Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Llewellyn.
Stephanie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2020, I was a struggling single mom, on food stamps with less than $200 to my name. The pandemic hit, I lost my job as a nanny and had to pack up my son and our whole lives to move in with my parents until we knew what the future held.
As I stood in my childhood bedroom, staring at the desk I use to sit at… writing and dreaming about the future. It was at that moment, that I realized I had lost sight of my dreams… and of myself. Right then I decided it was time to take control of my future for myself and for my son. So, in June 2020, I decided to take the skills I already had as a writer, and creative person and created my LLC. to officially start my business, The Social Vine.
It started at a Virtual Assisting business, which I was not good at at all, and quickly moved towards Social Media and Marketing. I cleaned houses in between clients to make ends meet but I kept showing up for my business on social media and I knew that if I just kept moving forward, small step after small step… it would pay off.
Fast forward to March 2022- my marketing company, The Social Vine is thriving, plus, a second brand, ‘Cool Mom CEO’ has taken on a life of its own through the magical world of TikTok.
In 60 days, TikTok has grown my brand 4x over, and I feel more aligned with my mission to help female entrepreneurs navigate the content marketing world and grow their small businesses just by showing up consistently as themselves than ever before.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I started my company without any formal training and knew it would require me to lean into the unknown, even if that meant risking failure, messing up with everyone watching, or getting in over my head.
I worked with my first client for 3 months, and then our contract ended but I had no clue how to continue, no idea that I should have been moving leads through my pipeline… I don’t think I even knew what a pipeline was at that point, to be honest! I was terrified to fail but knew that I couldn’t just quit.
So, I got a job with a cleaning company until I could find another client. Every day, I would drive to these incredible mansions listening to Jen Sincero’s ‘You’re a Badass at Making Money”, chugging Sugar-Free Redbull to wash down the giant lump of anxiety chilling in my throat.
I would spend my days dreaming about what I was going to create, and I spent my evenings playing with and taking care of my son, Cullen. On the outside in the social media world, my business looked beautifully curated, like I was killing it… when in reality, I was struggling to convince myself that I wasn’t absolutely crazy for having the kind of faith in myself that I had at that time.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Social Vine and Cool Mom CEO?
I specialize in helping Female Entrepreneurs find confidence in their ideas, and businesses with simplified content marketing, personal branding, and intuitive strategy. I’m known for my unique approach to teaching Marketing, and Storytelling.
I love to share the relatable side of growing a business, as a single mom and ADHD entrepreneur to help others see they are not alone, and that the things they feel are holding them back are the actual reasons why they need to keep going. That is what I am most proud of when it comes to the brand I have built – I honestly feel like it has allowed me to dream bigger and because of that, it has expanded the vision of so many other female entrepreneurs and given them unspoken permission to show up as themselves.
I love to sit down with women who are excited but overwhelmed, their heads are full of ideas and dreams but they have no idea where to start; that’s exactly who I created my Focused Strategy Sessions for. I work with my clients intuitively, allowing them to share with me what they need, and where they need support, and then I help them fill in the gaps with ideas, tools, resources, and contacts that will be helpful for them.
I want the experience to be fun, and light but sometimes the sessions can lean into some more difficult mindset blocks that may be hanging around, preventing things from moving forward. Either way, I am available to hold space for my clients and just listen if that’s what is needed at that moment.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Growing up, my parents supported my creative, and sometimes odd, ideas and talents to no end.
Never once questioned why I was hanging sheets from my ceiling with thumbtacks as a makeshift bed canopy, or painting my ceiling with glue just so I could throw glitter in the air in hopes it would stick and reflect the light of my disco ball so I could properly perform my rendition of Mariah Carey’s ‘Hero’, hairbrush microphone in hand standing on my pink daybed in front of my mirror.
I’ll never forget taking a black sharpie marker and writing poems, beautiful words, and memories all over my bedroom walls. My mom walked in and saw what I was doing and instead of asking what I was doing or yelling at me to stop… she quietly walked over to one of the walls I had defaced with pre-Pinterest poetry and told me how much she loved the quotes I had picked.
I think about that moment every time I pick up a sharpie to this day, and I just hope I can be as supportive of my son, as my mom was of me.
Pricing:
- 60-min Intro Strategy Session – $297
- 90-min Focused Strategy Session – $997
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://msha.ke/stephaniellewellyn/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thesocial_vine
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/coolmomceo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-u7YTcTrtqkDcFNu7SzQIg
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-does-she-think-she-is-with-stephanie-llewellyn/id1549584813
Image Credits
B Creative Studio Art Photography (@bc.studio.art), Mike Schalk Photography, and Modern Vitality Medical Spa
