don't know who you are. You don't know how you business should show up to the world. So until that happens, we don't really have. Things we can do.
Yeah. And that's part of why you've been adding in the audits and the strategy work that you can do for people. Yeah. 'cause there is that bridge people need and it's it's hard where we want to work with clients sometimes is very different than where we need to meet them.
Yeah. How do you choose, like how far back you will work with somebody like. Are there things where they have to have these in place when you're like, yes, now you're ready for me? Or are you willing to really start at zero with somebody in their marketing journey?
Always willing to start at zero as long as the person's willing to work with us on it.
So if they're like, yes, I'm all in. I wanna start from scratch and I want your help, fine. But I think what we've found is majority of people who don't wanna do that also think that they know who they are. So that's not the same person. Yeah. But yeah, if somebody comes to us and they're like. We need help.
Always happy to start from the scratch. We've actually helped somebody name their business before develop their logo, start literally from scratch on their brand story. But if they're not open to doing that and they think they already have it figured out, but they really don't, those are the people who we're like, Ooh,
we can't help.
Yeah. Yeah. So for everyone listening, if you've hired an expert, let the expert do their job.
Yeah. Yeah. For sure, and also stop worrying so much about how people view you. That's my best advice. You're gonna find your people online and there's gonna be a ton of people who aren't interested in what you're offering.
And that's just the reality of the situation. And it's not a reflection on how people view you personally. And I think that's where the crossroad is, where things start to get emotional and you start to spiral. People like you, just because you didn't get a lot of likes on something doesn't mean people
don't like
you
so well.
And I think that we, especially when a person is the face of a brand or the name of a brand, it's, we have to create such different boundaries to separate us from the brand. Like I'm one of those examples where like I will talk in third person about myself. If I have my like CEO hat on. Kara needs to go make content, make sure, but then I also have to talk about the brand and third person, because it's not me.
Exactly. Exactly. When someone says no to wanting to work with me, it's not that they don't like me as a human, they might not, but like I also have such a low care RA ratio. But or rating. But they're not. They're saying no to whatever the thing is that we're offering them. And my approach for better or worse, is that it's not a no forever.
It's a no right now.
Yeah, but isn't it also just so natural, and I think we do this on our end as well, of feeling your worth through your work like. I oftentimes tie how I feel about myself to how I'm doing in my professional work. And and I'm sure for people who have kids, it's probably like that as well with that.
And so I don't fault them for feeling that way because it's such a human and natural response to things, but it's like, how do you consistently take a pause and be like, okay, this is separate for me. And people who are the most creative, artistic. Sensitive of our clients. I often tell them like, just don't look.
Yes. Look at the Instagram. I think it's where creativity goes to die. You now are like, your feelings can get hurt. You are feeling down about yourself. You're seeing what other people are doing, and maybe you're thinking it's going better than yours. It's not a healthy space to be if you're constantly in a creative fe like field.
I think just stay in your bubble and get bored and get creative and stop looking at Instagram.
Yeah, it is, it's so important, right? Because I'll do the same thing of if I didn't hit a sales goal one month, or if a client that I really wants to take a break, like I'll, but I think where a great way to reframe it is always also what's the opportunity?
'cause we run so often from critical feedback or nos or being uncomfortable and it's hold on. What is this telling me? Is it telling me that this isn't the right time? Am I not focusing somewhere? Is there something else I should be doing? Should I just stop, like trying to open the door that doesn't wanna go anywhere.
Yeah, true. It's, we ha like we have to keep you so self-reflective, I think as entrepreneurs, and that's a whole other task that we need to add to all the other things that we have to do.
Yeah. It's very true. Having time to think.
Yeah. What are you most proud of as an entrepreneur yourself?
Yeah. Oh I think I would say I'm the most proud of.
The work environment. I came from really awful work environments where I worked at a PR firm and it was like just awful. It was all women and I've never worked somewhere where I felt worse about myself in my life. There was actually a designated stall in the bathroom for crying, like that's how bad it was.
So yeah, I used to like during lunch, go cry in the bathroom and then go back to work and prepare myself to get yelled at again. And it was an open office plan, so the yelling was like. Very public. And yeah, so I was talking to Maggie who works for me the other day and she was like, I love working here.
Like I love the work we're doing and she's excited to be there. We just hired someone new who has expressed the same thing and I was like, it's so nice to be able to help other people, have nice quality of life. Like they wanna show up here, they're happy to work, they're excited about what we're doing, and they get to go home.
Have a nice life. One of the girls works for me is taking a half day so she can go to Taylor Swift. I would've never felt comfortable asking my previous boss if I could take a half day to go see Taylor Swift. But why not? You only live once
yeah. Yeah. When you think of the words powerful in ladies, what do they mean to you on their own?
And do they change their definition when they're side by side?
Yeah. I always think that power is viewed from the outside as being loud and aggressive in some ways, or like really standing up for yourself and, oh, we're not bossy. We're the boss type of thing. But I think some of the ways you can be the most powerful is really quiet, actually.
I oftentimes choose to take my power back and not respond to things if that doesn't serve me or not take my, spend my energy there. I have had clients before where they wanted to get into a fight about something because they thought they were right and I was wrong. And instead of spending my energy in that space, I was like, you know what?
I think we just, this isn't gonna work and that's fine too. And so power to me is just like quietly knowing who you are and not letting anything like push you away from that.
When you look at the journey you've been on, you mentioned that no one's gotten their on their own, who are mentors or women in particular who like, thank God, have been along your path to get you to, to today.
I think the interesting thing about that is that while I had a terrible experience with a female boss, my first client was a female. She was on HGTV at the time. I think she's on it now again, and she is who referred me to one of our other bigger clients. And that's where our spiral, our.
I picked up the pace of getting clients and she's very generous with people in that way. And it was the first person who I was like, oh, like you can have a female in your life who like, is generous with their time and with their resources. And then, yeah, I would say along the way, like my sister let me, her and my brother-in-law let me move in with them when I was.
About to have a mental breakdown for my five side jobs. They were like, instead of being your apartment, why don't you just live with us? Which is how I ended up back in California and gave me the space to, not have to stress as much and spend more time on my work. And then, my, my aunt and my grandma when I was in New York, I used to go there like every weekend and just cry at their house about how I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna do this.
And then my mom as well, like super supportive. I think that I lucky I have a supportive family and people who, my great-grandmother immigrated here by herself when she was 18. And she's a, was a really strong individual and raised my grandmother and my mom and my aunt in the same way.
And I think having people who are like, you're gonna be fine. Just calm down, or My grandma just likes to gimme food. She's just eat something. It's fine. But yeah I never had someone tell me, you can't do this. I had people tell me like, it's okay if you don't want to. And there's nothing wrong with that.
But yeah. Had like a good group.
How has living in California, New York and the South really prepared you to understand the design world and aesthetic and what people who are in that lifestyle luxury space are expecting?
Yeah. Oh, that's an interesting question. I would say, oh gosh. When I moved from the south to New York, I had such culture shock, not because I was like, oh, it's the city, and I'm confused because I'd been there a million times.
But the way that people interact with each other is so different. So I thought people were yelling at me and they were not. It's just the way that they express themselves. And I think that stylistically things are so different between the South New York City and California. I would say the South has been in that quiet luxury space a lot longer maybe than New York and California has been.
But yeah, I don't know. I think everyone has their own. Their own style and the designers that we work with in those areas are definitely very different. But at the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing, which is indoor outdoor living, a really great kitchen. And they want things to feel bespoke.
I don't wanna show up and feel like everything's from the Potter Born catalog. I want things to feel like they're unique to me and they're collected. And making sure that people's online presence feel the same way is important.
And I think something and. Maybe you forget that you even have this skill because it's just so a part of you.
I do see showing up in how you work with clients and how you represent yourself in the space you create for people. That it really is coming from a, an area of we're going to be great hosts and customer service and we're going to expect like excellence in like the small details where it matters. Like I never like.
I have a handful of clients who have grown the south that have gone elsewhere, and it's really interesting to see how those same level of customer service and excellence things show up. And it, I think it fits right. 'cause of course California can be very relaxed and York can be very aggressive or tough.
And I think having access to both of those polarities and knowing that there's a timelessness. That you probably didn't even realize you have coming from the south and the quiet luxury and being like, we've seen a lot guys like things tend to be pretty consistent, calm down. Yeah. Oh, that's so interesting.
Yeah, and I also think the New York side of it is a sense of urgency. I always joke that if I moved straight from New York back to the south, I probably could have like just dominated the marketing space because everyone's oh, we'll get back to you on Tuesday. And I'm like, what are we doing? Yes.
Answer now. But as an entrepreneur, that's not necessarily the greatest thing, right? Because that's how I got stuck into that. Oh it's ignite on New Year's Eve and you want me to upload something to YouTube I got it. What am I doing? I gotta take a step back. 'cause those requests have come in.
That's a true story.
And when I hear those stories from you, I also am wondering like, why is that person not having fun at midnight on New Year's Eve? Or why are they not sleeping? Like the two options should be at a party or asleep. Like why are you. Doing the things like, '
cause you know what?
It's so interesting. Interior designers are small businesses, so they're probably in that entrepreneurial swirl as well. And they're like, yeah, the night on New Year's Eve, and it's the only time I have to do this. So are you awake? Are you drunk? What's happening?
When you look at, the balance that you need to create.
We've talked about that you were working seven nights a week, you weren't taking a vacation. So much of that has changed in your business. Now, what are you doing to take care of yourself and is that something that you have to constantly prioritize or is it starting to come more easily?
Oh, it's not easy at all.
My, every morning when I wake up, my initial thought is check my email. Let's start. So I've had to really fight. Myself, which is bizarre to take care of myself and to make sure I have a mental health checklist and that I am taking care, like going to the doctor and prioritizing those things.
And I definitely have, I know we've discussed this, I've had adrenal fatigue because of all the work I did and the burnout I had, which I'm still, fighting to get past. But I won't be able to do this 20 years from now if I don't take care of myself now. So I'm trying to make sure that's, there.
And then the other thing I've realized is that the way you show up for a client in those first few months is what their expectation level is. So if I let them know we have X number of hours between when you send us a request and we get back to you, and you stick to those things, you've already created a space where it's just easier to take care of yourself.
No one die if we don't post to Instagram tomorrow.
When you're not taking care of your clients, what are you doing for fun?
For fun?
The
beach. I'm always at the beach. I love the beach. I have. Two nephews and a niece that I hang out with all the time. They're very young and my little best friends. So we do that a lot.
And then, I don't know I'm the worst about having hobbies. I tried to take up tennis during COVID and then I got like tennis elbow and carpal tunnel, so I. T-B-D-I-I. That's the part of my, I'm like taking care of myself now, but hobbies, we haven't gotten there yet. If Bravo TV is a hobby that's my hobby,
I like
to watch some good reality television after work.
For people who would love to have a marketing boutique agency like you have, what advice would you give them when they're starting?
Gosh. What advice would I give them? Do not undercharge. You are worth your fees and you're going to create an environment where you can never keep up with the work if you don't charge what it's worth.
And if you don't know what to charge, find someone and ask them. That was the biggest mistake I made. On the other hand, it did get me clients. I don't know. I would've gotten at the start and then I was able to move my numbers up. So did it work out for me? Yes. But. Definitely was not a good couple years when I was working seven days a week.
And then my other advice is you're gonna have just as many like downward slopes as you are up. So this is a roller coaster. If you are not okay with having instability, I would say this is not necessarily what you should be doing. And that's just the reality of it. Today it's great.
Tomorrow might be horrible, but the reality is we just have to keep on. I think people who end up being entrepreneurs or people who can't see any other way of living, I, my soul would die if I go back to a corporate job. So this is my only option in a lot of ways. And I think that's what pushes people who have large successful businesses to get there, and I hope to be there one day.
We ask everybody on the podcast where they put themselves on the Powerful Lady scale. If zero is average everyday human, and 10 is the most powerful woman you could imagine, where would you put yourself today and on an average day?
Oh, I don't know. Here I, okay, I'll say that I think that you can be an average human and still be powerful.
So I think maybe I am still at a zero. I think I am learning how to trust myself. I am every day showing up and trying to take care of myself and get past my imposter syndrome and all of that good stuff. I don't think I'm where I wanna be, but I also know that it's a journey. I'm not gonna wake up tomorrow and like all of a sudden not have anxiety or depression issues or any of those types of things.
Yeah, I would say on a good day I'm probably like a three, but on an average day I'm a zero. But that's the thing is you just do it anyways, yeah.
You do such great work with your clients, you care so much about them. So what type of clients do you want to be attracting and who would you love to be working with?
Yes. Oh, this, okay. I was at a trade show and there was this kindergarten teacher who was making these beautiful, handmade like coffee tables. And I know I came back from that and I was like. Kara, I have to tell you about this person. Yeah. I love people who are passionate about something and they're like, but I'm only a kindergarten teacher.
I don't see how to make this happen. Or, I'm only this, I don't see how to make this happen. I'm like, no, like I want to make this happen for you. Everybody has something unique and exciting and special about them. And in, I think we as a society have pushed people down to feel like they're not good enough, or you have to look this way to be this, or you have to feel this way to do this.
And it's no. Like you can be a kindergarten teacher and have an amazing business. Like you don't have to be just this, that you've put yourself in a bucket as and so people who are passionate about what they're doing and they're talented and they want us to just run with it. That's like my dream client always.
Yeah.
For everybody who would love to work with you, support you, follow you, where can they do all of those things?
Yeah, so you can go to little social code.com and we have a form there you can fill out and we're always taking new clients, so yeah. That what you were.
I am just so proud of how committed you are to your business growth, your client's growth.
Like you are always coming to our sessions and our group calls together with just great questions and like really wanting to constantly be leveling up everything in your life that you can. Yeah. And I just wanna acknowledge you for how much you have done that. I'm just, I'm so proud of you and I'm so honored that I get to work with you and your team, and it's been really fun when we're collaborating on shared clients also.
Yeah. I just really trust how you're gonna take care of them, and it allows me to have a sigh of relief because I do think that the marketing piece is so hard and complicated and it can be so overwhelming for a business owner, and there's such. Bad advice out there about what to do and how to make it overly complicated for no reason.
And so it's nice to have little social Co and you and be like no, like this is one of the people I trust. Like they're not gonna screw you over. They're actually gonna do the work. They're gonna be honest with you. They're going to move you forward in a way that is sustainable for your business and listen to them.
So thank you for what you do and that I have you to refer clients to as well.
Nice. Thank you. I always tell people if I could have done something different, I would've hired you sooner. ' cause as somebody who's also creative, like who has anxiety and everything like that, you just need somebody to be like no.
You're fine. You're just keep going. Yeah.
Yeah. Which help us. I think we've doubled our business with you,
Yeah. I'm so glad that we finally got you on the podcast. I can't wait for everyone to hear your wisdom. And yeah, just knowing that you're out there and you're doing all the hard things and still making it happen, so thank you for your time today and sharing your story.
And yeah, I get to talk to you later today. Yes,
all the links to connect with Alexandra and Little Social Co, or in our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com. Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening, and leave us a rating and review. Come join us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, and if you're looking to connect directly with me. Visit Kara duffy.com or Kara Duffy on Instagram.
I'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Instagram: @_littlesocialco
Website: https://littlesocialco.com
Email: hello@littlesocialco.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
