Anna Khanna, 36 is the Director of social media management business Socialista Media.
Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role
My name is Anna Khanna, I am 36 years old & am the owner & Founder of Socialsita Media. I launched the business only a number of years ago & have been overwhelmed with how successful it has become. My background was in multi-level marketing and catering but always had a strong passion for social media – especially achieving sales & generating revenue through this. So, after a series of events in my personal & professional life – I created Socialsita Media! Social media has grown considerably over the last decade & especially the last twelve months with the pandemic.
Have you faced any challenges along the way?
Of course – we all face challenges along the way. I have nearly lost my business twice! Once when Instagram changed the rules so I couldn’t conduct my follower growth service which was 80% of my business and second was in March this year when Covid hit and my one-to-one training stopped, all of my social media management clients cancelled because their business had to close. One hundred percent of the business disappeared overnight. I have nearly lost the business twice in two years and I’ve had to build it back up from scratch.
What has been your biggest achievement to date?
There have been so many highs in the last few years, but to be honest one of the best achievements has been working with such incredible brands & influencers. This has created huge traction & helped o many people increase sales in their business. Every day we get messages from clients saying how much we have helped them and their families. A lot of them can focus on their business full time rather than having a part time job to prop up the income.
During lockdown, It was really incredible to see so many people signing up to the masterclass & having such positive feedback. It really showed how important having an online presence especially on social media can be, It can literally be the difference between making sales or not.
What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success?
For me, setting goals I super important. I feel like you need to have something or things to work towards & without those I just feel a bit lost. I always create vision boards with images of people I want to work with, things I want to achieve etc. Even destinations I want to go to on holiday. It helps keep me focused & always striving towards a goal. Id highly recommend creating a vision board. Showing my face in the business is also incredibly important to me. My ex once told me never to show my face in the business as this was “unprofessional” – this has in fact had the complete opposite effect. Showing my face & personality has really helped me to grow the business.
How do you feel about mentoring? Have you mentored anyone or are you someone’s mentee?
I love the idea of mentoring. It’s certainly something I’ve thought about. I love teaching & coaching my VIP client’s so mentoring is certainly something I’d like to invest more time in next year. The idea of giving back is so important & I feel like being a mentor to the younger generation regardless of what industry you’re in is an incredible thing. The business has taken up so much of my time – getting it off the ground etc, but in 2021 I definitely want to focus on this.
If you could change one thing to accelerate the pace of change for Gender Parity, what would it be?
If 2020 has shown us anything, it’s how resilient we are as females. We have run businesses, started businesses, during a pandemic, started families & saved lives. There’s nothing we can’t do as women & I think my only piece of advice where this is concerned, is to stand up & be counted. Fight for your equality or do it better on your own! I speak to so many women who were sick of equality they were facing amongst other issues & decided to go it alone! Don’t let anyone make you feel unequal because of you gender – the future is female!
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self what would it be?
Stay focused – you’ll get there! I think as I’ve got older it’s become a lot easier to stay focused. You start to realise who you are & who you aren’t, how you work best etc. But when you’re young life feels so different. I’d also say don’t pay too much attention to what anyone else thinks. I used to always have to feel validated by other people and ask permission for what I should do but now I do me.
What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?
With the huge success of the online challenges, I’d love to shift more focus onto making these a more permanent part of the business model. This started as an alternative to live events because we simply had no choice, but I feel like this is something which will stick. The delivery is logistically a lot easier & convenient for business owners with a busy life. But on the whole, I just want to grow the business to the most successful social media training agency in the UK, work with online retailers & a lot more. I’ve got my vision board created – just need to bring it to life!
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