Bmore Collaborative (with Teauna Frazier - CEO of Bmore Girly)

I'm your host Zarina. And today we're bringing you an incredible conversation with Tiana Frazier, the CEO and founder of be more girly. If you haven't heard of be more girly yet, get ready to be inspired. It's a fast growing community created just this year to empower women across Baltimore and the DMV area, connecting them through inclusive, high energy events that celebrate collaboration and support.

This is literally my number one most asked question just by like the idea of be more girly just being you know, be more girly. I'm always so surprised that people Kind of don't realize how Baltimore is not as inclusive as well as welcoming to women in general. It doesn't matter the race, doesn't matter the age, doesn't matter the demographic.

I love the term girly. It's so dainty. It's so, what is it? Demure, cutesy. I love that. Yes. And it's like your whole branding, your kit, your, your marketing, everything just all aligns into that. So I absolutely love that mission. And what are the age ranges that Be More Girly is geared towards? Everybody can join. Give us the tea on that. So our age range

starts from 18. I want to honestly say younger. I have a lot of younger followings as well, but we go all the way to 65 to 70. I have like, yes, it's crazy. It's crazy. You would think like, oh, like it's be more girly. So maybe it's the 22 to like the 28 year era. I have girlies that are in high school. I have girlies that are, they have grandkids. They have great grand. Oh, you really curated a girly community. I love that.

Tell us a little bit about you. Who is Tiana? how did you start this? What does this mean to you?

Ah, okay. So, so I feel like I got in my introduction. I never do that, which is so silly. I literally don't tell anyone about me or anything when it comes to the behind the scenes, but I

know, but we want to know who you are. This is an amazing little community. We got to know who created this.

So, my name is Tiana. I go by T usually, and I'm only 23 years old. No! Yeah, I'm

only

23 years old. I'm originally from Norfolk, Virginia. I came over to Baltimore when I was eight, and I'm a Capricorn, a January Capricorn at that. And I mean, I'm the itinerary friend, basically, if that makes sense. I'm pretty sure now, like, I am just, I'm a girly girl. Like I'm a, I'm a, I'm just a welcoming kind of social butterfly. And so, and the spirit, if that makes sense.

I can get that from your Instagram feed. I get that from this community that you've created. It gives very bubbly. It gives very, you're a girls girl. So I get it.

Like you would understand, be more girly in all like You Honesty is really me like it's not even something I have to put a face on for it's not something that I have to Try to be or pretend to be it's honestly all naturally 100 Just an extension of me and it's so easy to be able to do these events and talk to the girls and just be able to come up with different things that are out of the box because it's just Honestly, it's just Tiana in reality.

I love that. So we here at Operations Unfiltered, we like to talk about the logistics, the behind the scenes, what makes things go. Let's do it. Let's get into what tools and technology do you use to manage your content? I've gone through your feed. Like I said, and you are so engaged with your audience. The videos are crisp. Everything looks professional quality. What tools do you use? Tell us, give, give the girls the tea.

So you guys want my inside, right? You guys don't want gatekeeping, basically. You don't want me to gatekeep, so,

exactly.

So to be honest with you guys, like when it comes to filming my videos, I do it right on my iPhone 13, pro Max. Very go, not 13. Yes, the 13, uh, the 16 just came out. So she's lagging. She's probably, she's on her last right now. And

they're crisp like that. Be more girly tech time because

yes, I record on my iPhone. And then when it comes to editing, I edit right on my iPhone. I use the app cap cut. Okay. So I have, you know, full range to all of the, what I need to do with editing, animations, anything in regard, in regards to that. And, the most craziest thing is, I do it in the spur of the moment. So most of my videos are put together. edited day of. Probably when I post it, I just finish editing it at that same time as well. What? Are you serious?

That is so crazy. So that was, that was going to be my next question. what about your daily tasks? How do you schedule emails and things like that? Are you a pen and paper kind of girly, or do you do the notes app? What's your vibe? My vibe is pen and paper. I

am an old school. School to do list girl, I got it off so I can get that, that, you know, instant gratification that I got it done. Okay, we're going to have to

have a target date because it's going to be more girly at target because I cannot wait to get down the calendar aisle. That is my go to like favorite time of the year is getting a new calendar. So we see each other with that.

So I do the to do list and then I also am big on Google Calendar. I'm quick to send somebody a Google Evite because I have ADHD. So my schedule is actually something I revolve around when it comes to routine. I need those 30 minute notifications. I need the location. Set the

travel time reminder, please.

All of it. I need, I need them to remind me because I'm going to forget if it's not on my Google Evite. Invite. If not on my Google, like calendar, it does not exist.

Okay. Yeah. Honestly, as a project manager and my side hustle, that's one of the things that I always tell my business owners is like, you need to get it out of your head and get it somewhere else. So you can delegate. Cause that is honestly the biggest key to, you know, building your brand, building your business, whatever is being able to delegate where you need to. So I love that you're already doing that. And that leads me to my next question. You said you're only 23, which is crazy.

me. I'll buy my lonely. Yep. I take care of all of the operations. I take care of all of the logistics meetings. I plan myself. I schedule myself. I map out, um, the financial aspects of everything. I go over, um, you know, It's materials, decorations, food, budget costs, everything I do is just me. I sit at my dining room table and I just lock in my favorite jacket on and I just glue myself to my, my mini like fake office, my friends in my apartment, but trust and believe it's a tax cutoff.

that's right. That's right. So that's crazy. I'm still stuck on the fact that you just do this by yourself. Is this your main hustle? Is this, or do you have a full time job? How do you manage all of this? So

originally I was a not was but so I'm like a social media influencer already in my own personal brand. I've worked with companies like Match Group. I don't know if you guys know about BLK. Yes. Dating app. So I've done influencing from for them for like, Various of projects from social media, like TikTok and Instagram to doing campaign shoots and things like that. That's a side hustle I have for passive income. I'm also a orthodontic tech. So I do the braces. I work with braces all day.

hustles.

Yes. I love it. I love it. I love it. And then finally my. Third, um, side hustle is also, I am a PRP counselor. I help people who have mental health disabilities as well as psychiatric, um, issues that need to do like rehabilitation and wellness and just retract themselves. So, I already had three. Hustles, Beamer Gurley was 100 percent not supposed to blow up the way it did to become a full time job.

Are you anticipating that you'll need to get help soon or are you good just riding solo?

Um, over time I do, I do wish to hire a personal assistant that I can completely trust as well as delicate tasks that will be done in the order that I want to right now. I feel like the passion that I have for be more girly, it makes me like front standing for it. I know at some point I want to You know, enjoy my life and be able to put on other things.

to see how you're making such a difference. I can see it in the faces of everybody that attends. It just looks like everybody's having such a great time. So kudos to you and your passion. I can really see the fruits of your labor are coming to fruition for lack of a better word.

Thank you so much. I'm so grateful and we literally just launched in January. I posted the logo. I said, hey guys. I'm going to be throwing events and we're going to be exposing some entrepreneurs, putting them on a map. And then here we are at 16. 3 K 10 months later.

That is such a blessing. That is so amazing. And honestly, it's only up from here, especially with such a genuine heart in the community that you're creating. It's truly only up from here. So I'm super excited to see that.

Thank you so much.

Now you mentioned that one of your side hustles is that you do some content creation and influencer. And I always have this conversation with. My friends and with my work groups and my peers, do you consider yourself an influencer or a content creator? I consider myself, I want to say an

influencer. I'm gonna, I'm an influencer. All, like, all I'm said done, I'm an influencer because I do feel like I influence people to curate what I'm giving them, basically, or to, to have what I'm giving them. I wish I could say both. Because the content I do also is so unique and I try to. Exactly. That's why I

always ask that question, especially because I love, that's what I, that's what attracted me to the be more girly brand is the type of content that you were putting out. So I would say you're both girl. Give yourself that credit, pat yourself on the back. Thank you. Yeah. I literally

like no photos on the page. It's only videos of like, like previous, um, events or what's happening in the future. I like to do live videos that are like quick cut. Fast in motion because that I have ADHD. So I want something that will attract them the audience and it attracts me. I know it a hundred percent will attract you guys. So for

sure, for sure. And you definitely got me girl. And now you mentioned that you do your content more sporadically. What are some of the other content creation challenges that you face? Maybe as a small business owner doing all this by yourself and even as a community organizer. This, thank you for asking, girl, because I've been, I've

been needed to talk to a therapist about this. Let's unpack. Let me get, let me get this out of my system. So you would not believe the blocks I get from actually feeling like the pressure of having to, creates, I don't know, it might sound selfish, it might sound a little like rude, but some days I lay in bed and I feel like I have a deadline, and as soon as I feel like I have a deadline, I instantly don't want to do anything.

Oh, I get that so

much. Try having a kid with it too. I don't know. So that's exactly why I'm like, If this is going to be something I'm passionate about, let's keep it at passion. And I don't ever want it to overlap when it comes to like, having, having it to be my full time job where it's like, I got to hustle to make, be more girly, pay my bills. I do not want to be more girly paying my bills. I want to be more girly. Being something fun, exciting, and something I love to do. Once it starts truly your

passion project,

literally, that's why I work still as many jobs as I do, because I never want to have it to be like, Oh, I got to pay my rent. We got to have three events. No, everything I'm doing is just because I feel like it. And I'm going to have a great time with the girls. So sometimes I get blocked because it becomes more than a passion and it becomes a deadline. Unfortunately, that becomes a problem.

Yeah. Have you ever worked with other influencers or content creators to promote what you have going on? I'm a talent manager for creators and they do a lot of bartered events. So wondering, have you ever considered that? Um, if so, why or why not too? Cause this question always stumps my other guests too. So let's get into it.

So I have, if you want to say work with other influencers, I have definitely done that where it's like, I. They'll reach out to me and they'll be like, Hey, we love you more girly. Let us know if we can do some like video footage for you or some content. And we will, just like to receive maybe tickets to that event for free. It's never like out of my pocket. It's just, they want to experience be more girly and they just want to showcase what they experienced.

So have you found that to be successful? Because I find that You know, with influencing and content creation truly taken off, there's a lot of money in this industry. And I know the spirit of collaboration has, has gone away from that. Um, but I do think that it can be beneficial for people who are trying to grow their, their business, whether that be online or offline. So I'm wondering, have you seen, a benefit from working with other people, not even on a monetary thing, but, bartering?

honestly, because the people who reach out to me have a huge following as well as engaging followers. So they kind of buy tickets as well, or once they see the experience that the content creator posts on their page, they follow me immediately because they want more for themselves. So I 100 percent do agree that collaboration, like easy, clean collaboration should kind of come back, even though influencers and content creators need to get their money. They need to get paid.

Absolutely. I'm not saying that because we, the talent managers get paid too. So yes. Get y'all money, y'all, but I miss collaborating without all of the strings. Cause I think that there's so much, synergy and ideas that come from that. And, you know, even good relationships can be built from that by just collaborating. And I think that that's missing because everybody's trying to get to the bag and yes, we need the bag, but bring back collaboration, but

I think they respect the They respect the authenticity of it where they're like, if I'm gonna work with, be more girly, they surround themselves and experiences and events. So the only way I'm going to experience it or do a collab is if I'm in person. So let's see. Maybe just do tickets and leave it at that. And they also love the women empowerment aspect of being more girly. So they don't ever come to me like, Shiesty, like, how much can you afford for a video?

Right. Let's get into it. I love that. And, and bring back collaboration. That's my moral of the story. If I can leave anybody with a message, bring back collaboration because you never know. Bring it back. That's,

I've, I'm like always wondering about like the tart trips and And like, um, topicals. What are they paying? Like, are they paying the influencers and no

lifetime trip? Like, no. And you know what, as a talent manager, I think that sometimes content creators and influencers have a misconception about the travel industry. Not a lot of times these influencers are not getting paid. These are trips where they're working and you're, they're They're expecting you to do reels, they're expecting you to do carousel images, and you're going. Maybe you might get first class.

I'm so like. We can, we can talk about that a little later because I'm so like conflicted about that. Wow.

I know. Yes, of course girl. We're going to, we're going to connect after this. So what advice would you give to small business owners or someone who wants to start a community like this? What would you tell them to do?

I would tell them to stay consistent, whatever idea they have, whatever goal they want to foresee with the plan. Stay consistent with it. You're going to have zero like days. You're going to have zero follower days. You're going to have times when people probably don't even view your real or your video, but you keep posting, you keep saying true to yourself and unique to yourself with your personality and please trust and believe people will. They will bite into it.

your biggest fan because we watch we watch and we can tell when it's authentic. Yes, literally. Yeah. And so what or who motivated you to do this? I know we talked about it briefly and whenever I ask these business owners, they'll say maybe a grandmother or maybe their child, but what or who motivated you to start this?

I want to say it's my younger self. So my inner child probably. Yes, coming to Baltimore. I just did not grow up with many friends. I had my one sidekick, Mona. She was my best friend. And then I'm going through high school. My other best friend name's Tyler. Um, and. I always wanted to do bigger events with like a lot of girls, like you guys would see on TikTok, like, you know, like the Halloween boo sleepover party, like the girly sleepovers.

so proud of you and I'm proud of her. I hope you are laminating in this moment. I don't know if that's the right word. I read that in a book, but I hope you are really absorbing this because you, if you don't tell her you made that girl proud, I'm proud because you have done it, girl. Thank you so much. So what is next for be more girly for Tiana, the brand? What's up? What's next? Be More

Girly is gonna be tapping more into the DMV. I love you both more, but we are packing our bags and we're going on the road to meet new girlies in Virginia, D. C. We're trying to hit Philly. In the summer we plan on having a tour for one of our, like, well known Things that we do. I don't want to spill too much, but I was going to say, are we going to get an opt operations unfiltered exclusive? Um, we will also be, this can be operations unfiltered exclusive.

You heard it here first. This is the first, I'm so excited. This is an exclusive way. I'm so happy. I got to put that down with you guys today. I'm excited. And I said, what do you see next for you? The, the person professionally, personally, what's next for you?

For me, um, personally, I just want to, I want to find a balance with Bea Margerly and Tiana, and I want to be able to separate Bea Margerly from Tiana in the future. So we're going to be taking a couple of trips out of the country. Just kind of like taking care of my mental and self care and finally for my mama and for my dad getting that marketing bachelor degree done. So

you heard it here first mom and dad. She's listening. She's going to do it. I'm going to do it. I promise. Okay. Well, for people who don't know, how can they keep up with, be more girly and find out about all the next activities and events and what is the next event coming up? How can we get all the team?

I read girly. So for October, we have our Halloween party happening on the 31st. All of that is linked in our bio on our Instagram. This is how you guys can see what's happening, what's going on in the most recent engagements, follow us at be more girly. And that's basically it. Um, I don't have an email, um, listing yet. I just haven't been that much of a, uh, I guess, you know, Like business owner to be that series email list.

latest there. All right. Well, you heard it here first. We got that exclusive and thank you so much for sharing all about be more girly Tiana. It was such a pleasure. And thank you guys for listening to operations unfiltered until next time. Bye.