Roughly two years ago, I noticed that a VA named Caroline downloaded both my Signature Experience design investment guide and my VIP Day investment guide multiple times each.
I found her Instagram and scrolled for a while, noticing she did some awesome VA work for people that I was familiar with.
I kept asking myself, “What gives? Why does she keep looking at my information, but not reaching out?”
Sooooo, I took things into my own hands, and I sent an DM to someone I had never really talked to before 😅 (which, if you know me at all is just very unlike me)
Not going to lie, as soon as I sent it, I had an “oh shit” moment where I got scared I’d come off as aggressive or rude. But, she responded!!
Aaaaand cue the tears 🥹😭
I was immediately SO touched that she valued my work especially considering her experience and familiarity with my platforms! She sent a couple more messages explaining her situation, and then we spent HOURS sending voice notes back and forth on Instagram figuring out how we could work together.
Caroline ended up booking a VIP Day and she wanted to focus solely on branding, so we did, and it was stunning!!! It was filled with her personality, while showcasing how she could help her clients by meeting their needs and what they were looking for.
Fast forward a few months
I hired Caroline to help launch my course for wedding pros looking to shift into the luxury market. She created so much awesome marketing content for me, wrote and scheduled email campaigns, made sure everything was ready to go on the backend before launch, and so much more!
Then Caroline decided she wanted another VIP Day to help with her website, so we worked together in that capacity, customizing a gorgeous TONIC template to fit her VA and OBM business.
Throughout the process of working together on such intimate aspects of our business, we became such close friends. If we wanted to celebrate a win (in life or business) we’d text each other. I was one of the first people to know (besides Caroline or her husband, Martin) when she was pregnant with their second baby boy. Caroline knows, to this day, the ins and outs of my business finances + goals. She has brought so much joy and friendship into my life, truly!
Fast forward another few months
Before she was in the online business world, Caroline was a photographer, and she still loves to capture special memories and moments for people in her local area of Beaufort, South Carolina. WELL, this happens to be really close to where my grandparents live, who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last September. My whole family decided we should get together for extended family portraits to celebrate the sixty years + all the love they’ve created in our family, and I knew I wanted Caroline to be the one to capture them! So we had Caroline come to my grandparents’ house and take photos (that we couldn’t be more obsessed with!) and I finally got to meet my sweet online bestie!!! Plus she took the most special photos of us all together:
Fast forward another few months (I know, I know)
Caroline and I were on FaceTime with her two boys, Banks and Baylor, cracking us up, when Caroline mentioned she thought we should revisit her color palette. She went on to explain how she was shifting her business and while she loved her first design we created together, she wanted to get even more bold. I immediately agreed and started brainstorming, which resulted in Caroline going through my Signature Experience and getting a totally custom brand + website backed by strategy that would help propel her forward!
All of the nuances throughout the design, from the custom typeface, to her custom icons, and even the bold colors that you can’t help but look at, combine to create a brand that she loves having and using! Plus, she made her investment back IMMEDIATELY!!!
oh sis, we’re not done yet
While we were working on Caroline’s custom website at the beginning of 2024, we realized that there were so many ways we could work with people together. So naturally, we brainstormed and came up with a workshop! From Creator to Educator is a collaboration between Build Your Brand and Caroline Bryant Co. for business owners who want to shift into education.
TLDR;
Because we’re us, I’m sure that there will be another evolution of our friendship + businesses at some point in time in the future. BUT, the whole point of this is to tell you to just send the damn message. I could have so easily just observed that she was downloading my information and gone about my day, but I chose to reach out. That one DM has quite literally changed my life and my business for the better.
