Hi I'm Stacey Aquilina, founder and owner of Aquilina Social. This cartoon picture represents me quite well 😂, especially in my previous profession. I worked at a Construction company based in the heart of London as a senior level PA/Secretary before retraining to become a Freelance Social Media Consultant with the award winning Digital Mums.
In my previous role I worked for a team of 9 Partners, 1 board level and 26 Quantity Surveyors (this was always changing, at first growing and then, unfortunately, falling during the last recession in 2008). I was required to work on my own initiative completing documents and reports that would help the partners secure new work for the company, plus being available to help the Quantity Surveyor's with their work. I also carried out general duties, such as monitoring sickness/annual leave, organising meetings, full diary management for the partners and the travel and accommodation needs of the team. I worked alongside other PA/Secretaries within the company, helping them with their workload when needed eliminating the companies need to use agency staff.
In August 2010, aged 27, I went on maternity leave. I had my daughter Tahlia in September 2010. The maternity package was fantastic, I had 6 months full pay, 3 months half pay and then the last 3 months at statutory pay.
The terms of my maternity leave meant I had to return to work for 6 months after my leave, which I had always planned to do anyway. I wanted to continue to have a career whilst bringing up my baby. I loved and still do, working and earning my own money. As soon as I left school I went on the hunt for a job to pay for the holidays I wanted to go on to explore the world and the driving lessons I was desperate for, so that I could buy my own car and have independence. Oh to be young and carefree again! 😂
For various reasons I took a career break in early 2012 to focus on being a mum and aimed to have a better flexible work/life balance that fitted my new role as a mother, whilst fulfilling my cravings to still have a career.
My second child, a son Kaya, was born in March 2013. After a lot of thinking I decided to extend my career break until both children were in school to give me time to help them grow and not miss out on those special milestones that only come along once. Also financially it made more sense as childcare for two children doesn't come cheap. Don't get me wrong it wasn't always easy but in the long run looking back now I think the sacrifice was well worth it.
In early 2017, after years of debate in my own mind and dreaming of working flexibly around my family life, I made the decision to retrain and signed up to The Digital Mums course - Diploma in Strategic Social Media Marketing, which started in September 2017. I graduated in March 2018 and already had my first client, who I still work with.
I can now proudly shout out that I am a qualified CPD Accredited Freelance Strategic Social Media Consultant, I even have a badge on credly as proof. I can of course work within an office environment too and also go back to my previous profession as a Senior PA/Team Secretary, this has just given me more career options.
I call myself a Consultant as my skills are more then just day to day management of your social media channels. I can come up with a unique strategic plan for your business, write blogs on your behalf, manage ads to better represent your target goals, audit your platforms and provide advise, provide you or your staff with training to help you better manage your own social media, create or curate content and schedule this content, plus lots more. Whatever it is you think you need help with just email me at info@aquilinasocial.com to discuss further.
While training I grew my social media presence from a grass root campaign and have all the skills required to do the same for a business. Social Media is not just about posting the right content and lots of it. Building an engaged community that will continue to support you and comment/share/like your posts is just as important too. You want people to buy or use your product and talk about it with everyone they meet. This way your brand will continue to grow and get the recognition it deserves. It can be very challenging for a start up business but it can also be equally challenging for a well established business to grow further, which is where my strategic planning skills come into practise. I can come up with new unique way to showcase your business through your social media in different ways, depending on what your overall goal is. Some businesses have a clear understanding of where they are going but just no time to implement it on their social media, again, Aquilina Social can help.
So at 35, with 2 beautiful children, I now have my own freelance business, more information can be found on my website: www.aquilinasocial.com. Its a lot of hard work and a lot of time and effort goes into it but I get the satisfaction of helping other people promote and grow their businesses to the best of their ability and I would encourage any mum looking for flexible work to invest in a course like Digitals mums.
A free consultation is always included when I commence work with new clients. This helps us both establish the best way to work together going forward and helps me get a clearer understanding of the business I'm working with. It is also an opportunity for the client to ask any questions they have about the way I work. Every business is different, as is every freelancer and its important for us to establish an excellent working relationship from the offset.
I currently have space to take on new clients, so if you are looking for someone to take care of your social media, so you can concentrate on the business growth, please do contact me for an informal discussion: info@aquilinasocial.com.
Social media can be very time consuming for a successful business owner, which is why a lot decide to outsource this work. Even if you just want more "free" time to spend enjoying life or time with family, let Aquilina Social do what they're good at and help you.
Ask yourself, are you living for the business or is the business living for you? Full details on what I can offer can be found on my website.
To be kept up to date with all things Aquilina Social, don't forget to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
For examples of my work while training, check out Tooting Oozing Fooding on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Medium. Content is still being posted to these channels on an ad hoc basis.
Thank you for taking the time to read this introduction to Aquilina Social and the person behind the business. I hope you have enjoyed it and I promise not to be a stranger. If you have any questions or queries please do contact me.
Bye for now and Keeeeep Smiling!
Stacey x