Today we’d like to introduce you to Jelissa Brooks.
Jelissa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m from Wisconsin and I moved to Atlanta in 2013 right after graduating college. My first job was with AmeriCorps serving in their HandsOn Tech year-long program sponsored by Google with Hands-On Atlanta. The HandsOn Tech program sought to fight poverty through technology by pairing skills-based volunteers with greater Atlanta nonprofits to solve IT-related issues. From there, I worked in the nonprofit sector for another year, then moved into doing freelance work for a local law firm, helping them to improve their social media to increase visibility. My latest job was with RR Donnelley, serving as a Creative Project Manager. I also wore many other hats throughout my 3.5 years with the company. That job taught me I’m built to lead, to stand on my own two feet, and to become the entrepreneur I’d envisioned. I built strong client and internal relationships, learned the essentials of managing a team, spearheaded one of the largest client accounts, and was responsible for problem-solving for some of the company’s intricate software rollouts to increase efficiency. I’d made my mark on the nonprofit and agency world and had brought value to various companies from 2013 – 2020 and now I had this urge to add both mine and others to that list.
While working at RR Donnelley, I knew I needed a creative outlet to help me find balance in my life, so I started creating content on social media, namely Instagram. I grew my account organically from 200 to 1,800 within three weeks’ time. Remaining consistent, I became passionate about creating content because it gave me the opportunity to flex my creative muscles and add value to people’s lives in ways I hadn’t thought I could. I’d always been a creative person loving to write, film, style myself, and execute my visions, so creating quality content for others was fairly easy for me to do. It was fulfilling, so I kept going at it for all of 2019 and I began landing brand deals, my first paid one being with Neutrogena.
When starting out, I focused on creating fashion and lifestyle content. I was often planning photoshoots, shot lists, working with photographers, my sister or solo to capture shots, creative directing the shoots, serving as the makeup artist, and stylist. The list goes on. But soon after, I realized I wanted to go deeper and offer value in different ways that I felt would increase my impact online and give me more footing to establish my brand around a topic that could serve a wider range of people, so I began to teach. I started sharing my skills in the form of how-to content as a test to see how my audience would respond to the new material. The responses I got shifted things for me. My DMs and comments went from “cute outfit” to “teach me more of how to do this.” And that’s what I was after.
Essentially, I was fixed on entrepreneurship being ingrained within my family and I was ready to take the leap and set that in motion. I quit my job on March 13 of this year, so almost two months ago now to date. Having now started my journey as an entrepreneur, I’m 100% focused on building my self-named online business. So far, in building my brand and business, I have organically developed a growing online community of 3,000 plus people through authenticity, passion, and a clear brand voice. My clients and audience rely on me to create intentional content that both resonates and informs through video, photography, and engaging messaging and to equip them to do the same. My sweet spot lies in coaching creatives and service-based entrepreneurs on strategies to create valuable content that sets them apart, engages their audience, creates customers and generates income for their business or personal brand.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing is a smooth road when you’re first. Being first comes with a lot of mess-ups or uncertainty in some cases. When you’re first in something, you’re literally building the way without a clear blueprint of how things should go. One of my struggles so far has been that it’s just me and I don’t have counsel readily available to me that’s knowledgeable within the coaching space to walk me through my questions and just be a guide. Although I’m naturally a pretty independent person and I do well at figuring things out, I was adamant about my business not being something that I DIY. I value the opinion of a person who’s ahead of me and I equate success with being communal. I don’t believe people get ahead alone. With that said, I just found an online coach that I love and decided to invest in because it’s important to me to have longevity in my business, to remain a student, and to be the best at what I do as a Digital Creator and Coach. But yes, the lack of counsel has been a struggle for me. Google can only take me so far in business and I’m glad I realized that early on.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I’m an Online Content Coach and I help service-based entrepreneurs and content creators who struggle with branding and marketing themselves online and need guidance in devising a plan to generate income through content marketing to gain leads and clients within their business.
In addition to my one-on-one coaching service, I also create and sell custom-made templates within my online shop on my website jelissabrooks.com as another way to help service-based entrepreneurs save time in creating content within their business. The type of items you’ll find in my online store include Media Kit Templates, Instagram Live Templates, E-Books, Virtual Event Replay Recordings, and more. I’m constantly adding new, unique items to my shop because I believe it’s imperative to create digital products that differ from what’s easily accessible on sites like Canva or Creative Market. People appreciate things that are one-of-a-kind, so I create digital products that fulfill that desire for them.
What sets me apart from others is my authenticity, integrity, genuine care for people, and my thought process as a business owner. My mind and thought patterns aren’t like everyone else and I believe that’s my biggest asset. I’m big on providing memorable, valuable, and well thought out experiences for my clients. As a result, I’ve had a few proud moments. But my recent proudest moment was when I received my first rounds of income under my own name through coaching and hosting virtual events one month after quitting my job. The total amount I earned within a two-day period was more than I made within a two-day period within my previous 9-5 job. At that moment, I had so much pride once that truth sank in and I starred at each payment receipt as they came into my email inbox. As a new practice to celebrate every win, I screenshot every receipt I receive as a reminder that I’m living my dream as I walk out this entrepreneurial journey daily.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The quality that I feel is most important to my success is my ability to stretch. By definition to stretch is to be made or be capable of being made longer or wider without tearing or breaking. To me, I am being willed to stretch covers all the bases needed to win. My stretching will cause me to have longevity in business. My stretching will cause me to be a life-long learner, which will help me to be a life-long teacher and coach. I’m stretched every time I read, host an event, learn a new skill, or work with a client; being stretched is time-intensive and uncomfortable. Now I’m always willing to operate outside of my box. I’d rather be uncomfortable now so I can be comfortable later and rest in the end.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jelissabrooks.com
- Email: hello@jeilssabrooks.com
- Instagram: @jelissabrooks
- Other: https://bookfreecontentassessmentcallwithjelissa.as.me
Image Credit:
Sharmelle Brooks
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