Meet Eartha Hopkins

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eartha Hopkins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eartha , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?
I recently graduated from a UX/UI Design BootCamp through The Ohio State University. As a copywriter, I’ve interfaced with many designers and always enjoyed the collaboration. As tech continues becoming more and more part of the business ecosystem, I wanted to learn a new skill and gain insight into user experiences online.

As expected, the coursework was very strenuous. Still, I learned the value of research and new strategies to engage with users and empathize with their pain points, which helped me refocus my company’s approach to content marketing significantly.

Often, businesses operate as though they are in a silo without taking enough time to learn their target demographic inside and out and centering their focus on their needs, beliefs, values, cultures and joy.

The lessons I learned in my recent coursework have improved how my team and I approach content marketing. Now, we are even more intentional about every word, image and information we develop.

Eartha , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a writer at heart and will always be. After graduating with a Journalism degree from The Ohio State University, I returned home and began reporting, but stumbled upon the art of brand copywriting at an advertising agency. I enjoyed the creative process so much that I began applying the skills I learned in other avenues. Eventually, I had the crazy idea that I could do it on my only and officially decided to walk away from my 9-to-5 in 2019, and I haven’t looked back since.

The Literary House is a content marketing and copywriting boutique agency that supports companies and organizations looking to connect and engage with their target demographic deeply. We produce a slew of marketing collateral, including SEO blogs, emails, case studies, etc., that all align with our client’s business objectives in the language that resonates with their target demographic. We believe that stories will always resonate with people, and this is how we approach our work.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was being willing to ask for help. At the beginning of my journey, I thought I had to do everything independently, which was very draining. I soon learned that not only did I need help, but I needed to be willing to receive help from people whom I never imagined would lend their support.

This lesson has significantly helped me in my business because it allows me to glean insight from people from different perspectives and bring that knowledge into my sphere. I have spoken to many inspiring people who have been kind, supportive and presented opportunities from a single conversation.

My business is built on creating and exploring authentic human connections, and as I grow, I aim to keep that part intact.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I created my business by telling the stories of others. I initially started a social campaign highlighting Black women from my community and sharing their careers, personal challenges and wins on social media. I did this weekly, and I tagged them in each post and saw that it began to explode to the point that women were coming to share their stories openly. And my audience revealed my community. I eventually learned that I was speaking to women who were just like me and needed someone to provide them with a platform to share their knowledge and insight. I used this campaign to harness my community I can now lean on for support and vice versa. These women would share my business posts with their networks and come to me for projects, and it continues to blossom.

For other small businesses looking to build their online community, I would advise thinking about what moves them and humanizing their goal. Sometimes we forget that we are humans speaking to humans, and even the greatest social media strategy will fail if it completely misses that part. I’d also tell business owners that bigger is not always better and to focus on quality over quantity.

Originally: Published via CanvasRebel.