( ENSPIRE She Did That ) Female Entrepreneur Is Helping Women Build a Successful Brand
ENSPIRE Contributor: Ava Girardi
Shadé Y. Adu, the founder of Savvy Solutions Consulting, LLC., is an international speaker, bestselling author, personal brand strategist, and author. Prior to the founding of her company, Adu earned her master’s degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. To pursue her education career, Adu was a 9th-grade world history teacher and 12th-grade AP American Government student teacher at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. She also served as an ELS teacher, professional development instructor, global perspectives lead instructor, and teacher trainer at the Nazarbayev Intellectual School Physics and Math School. She took her passion for education and use her teaching methods while running her professional development firm, Savvy Solutions Consulting. In her company, Adu helps women across the country utilize social media and live streaming to build their brand to create digital products and services. She provides coaching, branding methods, and training for women, companies, organizations, and conferences. While simultaneously running her company in 2014, and being a full-time entrepreneur, she was a full-time doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to earn her Ph.D. in Philosophy and received the Gates Millennium Scholarship.
With her company, Adu has a passion for being a mentor to others and is helping female entrepreneurs with the tools they need to benefit their company. To pursue this, Adu helps people by allowing them to build the three “I’s”, which are income, influence, and impact. If she is working with an individual or a business, she uses these three “I’s” to ensure her clients receive the best results within their business after working with her. Adu, along with her company, is featured in various publications such as Hello Beautiful, Black Enterprise, and the Rachel Ray Show. Adu is currently also on tour visiting cities across the United States in an effort to meet individuals to help them build goals, a career plan, and create a brand.
ENSPIRE spoke with Dr. Shadé Y. Adu to learn more about her brand, profession for entrepreneurship, and love for education:
What are some of your tips for building a successful business?
Know your target market. Magnetic brands know their target market and successfully develop campaigns that attract them. Narrowing your target market by demographics, life experiences, and common frustration will allow your audience to connect with your brand in a greater and more intimate capacity. Online brands are built on developing relationships with your target audience. Speak directly to their needs and concerns; your brand will shine even in a highly-saturated marketplace.
What is some advice you have for people who are interested in and want to become involved with entrepreneurship?
Be Authentic. In a world full of well-crafted tweets and filters, authenticity is the most valuable brand currency. Customers are looking to connect with brands on a humanistic level. Consumers are not looking for perfection. They are looking to make a connection. Personal brands can thrive by creating a unique level of honesty and transparency that consumers genuinely appreciate.
Can you discuss a little more about your brand and its mission?
Savvy Consulting offers signature online branding services for visionary women entrepreneurs. I am trained specifically to help individuals strategize and establish themselves as a visible and ‘rock star’ online brand empire. Brands understand that their loyal tribe values exclusive experiences that can only be provided by this particular brand. Consumers are willing to pay more for unique experiences that only your brand can create; on and offline. Starbucks is a master at creating a coffee and mobile workspace experience. Coffee drinkers and non-drinkers alike enjoy the ambiance and complimentary WiFi. Starbucks has been a profitable brand by creating a signature experience that customers look for every time they purchase a cup. I believe that all brands can create similar signature experiences in the digital space.
When did you realize you wanted to become an entrepreneur?
While working as an international educator in the Republic of Kazakhstan, I discovered that people were making money online selling information. I’m like, “I can do that!” LOL. I wanted to create a business that allowed me to travel the world. Coaching and courses allowed me to do that. I was already trained as a teacher, so the transition to the course space was easy.
What are some challenges you faced so far in your career and how have you overcome them?
I didn’t believe in myself in the beginning. I was afraid to charge and launch my first course. It took seven months. I realized that no one would be helped by the folders on my computer. So I had to launch and put myself out there. Plus, I also needed to make money. When I left my job, my business was my income, and I just had to make it work. I’ve also invested in coaches who have supported me throughout this journey.
When do you plan to go on tour, and what do you plan to do while on tour?
I just recently finished up a multi-city tour. My goal was to make sure that I supported women entrepreneurs around the country, and I believe that we were able to do that. I posted multiple live events in the past six months, and we’ve been able to serve dozens of women at these events. The purpose of the tour is what’s a primary focus on their goals and who they desire to be as a CEO of their business. We also focus on planning the next launches and answering questions about how they can take their businesses to the next level.
Shadé Y. Adu has taken her former history of education and has incorporated it into her professional development firm to help women in entrepreneurship build their careers and have the tools to create a successful business plan. Adu has a passion for helping women succeed and works with them to achieve their goals. Throughout her career, she has attributed her success to her mentors and wants to provide individuals with the same mentorship she received while pursuing her career. She wants to take a new turn with building one’s brand in this new era based solely on technology by utilizing social media to promote one’s brand. Her brand is becoming known across the country since its opening in 2014 and is becoming recognized by multiple publications. As she runs her business, she also tours across the country to aid women in pursuing their goals and hosting various workshops in Kazakhstan, Ghana, and universities to share some of her tips and share how her love for education led her to create her company to help women across the world.
To learn more about Savvy Solutions Consulting and Dr. Shadé Y. Adu visit here.
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