RM: So tell me a bit about your journey, did you go to university?
CJ: I went to the University of Southampton and I studied English.
Whilst I was there, I got involved in the Charity society and I was on their
committee doing social media market - I was managing their channels, thinking
of ways to get new volunteers and bring people to events but I didn't even see
it as marketing - It was just something fun I was doing on the side of my
degree.
RM: So what did you do after graduating? Did you start thinking
about possibly doing social media marketing?
CJ: When I graduated, I applied to a whole range of different
things - I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and I did a couple of internships
the summer before graduating and then I ended getting an interview for a
marketing assistant job at the University of Southampton. So, I interviewed for
that and got it - then a couple of weeks into that, the person that was
managing the social media left so they gave me the responsibility of social
media because I had that experience from the committee work I was doing with
the charity society - It all sort of started from there really because I got
really interested in social media and digital marketing and how that can be
used in business. So my career isn't really directly linked to my degree but
I've ended up here through the extracurricular things that I did whilst at uni.
RM: So what made you decide to start your own business?
CJ: When I was working at Southampton uni, a colleague's sister
had a business and she needed some help with social media and so my colleague recommended
me because he knew that I would be good at the job and this person became, a
sort of client but at the time, it was just something fun that I would do in
the evening and get paid a minimal amount - It was very early blueprint to what
I do now but I didn't think it would lead to this at all. I then moved to
Kingston University to do the same thing so I was still in higher education
sector and whilst I was there, I worked with two different clients during
evenings and weekends - but again, I didn't really see them as clients - I had
no contracts but it was more about having something fun and varied to do
outside of work.
RM: So at what point did you feel like you were ready to take the
plunge and do it alone?
CJ: I got to a point where I wasn't really enjoying my job and I
thought - Why don't I go fulltime working for myself and I don't think I would
have given it as much thought as what other people do - I just knew that I
could the social media side of things and thought - well this should work out
fine. I didn't put much thought into - how do you get clients, how do you value
your services, how much do you charge, how do you invoice people, how do you
pay tax, how do you set up a business - All of those things you need to know. I
learned it all myself as I went along.
RM: Do you think your past experience helped you in setting up
your business?
CJ: I mean, I think I took the plunge in just going into working
for myself but I think it helped that I had already worked with clients before
when I was still working fulltime.
RM: So tell me a bit more about your business and how you work
with clients?
CJ: I work with clients in three ways - Firstly Strategy, so I
help clients with what their social media strategy should be - The second way
is through content where I'll create content for my clients - The third way is
training so I run one to one sessions to equip people with knowledge about
social media.
RM: I know the world of freelancing can get a bit lonely at
times, how do you manage that side of things...
CJ: There's nothing quite like meeting someone who does what you
do and having that support. Its slightly different from your friends and family
- who are also great but its a different type of support because you can really
ask questions that they can relate to and understand. All my freelancer friends
have come through online.
RM: And who inspires you?
CJ: I have so many people who inspire me but one person is Beyonce
- she's incredible for so many reasons and anyone that says their not a fan -
I'm always like - hmm - why? But on a serious note, when you look deeper into
how long she's been working - she started when she was like 9 or 10 and
everything she does, she has complete control over - all the decisions she
makes in business - she's so inspiring and so hardworking. People will see
where she's at now and say, she's incredibly gifted and talented but there's
more to it than that. For example, when she used to go running, she would sing
at the same time to expand her lung capacity and she had this crazy regime to
get her to where she is now - I feel like sometimes people only look at the end
product, not just with Beyonce but with everything - people can easily ignore
the hard work that's gone into getting that person to where they are now. It's
really inspiring to see and understand someone's journey.
RM: Agreed, I think it's easy to miss and overlook the steps it
takes for some people to get to certain places in their lives. So, knowing how
far you've come in your own journey and some of the challenges you may have
faced... what advice would you give to people starting out their careers?
CJ: My advice would be - You don't have to do things the way
people are telling you - if you want to start a business or just have a side project
or whatever it is - that's fine and you should pursue that. You don't
necessarily have to get a graduate job and climb your way up the ladder if
that's not something that works for you. The gig economy now means that there so
many more freelancers out there so it's a great opportunity to do things that
you want to do. Another piece of advice is that, whether you are at university
now or just graduated - You have so much time and its easy to get bogged down
in trying to do figure out what you should be doing but everything happens for
a reason and you'll look back on certain experiences and realise that it can
make you a better person.
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