After starting a career in media with jobs in magazines and PR, Christina Brown realized her growing blog lovebrownsugar.com could become her full-time job. She now has grown the brand to include pop up shops and #BrownGirlsLove Power Days. See how she made the switch from editor to entrepreneur.
Name: Christina S. Brown
Age: 28
Title: Founder, LoveBrownSugar LLC
Location: Elizabeth, NJ
Twitter: @LoveBrownSugar
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechristinabrown
Instagram: @LoveBrownSugar
The gig: I’m a digital influencer, brand consultant and creator of LoveBrownSugar.com, a lifestyle brand.
The journey: I’ve always known that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. What inspired me to take the leap was realizing that I wasn’t getting any younger and that if I was really passionate and hardworking, I could make it work.
Her #1 tip: Be fearless. Fear of failure often keeps us from making the decisions that can potentially change our lives for the better. What people realize is that even failure is often success, because there are important lessons learned. So just jump right in!
Her lesson learned: I once made a huge mistake at a job. It was misinformation posted to the social media page of a huge company and it affected a lot of people. At first I was devastated because I thought I let my team down and it was a new job. But it taught me an important lesson about asking questions and following protocol. That mistake helps me now when consulting with clients. Ask tons of questions and get all the information you need before making any moves.
Blogger 101: Be authentic but also fact-check. People are looking to you to be a trusted voice so make sure they can actually trust what you say.
Her best tip: Take time for yourself. You underestimate how important it is to make sure you’re in a good emotional and mental state in order to perform.
Her career highlight: Being able to take my daughter on her first business trip. I’ve always wanted to be the kind of mom who could expose her kids to her career and make them apart of it. So I was incredibly excited to do that.
Her top mommy memory: My first time taking her to the beach. She hated the sand! It was hilarious. But she loved being in the sun. Her first birthday party comes in at a close second.
Her superpower: My ability to relate to people. I grew up around a very diverse group of people and I’ve gone to school with so many different types, from cultural backgrounds to locations. I have an innate ability to relate to all different types of people.
Her work/life hustle: Prioritize daily. Everything in your life can’t be at the highest level of importance at all time. Some things are going to take priority over the others so just constantly re-evaluate and shift based on what’s most important right now. For me, family always comes first, then career, then fun.
Her tech fix: I love Instagram and Periscope, but Snapchat has to be my all-time favorite right now. I’m @christinasbrown and share so much of the behind-the-scenes of entrepreneurship.
Her beauty bag: I don’t leave my home without L’Occitane hand cream, Covergirl mascara, MAC Cosmetics matte lipsticks and CoverFX powder.
Her power style accessory: Definitely a statement necklace. It can make a black t-shirt look fancy.
Her theme song: “I’m Every Woman” by Whitney Houston. I’m a businesswoman, a mother, a traveler, a dreamer, a college grad, a dancer. I’m a myriad of things, just not all at the same time.