Like so many entrepreneurs, Ericka Slaton started her business with no real branding, and no money to hire an expert. So, Ericka created a planner to provide whoever wants to start their business(brand) with yearlong, expert guidance, at a fraction of the cost.
”When you take the time to develop a solid foundation for your brand, you can achieve great things.” Ericka Slaton
Meet Ericka Slaton who founded The Ultimate Brand Planner, for new and aspiring, women entrepreneurs to make the initial process of Branding their business easier and more thorough.
Ericka is committed to helping 400 women start or grow their businesses through her Inspiring 400 initiative. The first 400 women to purchase The Ultimate Brand Planner this year will automatically be enrolled in this initiative and gain access to monthly FREE group coaching sessions. During these sessions, a new topic will be covered, and participants will use their Ultimate Brand Planner to take action in their business.
Tell us about The Ultimate Brand Planner, what makes it unique?
The Ultimate Brand Planner is a physical planner that I created to help new and aspiring entrepreneurs start their business with proper Branding on a budget. This planner was created based on my 5-step Brand Planning framework that includes Brand Messaging, Visual Brand Identity, and Brand Strategy. Not only is it based on expert Branding, but it’s set at an affordable price for those that desire to start a business, but have limited funds.
What motivated you to start your company?
My entire adult life, I was laid-off from almost every job I had, four different jobs to be exact. It was always due to budget cuts and lack of finances. These layoffs paired with a desire to be an entrepreneur, it was inevitable that I’d start a business one day. The driving force that led me to start my business in January 2018 was my son, my firstborn. When I found out that I was pregnant with him, I knew instantly that I didn’t want anyone to rush me back to work once my maternity leave was up, so I took a part-time, remote marketing job, and I started prepping myself to launch my own business. 9 months after he was born, I had my official launch.
My official company name is currently Ultimate Brand Academy, Inc. (originally launched in 2018 as 849 Digital Co.) I am a Product Brand Coach, offering coaching and services to product entrepreneurs. I created The Ultimate Brand Planner in November 2019 to help those that needed Branding but couldn’t afford the price of 1:1 services.
How do your coaching sessions look, who’s it for?
My signature program is the Purposeful Product Accelerator, and it’s an 8-week, group coaching program. It’s specifically for product-based entrepreneurs that are struggling to make consistent sales, create content that converts and find the purpose in their products. During this 8-week program we’ll address Brand Messaging, their product list and prices, Visual Brand Identity, how to launch a rebrand, and their growth strategy for the next 24 months. This will include label and package redesign as well as a mini-product shoot where my clients will get on-brand photos and videos to use as they wish.
What are you most proud of as an entrepreneur?
I’m most proud of the personal impact that I’ve had on my clients. Helping my clients to succeed in their businesses is great, but seeing them become more confident in themselves and what they’re building means even more to me. As entrepreneurs, our personal views and mindset are crucial to everything that we do, so to give them the encouragement and affirmations that they need for personal growth, is just the best feeling for me.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced since becoming an entrepreneur?
The biggest challenge has been growing my family while growing my business. Since my initial business launch in 2018, I’ve had 3 more kids. Each new baby has forced me to adjust my schedule and my offerings, because being a present and active mom is the most important thing to me, but I never wanted to give up my business.
How do you balance work life?
I don’t know if there’s such a thing as work-life “balance”, more like harmony or alignment. Balance would suggest that they’re equal, but that’s not the case. My family certainly gets more of my time, and that’s how I want it to be. But I make sure that my business gets enough designated time as well. Thanks to the brilliance of my Coach, Jasmine Chanelle, I have developed a signature program that best serves my Product Babes, doesn’t require me to work more than 14 hours a week, and allows me to serve all areas of my life, including myself, very well. Essentially, I’ve learned how to offer my clients more, while working less, and reducing stress. It’s an amazing feeling, and one that I’m now trying to pass on to my Product Babes as well.
If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
For all my Product Babes, just getting started, I would say to develop your Branding first. More specifically, find your niche and focus on no more than 5 products that fit your niche. Do that confidently and consistently for the first year of your business before you even think about expanding your product list. Focusing on serving your customers well in one area will serve you best in the long run.
Share some tips on how to become more of a happier and healthier person.
If you’ve chosen the path of entrepreneurship, but you’re still lacking happiness and health, I would suggest creating a sustainable schedule for yourself that allows you to work and do the things you love. I would also suggest cutting back on how many products you offer, so that you’re not overworking yourself and burning out. The last tip I’d give would be to cut out anything in your business that doesn’t generate income. These tasks take up your time and aren’t actually moving your business forward in any way.
To what do you attribute your success?
There are several things that I’d attribute to my success: my husband for always believing in me and supporting me on this journey, whether that was to help financially, watch the kids while I work, or offer words of encouragement. My customers and clients who have trusted and believed in me and my brand enough to work with me. My resilience and no-quit attitude have allowed me to push through each obstacle and failure, and come out more successful on the other side. Last but certainly not least, God. My faith has always been a driving force. Believing that God gave me a vision for my business, keeps me pushing forward to make sure I see this vision through.
What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
My first failure was when I launched my business in 2018 as 849 Digital. I launched as a full-service digital marketing agency, with a long list of services, low prices and no target audience. I struggled to get new clients, and the clients I did get, I ended up doing a lot of work for them, but making very little money. I was overworked and underpaid, and I didn’t have enough time for my son because of how much I was working. This failure taught me just how important Branding truly is, and that your offerings and pricing are very much included in that.
The second major failure was when I launched The Ultimate Brand Planner. I had all my products for my presale and general launch shipped together. There was an error in the shipping address which caused a 5-month shipping delay. This delay not only pushed back my product launch, but it put me in a fear mindset and drove me to start offering services again in order to make money. I ended up shifting my focus completely to my services when I should have stayed the course and continued to promote my planner. Because of this, it made growing my product brand so much harder. This failure taught me to ship my presale products separately, but mainly it taught me the importance of maintaining a positive mindset, and not allowing fear to drive my decision making. Decisions made out of fear will only lead to confusion.
![From Music to Perfume: How did your background as a music teacher influence your transition into perfumery, and how do you incorporate your musical sensibilities into creating fragrances? I’ve always thought in terms of metaphors, and music has many that can be related to perfumery! Beyond just thinking in terms of top, middle and base notes [soprano/alto/tenor in choir], I approach each fragrant idea as a composition. When documenting my ideas, song structures often come to mind. As the scent brief is visited, I meditate on what the fragrance should convey - do I want to create an accord or a “chord” of fragrance note combinations? Do I want an a capella soloist (a particular ingredient to stand out more than others?) Many of my thoughts regarding song composition transfers to my scent formulation process, with me treating each note as an intentional soliloquy at some point.
Brand Origin: What inspired you to start Pink MahogHany in 2005, and how has your vision for the brand evolved since its inception?
An avid lover of all things pleasantly scented (with slight modesty), looking back in retrospect, it’s no huge surprise that I’ve created an indie perfume house with just an idea to provide unique options for those who may be sensitive to unnecessary pungency. Initially, I just wanted to evaluate various blends to note their aroma profiles when “played” together…it wasn’t until I had friends and family asking if I knew of brands that catered to those who may be on the more olfactory sensitive side, that I really began to take my research more seriously. In the almost 20 years that Pink MahogHany has been in existence, our micro visions for the brand have evolved to larger territory. Where Pink MahogHany used to only be a personal brand, we are now also a bespoke formulation service provider to other indie brands seeking unique fragrance offerings for their products. These products range from (but are not limited to) perfumes, candles, body butters and lip balms. Ingredient Transparency: You emphasize transparency and the use of desirable ingredients in your products. How do you select your ingredients, and what challenges have you faced in maintaining this standard?
Being an indie brand often comes with a set of assumptions and misconceptions - one of them being more negative than positive as it relates to ingredients used. There is a lot of “fluff” in the industry with labeling falsification. Because fragrance formulas are a trade secret, not every molecular breakdown of a material has to be noted on the ingredient label (it would be incredibly long), but we at Pink MahogHany™️ adhere strongly to the IFRA [International Fragrance Regulatory Association] regulations that state for common and potential allergens to be listed on our ingredient label. We’ve taken this a step further to also include these ingredients listed on our website to promote further transparency, all while protecting our intellectual property. Unfortunately, we’ve had companies to unethically sell lesser expensive “dupes” of our artisan perfumes, so as a way to create a better authenticity stamp, we make it our duty to be honest about our claims. If our perfume says “Rose Bulgaria”, it is in fact just that and not a component of rose being passed off as the source material. Collaborations and Custom Scents: Can you share more about your work with private label clients? What excites you most about creating custom scent solutions for other indie brands? I could easily sum this up in one word and say “Funding.” True, there is money out there, but I’m always thinking outside the box. Having a program that has an “Each One Fund One” mentality doesn’t exist (that I’ve been made aware of). Bootstrapping can be quite the challenge, even when you’ve reached the 6-figure mark annually. Competition to be seen and set apart is extremely high, so having quality packaging and branding is a must. There are lots of factors to consider, though when desiring to make upgrades. If there were a unique, tier-geared funding operation available, it would help perfume brands offset packaging and bulk material costs in the beginning stages.
Industry Challenges: What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as an independent fragrance house, and how have you overcome them to grow your brand? As the brand continues on the path of organic growth, I would like to expand our reach into schools, offering perfumery as an arts elective for middle and high school. I’d love to partner with botanists, farmers and horticulturists directly to grow and source raw materials for the students to work with in the creation of tinctures. My passion is getting back to nature as best as possible, as nature was my first “scent experience” as a child. We would also love to witness our fragrance creations being used to scent model homes, our focus diffuser blends being used in automobile dealerships as well as partner with Air Bnb and boutique hotels that specialize in highlighting minority, indie brands. Personal Journey: How has your personal experience, particularly as a divorced mother and someone who has experienced the loss of a child, shaped your approach to life and your work in perfumery?
Because I homeschool my twin sons, we are together a lot more than most, so one thing we all do is have moments of sharing where a neutral “floor” is laid to converse about anything. Though they are quite communicative by nature, I realize that sometimes I can be in work mode so much that it spills over into what should be our quality time. My sons see the authentic me and learn how to communicate through seeing authenticity. I’ve learned not to feel as if I have to be the epitome of perfection but allow them to see my imperfections vulnerably but with discernment. Having had two traumatic experiences pretty close together has taught me how to truly slow down and enjoy the simplicities of life - igniting a spiritual aspect that I’ve always carried but never fully explored…until Kenji’s sudden passing (2018.) Grief has a way of catapulting us into a quest for more meaningfulness in both life and business. After Kenji’s passing and my processing through the initial stages of grief, I was able to incorporate our spiritual bond into Pink MahogHany by way of essential oil diffuser blends for both focus and sleep and most recently aromatic perfume elixirs. It’s been quite the process channeling the void of his physical presence, but I also have peace knowing he can be honored in a great way through scent. I noticed once I began to be more open and receptive to spiritual signs, synchs and “winks”, more ideas began to flow. It’s been this way since his transition. Emotional Expression: Fragrance is often tied to memories and emotions. How does your personal life influence the fragrances you create, and do you have a particular scent that holds special meaning to you? My creative process is much more alchemic now, and I include Kenji by talking out loud to him, believe it or not. I’m a firm believer that when our loved ones transition from the physical plane, they are still present - just in another form. I choose to keep his memory alive by not pretending he never existed (even if for a brief period of time). I am working (slowly) on a book and accompanying fragrance, but I know it will require me to revisit some memories I’m not quite ready for, so until then, his big brothers will launch their debut fragrance, The Peaceful Tiger (they chose the name.) I’ve learned that even in what we consider “small things”, our transitioned loved ones want to be recognized and acknowledged. When the twins and I designed their fragrance label (with a designer out of the country that didn’t know anything about me personally), we had issues with the graphic - so much so that the designer asked if they could rework the design. When they sent the proof for approval, the Tiger was not only younger but sleeping, with an uncanny, angelic resemblance to baby Kenji! Becoming more aware and being more sensitive to my intention for launching a fragrance has definitely made room for more divine situations like these to occur. Healing Through Scent: In what ways has creating fragrances been a form of healing or expression for you, especially after the loss of your son, Kenji Mwamba? I know my sons may not necessarily want to be perfumers, but they definitely have an entrepreneurial heart. My desire is that whatever they decide to pursue (acting, script-writing, music or architecture), they know that anything is possible with the right amount of determination, grit, belief and immersion. One reason I chose to homeschool is so they could enjoy learning without restraint and have ample time to devote to their own separate passions and it still be fun. They know Pink MahogHany is theirs if they want it (many, many years from now - lol), and we are already discussing business structures for whatever they choose their role to be once I retire. Work-Life Balance: How do you find balance between your professional responsibilities and personal well-being, and what self-care practices do you prioritize? I’m not just a perfumer; I’m also a consumer, and self-care is huge for me. I often take salt baths to reset my energy and clear my mind after being around large groups of people or free a long day. I’m a habitual perfume sampler, and I have so many to choose from to wear as my “nightcap.” Even if just for 10-15 minutes, I cherish each moment I’m able to have some “me-time.” When time and co-parenting schedules permit, I’m definitely on a flight somewhere to indulge in some delicious food and mouth-watering mocktails!](https://www.womenontopp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_3812-1200x720.jpeg)
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