Running a business is no easy task – just as social media powerhouse Indianna Roehrich, founder and Managing Director of Simply Social Management, one of Australia’s prominent Social Media agencies.
With an entrepreneurial mindset, Indianna founded her business in 2015 aged 22, to help brands create strategic, relevant and insightful communication with consumers through digital technology and Social Media.
The business has since grown exponentially and now has a high-profile client list that includes some of the country’s most recognisable brands and names in fashion, lifestyle, beauty and hospitality.
I was lucky enough to meet this incredible trailblazer, and talk all things building a business, success and taking a risk.
Congratulations on the success of Simply Social Management! You must be so proud! Looking back is this the vision you had in mind?
Thank you, this year Simply Social Management will be celebrating 5 years as a leading Social Media Agency. It’s certainly exciting to see how my business that began in the confined four walls of a University lecture in May 2015 has evolved on a national and global scale. I’ve always wanted to run my own business and seeing my vision come to fruition is a dream come true, I have to work hard every day to keep the dream alive.
What made you want to start the company?
In the final semester of University, my ‘hobby’ of making brands engage better with their consumers online across multiple social media platforms turned into a Social Media Agency, Simply Social Management. I had to adapt quickly and learn the ins and outs of running a business.
I love seeing brands grow and evolve. With the evolution of social media, I was hungry to make brands succeed online and offer a skill to communicate their products and services better through killer content and a strong strategy. Social Media is a powerful tool, I like to think my agency takes the complicated side out of it, by making it simple.
You started the company when you were only 22, which is amazing! But while I know things look ‘easy’ on social pages, I’m sure there were plenty of challenges and lessons along the way. How did your journey lead you to start a company, and what were the biggest challenges?
Back in 2015, my parents’ business was struggling to move product, so I developed a social media strategy to increase awareness and drive sales through Instagram. It worked, I was hooked on the thrill of seeing a campaign come to life.
I learned there was a disconnect between brands getting great PR, however, when you jumped onto their social media platforms, the social media content and messaging wasn’t up to scratch. I found a gap in the fast-paced social media industry and jumped on it by helping brands communicate to their target market better using social media.
Without challenges and disruptions, you won’t grow.
So it’s important to experience these obstacles along the way and learn from them. I think finding balance at the start was the biggest challenge. You have to sacrifice a lot, to focus on the end goal. For example, you might not get to socialise as much as you like to or travel as much as you can.
However, that all levels out eventually.
What do you think are the key elements to success?
Passion, persistence, and patience.
If you could give a young entrepreneur a piece of advice what would it be?
Be original and trust your gut.
What does the future hold for Simply Social Management?
We started off 2020 in our new office space located in Fitzroy, Melbourne. I love the new space I’ve created, it’s very ‘Instagrammable’, light-filled and a space that allows my team and I to be creative.
We have added a content and podcast studio along with a PR product showroom. Last year I expanded the business to offer a PR arm, Simply Public Relations MGT, a luxury space hire arm, Simply Spaces MGT and started a podcast series, The Social Report, covering interviews with Social Media Leaders worldwide.
My team and I are forward thinkers, and the future of this industry requires innovation to succeed and that excites me for the future.
