The Uninspired Series: Mastering Motivation In Marketing with Pretty Little Marketer's Sophie Miller
“Ultimately, my business won’t win if I’m not. And I’m not winning with a brain that’s overworked, exhausted and overwhelmed.”
When brainstorming the concept of ‘Unfaced’, an underpinning theme that really resonated with me was a shared need for authentic wisdom whilst in search of creative inspiration. Narratives that (whilst being authentic) also acknowledge that some of us struggle to just get up in the morning or stick to one path.
Countless like-minded internet users sift through seemingly endless reels of content in hopes to locate the enigma that is ‘inspiration’. Instead, they find one-size-fits-all advice that neglects mental well-being.
So many of us feel lost. In our careers, our relationships, in our pursuit of ‘success’ and satisfaction.Enter the 'Uninspired Series,' a space where I converse with down-to-earth yet inspiring individuals from a variety of creative industries. Together, we unpack their creative journey and how they carved out their own unique careers that leave room for imperfection without sacrificing both wellness and growth.
A successful creative career isn’t linear and the multi-talented and simply awe-inspiring interviewees that I had the pleasure to chat with, prove that there is always room for YOUR individuality.
Scouring my contacts and social networks in the quest for fascinating interviewees, I delved into the pool of creatives I typically turn to when seeking advice. One creative in particular felt completely aligned with my hope to spotlight a unique and multi-faceted career and as both a consumer of her content and a previous mentee - it felt natural to kick off the series with one of the greatest influences on my own journey into freelancing. None other than Sophie Miller, the visionary force behind Pretty Little Marketer.
From an inexperienced graduate to a pioneering marketer and coaching expert, Sophie shares an in-depth insight into the reality behind cultivating ‘motivation’ in marketing whilst “selfishly prioritising” yourself.
You can follow @prettylittlemarketer for fluff-free marketing insights or find out more about Sophie’s coaching and consulting offering here prettylittlemarketer.com or via her Linkedin page
Hi there, Sophie! Thank you so much for agreeing to chat about your journey as a creative with Unfaced. Eeeek - I am so excited to have you!
To start off - how would YOU describe your ‘role’ as a creative?
Goodness, well - I’m a business owner who’s also an entire team of one so my job description includes everything from email admin, to accounting, to client relations, to being my own HR manager… all alongside being a creative, creator and producing daily content across platforms.
To me, being a creative is all about excitement to experiment and an opportunity to generate new ideas.
You cultivated your own experience in the industry by starting PLM, tell me about your reason why.
I started PLM on Instagram in June 2020. I was a second year student, feeling hopeless as she looked to graduate in a years time. I was working an agency job alongside my degree as an influencer marketing manager, but knew that wasn’t building me the portfolio I needed to pursue a role in social media come 2021 - once I’d finished university.
So to feel less hopeless, maybe find some friends and create some of my own experience - PLM was born. An Instagram page where I shared thoughts on campaigns, insights from my agency role and collated tips and tricks I was learning along the way.
Would you recommend the same tactic to hopeful marketeers in a similar position?
Let me tell you - it was the best thing I ever did for my career. Not waiting and creating is the best thing you could do.
What skills do you lack when thinking about where you want to go in your career next? And what can YOU do to accelerate those?
After starting PLM in June, I found myself unexpectedly unemployed the following January - as a final year student, in the midst of yet another UK lockdown.
Finding a job was impossible. I needed something part-time alongside my degree - an absolute nightmare to try and find, and hiring freezes were everywhere.
In a bid to try and pay my bills until I hopefully landed a graduate job in summer, I started freelancing. I took to LinkedIn with a post letting my network know “hey I freelance now so please come and pay me to do things on your social media profiles!”.
And slowly, they did. I landed my first client by February - and through building PLM on Instagram and my personal brand on LinkedIn, I was working with some of the UK’s biggest brands by July and have since worked with the likes of Lounge Underwear, Unilever, The Masked Singer and more.
From the summer of 2021, I’ve been freelancing and running PLM on my own full-time. Saying yes to whatever pops into my inbox, figuring out what I enjoy as a marketer, learning how to grow a business.
It hasn’t been an upwards staircase since that decision to work for myself, but a winding one - with lots of bumps, and Indiana Jones style boogie traps at times too. But, that’s apart of the journey right?
How do non-creatives react when they hear about your work?
“It always reminds me of the split at school - “oh, you’re either academic… OR you’re creative” and how that’s followed many of us into our adult lives and understanding of roles out there. You’re creative? Oh, so you must not do anything smart, or complex, or maybe even important.”
“I hated telling people I was a content creator when I first started out. Now it’s my badge of pride. I love what I do. There’s SO much that goes into being a creative and being bold enough to put pieces of you and your soul out into the world. Right?!”
Your comment sections on both Instagram and Linkedin are usually flooded with positive feedback and your followers own success stories due to learning from your content. On the flip side, have you received negativity due to the creative nature of your work?
The best comments are anything and everything from our wonderful PLM community. I’ve had DMs that make me cry (in the best way). It’s such a privilege to be able to impact our community, even in tiny ways like a LinkedIn post that inspires them to try a new strategy or approach - and I’ll be grateful forever.
The worst comments were from my first ever boss - in my agency role as a student. Now I’ll take feedback, I want to get better, I want to do the best I can do in everything but boy this wasn’t feedback - it was a straight knife to the heart. It wasn’t constructive, it was offensive - degrading, confidence destroying.
I think a lot of it came from a lack of understanding and communication. Your peers or employees cannot do what you want them to do, if you aren’t clear with your direction. Equally, if you don’t fully understand what they do to a degree either, you’ll always struggle to set an end goal they can achieve.
Your work is largely social media oriented. Consuming so much content and spending increased time online can often have a negative impact on our overall mood. Tell me about the challenges you’ve faced when considering your mindset due to your role. How do you stay ‘inspired’?
It’s a struggle sometimes. It sounds backwards, but the best way I stay inspired is by spending as little time consuming and scrolling as possible. The more I consume, the more I compare - and that’s not an inspiration ground for me.
I’m very strategically driven, I love content pillars and I love audience research. So finding easy frameworks and brainstorming processes to put those two things at the centre of what I do is really helpful.
Know what you want to do and how you want to do it, don’t get lost in how everybody else does it.
Leading on from that - how do you cultivate your own motivation?
“Gratitude, mainly. Thinking back to when I went to university at 21, after 3 years in a job I hated to “find my dream career”. Thinking back to second year student Sophie, terrified of the future. Thinking back to 2021 me, who’d started freelancing, riddled with imposter syndrome as she figured things out.”
“No matter how tough it is, it’s a blessing to be able to wake up everyday and do what I love.”
For readers who might not know, describe the services you offer and how these could be used as a tool to generate their own inspiration and ultimately align hopeful creatives with their role in marketing?
I consult with brands on their social media and content strategies, and I also regularly work with brands as a speaker for internal or external events too.
I coach people on how to use social media to achieve their goals - as a freelancer, founder or marketer.
And I look after our PLM community through resources, daily content and a community membership launching next year.
How do you set boundaries when it comes to your work?
I’m like the most anti-hustle human on the planet so I’m all about a slow, intuitive approach. I’ve grown PLM consciously over the past 3 years, not rushing to launch a course or an eBook or new service because TikTok tells me “to monetise ASAP” - but really thinking about my brand’s longevity and authenticity.
I carry this into my working life as a founder too.
I have set working hours, Monday to Thursday. You won’t catch me replying to an email past 5pm. I take weekends off. I’m unapologetic with slow replies if I’m busy.
Maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it’s a bad thing. Maybe I should be working until 10pm so everyone gets a DM reply on the same day.
But ultimately, my business won’t win if I’m not. And I’m not winning with a brain that’s overworked, exhausted and overwhelmed.
Selfishly prioritise you.
What is your favourite thing about working for yourself?
Cliche answer but the freedom. I’m writing these responses on a Wednesday morning, in my pyjamas, watching Twilight on my sofa - I went for breakfast with my mum earlier today and I’m off to get my haircut after lunch.
Being able to do what I want when I want is the best.
Are there any drawbacks?
Lots. Don’t let TikTok convince you that you’ll be on a Bali beach making millions 3 days after starting out. Ha!
It’s lonely, it’s hard work, imposter syndrome sucks, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to pay my bills next month, constant pressure to “scale” and “smash it”.
Worth it? Yes. Easy? No.
What piece of advice would you give someone looking to improve their experience within marketing?
Get out there and make yourself known. Whether it’s a page about something you’re passionate about on Instagram, sharing your OOTD’s on TikTok or posting on LinkedIn - it’s no longer about who you know, but who knows YOU.
Social media can become like an echo-chamber with many people sharing similar content. What's your best piece of advice for preserving authenticity whilst creating content?
It might sound backwards when we’re talking about authenticity - but strategy is the key answer here.
Knowing what you want to be known for, who you want to be known for and how you want them to know you will be the direction you find your unique identifiers.
Have there been any resources or experiences you wish you had used or experienced sooner in your journey that would benefit a new creative?
Outsourcing and automation. Don’t try and do everything alone - if there’s a programme for it, use it! If there’s a freelancer for it, hire them.
You are always sharing amazing advice and discussing fresh topics - how do you ideate for your own content whilst keeping things interesting?
I know my audience inside out. When you know who you create for, and what they want from you - your scope of ideas becomes much clearer.
My favourite prompts for this are: what do you want to be known for? Who do you want to be known to? And what do you need to share to be that thing, to those people?
Thank you so much Sophie for sharing your amazing insights with us. We would love to know if you have any new projects coming up that we can look out for?!
Eee. The membership launching next year! It’s going to be awesome. I am so excited.
Thank you for featuring me lovely! 💖 proud of you and can’t wait for more x