Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah McConnell.
Hi Hannah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When I started high school, I really wanted to be a doctor. I was fortunate enough to get into a class in high school (Louis D. Brandeis High School) called Independent Study Mentorship. This class gives young adults the opportunity to shadow professionals in a field of their choice and get some firsthand experience, knowledge, and a more in-depth understanding of an industry. Thank god I took that class – it made me realize that I did NOT want to be a doctor… and saved me a lot of money in college!
Long story short, I ended up taking that class again my senior year of high school and this time I chose marketing. The rest is history (as they say). I mentored at Boss Creative Advertising Agency under Conner Cole – the copywriter at Boss Creative at the time and I never looked back! Shortly after graduating, I was given a role at Boss Creative as a copywriter and digital media strategist. I stayed there until August of 202o, at which point, I left to get some more freelance experience while I finished my degree at Texas Tech University. Little did I know my freelance journey would lead me here, today!
I started freelancing full-time in September of 2020. By the new year, I was working full-time for myself while going to school as a full-time student. Fast forward a few short months into 2021 and my schedule was so packed with freelance work that I made the decision to hire a team to support our clients. Today, we’re a team of 7 ladies from across the world – Texas, California, NYC, Rome, York (UK), and New Zealand!
We’ve been fortunate enough to make strong connections with businesses and agencies all over the United States and Europe who have provided us all with opportunities and experiences we never could have dreamed of! Some of the agencies that we work with regularly include Hapteam (https://www.hapteam.com/), Wonder & Co. Creative (https://www.wonderandcocreative.com/), and Wholehearted Social (https://wholeheartedsocial.com/) – each of which I consider to be a huge source of inspiration for us at BB and a group of close friends of mine!
This year, we’ve been developing a new product as a team called InVision. InVision is a digital marketing masterclass and marketing software to help business owners streamline their resources and reduce overwhelm while reaching their audience more effectively through human-centered messaging. The masterclass will cover everything from a new marketing philosophy, to brand strategy, SEO, social media, content marketing, email marketing, advertising, intuitive marketing, and how to streamline your digital marketing workflow in our software. We’ll be launching this product over at www.birchesbrand.com in just a few short weeks!
We’re looking to expand our offerings in 2022 and continue exploring how we can integrate our personal values into our everyday work – this is core to our entire philosophy, and I don’t see that changing any time soon!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Business is never a smooth road – and that’s where the greatest opportunities are found!
Birches Brand was founded in 2020… the epitome of uncertainty and fundamental evolution for our world. We started out with just me, and to be honest, I was invested in keeping Birches Brand alive as long as I could knowing that COVID was going to provide for a tough environment for us to navigate… but we’re still here today!
I grew my business as well as I could while also being a full-time student. I do not recommend trying both at the same time, but I’m so grateful for all of the perspectives it provided me in both directions. I did end up hitting my first 5 figure month the same month I graduated from Texas Tech University Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Advertising, a minor in Creative Media Industries, and a minor in Media Strategy. All while raising my 2-year-old Dachshund, Cooper, as a single mother! LOL!
Most significantly, I’ve learned that being a creative entrepreneur is one of the most therapeutic endeavors you can experience. Entrepreneurship requires a lot of discipline, self-awareness, and a whole lot of self-love!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Birches Brand is a copywriting and strategy studio that serves creatives, innovators, and weirdos all over.
We currently offer a variety of solutions in strategy, copywriting, and social media.
The core philosophy that sets our work apart and has continued to grow our client’s business is our human-centered approach to copywriting and strategy. It sounds simple, but I think it’s a core pillar of marketing that so many professionals and businesses forget about early on. By truly understanding our audience and their deepest desires and values, we can create soul-aligned and connection-focused content that does exactly what we’re all after – winning over our audience. This philosophy extends into every aspect of Birches Brand and has never failed us.
As far as the work we’re able to produce for our clients, the top compliment we receive, regardless of the industry we’re serving, is our ability to adapt our brand voice seamlessly from client to client. I firmly believe that our human-centered philosophy is responsible for this… but having 7 badass women writers on the job doesn’t hurt!
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My mom was a very driven online entrepreneur throughout my childhood and was responsible for showing me what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur – endless amounts of passion for what you do!
Conner Cole was my mentor at Boss Creative and was responsible for establishing some of the foundational philosophies and ideologies that still drive my copywriting today. I couldn’t be more grateful for her willingness to teach me how to do my job RIGHT and to dig deep in myself to find the solution to a challenge.
Jason and Alejandra Bryant from Meet the Bryants Photography here in San Antonio have been by my side from the start cheering me on and providing me with opportunity after opportunity to grow my business! When I first decided to make the corporate to entrepreneur leap, the Bryants were by my side every step of the way, guiding me into becoming a full-blown entrepreneur. They were literally my first freelance clients EVER and I still work alongside them today! Our relationship has far surpassed professional – they’ve absolutely become my family!
Natalia at Hapteam, Hannah at Modern Marketing Co., Ashley at Wonder & Co. Creative, and Kumba and Sia at Wholehearted Social have all provided me with extraordinary support, love, and guidance as I’ve gone from a solo-preneur to a part of a team of women writers. I’m honored to work alongside all of these incredible women.
Courtney from Designcrft has been my true best friend since the very beginnings of Birches Brand and has made the entrepreneurial experience a lot less lonely for me!
And of course, the BB team! Amylee, Rachel, Reese, Lauren, Grace, & Courtney are THE best team members I could ask for. I am frequently appalled by just how lucky I got to meet and work with these beautiful souls!
There are, of course, a lot of others who supported us along the way – if you’re kind enough to be here reading this, then you undoubtedly played a significant role in helping us get to where we are today!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.birchesbrand.com
- Instagram: birchesbrand
Image Credits
Meet the Bryants (Hannah’s brand photography)
Birches Brand
