What motivated or inspired you to create your brand?

Honestly, I think it just came out of me being a blogger and really wanting to be very vulnerable and transparent on my platform. I felt that growing up I didn’t have a role model who was super transparent and just super raw and unfiltered about the situations that they would go through in life. So, I wanted to be the one to kind of start that cycle. I started being very open about my story and the things that I have gone through on my platform and I’ve just gotten amazing feedback from everyone. The good feedback has motivated me to keep going because I’ve seen that there are a lot of girls that need to see this kind of content. So yeah, that’s where I went with it and it kind of just formulated into it’s own little brand.

How do you conceptualise your brand? Is your personal brand separate or cohesive with Amani Rakeia?

I feel like my brand is super cohesive. Anything that I’m going through or inspired by in my real life I share online. I post a lot of lifestyle content and inspirational quotes so really there is no room for me to try to create anything that is separate from what I do. Even in my color scheme I have the aesthetic of being very colorful and organized and I like to take that back to my life and how I have a very vibrant personality and energy. Now with doing freelance, it’s important to be very organized and just seamless with your work and that’s really what I like to portray on my Instagram or on my blog with any kind of work that I do. I just really think that my entire brand is super cohesive and whatever you see online is just live and in color.

How do you manage your time and still have time for wellness and self-care?

Honestly, I would say it’s a little difficult at times and as a mental health advocate I feel like I am very big on going through the motions even in your sadness or in your pain.There are some days where I just won’t do the work at all and I just try to do the work on myself when I feel sad and tackle one project of the day instead of trying to do everything at once. When trying to keep a schedule, I really try to just mark everything in my calendar and if I can’t get it done today then I’ll just be sure to relay the message to my clients and just have really good communication skills and work on it the next day or at some point throughout the week.

It really isn’t that simple especially now with Freelancing your client can call you or contact you at any point of the day and tell you “Hey I really want to change this or change that” and and in that moment I could be in the middle of taking a bath or even be out doing something so timing is definitely hard when juggling freelance and my blog. Certain things happen things could happen in media and there’s pressure to just cover the hot topic right there and in the moment but it’s like you have to rearrange your schedule to make sure that you are getting that content out in a timely fashion. However, I think the ground work starts when you create a schedule for yourself in the week and you say to yourself “this week or this month I want to make sure to tackle this objective.” Also, it is important to make sure you align the project, work or activity with your goal. You have to have a content calendar and you have to know when to shut it down. Especially with freelance, it’s really hard to be up all night working on projects because you know you don’t have the typical 9 to 5 schedule but it’s really important to put yourself on a 9 to 5 schedule because if not your going to be burnt out the next day but everyone is different.

Some people will wake up at like 3pm and stay up until 5am in the morning and do what they need to do in that time. For me, I still do like to have that structure and make sure I shut it down after a certain time, have a content calendar, and make sure to have friends that hold you accountable. For example, if you have plans with somebody or someone said that they would call you. Make sure they are reaching out to you and saying “Hey, you were supposed to call me.” because it’s so easy to just get wrapped up in the work.

What do you think was the catalyst to your immense growth? Or what made everything click?

I would definitely say high quality imagery. I think that what has taken my instagram and my brand to the next level is being able to have a photographer that knows my angles and gets the portraiture, the lighting and all the important aspects. I also think another thing is being super honest by saying the things you normally wouldn’t say out loud. People are looking for content they can relate to and they are not looking for the cookie cutter photoshop image on Instagram anymore, They just don’t care and I realize that Instagram is now just an extension of our everyday life. In our everyday life we don’t see someone that is glammed up and dolled up. I think these are definitely key things as far as having great quality images and just being authentic in your captions and in your Instagram Stories. Overall, it’s important to be consistent with your Instagram. Unfortunately, Instagram is one of those instant gratification apps so if you are not posting then people don’t care but if you post more frequently they are going to see your content more and you know Instagram’s algorithm plays its part.I still think that it is important to be super consistent.

Did you ever feel like you needed a huge following to start something or did you find a way around it?

I will say when your not consistent is when it will push you back. I remember when I was going through a tough time the downside of being a mental health advocate is there comes a time in your life when you are not always happy and you don’t feel like posting all the time so I am an advocate for being able to go through the motions. For example, when I am going through the motions and I don’t post for like 2 or 3 weeks or even a month I quickly notice that I lose followers and it’s like well damn “ya’ll love me when I’m up but then don’t want to check on me when I’m down.”

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who may be interested in going into blogging?

Go out to events and to any event that sparks your interest. Go introduce yourself to people. You never know if people are interested in the same thing that you are interested in creating and depending on the kind of writer you are and the kind of platform that you want you can be able to reach out to people and interview them for content. Networking is so great and it is the one thing that has helped me kind of elevate my brand because by having internships in New York City I was able to go to a bunch of different events and i’ve met a bunch of people who have worked at major publications and who have many connects which helped me land my job at Buzz Feed. So, I really think going out and just writing and not thinking that every story you have will hit all these views is important when starting. I think that as a writer it take a while to find your writing style and find your voice. It’s when you find your voice that people start to realize why they would like to come to your page. It’s one thing people need to not think about and just forget about the followers and forget about the views and just write because they enjoy writing. Then, when the followers come they will scroll back to posts from 14 weeks ago and they will be liking those pictures.

How did you get involved with @sadgirlsclub?

I got involved with Sad Girls Club officially starting in March 2018. I started following Sad Girls Club in 2017 about 3-4 months after Elyse put out her documentary and then she started her Instagram page. Elyse was speaking at an event at Yale University so I was like “omg I get to finally see her in person.” So, I go to her and we’re chatting and I’m like “Hey, I’m really into writing and I have my own blog and I think the Sad Girls Club has a blog so how can I be of help. In response she says “Yeah, the girl that we had do the writing got a full-time job so she can’t commit anymore. So, you can takeover and rebrand this whole thing if you are interested. It was literally a dream for me but we had some bumps along the road. On the site, we were working with wordpress and someone from Instagram actually designed the page and it was just really difficult to build because it was very limiting in how we wanted it to look. A couple months went by and we finally got enough money to start fundraising and doing brands to really start elevating the organization. We were able to work with Square Space and when I started getting into web design she asked if I wanted to design the whole website and I quickly agreed. I literally designed the website from scratch and then I started sourcing for contributing writers and now I am the Editor In-Chief. I am kind of just spearheading the whole thing.

Do you have any collabs,  projects or events coming up you would like to speak about or highlight?

For freelancing I do have some collabs coming up and I will be doing some collaborative work with the Brooklyn Fashion Mavens and also with Evian Whitney who goes by the Sexually Liberated Woman and I do have some other collabs coming up with the Sad Girls club and also some collabs with Nike.

Comment down below if you relate with Amani’s journey!

Boss Watch will feature creatives, entrepreneurs, influencers, digital professionals and anyone who is moving their passions from an idea into a reality. Boss Watch is for anyone who aspires to live a fulfilled life and just needs a little bit of inspiration to know that they are not alone on their journey towards self-realization. Boss Watch is for anyone who has made it through the growing pains of realizing their dreams and is now looking to share wisdom or just find new people to increase their network.  Is this you? If so, then feel free to leave a comment or email cnkstylebook@gmail.com for a chance to be featured on the next Boss Watch.