Today we’d like to introduce you to Rian LaNasa.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Rian. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a twenty one year old social media manager. I grew up in Carlsbad and attended Palomar community college. I went to college for two years original majoring in speech pathology. I was working to pursue a career working with special needs kids. Halfway into my second year, one of my little brother’s best friends moms blogging career was rising and she needed an assistant to do some basic work to manage her profiles. Eventually, I started to invest more time into learning about the social media industry and careers. My client encouraged me to start my own business for virtual assistance. I was attending school at the time and working four jobs. I then decided I could do this job and make it something big. I hired a coach for virtual assistance business building and she coached me into taking the first steps to starting a business in this industry. As well, I started doing my own research and teaching myself the ins and outs of each social media platform. I started to get clients just off of referral of my name and it began my journey as a social media manager.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has definitely been a whirlwind of mistakes, but with every mistake comes a lesson. Deciding to leave school to teach myself how to run a business and do a job that no one was really was used to hearing yet, was very tough and not the easiest decision. Having my parents support though on this decision to leave school to follow something I was really interested and passionate about was super important to me. My parents both are business owners of their own, and they have taught me a lot of tips on how to be successful in the business industry.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
I am a social media manager/marketer/influencer manager if we want all of my titles! I work with all social media platforms and my clients range from mommy bloggers to fashion influencers to local businesses. I specialize in creating an organic social media platform which means making sure my clients are engaging with their followers/accounts, I promote their social medias, as well as create graphics and determine brand deals. I’m known for my marketing skills and engagement work, I am a very outgoing sociable person and that’s how I taught myself to market face-to-face, and I studied different strategies to use for each social media platform to create a genuine environment throughout each of my clients brand. I’m proud of myself in the fact that my business is always changing its website and changing its logo, but I never got my business from creating a visual for people to see, I got my business from doing the research, being personable with all different people, and not working for free. I think the difference between me and other social media managers, for example in my industry most people who have the same job as me, have gone to school for four years and earned that degree, I studied in my apartment from morning to the middle of the night for weeks on end to learn how I can better myself to be ahead of the people who got a degree. School was not my strong suit, I have always been a more kinesthetic learner and a person who would rather work towards my career now, than sitting in a classroom for hours, and not receiving the experience I could be getting.
Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well-positioned for?
Of course, personally I have never felt like there was an opportunity I could not have. It would only matter how much I wanted it and how hard am I going to work for it. I think a big problem for women in society today is not being that confident in themselves, whether it’s their workplace, a relationship, their looks, however so, women are not that confident and something needs to change! Every woman needs to remember they each bring something different to the table and they need to strive on that and realize they could bring different perspectives to each position in the business industry. I feel that is what has helped me push for what I want and not settle for less than what I deserve.
Contact Info:
- Email: ririlanasa@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rianlanasa/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rian-lanasa-7bab41165/
Image Credit:
Rian LaNasa
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