Today we’d like to introduce you to Tatiana Phillips.
Hi Tatiana, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Chasing my dream to one day work in marketing started out like a fairytale, beginning with internships at MTV, MTV2 and SonyBMG. I was living the dream once MTV2 hired me on to freelance between my junior and senior year of undergrad in NYC. But, that dream soon came to a screeching halt when the Great Recession hit. Absolutely no one was hiring, and were in fact beginning to lay people off by the dozens. I had no idea what I was doing or how I was going to make my dream possible. I moved back to Florida feeling defeated and lost. I kept applying for marketing positions, but soon needed to just be able to pay the bills.
As life often does, I jumped from job to job just barely making ends meet. It wasn’t until some years later after working as Assistant COO for a small law firm that I realized I hadn’t lost my passion or drive for marketing. I decided to go to school for my M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications after dabbling in serving on marketing committees for community organizations, helping friends with websites and gradually becoming the go-to person for marketing questions among my peers. After graduation, I was offered positions with small start-ups, but nothing was sticking. It felt as if the universe was telling me those opportunities just weren’t for me. Imposter syndrome sat with me for many months before I realized that I had all the tools I needed to go into business for myself. And boy, was I right! Within the first few months I gained my first two clients, (The Traveling Tap and Stork’d the Podcast) and shortly thereafter, my third (Third Alchemy Consulting). It became abundantly clear that marketing for small businesses was exactly what I was meant to do. It brings me great joy to know that my intellect and creativity is being put to use to help small businesses grow in a noisy and cluttered digital world.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest struggles I have faced has been myself. I think if I had known how incredible this journey as a business owner would be, I would have done this years ago. Since launching my business, Let’s Taco ‘Bout Marketing, I have found that most of what I do is second nature, backed up by my 17 years of experience and education from Marymount Manhattan College and West Virginia University. It’s been a good challenge thus far.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Let’s Taco ‘Bout Marketing is a boutique digital marketing agency that specializes in content strategy, content creation, social media marketing and blogging and email newsletters. The biggest piece of the puzzle for me, is taking a deep dive into my client’s target audience, discovering what they crave and need to know, what problems we’re solving for them and how my clients can fulfill that need. It’s incredibly important to me that the consumer or buyer is at the forefront of everything that we do. Something I like to say is that I’m in the human connection business. One of the best parts about social media marketing is the conversations one can build as their audience or followers get to know, like and trust the brands that I work with. Social media is meant to be social. That online community is invaluable to learning what they want, how they want it and what pain points they struggle with. Without that rapport and community, we become pushy salesmen; the antithesis of what I try to achieve daily.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
One of the biggest takeaways I got from 2020 and COVID-19 is that time is fleeting. Life is fleeting. I’d like to believe that the pandemic caused me to launch my business, however, that would be a lie. I think the constant struggles I faced the year prior, in 2019, was the catalyst for what launched my business in 2020. However, I will say that by launching in 2020 I felt more supported by my community and peers because I was taking something not so great (the pandemic) and using my new-found free time for something productive and beautiful. It allowed me to focus on what I needed to do to become successful. By learning how to navigate being a business owner at one of the most difficult times to go into business. I’d like to believe that I am better prepared for the curveballs of the future.
Contact Info:
- Email: tatiana@letstacoboutmarketing.com
- Website: www.letstacoboutmarketing.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/taco_bout_marketing
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/letstacoboutmarketing
Image Credits
Tynasha Barnes
