The Gist
- Refusal to be a victim. Victoria Davitashvili experienced a violent incident which resulted in serious injuries, but instead of letting it define her as a victim, she used it as a catalyst to evolve and grow.
- Sharing my world to make the bigger one better. Victoria turned to social media to share her story and received an outpouring of support and encouragement, inspiring her to start a YouTube channel to offer inspirational content and resources.
- Connecting teams through content. Through her experience as a solopreneur, Victoria discovered the power of deep connectivity and is now applying these lessons to her day job, working to connect and align different teams for greater success.
I did not expect to spend the night at the hospital on the evening of Dec. 8, 2022. Joyfully, I stepped off the train from NYC after work at 7 p.m. and decided to take a stroll in a beautiful park in our very safe town in a suburb of New Jersey.
Life had different plans for me that evening, however.
As I got my steps in while breathing in the crisp December air, while texting my 10-year-old daughter about dinner, two young men quietly approached me from behind. One grabbed me by my back and head, while the other ripped my handbag off my shoulder and stole my phone literally from my hand. Then they pushed my head into the ground and ran through the park with my stuff.
Whether it was adrenaline, the feeling of injustice, or pure insanity, I jumped up and started chasing them through the park with the goal of catching them. You see, they didn’t realize they were messing with a half marathoner who was crazy enough to chase criminals twice her size.
All jokes aside, with teeth broken, blood all over, and a potential concussion, I was taken to the emergency room and had to spend the night going in and out of X-ray and CAT scan machines. They found blood in my brain and suspected that I may need plastic surgery. My body was broken, but my spirit was strong.
From the Aftermath of Violence Comes the Good
But this story is not about the incident. It’s about the aftermath of all the good that came through as a result of what happened. How I evolved as a human, and grew as a digital leader. Yes, you read that right…the good.
The news of what happened in our very safe town reverberated throughout our neighborhood and all over New Jersey. Vulnerable posts on social media were not my forte. I was always very private and hardly ever posted things online. However, with so much news surrounding the story, I didn’t want to hide behind all the articles. I was not a victim. I wasn’t going to act like one either.
And so, I decided to shine a light on what happened and posted on social media about the incident. In my post, I shared about my feelings of sadness, fear, gratitude for our first responders, and the power of forgiveness.
Related Article: The Link Between Digital Transformation and Customer Experience
Content Is King
The adage “content is king” couldn’t be more true. Nearly a thousand people wrote me from far and wide wishing me well, telling me how my ability to see the humanity and the good in all of this is an inspiration, and how I’m helping inspire their kids to be better human beings. Needless to say, I did not expect this. But, I was inspired.
The label I carry at my day job is that of a digital marketer and digital product manager. And so I did what anyone with my labels would do. I launched a YouTube channel to share my story and offer inspirational content, along with a website with free resources to help anyone who’s struggling with anxiety, trauma, self-confidence and self-love. This was my way to give back to the world and do good.
The past few months have stretched and challenged me more than I could have ever imagined. As a part-time solopreneur, I’ve been learning more about digital marketing than I could at a large company. I’m analyzing my audience demographics, their geography, the messages that most resonate with them and drive the highest engagement. I’m researching keywords and how they’re driving traffic to my site, then making sure my content is optimized for SEO.
From there, I plan my video and podcast content and take endless tutorials about video editing so that I can turn one long video into a podcast, into several shorts, an email campaign and a newsletter. I’m doing it all! And I’m LOVING it all! Turns out not having the luxury of large teams as I do at my day job actually has some advantages.
At my day job, I have a team for everything. There is a team to create videos, another one to manage social media content, one for our hosted and sponsored events, a content strategy team, a team of UX & UI experts, marketing managers and audience managers, product managers and writers. You get the picture! But guess what? Hardly anyone is coordinating with one another. The gaps in communication are persistent. The events team isn’t talking to the search team who isn’t talking to the content team so that each team amplifies each other.
Related Article: How to Use Content Marketing to Your Advantage
'Magic and Power of Deep Connectivity'
Based on my experience as a solopreneur, I am seeing the magic and power of having deep connectivity, albeit all in my head, and how this connectivity amplifies my work. As a result, I’m bringing this new way of working to my day job. I am connecting our events team with the content strategy team to turn our videos and interviews into long form and short videos, which then turn into free and exclusive content.
We are holding kick off meetings to connect about new marketing campaigns with multi-disciplinary teams: marketing, digital channels, digital product, events and promotions during which we brainstorm together and identify any gaps in the strategy brief. We are producing search engine optimized content, promoting events on our digital properties, measuring customer behavior and engagement, creating consumable bite size content, and, most importantly, meeting our customers where they are at.
Regardless of our titles as professionals — consultant, HR administrator or advisor — we’re all having a human experience and we all seek consumable, short form content nowadays, and it’s exactly what we’re delivering to our customers. It’s orchestration at its best and at scale!
So go ahead! Become a solopreneur and amplify your personal and work life simultaneously. You’ll be exhausted, exhilarated and excited to come to work every day!
"Be the change you want to see in the world" — Mahatma Gandhi
0 Comments
Email This
Stumble This