Ejournal #2 — Balancing Passion and Strategy

Over the past few weeks, I had the chance to listen to two amazing speakers, Chelsea Robinson and Daniela Pimental Furtado. Their insights genuinely stuck with me. Both offered
practical but authentic advice, which made me reflect on my own career goals and business ventures.

Chelsea Robinson 

First up, Chelsea Robinson, the Owner and Director of Positive Dance Experience, shared her story of starting a successful dance business without any formal marketing background. I loved how she shared her failures and was authentic about the process, which was super inspiring. She talked about using different marketing strategies like email marketing, referrals, and organic social media. What stood out to me was her down-to-earth approach. She proved that you don’t need to be a marketing pro to figure things out, you just need persistence and a willingness to learn. Plus, her passion for making dance inclusive and fun for everyone was such a wholesome reminder of why community matters. Additionally, I loved how she talks about generating community within her small business, I’m always such an advocate for businesses to support Community Manager roles since it truly has an impact on growing a brand.

I want to apply this strategy to my mom’s cleaning business. Her focus is on eco-friendly cleaning, and I’d like to help build out real, authentic relationships with customers through social media to demonstrate why it’s important. I’d say this is the big takeaway from Chelsea’s presentation.

Daniela Pimental Furtado 

Then there was Daniela Pimental Furtado, who runs Findable Digital Marketing. Daniela’s energy and humour made SEO (a snooze fest sometimes) enjoyable. Her fresh perspective on SEO was essential. She said it’s not just about looking good online but being easy to find. She broke down how personal branding and SEO go hand in hand and why both are essential if you want your business to stand out.

Additionally,  Daniela discussed how SEO isn’t just for big brands—it’s just as crucial for small businesses and personal brands like mine (or my mom’s). Her advice on optimizing content to boost search rankings made me realize that a strong digital presence isn’t just about pretty visuals but about being strategically findable. This is something I want to implement for Green Haven Cleaning (my mom’s small business that I’ve mentioned a gazillion times now) and my brand as a content creator.

So, how will this impact my career? Well, Chelsea’s reminder about the power of community has me rethinking how I engage with my audience—being real and fostering genuine connections is something I’ll focus on more. And thanks to Daniela, I’m planning to sharpen my SEO game so that my content doesn’t just look good but actually reaches the right people.

At the end of the day, both speakers reminded me that combining authenticity with strategy is the key to standing out in the crowded digital space. As I juggle my full-time marketing co-op, post-grad studies, and entrepreneurial dreams, their advice will help me stay grounded and focused on what matters, building meaningful connections while staying smart about how I grow my presence online.