Daring Entrepreneur Takes on the Start-Up Challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic made many people hit refresh and start from scratch. With many establishments and jobs shutting down left and right last year, not many people dared to explore putting their own start-up. Only those who are flexible combined with success-driven motivations did.

Enter Roxy Popkiewicz, a Filipino American savvy entrepreneur who founded the ROXYPOPZ MEDIA--a social media management company that offers full social media content management, content creation, influencer marketing, and consulting to small businesses. A business that entered a booming scene where most businesses are now rapidly shifting to the world of e-commerce. She shares that her passion for storytelling and helping the small business community were one of the reasons why she started ROXYPOPZ Media. 

On Strengths and Weaknesses

With her extensive background in digital and consumer marketing specializing in social media, she was able to garner experience with various industries such as customer service, banking, retail, and fitness. Roxy has gained the flexibility to adjust accordingly to the current business landscape which quickly became one of her main strengths. Perfect timing too as this gave her the confidence to put up her own social media management company. “I was able to adapt and react quickly to the changing business conditions, especially this past year with COVID and the social justice movement.” she said. 

Roxy also deals with some weaknesses of her own just like any other business owner. She shared that a weakness she still struggles with "is having imposter syndrome, I think [it] is especially relevant being Filipino American where there is a lack of representation of AAPIs in the media”. Despite this challenge and with a positive conviction, Roxy said that her main driving force to move forward is being successful. Sure enough, she was able to gather clients such as Aloha Eats, Taste Real Chicago, New World Nutrition, Vero Coffee & Gelato, Redee, and the My Chicago Golf in just 6 months since the inception of her business.

Start of Her Company

Roxy disclosed that working in social media is not without difficulties. Given that the majority of the year was spent in quarantine and after 7 years of working on the brand side, the feeling of getting burned out started to creep in. As with anyone who has been working for any company, yearning for growth and change in the working landscape became inevitable. Roxy’s urge to start a business never waivered despite the challenges the year brought in for everyone. “Why wait?” she asked herself. With just those two words, she courageously decided to put up her own business. 

Similar to others who are just starting out, Roxy was initially swamped with so many tasks. Starting from scratch, let alone a business from the ground up is no picnic. “I think just getting started initially was a bit overwhelming,” she said. Still, she eagerly worked on achieving some of her short term business goals such as reaching that target number of clientele “the big milestone was that I had a goal to sign on a certain number of clients and I was able to do that by the end of 2020” she recalls.

Unique in the Game

Not many people can understand what makes a company unique enough for other businesses to turn to them and collaborate with them for upcoming projects. Given the current arena of social media management in this time where the pandemic is still very much visible, survival of the fittest has definitely been a rampant vibe through different businesses. 

With this, a lot of them could forget to add compassion and only do what is necessary in order to stay afloat. Roxy proudly shares that unlike any other business in the game, she is a social media manager who pours her heart into all the brands and projects she handles and is strongly committed to executing their story in such a way that is perfectly received by their target audience. “One of my clients recently told me that while they could work with other social media managers they wanted to work with me specifically because they know I care about their brand.” she said. Her disposition of also putting in the thought to actually showcase the story of the brands that she handles sets her apart from the rest. “I don't just focus on the tasks at hand, I truly care and value my clients and always push them to share their story and their why behind their brands.” she pointed out.

Self-Worth, Values, and Community

With all the extended time given by the pandemic resulting into further home quarantine, it has certainly been a point of reflection for everyone. Every individual is given a point to assess what matters to them the most and Roxy was no exception to this experience. She recalls that with every hard-hitting event that has happened during 2020 it definitely taught her to evaluate what was important to her and what she values the most and one of which is knowing her self-worth and not allowing to sell herself short. “Burnout was a major challenge of 2020. I think being in quarantine there was no stop or end to working. Recognizing this, I allowed myself to have time to decompress and take time to myself.” she revealed. This is certainly a much-needed lesson in the current state of the world. 

As Roxy finds what matters to her the most, she still hasn’t forgotten the community. With all the chaotic events happening all around the United States, Roxy’s care and love for her fellow countrymen did not waiver. A testament to her big heart is her commitment in forming the Filipinx for Black Lives Affinity group with her sister. She shares that it is a group wherein Filipinx people could discuss what the community can do to address racism and white supremacy culture. The conception of this group was so timely since 2020 was a year filled with so many social justice issues surrounding inequality, racism, and the black lives matter movement. Apart from this she also volunteers to do community work “I am also a volunteer for Little Brothers Friends of the Eldery as well as My Block, My Hood, My City.” she shared. With her big heart in sharing her advocacies, it is no wonder these selfless qualities translate to how she does business. “I think in order for society to evolve as an individual it's important for me to support my community through service as we are all connected.” she said.

Future Plans 

After her recent public launch last January 28, Roxy is more than eager to see what awaits for her business in the future. She shared that she hopes to see her business flourish and to have more clients from the community. “I hope to see my business as a full agency where I also offer social media courses for small business owners, I have full-time employees and am managing more accounts within the Asian American Pacific Islander community as well.” she shares. There is no doubt that all these would be possible as each day she grows her engagements, influence and reach. Aside from growing the business, she hopes to be able to be given the opportunity to mentor those who want to be in the social media business in which she could impart all that she has learned from her past work experiences in social media marketing such as “best practices for social media marketing and other valuable skills” she said. 

Roxy has felt a deeper sense of self-confidence after everything that has happened because starting her very own business is something she has always dreamed of doing and finally actualized. At a time where so many establishments have been struggling to keep themselves afloat, executing a business and thriving in the middle of all the chaos could surely build anyone’s self-confidence. “Be your authentic self and just do it!” she exclaimed. She learned that by being unapologetic about who she was has allowed her to showcase what she is truly capable of doing. With her excellent mark and determination for success, the bigger question is, are you ready for her?