Meet Mariah Smith: Founder of Belle Âme Creative Agency

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mariah Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mariah, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Starting my own business was something that I felt called to while attending the University of North Texas. I studied Merchandising and Home Furnishings Merchandising with a minor in Marketing. My studies fueled my passion for creating and maintaining a successful business. When it was time for me to complete my internship in order to graduate, I learned very quickly that a traditional 9-5 job wasn’t for me. I was commuting to Dallas to work for someone else’s dream and it felt so wrong to me. I had so many dreams of my own, and I felt miserable at that job. During this internship I had discovered a love for social media marketing, and had one client on the side while working in Dallas. I had a realization that I could work towards my own dream and create a business providing social media marketing services to businesses around DFW. That was going to be what set me free from this internship that turned into my first full-time job out of college. I began researching like crazy to discover what I needed to do in order to have a successful marketing agency. Google really does have everything you need to know! I created lists upon lists of things I needed to do, and created goals for myself. While I was in the process of putting together my business, I was also applying to marketing agencies closer to where I lived with the hopes of learning even more. After months of feeling hopeless, I finally landed a job at an amazing marketing agency that was 10 minutes from my house. I was elated. The best part? The founder was comfortable with me having my own marketing agency while working for his. Keeping everything separate of course. I still work for this agency and love every moment. For me, I had to discover my passion for what I was doing. Without my passion, I wouldn’t have had the discipline it took to set goals and smash them. So much work goes into creating a business and you have to remain diligent throughout it all. Creating to-do lists was the most beneficial thing for me as it helped things not slip through the cracks. As I worked with more of my own clients, the real reason for wanting my own business became clear. I wanted to help small, local businesses be successful in the digital world. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since with my business, Belle Âme Creative Agency.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Belle Âme Creative Agency was inspired by my studies abroad in Europe. Fascinated by French culture, I wanted my brand to forever carry a memory of a dream come true. Belle Âme means beautiful soul in French. I founded this business in November 2018. My agency provides a range of services with a more personal touch than one would get with a larger agency. My services include social media marketing & management, Google Ads strategy & management, website design & management, search engine optimization, email management & appointment booking, and content creation. I create custom packages for each client based on their needs and budget. I’m very proud of the range of industries I’ve been fortunate to work with my business. I’ve worked with clients in the home furnishings, beauty, clothing, music, events, child development, coffee, and tattoo industries. Working with such a diverse profile of clients has taught me a lot. What works for one industry, doesn’t always work for the next one. I’ve been able to craft custom strategies for each client, and it’s always exciting when I get to work with a new industry. I wouldn’t say it was easy making it as far as I have. I made it here with hard work and creating meaningful relationships. This small business of mine has taken a long time to grow and there have definitely been struggles throughout. There was a time when I lost two clients back to back right before Christmas just because their business wasn’t able to budget for marketing at that time. I only work with small, local businesses because that’s where my passion lies, but they don’t always have the extra money to spend on digital marketing. Especially not in today’s climate with a pandemic. As upsetting as it can be to lose a client, it’s just business! The way I look at it, my time needed to free up for something else to come along. I’ve never gone much out of my way to market my business. I mainly rely on word of mouth and referrals. I do things this way because I still work full-time at an awesome local agency, Aspiro Agency. I manage my clients for Belle Âme in my spare time so I’m only able to take on so many at once. The right clients always come at the right time. Things just work themselves out like that thankfully.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend visiting (pre-COVID) I would take them on these little adventures: Visit the Dallas Arboretum and enjoy a dinner at Iron Cactus. Visit the Dallas Museum of Art & hop over to Clyde Warren Park to get a meal at one of the truck stops. Walk around Deep Ellum. Get some food at Oni Ramen & then visit Dots and other bars. Walk around Bishop Arts. Get Brunch at Ten Bells & visit Rare Heart Vintage afterwards to find some cute vintage tee’s. Walk around Oak Lawn. Visit Round-Up & Station 4. See a small show at It’ll Do.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t have made it this far without the support of my friends. My biggest supporter in the early phases of creating my business was Rain Sprague, an amazing DFW makeup artist and one of my closest friends. Belle Âme Creative Agency wouldn’t be what it was today without the support of her and my other close friend Amanda Sweet, Detroit & DFW’s Creative Fairy Godmother and the founder of The ReVamp. I partnered with Amanda and took charge of The ReVamp’s brand and digital marketing. The ReVamp gave me the creative freedom and experience I needed to grow my business. I will forever be grateful to these two strong women who believed in me and provided support. You can find them all on Instagram: @looksbyrain , @amandasweet106 , and @the.re.vamp 🙂

Website: https://belleame.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariah.sierra/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahsmith2
Other: https://therevamp.co/ https://www.instagram.com/belle.ame.agency/

Image Credits
Amanda Sweet – @amandasweet106
Mariah on purple skirt – @torilorrainephotography