The Success Trap Nobody Talks About w/ Erika Maram

What if the business you worked so hard to build became the very thing stealing your freedom? 

In this episode, Lauren sits down with brand and web designer Erika Maram to explore the journey behind her business, from learning to code as a kid and bartending for seven years to building a thriving design studio that eventually grew into a full-service marketing agency. What started as a dream of creating freedom quickly turned into long nights, constant client demands, and a business that was running her instead of the other way around.

Erika shares the difficult decision to walk away from parts of her business, take a significant pay cut, and rebuild a company that aligned with the life she actually wanted. She also opens up about confidence, visibility, direct communication, creating brands that make people feel something, and why so many female entrepreneurs underestimate the value they bring to the table.

If you've ever felt trapped by your own success, this conversation will help you rethink growth, reclaim your confidence, and build a business that supports your life instead of consuming it.

Connect with Erika:

Website: https://erikamaram.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erika.maram/

Chapters:

00:40 Meet Erica Maram

04:40 From Art School to Entrepreneurship

08:20 Building a Business From Scratch

10:40 When Growth Stops Feeling Good

14:00 Choosing Freedom Over More Revenue

18:20 Why Direct Communication Builds Trust

21:40 Creating a Brand People Feel

25:20 The Story Behind Business Over Cocktails

27:10 Branding Through Emotion Instead of Design

31:00 The Confidence to Go After Bigger Opportunities

37:00 Recognizing Your Own Success

40:20 Why Female Entrepreneurs Play Small

46:00 Boundaries, Business, and Life Balance 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hey there, and welcome to Business Over Cocktails. I'm Laura Najar, your host and hype woman, bringing you real talk about entrepreneurship. This is the podcast where we dive into the bold whys, the messy middles, and the game-changing aha moments that lead to success. You'll hear unfiltered stories from entrepreneurs plus bite-sized solo episodes inside the Business Chaser series, where we cut through the noise and get straight to what actually drives sales, visibility, and growth. So whether you're here to get fired up or finally feel seen in your business journey, pull up a seat, pour your favorite drink, and let's have a real conversation. Hi everyone, welcome back to Business Over Cocktails. I am Lauren Najar, your host of this podcast. And today I'm joined by Erica Marum, a visionary creative powerhouse, which yes, she is, award-level brand and web designer, CEO and creative director of her own design studio, and someone whose work moves beyond aesthetics into soul. And I put that in there because yes, you can kind of get that vibe from her website. And one of the things I actually didn't say this to Erica before I hit record, and I meant to say this, so I'm gonna say this to you now. You have something in there that says luxury but authenticity. And like that speaks to my soul because, and I think that's why we get along so well, and that's why we've been like friends and connected for so long. But like that is literally you. Like, and now that I've gotten to meet you in person, like your design work is gorgeous and awesome, and just the best that I've seen, the best person that I know to do design work. So I'm just always like, I love what you do. But also just like that doesn't come from oh, you are high maintenance or anything like that. Like you are just very laid back down to earth. And I will say too, like, just a little background too. Like you came to my retreat, you spoke with the retreat people, you actually hung out with us the whole time. And then like you didn't have this like workshop, right? You just sat with everyone and decided to like talk to everyone. So just like a little background of like who you are and how laid back you are, but like you you don't get that from your design work, it's just it's brilliant what you do. So welcome.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Thank you. I actually remember the event and I was like, hmm, I should wear heels. But then I was like, you know what? Wearing heels for that workshop doesn't feel like me because we're going to get work done. And when you're getting work done, you don't wear heels. You're not cleaning your house and heels. You're wearing either comfortable shoes or nothing at all. So it really didn't match the vibe that I wanted everyone to feel, which it was invited and comfortable. Hence why also, I don't know if you remember in the event, I just pulled a chair and I sat down to be at the same level as everyone else, not just be in a podium in the corner, just like, hey, look at me. No, I want everyone to feel invited. Because even though I might be the expert in this topic, I don't want you to feel pressured into like, oh shit, my stuff doesn't meet that standard. Because that wasn't the purpose. So it's finding that balance between how I want you to feel versus how you want to feel after. Yeah, it's that mix between luxury, but authenticity between who you are and where you want to be and how you wanna look and portray yourself to everyone else.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

I love that balance. And again, I think that speaks to me. So I've known you, we've been connected for five-ish years. I think we did the math on that, right? Five years now. When we finally met in person back in May. So when we're recording this, this is we're recording this in October. So we met five months ago. Five size. Yeah, there you go. Oh my god, I was doing numerology with someone today. So like it's so funny. Yeah, I was doing we were talking about the number eight, and it's so funny that you just uh brought this up. Maybe it's gonna be a theme of mine today. So maybe. But so I've always known you as brand designer, web designer, having your own design studio, but I don't know much about like what led you to that. So, what's your background and how did you arrive to like not only going into this space, but also then building your own business and being an entrepreneur? So I've always been a very creative person.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

I had my first website when I was in middle school, which is crazy. Now that I think about it, like damn, nerd. But I don't know if you ever got into like today, we know Pokemon. Back then it was neopeds, and you had to create like web pages and all the things. That's how I learned to code. Then I went into college, graduated with two art degrees that have nothing to do with graphic design. I have an art, like actual art degree. So I painted, draw, sculptures, all the manual labor art. And then I have an art history degree. So nothing related to visual marketing or graphic design, but I've always worked in retail or any type of sales. I was behind a bar for seven years. So speaking to people and learning to sell top shelf liqueur to someone that is like, I have 20 bucks, and I'm like, well, you can get seven beers that are gonna make you feel bloated and horrible, or you can get two of this drink that it's very potent, and I'm pretty sure you're not gonna feel bloated, and it's gonna taste even better.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

You know, it's interesting that you are a bartender. So you're you're saying you're a bartender. Were you in like liquor sales? In bartending. Okay. Seven years. That's that's so interesting. I can't picture you doing that. Just because I don't know. I guess I've my brother's a bartender and he or he used to be, and he's a very outgoing person and he's very personable. And I feel like that typically that's what I I guess like generalize bartenders at. Like you have to be good with like talking to people, which you are, but I for how I've known you, you're very soft-spoken. So it's so interesting you worked in that kind of an environment.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Yeah, I think it provided me that experience, not only talking to people, but getting out of my shell. Because yes, I can be very introspective and like inside myself, but then I have to talk to people in order to sell to them. So how can I feel comfortable again finding that balance between what they say they want, but what they really want?

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Yeah. So you mentioned you have art degrees and you were doing the manual label of like sculptures and painting. And so when was the shift of like, I don't want to do this anymore? I want to like just do like the web design and graphic design.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

So after I graduated, I stayed as a bartender and I always wanted to like find my own thing. Like, what do I want to do? Yes, working at a gallery sounds great, but I don't want to be stuck in a desk at a gallery. I want to travel and see art and see different perspectives of art, not just what I think it's art, and get those pieces and bring them to a gallery. And then after I had my son, which was like four years after I graduated, I was like, you know what? I need to find something that it's like that, but that I can still be at home, be a mom. Entrepreneurship, it's starting to bloom. It's 2017, and I'm like, well, I see a lot of graphics online that are like not great, and I can probably make them better. So I wasn't skilled at all in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop or anything like that. It was like, okay, so let me dabble into Canvas, see how we can make this work. I found it very easy. So I started reaching out to people like, hey, I saw this post and I've been practicing. This is how I would create it, and started sending people like this is how you can improve it. And they would ask me, like, is that what you do? Blah, blah, blah. I started creating a portfolio. And 2018, I started making money out of it. And I'm like, oh, I see, I see prospecting this. I'm seeing profit. 2019, I invested for the first time in my business. I got LLC, coaching, all the things. And I made my first five-fier year in that first year. I'm like, okay, I'm sticking to this. And I've been growing ever since from just graphics on Canva. Now I rarely touch it in a more skilled and higher, more difficult platforms that do mostly the same thing. Sorry to other designers, but it's the truth. Like Canva has updated and upgraded their platform. There are certain things that you still have to do on other platforms like creating magazines and printables, but I gotta give it to them. So with the years, I've learned a lot, and I think that's why I'm still here. Because I I like it, I've grown it to the point that it's my full time, and I get to meet people that are cool like you.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

I appreciate that. So I was curious when you started your business, so kind of like 2017, 2018 kind of era, and I was late 2018, so we didn't start that far apart from each other, and then we met soon after that. So I love how you mentioned how scrappy you were too, of just like messaging people and like, hey, like this is how I would do it. And I love that part of it, and I think a lot of people forget, like, especially when you're starting your business or like at any at any point, really, like you don't be afraid to get scrappy. So I think like that's such a good little nugget you just shared. And so when you started your studio, obviously it evolves over time, right? Because you mentioned how you are doing graphics and working in Canva. Now you do more elaborate things, you work for magazines and you design their covers now. And I know, again, for you and knowing you, you've had different iterations of your business too. You weren't just designing websites, you actually had an agency at some point, but now have closed down that agency and now focusing back on just design work. But I also think that your brand has really elevated and evolved over the years, too. What was your vision when you first started out for yourself and how does that differ now?

SPEAKER_00 10:44

So I think at one point I started getting so many projects and clients for graphic design that I started outsourcing and bringing in more designers into it. That's when the agency and the studios started growing. Then clients were like, okay, thanks for designing the post, but can you schedule it too? And everything kept evolving and growing to the point that it's like, okay, so it's not no longer a graphic design agency, it's also a working place. Because I'm designing emails, I'm hiring people to do the copywriting for my clients, they're writing their website, they're doing the strategy for their social media. So it was a full-on marketing and design agency. And I think that's when things reach that peak for myself. Because even though I wasn't doing all the works, you're still the top. You're overseeing everything, you're getting blamed for everything because you're still the boss. And if an employee it's late, you have to show your face. And I think that's when things got messy. And I wouldn't say it was a bad thing. It was that reality check because when I started, I wanted to be an entrepreneur, be my boss so that I could be home for my kid. But then when things reached that peak, I was barely sleeping. I was going to bed at 4 a.m. to wake up at 7:30 to get him ready for school. And then I was working all day, sometimes like working weekends, always on my phone, turning out fires. And it got to a point that it's like, can I go on vacation? Can I take a day off? And when that sets in, it's like this is not why I started. Yes, I'm serving amazing clients, but at what cost? And that was when I said, you know what, I'm gonna get a huge pay cut, but I'm gaining my freedom back, which is more important for me. So last year I decided to close out the full marketing part. Like no copywriting. You need the copy for your website that I'm designing, I'm gonna refer you to a copywriter. I'm not gonna do it for you, and I'm not gonna take that on. Here's a list of copywriters that I can vouch for. Here you go. Contact them and let me know. It's actually outsourcing outside of my business, so I don't have to be in the middle of it. If they're late, it's not my fault. And that gives you so much power and so much freedom that you can actually take on projects that you like and you love, and you can deliver that luxury that they want without feeling the pressure of the other seven things that you have going on.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

I think that's such a core value, and I think what a lot of people set out for their businesses as well, right? Because, you know, we talk a lot about freedom and it is kind of a buzzword where people want the freedom. And, you know, I want to go to my kids' soccer games and leave in the middle of the day, and that's great, right? And there's a push and pull relationship with that. Like, yes, we have to grow a business, and yes, we have obligations to the business, and we need to make money, but then it there's a point, I think, in a lot of our businesses where we have moments like you just mentioned where it's like, wait, like I did not build this to be like trapped and chained to my business, where my business actually now is running me versus I'm running the business. And I think that happens when we are scrappy, which I think being scrappy is a blessing and a curse because we know what it takes to like make money, right? We know that we can like figure out a new strategy and like make money however we need to, whenever we need to. But then there's a difference and a pivot, right? When we want to be, okay, like CEO. Like, let's start thinking like a CEO and growth and sustainable growth. Like we can always be scrappy when we need to, right? But that's not where we need to live anymore. Yes. So I love that you kind of like took that stance for yourself and those boundaries. And again, there's that push and pull, right? You had to take less money and like say goodbye to a part of your business, but now it's you're sleeping, you have your health back, like you have your sanity back. Oh, the sanity part.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Yeah, and also you have to remember that now you have more time because you don't have those clients. So maybe you can invest that time into growing your knowledge. By growing your knowledge, you can charge more for your service. So, yeah, you have 10 less clients, but the 10 new clients that you're gonna have are gonna pay more because now you're an expert at what you do. You're more skilled. You can bump your prices. At the end of the day, it's still your business. You can do whatever you want. So you get better clients that are willing to pay more. So at the end of the day, you're still making the same amount of money. Yeah. Just that like more sanity.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Yeah, and with more sanity and like less of like a reactiveness to your business. So you mentioned, and I I do know this about you, and I want to first say the I want to talk about the word direct. And on your website, you talk about being direct, right? Yes. But I want to bring this up specifically because I've been told I'm direct. And I have always grown up thinking that that is a negative word. Like being direct, I always associate with being like blunt, right? And that is a word that I've had to grow accustomed to because I've been told that I'm direct. And like that's not a bad word. I've been told, like, no, that's not a bad word. You're just, you know, no fluff, like straight to the point. So for me, I think that that I've evolved into that word. I have now, specifically this past year, grown accustomed to that word. I am very proud to be a direct person. I'm glad that people think I'm direct because I don't want to fluff and like waver, right? But have you always been a direct person?

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Yes. I remember as a kid, my mom used to tell me that I should have been a lawyer because I never lose.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

I was told that too by my mom.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

There you go. Cause it's like, I know what I think, I know my opinion. It doesn't mean that you're wrong and I'm right. It's that this is my point of view, and I'm not gonna change it. And when it comes to being blunt and direct, it's more asked when I apply it into business, it's I think about my clients. I work with people that their time equals money. They don't have time to listen to my fluff, they don't have time to have an hour meeting call. They have 15 minutes, they put me on their phone while they're driving. This is what I want, this is what I need. Can you make it happen? Yes, ma'am, I can. When do you need it? Buy as soon as possible. Thank you. Hang up. That's it. Because their time equals money. I cannot add fluff, not even to an email, because they're gonna get lost. That's not what they want. They want me to give them a bullet point of what it is, and that's it. Direct. And it's not a bad thing. It means that you're going straight to the point instead of just fluffing things up and making it more difficult for them to understand.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

I think that comes with confidence though, as well. Like, don't you think? Like, not only do you have the confidence, but you're leading with the authority that the more direct you are, the more I think you're going to be taken seriously and then trusted by your clients too. And that also, like, if we think of marketing, right? If we think of marketing and how direct and just straight to the point we are, that does build trust faster, but it also builds clarity faster too, of like exactly what your expertise is, how you stand in your authority. And so I think like all of that makes sense when we talk about things. So, say like we want to share an opinion, right? And if we're saying like, well, maybe this, maybe that, and you're not really like saying anything, you're saying something without saying anything and not really making a stance on something, when you're direct, regardless of what the issue is or the situation or whatever it is, like that's how you build trust so much quicker, especially in the client relationships, but also then take that to marketing, and that's how you're going to build those relationships with marketing as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Yeah. And if you apply it in design, if you use one type of brand today and then one type of branding tomorrow, a different font every day, a different color, you're not gonna be memorable. You're gonna look like someone that doesn't stand for what they choose that they waver, and they're not gonna take you seriously. It's about consistency, not only what you say, but how you portray those things.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Yeah. We talked about this at the beginning when we started out, but I wanted to ask you more so about like you have a lot of things like luxury, authenticity, softness on your website. Can you paint, like, I guess, a visual for us? Like, what does that look like? We kind of talked about what that means to you, and like I feel like you embody that very well. But how does that look? Because I think luxury is easy to think of like cars, purses, expensive stuff, and there might be truth to that. But then how do we translate that to authenticity?

SPEAKER_00 20:02

So, yes, usually when you say the word luxury, people think about expensive cars. But when it comes to branding and design and how you portray yourself while still being authentic, I want you to think about when you go into the website of luxury brands. Example, Prada, their website is black and white, they focus mostly on visuals, flat lace, not even models, most of the times. Yeah, they have a few, but it's very clean, it gives you space to breathe, but it also gives you like that home feel of comfort because you don't feel pressured, you feel like you've landed in a safe place. That's what luxury with authenticity means to me. It's a place where you can go that you feel comfortable, and it gives you space to breathe, and it's not like being direct in a way that it feels pushy, it's not salesy, it's luxury with confidence where you don't have to pretend, you don't have to wear heels, you don't have to be anyone else except who you are and show yourself. Luxury brands do it all the time. Why can't a small business do the same thing? Focus on what it is that it's your expertise, and that's it. You don't have to add gold embellishments or gold dust to feel luxurious. It's about how you present yourself. And I don't mean it in the way that you have to have gold jewelry, it's the confidence that people feel when you walk into a room. Same with branding. When they walk into your website and your social media platform, how do you want them to feel? Do you want it to feel casual in a place where they can just sit down on the floor, crisscross applesauce, and bring their matcha? Great. Let's do a branding that represents that. Do you want to have a branding that people feel like they're walking into Paris Fashion Week. Let's feel a brand that feels like that. And it's just how they feel when they walk in, not what you put in it. I've seen websites that are like 10K and they look like it cost $500 and it's a template. And that's it. Cause you're talking about a very big reputable brand that cost a lot to invest in it. And it's like that's the best year I can do. Because it doesn't feel inviting, comfortable, and spacious. So I think that's the best visual that I can paint between luxury and authenticity.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

I want to key in the word that you keep saying is feel. Yeah. And I know that that is very native to you and that's something that you speak to every single day. For me, I understand that as well like having been running my business and creating like a brand and stuff too like, you know, it is how you know you make people feel but I don't think that that is something that is normal or something that people first think of when they do create their brand. They immediately go to the visuals but they don't have the visuals with the feeling and you must have just said it like 10 times, right? Feel how you want them to feel feel feel feel feel feel and that is the best thing of like yeah I love that part and I love that you just kept saying the word feel because again like if you think of your brand right and you can go to Pinterest, you can find all these visuals, you can say I want it to look like this. Okay, great. That's one piece of it but that's so surface level it's how do you want people to feel at any experience with your brand website socials imagery whatever that is working with you onboarding process all of that stuff. And that is such a huge thing to like think of for your brand but I love what you said about like if you want your brand to feel like Paris Fashion Week let's create a brand that feels like that. So thinking of like things like actual lived experiences and I want to share and hopefully maybe people who know this podcast can say yes this is exactly what you're doing Lauren but I'm going to say when I created this podcast I immediately wanted it to be like speakeasy. We're at a table maybe there's velvet booths and we have a cocktail and it's a very good cocktail like you said it's expensive not cheap $2 beer, right? But it's a dimly lit room and we're kind of behind the velvet rope and we want to just have a conversation and we're not going to be interrupted. Like we have a good cocktail maybe a second cocktail and we have a really good conversation. And so that was my goal for business over cocktails and that's why it's named that. But I derive that from a lived experience that I love doing all of the time and that is going to a speakeasy or a quiet cocktail bar. That is one of my favorite things to do and get into really good conversation whether that is with my husband or one of my best friends or just meeting someone for a drink I love having a good conversation especially like getting deep and like getting to know people. And so like when I thought of that, it's not anything that I ever have really thought of before it was just like this is and this is me, right? Like this is what one of the things I love to do just in real life experiences. And so my vision crafted from a real life experience. And so even the music that I think of if I'm making a post or something or even like the music that I use in the intro and the outro that to me is like thinking of music that I would have heard at a cocktail bar or at a sleek restaurant or something along those lines. And it's like I don't even know what genre of music it is right like I'm not saying even it's a specific genre. I just like it's a feeling it's just the noise or like the music that I hear.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Yeah and that helps people create that feel or the podcast feel of what is to come and what can I expect I remember back when I started I was working with clients with lower budgets so they didn't have this luxurious mentality defined. They had an idea of what they wanted and it usually was a lot of colors a lot of fonts a lot of handwritten fonts and I always told them like do you want a brand that feels and looks like Teens magazine or do you want a brand that looks and feels like Vogue magazine because there's two different feels emotions and audiences for both if you're working with businesses that are young and that are more targeting juvenile 20s and they're like bubbly in a lot of energy yeah sure let's go with Teens magazine. It's still sort of editorial but it targets a very different type of people but then if you want that luxury minimal spacious authentic space we gotta go with more a vogue magazine type of branding and I'm not saying a specific color I'm still talking about emotions. How do you feel looking at both magazines? I think that's one of the easiest ways that I was able to portray the feeling part to prospects.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

When you're in creative mode do you have like a ritual for you to like get in the mindset to be creative or are you just like always on I'm always on which is sometimes very exhausting I'm the type of person that I'm in the car and I look out and I'm like that billboard's pretty and then I see another one I'm like that font I see a business or a menu and I'm like ooh I know that font oh I know that font ew know that graphic and the vectors are all bad.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

So it's it's a normal thing and it's just part of who I am honestly at this point.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

I'm always looking at graphics and things and seeing how they can be better or what can I learn from them and it's it's never off not even on TV and it's never off I know I resonate a lot with that with just even just having normal conversations with people I immediately want to go into like yeah we can build this business like let's go like this is so awesome. What has been one of the biggest well I was gonna ask you what's one of the biggest mistakes we already kind of talked about like I don't know if it's necessarily a mistake it's just a lesson that you learned about like scaling and creating an agency and then kind of scaling it back and now just having the design studio but what are some other learning edges or lessons learned I guess when you've been scaling your design studio over the years outside of that peak moment I would say if I were to do it again, yes, I would still reach out to people and be salsy but I would go back and tell my younger self don't be scared to reach out to those fake accounts because I used to think that those 2030k accounts were so huge.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

Obviously like my account it's still less than 2000 people I work with clients that have millions of followers so the numbers really don't match I've had clients that had like one million followers well not one million a thousand followers and some change making a lot of money and I've seen accounts with 4500 followers making one or two Ks I'm just like numbers really don't match the bank account so I would tell myself don't be scared of reaching out to your dream client just go for it. Create your best work and send it to them put it out there because you never know you never know when that person's gonna be like oh my god I love it can you do this for me? Yes so being scared holds you back so much just because you're scared of rejection what's so wrong about it it's like falling once you fall you stand out and you keep going they're gonna say no reach out again in a year or reach out to someone else but the worst that can happen obviously I say it now confident back then I was very shy I was still kind of in my shell but that's what I would tell myself just not being scared of trying even though yes I grew a very successful business and then I got burned out on both ends and I closed it it was a great experience I learned a lot I worked with amazing people that some of them are still my clients in different ways but it gave me so much experience and knowledge and networking there's always something that you take out of those mistakes.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Mm-hmm I think that was going to be a question I asked you but like yes lesson learned that if I were to tell my younger self when I was starting out to not be afraid it's yes reach out to that but you've obviously then done a lot of mindset work and shifts along the way too and then the confidence has built up over time. So when we are starting our businesses that confidence is so wavering right and it's hard to find that confidence or finding or stand in our authority or get people to take us seriously. But I think that there is truth to that of like yes it's uncomfortable yes you might not be the most confident but it does not hurt to try and if you never ask it's always going to be a no so you might as well figure it out and find out. And I think that's even just in the ask and in the pitch of yourself like you learn a lot about yourself too and you learn how to do a pitch better. And I know that so I'm a big fan of Shark Tank. And how many times do we see ads or hearing of businesses ring doorbell being one of them that was denied by Shark Tank initially and if you don't know that yes ring doorbell was on Shark Tank and was denied by all of the sharks and now obviously ring doorbell is huge. And I don't know who has invested in it but I think one of the sharks are now investing in it or something. But businesses like that constantly blow up and they try to go on shark tank or just try to get investors and we hear about that all the time and people end up bootstrapping or funding their own business ideas because they're the only ones that believe in themselves. And if you just keep going and you just keep trying and trying again like good things will happen.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

That's just that's inevitable if you just keep trying it is there's another woman that wasn't chart tank she makes shoes that you can take the heel out and they're like rubber like you can bend them and they told her like you're never gonna make money out of it. She launched like the second collection and she had a 400k sales day after everyone said no you're not gonna make money with it and it's just shoes. So what if do you want to say with the what if what would have happened if or you're gonna do it actually that's Nike's new marketing you know Nike has always been like just do it but now they did a new marketing strategy that on the video they're always saying like but why do it what if you fail what if all those things go wrong well what if it doesn't what if it actually works out what if you go to the Olympics what if you do this what if then just do it yeah you can fail yeah they might say no yeah they might say like that's horrible you move on it's not permit.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Yeah I think that's so it's so interesting about human behavior with that right like we would rather and I don't want to generalize everyone but I know that it's painful for me if I sit in the what if I hate being in that phase. But I do know a lot of people and have worked with a lot of people who are more comfortable waiting and not going for it and just like waiting or never doing it. Yes. But I think in my experience and I can kind of like that commercial probably portrays that so like if you want to look up that Nike campaign that's that's such a good campaign to look up but like the payoff coming from like an ask or a pitch that's uncomfortable the payoff is so good if it does work out because it's like I went for it and that could not boost your confidence more. Yes if you get a no it might hurt your confidence it might be hard to continue but as long as you continue you're not going to fail. However nothing feels as good and will do so much more for your confidence the moment you get a yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Yep agree once that dream client signs up you're like well I made it I remember when I first signed a contract with one of the magazines I was like shoot these accounts are humongous like the people that are in these kind of magazines are great for years down the road I'm like yeah I've worked with big accounts big clients I've made billboards and for me it's just like normal I remember one time I posted it on stories saying like oh just designing a billboard for one of the magazines and you're like she's designing billboards since you just said it like I'm having coffee I thought you needed to recognize that moment.

SPEAKER_01 36:17

Like thank you I think that there's an important lesson there too right because we've done so much for our confidence and growing our businesses and I think that and I catch myself doing it too but I'm I'm really starting to be better about my husband does this for me too so thankfully he like points this out to me. He does it on a pretty regular basis but I I forget how you said it and we can go back actually I might go back and see so I know this is mostly audio we don't I'm not putting the videos out there yet but I eventually have the videos out there and it was like a story or something it was a story. Yeah and I just like was like hey FYI can we just recognize this right now hold on let's see oh yeah here you messaged me or no you posted a story and I responded to you on all I said was lol billboards NBD no big deal no big deal and then you go I've designed so many that it's just normal at this point yet I'm grateful AF to be the one to make them big name design coming soon and then I just I I posted our conversation to my stories and said not Eric Amara I'm casually mentioning she's designing billboards today. But I think like first I think it's so cool to have those people in your network though like again I mentioned my husband does that and like you want people to support you and pull you along and motivate you but also like you have to reflect and you have to see how far you've come like even in those little moments like you forget like we're so hard at work and we're always growing and scaling and you know for us with because we are always on like you mentioned you're always on you're always thinking about being creative and design that we forget we forget to take that moment and just be like look at all of the stuff I've accomplished and look at how much I've gone through and been through and done and you know just whatever. And so yeah that was a fun moment. So the lesson there is like yeah you're designing billboards that go up in major cities.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

I know I'm like dang I did that yeah it's pretty wild.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Yeah it's cool. It's really cool I know someone who designs billboards that's cool. Yeah on your website also have a phrase that is leaving a positive imprint in the entrepreneurship world for future females. And I really like that quote as well. So describe what that looks like to us what do you want to be known for and I guess how does that vision come to life for you?

SPEAKER_00 39:02

Having that positive imprint on females I feel like a lot of the times we women in entrepreneur we still feel smaller than we still feel like we have to defend the fact that we started our own business it works online and we make money we feel and I'm not saying that other people do it we as entrepreneurs females specifically we still feel so small we still feel like we have to defend our title versus if we go out and someone says I'm an attorney and it's another female and it's like damn what do you do I'm an entrepreneur like a lot of the times we say it's so tiny and we've put three times the amount of work that that girl that is an attorney has to put on. Yeah she went to law school but she has a safe income whether she makes her job at the end of the day or not yeah she has health insurance yes she pays taxes does she know how much work it takes to pay taxes and catalog everything as a business owner no she doesn't does she know how much work it takes to launch a business and even fill out the LC paperwork she doesn't so why do I as an entrepreneur have to feel so tiny when comparing the amount of work that I do with it versus her I've had to do so much work so much work to reach and work with big name clients that all she does is sit at a desk and wait for clients to come to her but her name is not being published anywhere. No one knows who she is she's just an attorney her name it's probably in the firm's website maybe I have a website with my name on it I'm being published in many places I'm being interviewed in Lauren's podcast why do I have to feel so small I don't so that's the positive imprint I want to leave for females in the entrepreneurship industry because we put so much freaking work into it and we still feel like this why do you think that's mostly like an internal struggle or do you think it's society most of the time but depending on who you surround yourself with has a lot of to do with that. Now I and I've noticed it because now that I've been and have the privilege to work with a lot of female entrepreneurs that have big businesses they don't feel sorry for having an opinion they have an authority they show up and they take space and they're loud without having to yell and scream because they know their value they know their knowledge they acknowledge it so in that kind of group we don't feel small because we all know how much work it takes now if you surround yourself with people that are attorneys and I'm using that as an example I'm not blaming anyone it's an example if you surround yourself with people that do not understand the amount of work that being an entrepreneur takes yeah they're gonna look at you down and make you feel like oh how's that little business of yours going well I make more than you do and I work half the amount of hours how does that fear they're not gonna talk shit to you anymore. They won't because even when you're just starting out do you know how to fill out the paperwork for analysis? Do you know how much the licenses cost do you know how much it costs to buy a domain create a website have a branding be on social media post every day do you know how much time that consumes no you don't so it's going great thank you for asking yeah it's a balance between your confidence in what you accomplished so far and how much you allow society's opinion to affect you.

SPEAKER_01 43:15

Some of my mentors use the term like quiet influence and quiet power and I feel like in a way I've always resonated with that and before they started saying that I think that always that makes sense like and that's how I've always kind of moved I feel like yes we need visibility and getting out there and talking to people and stuff but I feel like most of my life I've been like underestimated or an underdog and I love that energy. And I feel like I also associate that with like moving in silence. And I think there's so much confidence when it comes to that if you see someone who doesn't need to like I will say this I definitely struggle with my wins and chance My wins. I think that I can do a better job of that. However, I do notice the vibe of some people who want to make events all about themselves, groups all about themselves, and do it for their self-serving purpose. And I don't want to like necessarily knock and say that's wrong. However, you can tell the difference between when somebody is building an impact, true impact, and you can feel when someone is building it for the community and for those around them to genuinely support. And that to me is quiet confidence and quiet power and quiet influence when you see someone else truly just doing it for external validation. And a lot of times that experience, so we talk about feel and we talk about branding, right? And so I feel when I experience that person's brand, it does not represent me or I don't feel like it's a supportive environment. And so I think like the lesson in there, and truly like how I've been crafting my experience is really because of that. And I know I can do a better job of inserting myself because I don't really insert myself. But I think the opposite is true of like when people are inserting themselves way too much and they claim that they want to have a community or they claim that they're building impact, but it really doesn't feel that way. And that is truly the difference, is that your driving force is actually external validation and getting approval from others versus just doing it because you know in your heart and soul, like how confident and what authority you bring to the table.

SPEAKER_00 45:43

Yeah, because that authenticity is not there and people can feel it. You're not being authentic about what it is that your goal is. Your goal is self-serving versus the claim that it's for the people.

SPEAKER_01 45:57

Yeah. Well, I loved our conversation. I love going deep on these things, and we can keep talking forever. But can you tell us what is the best way to connect with you and if anyone wants to work with you?

SPEAKER_00 46:10

Of course, I can tell you. You can find me on my website, ericamoram.com. Instagram, it's the same thing, Facebook, same thing. All the platforms, it's the same thing, Erica Moron. I take my email almost every day. I don't work weekends because that's for sleeping in, and that's like a non-negotiable. But you can DM me at any point and I call myself a reply. And it's gonna be me.

SPEAKER_01 46:36

I want to share something about your email though, because you have a auto reply that gives response times and you literally say that like weekends are for sleeping in.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

Yeah, it's part of it's part of like my my branding at this point. It's like, I love that you're emailing me, but if you're emailing me after work business hours and on the weekends, I'm not gonna reply. Sorry. Like when a store closes its doors, it's not gonna open it because you're five minutes late and you need those pants. It's closed, they're not gonna open for you. Same here. I run a business, therefore I have to show up as a business. That's all part of that authentic, direct persona in it.

SPEAKER_01 47:22

There are a few others that have experience with like the auto-reply, and I always think it's a good idea, but I've definitely shared yours, maybe not word for word, but I've mentioned that you do also do that, and some people I've recommended to do that because if they have a problem with answering their inbox or living in their inbox, I think that that is a good boundary to have and response.

SPEAKER_00 47:42

And it it also serves a purpose on connect with that other person. It's like, yay, they received my message. It's not like, did they bother my email? It's been like four hours and they haven't replied. No, it's gives them that reassurance of, hey, I got your email. But if you emailed it after a certain amount of time, I'll email tomorrow or on Monday. I have clients that have drafted emails that are like, hey, we received your email, meet the team. And it has like a list of the people inside the company. Like, do you want to talk to production? Here's our email. Do you want to talk to marketing? Here's their email. So it gives people more direction too. Because if you're just sending a general email and you don't know where to send it, now you do. So there's a few different ways that you can tackle that. While still being professional, but be your training the person that, hey, I got it. It gives the people like an insight on your brand too.

SPEAKER_01 48:39

So if you want to see the autoresponder email, Erica, and you'll see it.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

Yeah, just type I want to see your email and that's it. You'll get it.

SPEAKER_01 48:49

Well, thank you so much for this conversation. Of course, I love talking to you always. And Erica will be back with us later this week for an episode of The Business Chaser, where she will be breaking down a topic that will be helpful for you in your business. So make sure you tune in on Friday for that episode. Thank you so much. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Business Over Cocktails, where real stories and bold business moves come to life. If this episode lit something up in you, share it with a friend, tag me at Laurenajar, or the podcast page at Business Over Cocktails. Make sure to leave a quick review as well. It helps more than you know. Until next time, keep chasing what matters and building the business that feels like you. Cheers.