Daily Inspiration: Meet Molly Hawthorne

Today we’d like to introduce you to Molly Hawthorne.

Molly is a 20-year-old MBA graduate who has fallen in love with the marketing industry. In 2018, Molly graduated with her Associate’s degree, in conjunction with her high school diploma, at 17 years old. After that, she decided to get her Bachelors in Hospitality Management from FIU, and she actually completed a Hospitality Management Internship at Walt Disney World at the age of 18. Out of roughly 50 people who were chosen for this internship program, she was the only one who was under 21 years old. After completing this internship, she quickly learned that hospitality management wasn’t her ideal profession, so she decided to further her education with an MBA in Marketing. Now, this semester she is graduating just a couple of days before her 21st birthday.

During the global pandemic, Molly was employed at Universal Orlando Resort but was put on furlough for a whole year. She decided that she would begin freelancing in the social media marketing world. She has been a Social Media Influencer for two years now and has worked with major brands like Vera Bradley, SeaWorld Orlando, and Wyndham Resorts. Her passion for creating content and working with brands shined through when she decided to begin her entrepreneurial journey. Her and her boyfriend, Daniel Sanchez, created a company named The Brand Brewery, and together they began working with clients on social media management and brand collaboration management.

After six months of freelance work, Molly decided that she was more interested in working with influencers and working on influencer campaigns, than doing social media management work. She is now rebranding The Brand Brewery into Influenced by Social, which is planned to launch in June. Influenced by Social will be a collective of micro-influencers who are interested in building their personal brand and are eager to start working with brands. Molly will act as a coach to these influencers in this collective and will guide them through their journey of becoming a Social Media Influencer. Another part of the business will include Molly working with brands who need someone to help them implement their influencer campaigns.

While working on this business idea, Molly is currently working as a Sales Copywriter for a start-up influencer marketing company, Statusphere. She has been thoroughly enjoying her time working with Statusphere and is eager to continue growing with the company. She hopes to continue working with the company whilst growing her business on the side. She is excited to see where the future will take her in her career and as an influencer!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Some parts were smoother than others. It definitely got rough when I realized that I wasn’t super passionate about the hospitality industry. I felt like I just wasted four years of school chasing this dream just to realize that the industry wasn’t ideal for me. I felt crushed after my management internship with Disney ended because I truly thought that this would be my future. Overall, I’m happy that this happened the way it did because I learned a lot of people skills through my hospitality management degree and working in management for Disney.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Social Media Influencer who is working towards building a collective full of micro-influencers who are wanting to be where I am one day as an influencer. I work with quite a few brands each month on paid campaigns. Some of my favorite campaigns have been with Vera Bradley, BoxLunch, SeaWorld Orlando, Busch Gardens, Wyndham Resorts, and First Watch. A lot of my followers began seeing how good I was at scoring collaborations with brands, so they began reaching out to me asking how to do it. People began encouraging me to offer it as a service to them, where I help them get brand collaborations themselves. That idea became very successful, and that’s when I realized I wanted to rebrand The Brand Brewery into Influenced by Social. I am most proud of the amazing community of creators that I have formed, and I can’t wait for them to all get to know each other through the collective. I think what sets me most apart from others is that I have built very personable relationships with many of these creators. I’ve always told them that they can message me anytime they need advice on influencer-related things. My motto is “community over competition.”

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is to trust what is happening in the moment. I felt absolutely crushed after ending my management internship with Disney, feeling disheartened about the hospitality industry, but now I am grateful for that experience because I never would’ve decided to focus more on the marketing industry and growing as an influencer.

Pricing:

• The influencer collective through Influenced by Social will be a monthly payment of $25 for influencers who want to be members.

Contact Info:

• Email: molly.a.hawthorne@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mollss.ann/