Episode 21: Transforming a Personal Brand into a Premium Offering with Chinae Alexander

A-Cup Podcast

Chinae Alexander is a female entrepreneur, feminist, and community builder dedicated to providing honest content which inspires confidence and self-care. Chinae is extremely open with her life online and in-person, saying she prefers to sacrifice her own discomfort for the sake of offering a voice and community to those who have none.

After going to school for fashion and supposedly landing her dream job, Chinae realized the industry was not for her. Switching paths, she talked her way into a marketing coordinator role, working her way up to director over the course of eight years. It was her boss and mentor who pushed her out the door, saying, “You’re not meant to be here. You’re supposed to be an entrepreneur—your last day is in two days.”

Chinae built an event planning business to make ends meet, slowly building a social media following on the side. After three years, the two businesses were too much to manage. She decided her passion would always lie with people, and went all-in building a community online. She shares how she built her team of five people, why she switched to a premium offering, and what keeps her motivated day-to-day.

Discussed in this Episode

• She originally went to school for: Fashion
• She became an influencer by: Accident. She applied to a social media role at ClassPass, and started an Instagram account to appear legit (she had 300 followers at the time of the interview)
• She kept with social media because: She loved the idea of talking to people online
• The person who told her to go for it: Her old boss, who she worked with for 8 years “fired” her, saying she was meant to be an entrepreneur.
• How she feels about risk: “The more we chase after security, the more that blinds us from what we’re really supposed to do.”
• Why she’s so comfortable with risk: Her parents moved every 3-4 years when she was a child, when she credits with helping her career today
• What she does when she feels nervous or anxious: Asks herself, “What’s the WORST case scenario here?”
• Why she shut-down her event planning business: She was staying up until 3AM working, and felt like she was doing “average” at both businesses
• How she feels about hiring people: If her brand promotes self-care and building yourself up, she has to practice that in her daily life and her career
• Her dream brand to work with: Adidas—who she signed a 3-year contract with
• How she connects with followers in-person: Hosting meet-ups every time she travels
• How she sells a premium product to sponsors: She cut her amount of sponsored posts in half, saying, “You are not buying one of one hundred spots here—you are buying one of ten.”
• Her A-Cup moment: When someone DMs her saying their life was slightly better or they felt more confident because of her
• What personality trait she loves most about herself: Openness
• The last time she cried about something work-related: This morning
• Her biggest fan(s): Her group of friends
• The most frustrating part of her job: Not getting caught up in the comparison game

Find Chinae

Chinae Alexander online

Chinae Alexander on Instagram

Chinae Alexander on Twitter

Chinae Alexander on YouTube

Find Kara

For All the F Words

Kara on Instagram

Kara McCartney online

Find Tara

Tara Laferrara Online

The TL Method

Compass Fitness, Denver Colorado

Beach Movement Balance

Tara on Instagram

Tara on YouTube

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