Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Apffel.
Brooke, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in Bioinformatics from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2014 and had accepted a position for a Ph.D. program at UC Riverside. My husband and I were set to make the move from San Diego to Riverside when we found out I was pregnant. I was excited personally but lost professionally. I had always dreamed of having a career, but once my son was born my mind was blown. I could not believe I would enjoy being a stay at home mom as much as I did. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to work, but more so that I could not imagine leaving for 8+ hours every day to do so.
My dad is an entrepreneur and owns a successful plumbing company in San Diego. (He is definitely who I owe my entrepreneurial spirit to.) I’ve always been good with anything digital, and my dad asked me to build his company a website. From there, opportunities began to fall into my lap and I kept saying yes. Friends would refer me to companies and I began handling social media accounts, designing websites, running influencer programs, building pitch decks, etc. If I wasn’t sure how to do something, I worked hard to figure it out. After a year of working on the side and building up my client list, I thought it was about time to get my business license at the end of 2018.
Over the first year of being in business officially, I spent time building a small team of incredible entrepreneurs around me, working on our branding and carving out what services I wanted to offer. One thing was always clear, I wanted to be able to offer small businesses the ability to have a creative marketing team working for them – without having to hire multiple people full time.
We currently have a team of four (digital marketing manager, content creator, brand photographer, and a graphic designer). We have worked with some of the most incredible clients over the past year and our focus this year is growth. We are so thrilled to see what 2020 has to offer and what clients we get to work with. We love seeing the passion behind small businesses and working with them to build their dream.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Haha is building a business ever smooth?! Omg, we have made so many mistakes, mistakes that have cost us thousands. We changed our name half-way through our first year, we took on projects that were hard to complete, and we are very big on making things happen for our clients…which means going above and beyond and losing some sleep. And with three little kids now, all aged five and under, there have been obstacles.
Trying to balance being a mom, working from home, and being a professional… All while providing our clients with a one of a kind experience…it is a juggling act. I have learned most of all that I work well under pressure and that even when I am stressed and exhausted, that I am so damn lucky. I get to have a career I never dreamed of AND I get to be in the day to day lives of my kids, soaking up all the mundane and all the joy of little kids.
I know the road will continue to have struggles, building a business is being a constant problem solver. But I have truly fallen in love with the process. We have some really big goals for 2020 and as much as I hope we get to reach them, I also have learned to love the struggle, the learning, the problem solving, the putting out fires, the clients…. The whole shebang of being an entrepreneur. All in all, I want to help passionate small business owners. That’s the dream.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are Coastal Collective Marketing, a unique marketing and design firm based in San Diego, CA. We allow businesses to have a powerful creative team working for them, without having to hire multiple people full-time. We offer a wide range of services including everything from online advertising to social media management. We have over 5+ years of experience in the digital marketing/design field and have worked with clients all over the US.
We have an incredible eye and ability to stay ahead of the curve with ever changing digital marketing field and we limit our client roster to ensure we can give our full attention to each client we take on. I am proud of our ‘can-do’ attitude. We always figure it out, even a random task that a company needs off their plate but might not 100% fall under marketing.
What were you like growing up?
I was always a go-getter, type-A, organized and did well in school. I loved sports and played soccer all while growing up. I always got in trouble for talking too much in class and was always outgoing.
Contact Info:
- Website: coastalcollectivemarketing.com
- Phone: 760-224-7222
- Email: brooke@coastalcollectivemarketing.com
- Instagram: @coastalcollectivemarketing
- Facebook: @coastalcollectivemarketing
Image Credit:
Erin Wyatt Photography
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