This Single Mom Turned Her $1,200 Stimulus Check Into A $1M Business
Every American who received the first $1,200 stimulus check did something different with the money. Few did what Ellie Diop did.
People paid off bills and credit cards, stashed money away for an emergency, or blew the money on stupid purchases.
Diop is a 28-year-old single mother. She was laid off before the pandemic and, after applying to over 50 jobs, had nothing to show for her effort.
When she received her $1,200 CARES ACT stimulus check from the government, she could have done many things with the cash. The Millennial mother decided to use the money and invest in herself and a business idea.
First, Diop did a little research.
“I leveraged my experience in the corporate world to get started,” Diop told Business Insider. “I spent 45 days scrolling through Instagram every day, researching, following hashtags, before making my first post. It is important to look at who is having success in the field, analyze what they are doing that is working, and identify which needs they are not meeting.”
It was during that time at Diop identified a problem for which people needed a solution.
“With the pandemic, she noticed that many millennials were looking to understand how to start a business. ‘I saw a lot of unanswered questions. So many business coaches were either men or single women without kids or women in a relationship without kids. I did not see anyone who could offer my point of view, so I decided to become that person.’”
Next, she took the money and invested in the right tools to make herself look as professional as possible.
She invested in ring lights, bought a domain name and website hosting, and spent money for a Canva pro membership to make professional-level designs. Next, she built her own website to save money on marketing expenses.
Finally, she launched herself and her business.
She branded herself as “Ellie Talks Money” (@ellietalksmoney) on social media and works as a business coach in Los Angeles.
Over the last year, she’s helped millennials start businesses, understand business credit, and gain access to grants and “helps identify knowledge gaps on social media and developing the solutions in a creative way.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPPP3HLHP7l/
She now has over 500K followers on Instagram.
Ellie’s biggest piece of advice to entrepreneurs looking to make a mark on social – show up “consistently and authentically” in front of your audience.
When Diop started selling her first product, she would get in front of her audience almost every day via Instagram Live; it was an opportunity to market to her audience for free. She continues to show up consistently.
“Be in front of your audience,” she advised. “Your customers have to like you, trust you, so they can continue coming back. Show up as yourself.”
Head over to Business Insider to read more about Ellie Diop’s amazing success story.