Today we’d like to introduce you to Ebony Powell and Tonia Branche.
Ebony and Tonia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We’re best friends who have known each other for over 20 years and we are both die-hard Lone Star State stans. We both work in healthcare, but our true shared love is good eats and drinks for a great deal. Growing up in Dallas, our social scene often centered around meals and friends. Whether that was cooking for dinner parties, going to an event or frequenting our favorite restaurants. As we saw the DFW evolve over the years (here’s looking at you Plano!), we expanded our list of favorite eateries and bars around the metroplex. Eventually, we had frequented so many different places we became a resident go-to source for happy hour, date night, brunch and the best events to hit around town. Flash forward to being young professionals who have adulting responsibilities: We realized it would be hard to balance our foodie status and love for events with our newfound bills and financial commitments. We drew on our knowledge of Dallas deals to maintain the ability to enjoy the best that Dallas has to offer without breaking the bank. We thought it would be fun to share the wealth with our friends and fellow Dallasites and thus…Champagne Campaign DTX was born!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s been a long journey to this point and more work than we thought—it still is. Being consistent with our posts is something we are definitely still working on! When we first started, we were unsure of how much traction we would get and if we would be able to find our niche. We launched at the height of the influx of social media influencers and bloggers, and we questioned what unique qualities we could bring to the table. Would people want to follow us and engage with our brand? We initially had the support of our friends and family, and it took a while before our engagement really increased. However, we continued to put ourselves out there on a regular basis, trying new things and making sure to remember that at its core this venture was about having fun and building something creative together. As we started to have more fun with it, meet new people, expand our palettes and really just be ourselves, our brand reflected that and that’s the point at which we started to see increased engagement. We realized it wasn’t just about the number of followers but about our ability to interact and the value of our content.
Our advice to other women would be not to let the intimidation of where you want to go stop you from taking that first step! We know firsthand how overwhelming it can feel when it seems like everyone else is out there doing what you want to do, it can feel like there isn’t enough room at the table and you have nothing new to offer. As cliché as it sounds, no one has your perspective, your taste, your point of view. Capitalize on that and never let the ‘likes’ or the social media chatter make you deviate from the brand and platform you want to create!
And don’t be afraid to ask for help! Seeking guidance and tips from someone who already knows the tricks of the trade was invaluable to us. Trust, it can save you a lot of frustration and a lot of hair-pulling.
Please tell us about Champagne Campaign DTX.
Our Instagram blog @champagnecampaigndtx features food, drink and event deals/specials around the Dallas area. We try to be as broad as possible with the content we post however our target audience is our own: young professionals who are interested in all of the amazing varieties of food and social scenes the city has to offer while balancing all of the many expenses that come with this stage of life! We especially enjoy finding hidden gems in the city or burgeoning enterprises and giving people the scoop on their future obsessions!
We are probably the proudest of the fact that we built this blog completely from scratch. Neither one of us really knew how to navigate social media for this type of platform or had any significant personal following. We aren’t professional writers and creating posts that are both equal parts entertaining and informative is way harder than we thought. This process has allowed us to tap into a different kind of creativity and cultivate a talent we didn’t know we had. After (a lot) of trial and error it resulted in something we are truly proud of!
As young professional women of color, we here at CC believe it’s important that everyone feel comfortable moving in all types of spaces. Especially in a place like Dallas where the turn up is so versatile. Throughout this journey, it became apparent that though there is a substantial number of bloggers, hardly any of them looked like us. Our hope is that our fun little blog can help others feel more included, and more likely to explore the fabulous city that we live in.
What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
Hopefully our blog and our brand will gain more traction and ideally inspire other women to take a chance and embrace their creative sides as well. During one of our book clubs we talked about how important it is to find a mentor. Having a strong support system that includes someone older and wiser than you that is a surefire way to set yourself up for success not just professionally but personally. Eventually, we want to get to a place where we in turn can be mentors for other women and we just keep upgrading each other. What is it Beyonce said? Who run the world? Girls.
Contact Info:
- Email: champagnecampaigndtx@gmail.com
- Instagram: @champagnecampaigndtx
Image Credit:
Candace Powell
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