Today we’d like to introduce you to B Michele.
Hi B Michele, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My entrepreneur journey began in Abu Dhabi in 2011. I moved to Abu Dhabi to teach English in 2009. The next day after an altercation in a club in Abu Dhabi I decided that I want to start doing events, parties to be exact. I wanted to create a different vibe for my fellow teachers. I convinced three of fellow teacher friends to help plan my 1st event. Our first party was at a villa in Al Ain- A town about an hour outside of Abu Dhabi. We chartered a bus for the guest in A.D so they come and have a good time and not have to worry about the long drive back. The party was a success. We had about 100 people attend. After that initial party we got organized and came up with the name Black Eye Eventz. We were the 1st group of American teachers to host events. I take pleasure in knowing that we paved the way for other teachers to launch a side hustle.
After 2 successful years of planning mansion parties, yatch parties and hosting themed events I decided it was time to head back to the states. I have always enjoyed event planning those 2 years gave me the motivation I needed to step out on faith and be a full-time event planner. In 2013 I began making plans to return to the U.S. I launched my first solo company B Michele Events in May of 2013 in Abu Dhabi. I arrived in San Antonio, Texas in July of 2013 knowing only 2 people. After arriving in San Antonio I took some time to check out the event planning market. I decided that B Michele Events would be a full-service event planning company, a one stop shop- catering, photography, decorations etc.
I quickly hit the ground running. I spent a lot of time going to networking events, Divine 9 events and any event where I thought I could meet some good people to partner with. I figured no one was going to hire me if they don’t know me. While I was out on day putting out flyers at a barbershop, I heard this guy singing. We started chatting and 3 months later he was the opening act on my 1st event in San Antonio. Laugh Out Loud Comedy Show with headliner Marcus D, Wiley. It was a sold-out show. I began producing and promoting comedy show from 2013- 2018 across the country. and hosting my own networking events as well planning events for my clients. The comedy shows help me build my event clientele and brand. By the end of 2014 people started calling me B Michele as if that was my birth name. I quickly gave up trying to correct them. little did I know they were helping me establish my legacy.
In 2015 I became a broker for a print/marketing company. I figured it would be great addition to the services we already offered. The company dissolved later that year, So I did want any entrepreneur would do, I started my own. In 2015 I launched B Michele Professional Services. We offered printing, graphics and notary services. It was at this moment when everything changed.
When I began offering marketing services that put me in front of a lot of business owners. I would design and print flyers, business cards banners etc. During my delivery of these items, I would engage long conversations providing advice about some of their business concerns. They would often ask me how I built my brand. I really didn’t know how to respond because I didn’t know I was building a brand. I was just doing what I knew to do. My clients were listening and taking the advice that I was providing. Those long conversations that I wasn’t being paid for sparked something inside of me.
I’m a teacher and social worker by trade. I guess it’s only natural that I would find myself in this position. I began researching various types of coaching and consulting. formats. I didn’t have a clue how that industry worked. I spent several months reading articles, books, and connecting with people online. After all my research I decided I wanted to focus on helping small businesses build their brand. Through all of my discussions and things I had noticed it seemed like a lot of small businesses were missing the mark on building the foundation of their brand. In November of 2017 B Michele “The Brand Coach” was born. I started building my personal brand first. I spent the majority of 2017 marking and branding myself on social media.
In 2018 I rebranded and became a full-service branding company keeping the name B Michele Professional services. We longer planned personal events, only events for business owners. After a year I started to feel like the name wasn’t translating well even though I had this amazing tagline ” We build Brands”. After a hundred conversations with colleagues, family and clients I changed the name in 2019 to the B Michele Branding Agency. and I instantly felt better and more confident about telling the world how we help small business build the foundation of their brand.
Since the initial rebrand in 2018 we have helped over 600 small business across the U.S brand or re-brand their business. I love educating, motivating and inspiring entrepreneurs of all ages to walk in their purpose and build the brand of their dreams. I am blessed to be able to what I love.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have definitely been a number of challenges since the beginning. It took almost a whole year before I got my 1st event planning client. The comedy shows and mixers helped keep the business afloat.
In 2015 I made some bad investments which just about crippled the business. If it wasn’t for the support of my family I don’t know if we would have survived. I spent all of 2016 rebuilding and restructuring to build our clientele.
In 2019 the owner of the building where I leased an office decided to sell the building, so I had to move with short notice. I had to put all our things in storage and discontinue some of our services until I found another office, which meant caused a loss in revenue during that time. By the grace of God we found a great spot centrally located off 410.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
B Michele Branding Agency is a full-service business and branding Agency that specializes in helping new and current entrepreneurs build the foundation of their brand in order to grow their business using 3 platforms, events, print and design and coaching/consulting. I have over 15 years of experience in facilitating, motivating and coaching.
Our core values are
Family- Our goal is to show love and respect to our clients and provide a family atmosphere to thrive in.
Fun- Life is already a serious matter so we like to bring joy and excitement to the branding process
Education- We take pride in educating our clients along the way. It’s important to equip them with the tools to be successful.
We help our clients gain clarity on their target audience, discover their passion and create a visually appealing brand using one of my signature programs from the Brand Your Vision Collective.
Our graphic and design team is the best at making our client’s vison a reality. All of our concepts are customized based on the information we acquired through our questionnaires and consultations.
Events are a great way for businesses to increase their brand awareness and get in front of their target audience. Event planning is my 1st love, my team and I love planning events like launch parties, grand openings, and book signing for our clients.
I consider myself a small business champion, it’s my mission to help small businesses no matter if they are fresh on the scene or veteran entrepreneur. I’m passionate about educating and motivating solopreneurs and small businesses all whiles helping them build and grow the brand they have always dreamed about
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I don’t take no for an answer. I’ve always been this way. I will find a way to make it happen. The success I have had thus far is primarily due my determination, dedication and drive to succeed in life and business.
God blessed me with a great personality and the ability to build rapport with total strangers. I love meeting and connecting with people. I have been able build a phenomenal network that I use to help strangers and my clients. My gift continues to make room for me in places I never thought I would be. It’s the reason my clients are brand loyal.
Pricing:
- Complimentary 20 Minute Discovery Call
- 1hr Consultation $99
Contact Info:
- Email: info@bmichele.com
- Website: bmichele.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachbmichele/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachBMichele
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmdCH0W1qky7zT9BapwtoSg
Image Credits
Photographer Darryl E. Edwards
