Stephanie Stabulis is a veteran marketer and storyteller with a knack for understanding the psychology of brand and consumer.  She is a former VP-level executive strategist who has designed award-winning, press-worthy creative influencer marketing campaigns and programs for start-ups through Fortune 500 companies. As the legacy she is working on leaving through her career, Stephanie's mission is to shape the next generation of digital advertising and marketing in a way that merges new technologies with human creativity, emotion, impact, and purpose. She launched Social Creates Impact (socialcreatesimpact.com) in 2019 to help bring innovation and education to influencers, creators, and brands and provide solutions to some of the biggest issues plaguing the influencer marketing industry.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

My favorite fact: I used to create Facebook posts for free pizza in college. That’s how long I have been in the business of social media. I started with a small PR firm right out of college at a time where more traditional public relations were being challenged by the rise of digital. Most of my early years with the agency were spent trying to pilot brands’ first forays into social media marketing, including utilizing online communities and social media influencers for sampling, user-generated content, and influencer marketing. I loved being challenged to tackle the “new” head-on while designing new pathways for brands to leverage technology and tools for marketing and advertising goals. In 2015 I went freelance to niche down from general marketing to digital and social media marketing. In 2016, I stepped into a more prestigious corporate position, niching down further to design influencer marketing campaigns and strategies for top brands. I started Social Creates Impact in 2019, and amid the chaos that is 2020, Social Creates Impact has morphed into a space where I am able to provide the knowledge and resources for influencer-creators and brands with the purpose of creating better winning partnerships that audiences love. 

What inspired you to start your business?

I bounced between entrepreneurship and the corporate world at least 3 times throughout the first 10 years of my career and both had benefits and their own advancements to my knowledge and capabilities. However, in my last stint in a more corporate position, I was feeling a complete lack of purpose and connection to the “bigger picture”. I wasn’t clear on who was I impacting and how was I helping people through marketing. It was something that felt energizing as a smaller business and freelancer, yet lost in a bigger company. I was missing the ability to “create” and think outside of the box, the freedom to read and apply learnings to my own entity, and the ability to really express who I am through the business that I create. 

When I started Social Creates Impact it was just going to be a playground for me to create purpose and form a legacy of what I wanted to accomplish throughout my longterm career. It was the first place where I took a stand and said, “my purpose, passion, and legacy is in designing new pathways for brands to leverage technology and tools and to help shape the future of marketing and advertising.” 

The biggest way that I can impact that goal right now is using my deep knowledge of influencer marketing to help bring influencers and brands to better partnerships and to help make partnership ads something that audiences enjoy. I feel empowered to be able to do this as a more neutral party whose chief interest is the industry growth that will occur through better partnerships. Over 2020, I have shifted Social Creates Impact toward influencer and brand education, as well as market innovation. It has allowed me to pursue relevant corporate opportunities and consulting roles, all while building a community and introducing physical products like workshops. 

Where is your business based?

The business is currently based out of Irvine, California. 

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took? 

When developing both entities and businesses I created as a freelancer, I maintained corporate part-time and full-time roles while building my business. This allowed me not to stress the finances and actually focus on building a good product or offer.  

The secondary steps looked extremely different across two businesses. My first business was scrappy and fast. I put up a quick portfolio website just to explain what I do and what services I offered and I immediately started looking for and responding to opportunities on sites like Upwork. I worked one-on-one with clients on customized proposals until I had signed a full capacity of clients to an ongoing retainer.

Social Creates Impact was the opposite. It was slow and intentional and most of my first steps consisted of planning an actual brand. During planning, I sat on key questions like, “What is this entity’s purpose?”, “What will this entity house? Will it be writing? Products? Is this a portfolio?” and “How will it be monetized?” I built up the website. I built up content, social channels, and a podcast. I built test groups for workshops without taking payment. I networked with industry thought leaders about some of my ideas to see if they believed there would be demand for them. I had the opportunity to also be mentored by some amazing women during this phase. Though the planning was slow and deliberate, the result of a slower and more organized approach allowed my community and potential leads to grow faster. My purpose and offering were clear - and because I spent time designing solutions for a larger group of people, as opposed to customizations for one client, my business scaled more effectively.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business? 

Giving knowledge away for “free” and networking. I stay very active in online social media groups dedicated to the influencer marketing industry on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. I also gathered a pilot group of 6-10 customers when I launched the first digital workshop. Not only has this group helped me optimize my product, but it has been pivotal in giving recommendations and exposure to my business that has turned into profit.

I have also directly reached out to potential customers who have shortlisted me for training programs while providing recommendations and referrals based on the concept of my offer alone.  

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

I pivoted Social Creates Impact toward influencer and brand education because I felt there was a huge gap in the industry. Education for brands is being provided mostly by the companies who profited monetarily - it’s biased. Education for influencers is being provided by other successful influencers. There wasn’t really another entity that shared my background, mission, and ideas for the industry.

What I wanted to create and sell was very unique and I had a different story. I started to question the merit of my idea and whether audiences were going to be open to it. The feeling intensified when I lost my income through my corporate job and started questioning if the months I have been putting into bringing my business in this direction would pay off.

I went toward the discomfort. I let the fact that it scared me to fuel the reasons why I should keep dedicating myself to it - but I also sought highly respected opinions from people I didn’t know. I went to other agency owners, my peers, and my mentors, and I asked for feedback on my idea. The more people could envision the demand for what I wanted to produce, the more confident that I became in what I was building.

I also have dealt with a lot of pushback on my goal to bring influencers and brands together - some still want to remain within their self-interest as a brand or creator. I have to really embrace the fact that my opinions, perspective, and mission will not resonate with every person and really focus on the customers who it will positively impact.

How do you stay focused? 

Building a sense of purpose into my businesses and deliberately connecting the dots to the people I am helping has kept me focused on the goals and mission of my personal legacy. I have more days where I wake up wanting to make the day count, and it brings focus to my day more naturally. 

I also keep people in my life with the same focus. I find that I feed off their energy and dedication to their own legacies. 

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

I own my personal story. I have had a wild ride flipping back between entrepreneurship and the corporate world. My evolution from Public Relations and Social Media Marketing give me a different perspective of how influencer marketing fits within a business. A history of working on the brand side gives me a unique perspective on what I bring to influencers. Competition may offer the same or similar products, but those products don’t come with the same perspective, résumé, and personal story. 

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business? 

Referrals! Referrals allowed me to double sales in my last corporate position and it is how I scaled 2x faster than my last stint as an entrepreneur. If you have a great product and you do good work, people WILL refer your business. If you truly take the time to HELP people, they WILL refer your business. Referred and repeat business often takes less effort, risk, and time to convert and lets you build a base while you focus on new customer acquisition. Never sleep on retention and loyalty! 

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs? 

Most everything you put out when you start will undergo its own evolution and refinement. The “brands” and businesses you see did not launch looking like they do now. Do not be afraid to get materials, content, products, and services up quickly. You can adjust them and refine them as you get more clarity on your brand’s purpose and the people you impact. Aim for continual improvement of what exists.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Peta Jean’s “Earth is Hiring” and Ray Dialo’s “Principles”. “Earth is Hiring” is a very spiritual approach to business where “Principles” is logical, however, both share a lot of core themes. “Earth is Hiring” really forced me to look at the bigger purpose of my life’s work and realize the impact of what I am bringing to life through my business and career on future generations of people. “Principles” helped me understand what the evolution of business actually looks like while allowing me to feel comfortable with building better principles into my own business - such as radical open-mindedness, failure, and thoughtful disagreement.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

CRM. I am currently using Active Campaign with automation. I am putting a lot more effort into retention and loyally and CRM helps me collect, categorize, and engage existing customers and leads. My goal is to build a really tight and loyal community as my baseline and my CRM is helping me achieve that while allowing me to automate some of it to save time.

Who is your business role model? Why?

Gary Vaynerchuck. I know that sounds super redundant, but I have watched this man evolve over nearly 10+ years and what attracts me most is that his opinions and principles change drastically. He is not afraid to adopt new ideas and mindsets, even if that means admitting that his very strong opinion was wrong. He embodies what it means to evolve as a human and how that impacts your business and business model. 

How do you balance work and life?

I draw hard boundaries around my time with both work and personal obligations. I tend to work in flow, which means I may have days where I’m working longer hours without realizing it. I will then purposely schedule myself shorter workdays. I also care for myself outside of work. I am careful to assure I am spending the needed time to eat right, exercise, sleep well, journal, and build deep relationships. I consider these non-negotiable because they have a direct impact on my energy and mental state which allows me to work with high-quality. 

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

I’m such a fan of yoga when I need to decompress. I choose a slower practice that embeds some kind of mindful meditation. I started a regular practice about 3 years ago during a time of high stress and I almost immediately felt more calm, patient, and focused.

What do you have planned for the next six months? 

I will be building up my free content and developing new products for creators and brands. I will also be maintaining the networking I have been able to do during the pandemic to connect with mentors and peers around ideas for how I could help the influencer marketing industry with the goal of fostering more collaborations within my industry.

How can our readers connect with you?

You can find me at @socialcreatesimpact on Instagram and Facebook, on all your favorite podcast platforms by searching “The Era of Creation” or at socialcreatesimpact.com