Entrepreneur Highlight: Stacy Ann Hayles

1.    Tell us more about yourself.
Stacy: I'm a freelance digital marketing specialist who works remotely and mostly with small businesses and solopreneurs. I'm extremely passionate about the idea of ditching the traditional 9-5 career and pursuing a lifestyle of freedom and flexibility. For me, there is no need to work in a job you hate and wait to retire and start living the life you want at 50+. Thanks to advent of the Internet and the multitude of opportunities, you can create your own path and life that dream life right now. That's what I'm doing and what I help others to do as well.
 
  
2.    How did you get into your skill? 
Stacy: I had been working in marketing for a few years after graduating from university, when an acquaintance who read my blog referred me to a friend of his in Israel, who needed a marketing writer for his tech business clients. Once I started seeing how easy it was to work for client in Israel from Jamaica, I decided to work on getting more clients and building a full time income working online.

3.    How do you promote yourself?
Stacy: A combination of writing and sharing blog posts, being extremely active on Twitter and having a strong presence on LinkedIn. I don't advertise or actively solicit clients, so most of the business I get comes from friends who have seen my work or past clients and acquaintances who have referred me to others.

 
4.    How can we get in touch with you?
 Stacy: Did I mention I'm extremely active on Twitter? LOL. You can reach out to me there @stacyannhayles at any time. Persons can also contact me through the contact page on my blog www.stacyannhayles.com

5.    Do you have any upcoming projects?

Stacy:  The biggest "thing" I'm working on right now is moving to Mexico for three months! Since I've started freelancing, it's been my dream to travel long-term and experience other cultures, and I finally get the opportunity to do it. I'm also working on a couple website side projects for passive income when I'm not too busy with client work.

6.    What is your philosophy in life?

Stacy: I believe in every person's right to be who they want to be and do what they want to do, regardless of society's standards. As long as you're not hurting anyone or infringing upon anyone rights, do you boo!

 7.    In your opinion what do you think are the keys to success?
 
Stacy: Three things: defining what success means to you, continuously taking steps to get there, and consistently assessing progress and making changes where necessary. I'm all about practicality and logic.

8.    What made you start your business?

Stacy: I chose to be a digital marketing specialist for small businesses because it combined my passion for helping people with great businesses get more attention and reach more customers, with my skills in writing, social media management and design.

9.    What blogs and websites do you follow and why?

Stacy:  I used to follow over a hundred blogs, no joke! But in an effort to reclaim my time, I've narrowed it down to just a few. Nowadays, I avidly read The Middle Finger Project (a fun blog for small business owners), A Blog Abroad (black girl travel blog) and Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You How To Be Rich (personal/business developement blog which is about way more than money). To stay updated on news and current trends, I depend on my Twitter timeline.