In the spring of 2020, COVID was running rampant and taking a toll on everything, especially small businesses. Being raised in a family of small business owners and working in other locally owned establishments all my life, I knew the effects of COVID could be detrimental to many local businesses. In addition to the pandemic, I realized the majority of small businesses in my community didn't receive the adequate exposure I felt they deserved. I knew a lot of local businesses don't have large marketing budgets nor the time and equipment to create promotional content themselves, thus, my wheels began turning. I began planning ways I could use my talents to benefit the amazing businesses around me and in June of 2020 I started a project I came to name the Local Light.
The Local Light began as a passion project to shine a light on locally owned, small businesses. I wanted the community to see what they had to offer and feel more connected to the stories behind them. To get the ball rolling, I reached out to small businesses I already supported and offered free or extremely discounted photography services. In turn I would receive solid content to build my professional portfolio- truly a win, win. I provided a professional branding shoot that included product photos, headshots, and other important detail photos. After each shoot I sat down with the business owners and recorded conversations about their business including information on how they started, their goals, who they were, and we covered anything else interesting or fun for community members to know. In the days following the sessions I wrote individual articles showcasing the best side of each business then shared the articles and photos on social media for all to see. The community loved the Local Light. People began looking forward to the next feature each week and more businesses began reaching out to me. It was an amazing and impactful project.
While I was working on the Local Light, I was also in college full time and working a few part-time jobs. My load became heavy and I got overwhelmed, so I put the project on the back burner not knowing if or when I would get to return to it. Fast forward to today... two years later. Marketing small businesses in the community is my full time gig and I'm officially a business owner myself. It's funny how things work out. That being said, I will be bringing the Local Light BACK and I am SO excited to share awesome, small businesses with you all soon.
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