Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandi Nelson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Brandi. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in a single-parent household, with my mom and sister (it was pretty much always just us). We lived in a pretty small town that was close to Washington, DC but still small enough to be considered a small town. Growing up, I always remembered my mom being like a superwoman. Whether it was food, clothes, toys, whatever we wanted, we pretty much got just like anyone in a two-parent household. She was a Secret Service agent for over 25 years and basically defied any gender-specific stereotypes which kind of made me into the feminist I am today LOL.
Initially, when I started college, I majored in Fashion Marketing because I LOVED fashion, didn’t necessarily want to be a designer, didn’t want to work in a retail store, but was really interested in the decision-making process when it comes to buying. Little did I know, that was my interest in marketing peeking through. After my first year, I started an internship with The DC Fashion Incubator, who basically trains/houses designers for Macy’s. My tasks involved getting these designers off the ground with social media. From developing a brand identity to creating full campaigns for fashion shows, I was “Brandi from Marketing.” And from there, I realized that marketing where I wanted to be. The ability to add value to people’s lives, develop entire brands, and make an impact within businesses was everything I wanted. So I transferred schools and changed my major to Business & Tech, with a concentration in Digital Marketing.
As soon as I stepped foot on campus, it was go time. From working in the fashion industry (as an intern), I knew that life was only going to get more competitive. So I hit grind time. I started reaching out to almost everyone I knew on social that was thriving in digital marketing, acquired mentors, and even started some pro bono clients to get my feet wet. After a couple of months, one of my mentors took me in as one of her employees and that’s when my insight skyrocketed. I learned the ins-and-outs of the business, how to talk to clients, as well as further developed my skills.
After, she talked me into developing my own company. I was so nervous at. First, I didn’t even have a real logo, but I knew that this was what I wanted to do. Eventually, I started Brand-It Strategies as an agency that just offered social media and logo design. But as my clientele grew and I learned more in school and elsewhere, I expanded my services to include web dev, SEO, marketing strategy, and email marketing. I guess you can say that “need” grew my services. As I saw growth areas in my clients, I grew my skill level. Soon after, word-of-mouth traveled and my clientele began to grow, so I had to bring on more help. Then after that, we took a shift from super small start-up businesses to medium-sized organizations.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth as in the bumpiest road ever? Absolutely! There are so many things I had to learn. One thing was boundaries for myself and clients. As a young black woman, I felt the need to get everything done that I possibly could, even if it meant fully neglecting self-care, friends, and family (which was horrible). I soon found myself burnt out, with acne, and just in an unhappy place.
So I learned to place boundaries on myself, like stopping work at a certain time and doing fun things to make me happy. And on the client-side, I learned to have operating hours, specific communication channels, and clear definitions of expectations in contracts.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Brand-It Strategies – what should we know?
Everyone that works at Brand-It Strategies is so much better than me, I swear! We’re a digital marketing agency that is built on merging creativity within businesses in order to help our clients reach their goals. We specialize in social media marketing, email marketing, SEO, web development, and consultations/workshops.
I’m most proud of our adaptability to any industry (which sets us apart from a lot of niche-based marketing companies). We’re not just good in one thing. We work with a range of industries, from mega Christian churches and social responsibility organizations to commercial real estate, beauty salons, and lifestyle blogs.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.branditstrategies.com
- Phone: (202) 599-5358
- Email: contact@branditstrategies.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/branditstrategies
- Facebook: facebook.com/branditstrategies
- Twitter: twitter.com/branditnews
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