Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Grijalva.
Hi Annie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hola! I am Annie Grijalva, an entrepreneur, creator, marketer and believer in the magic of creating intentional businesses with aligned creators. I am also a digital nomad, I’ve created campaigns in multiple cities including Dubai, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Barcelona and of course, San Diego. I recently became a “mompreneur” thus I am also now navigating the insane yet rewarding journey of modern motherhood.
How did you get started as a digital nomad, that is, traveling the world, working and building businesses?
It all started when I was in college and I was aiming to stop being a nerd. I was done with just reading about the adventures of travelers or watching foreign movies, wondering how life is in other countries. Since my hard-working family could not sponsor my hunger for traveling the world, I started to apply for scholarships, worked in part-time jobs, and saved cash by doing side hustles. By doing a bit of research, I found out that I could study in France for less money than in the US, all while completing my bachelor’s degree. It was an obvious choice for my adventurous spirit thus I applied and got the opportunity to study in Nantes. That’s when the rollercoaster started. The travel bug got me! As soon as my semester abroad was over, I landed another scholarship to study in Paris but then decided to pursue a career opportunity in the crazy city of Dubai
During my stay in the desert, I launched a blog called #unlavish, and surprisingly within months, I managed to get nominated for awards, sponsored campaigns and invites to exclusive events. It was glam and fun but that did not fulfill me. I felt that something was missing, as this career was designed for some sort of narcissistic creatives constantly looking for external approval. I decided then to create one of the first community of influencers in the Middle East called #bloggerang where we taught others how to grow their personal brands with the support of social media. That’s when I began to feel full of purpose again! Everything I learned about content creation, public relations, and social media management started with this unexpected experience. I also got to learn about the challenges of running my own thing. I dealt with a lawsuit (and won the case!), competitors’ threats via Instagram DM’s, ex-business partners becoming competitors, etc. What a crazy rollercoaster ride that was!
After experiencing life as an expat in Dubai, where did you go and when did you decide to come back to San Diego?
We decided to move to Miami and once I was there, I launched my own boutique influencer marketing agency where I got the chance to represent emerging micro influencers and learned how to scale influencer programs. Some of the clients/partners/sponsors we worked with include Lacoste, The Macallan, Citibank, Taittinger Champagne, etc. After a couple of years of intense work, I moved back to San Diego with the purpose of unplugging a bit from the glam world of public relations and focused on strategic consulting for new influencers who were looking to monetize their social media presence. During that year, I partnered up with the team of Los Angeles Times en Español to launch our initiative #LatinasWhoHustle and hosted sponsored events during New York Fashion Week that were created also for Hispanic creative professionals. They were so successful that we meet now in New York, at least once per year to celebrate our creative hustles and inspire others to pursue their own too!
The adventure continued when I moved to Barcelona, the city where my husband grew up. I fell in love with the Mediterranean lifestyle and re-connected with my free spirit who is all about discovering small towns, meeting people with interesting stories, enjoying fresh food, amazing wine, and a public health system that it’s much more human than the one we have in the US. During the pandemic, we were living in a small town away from the city and I remembered I always wanted to write a book. I started brainstorming but I wasn’t inspired at all. It wasn’t until I became a joyful sleep-deprived mompreneur when I got very inspired, started writing, and co-created my first book” which I just promoted the upcoming launch at the Festival of Books of Los Angeles Times.
It’s been more than 10 years of living an adventurous professional life full of cool milestones and unique mistakes.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into your story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As for any entrepreneurial journey for immigrants and digital nomads, my path has included and still includes, many challenges. In my career, it started by being first-generation Latina paying my college tuition with multiple jobs, scholarships, and student loans. Then launching my personal brand as an expat woman in Dubai brought its own set of challenges; cultural shocks at the workplace and business practices took me to even sue a client who refused to pay me. Moving forward when I was pitching for seed funding for my business, I realized how difficult it is for women to deal with gender bias when talking to investors.
My current challenges are now more personal; one includes health and the other one motherhood. Health-wise, I lived a near to death experience getting super sick a couple of years ago, no doctor found either the cause or the cure, so I found myself in a healing journey where I became a nerd of mental health and an advocate for it as I suffered PTSD and anxiety because of this experience.
Then, becoming a mother while managing my online business and freelancing to pay the bills, it’s truly the hardest thing I have ever done. I like to keep it super real so whenever women ask “how do you do it?” I tell them that I only prioritize health and abundance, that is, to take care of myself, my family and to be able to afford our lifestyle. The rest just kind of either flows or it’s just incomplete. Because that’s what my sleep-deprived mind is capable of doing right now. Thus, my current obstacle is often solved by reminding myself to embrace chaos and to love the imperfect being I am.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am currently working on launching my first book called “How To Be a Real Influencer” and creating our own freelancers’ academy designed for intentional creators in our community “Creators Who Hustle”.
What does success mean to you?
This word has found a new meaning in each stage of my life. As an overachiever, when I was younger and very connected to ego, I thought success was getting recognition, external validation, and accumulating shinny things. Through my journey though, life has lead me to live a more intentional life where my definition of success now involves: Wonder, freedom, creativity, abundance, and service. This is how I like to define it:
– Wonder: To be able to live a life full of appreciation for the simple things in life, every day.
– Freedom: To be able to decide how, when, and where you work.
– Creativity: To be able to do what you love and inspire others to do it too.
– Abundance: To be able to live a genuine life full of rich experiences and people.
– Service: To be able to serve someone every day, in everything that you do.
Pricing:
- Ebook: 9.99
- Paperback Book: 16.99
Contact Info:
- Email: annie@cwhagency.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annie_grijalva/
- Other: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Annie-Grijalva/e/B09YYVGWWW/ref=zg_bsnr_156564011_bl_27/000-0000000-0000000?pd_rd_i=B09YVLPZ68
