Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Morales.
Dana, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
One of my favorite passions is to find new and exciting things around town. I always keep a list for my husband and I regarding what new restaurants we should explore in the future. Even if we missed an event due to no knowledge of it, I write it down and say next year we are going to attend.
Chanel Connect happened without me recognizing it was turning into a business. It started with me finding a few local events and inviting friends. Then I would have others who would use me as a resource to find events or a restaurant for their weekend outings. Searching for events, local restaurants and giving recommendations honestly comes very naturally. I genuinely want to help people get out and explore. There is so much to do here in the Frisco area.
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?
Starting Chanel Connect has not been a smooth road. It feels more as if I am riding on a roller coaster ride that has many twists and turns to it. When I first decided to become a content creator, I found myself stuck trying to figure out where to start. There is no college course or a how to guide to become a social creator. I also realized you needed to have a bit of marketing knowledge to which I had none of and yet I decided to jump in headfirst and figure everything out along the way.
In the beginning, I had no consistency to my posts and was merely focused on how to get my follower count to increase. As you can imagine I finally hit a wall of frustration. It took my husband telling me not to focus on my follower count for it to begin to resonate in my mind. I eventually stumbled upon a social media workshop that was very helpful. It taught me some do’s and don’ts of social media and one huge thing that I shouldn’t be focused on was the number of followers. I feel like attending that workshop was my light bulb moment. Afterwards, I began to work on a strategy to provide clear genuine content that I am truly passionate about.
One other thing I have had a struggle with is time management. Social Media can take up a lot of time if you allow it to. Getting Chanel Connect up and running has been challenging with my home life. I am a wife, a mother, and a full-time employee. Being able to provide time for everything has taken a lot of effort. I am a huge planner, so I currently utilize time buckets for working on Chanel Connect. This allows me the flexibility to have time with my family and specific time to work on content. I admit that it doesn’t always quite work but I am definitely better off than I was in the beginning.
Please tell us about Chanel Connect.
I am the social content creator for Chanel Connect. The foundation for the brand is to connect people to local events, restaurants, businesses and family-oriented activities. I used to find myself always searching for something new and exciting to do for date night with my husband. While searching for somewhere to go, I would always run up on events that I had never heard of. This would lead me to telling others so they could know about the events as well. I started to become the go to person for suggestions on what was going on around the area.
So often, we are not aware of the businesses or restaurants in our own back yard. I know people who will drive from Frisco to downtown Dallas for a well-known steakhouse and when questioned whether they have tried a steakhouse in the area? The answer is usually no. Those are the sort of scenarios that consistently motivate me to be a bridge of information. I want to be my followers connect person. A “connect” person is the person they think of first and someone who they can rely on for information. I strive to be their resource when they need to plan a date night, a family outing or a girl’s night out.
Chanel Connect also provides information that includes a bit of insight to everyday life. I want to help in all aspects of motherhood, budgeting, planning, and even some fitness. I also work with local businesses one on one to help promote specials or events. Our communities could not strive without having local support. I want to bring awareness to the companies that often get overlooked. I believe what you put into your community is what you will get out of it.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I believe luck is really what you make of it. For my birthday in March, I had partnered with a few businesses for some upcoming events. I was elated and felt like Chanel Connect was taking off and moving in a positive direction. Who would have ever imagined that we would soon be living in a pandemic era? Every event that I had coming up became canceled or postponed. My focus at that time for Chanel Connect was to connect people to local social events in the area, but there were no events happening. Once we were quarantined, I really found myself questioning whether I should continue the business or to take it as a loss. I had to turn my “giving up” thought process into a “I will not give up” mentality and that took a lot of prayer to get through.
What initially I felt was bad luck and horrible timing has turned out to work in my favor. The pandemic gave me an opportunity to rebrand my business. I rebranded Chanel Connect from not just social events but to now include motherhood, planning, and fitness aspects of my life. It has given me the chance to reveal more of my day to day to my followers. Business is all about growth and having the ability to redirect the negatives into a positive and I believe that is just what I have been able to do.
Contact Info:
- Email: Chanel.connect@outlook.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chanelconnect/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChanelConnect
- Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/oCXRLL/
Image Credit:
Trevon Yarber
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