Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Ruccione.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It started with a breakup and blog – not to be confused with a dollar and dream. I was working in fashion about 10+ years ago, broke up with a boyfriend, didn’t know what to do with my life, moved back in with my parents, cried a lot and started writing a blog. It was called Food, Fashion & Foolish Fornication because I was in my early 20’s and those were the things I cared about at the time.
That blog turned into a food column in a newspaper (- the Foolish Fornication part because my dad and Corporate America aren’t stoked about foolish fornication on applications and resumes). The food column turned into leveraging my relationships with bar & restaurant owners > to consulting > to producing events for liquor brands > to producing some Women & Whiskies events > to my own whiskey society.
Eventually I morphed into a creative consultant specializing in marketing, social media strategy and some non-traditional PR for all businesses. Most recently I’ve joined forces with NK Agency a 360 creative agency in DTLA and we just work well together. They are the peanut butter to my jelly. Is that a weird thing to say? Strike it if it is.
Oh, and don’t worry – I recently brought back the Foolish Fornication side of things. I just launched a podcast about my ridiculous dating life called, A Series of Unfortunate Dates. It’s fine because my dad doesn’t know how to use Apple Podcasts, so he still sleeps at night.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth road? About as smooth as, well – you’ve driven the mean streets of LA. There are potholes if you get my drift. There are constant struggles. In the past few years, I’ve started several businesses, a handful of diets and a few relationships. It’s safe to say I know how to start things. There’s no lack of get up and go on my part.
If I decide I want to do something, I just WOMAN UP and make shit happen. They call me a firecracker. I’m super excitable, quick-witted, full of energy, and creative. These characteristics allow me to fire off passion fueled ideas with an unbridled, explosive enthusiasm that very few people possess. Some ideas burn harder and brighter than the finale of a 4th of July fireworks show. Others smoke, fizzle and disappear into the dark night’s sky.
When I first started out several years ago, I thought maybe owning my own business was a bad idea. None of my ideas were taking off, potential clients were flaking or unresponsive, and I took it personally. I knew what I wanted for myself, but I couldn’t see the steps to get there. I couldn’t even articulate my vision or complete my list of services on my website. I didn’t even have a website. I tucked myself away at my parent’s house, ate copious amounts of cookies, read books and listened to podcasts about other peoples’ successful businesses. [Enter here a little more self-loathing].
Basically, my life felt very much like Bridget Jones’s Diary before she had sex with Hugh Grant and no one wants to be that human. I felt like a failure. There’s a fear associated with failure and we all know that kind of fear, but I also grapple with a fear of success and having to be successful CONTINUOUSLY. So, when you ask about struggles — I say “Oh, let me count the ways.”
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about 4F Creative Group – what should we know?
Oh, boy. Ok, what do I do? I’d love to sit here and say that my podcast, A Series of Unfortunate Dates (about dating in Los Angeles), is my bread and butter, pays my bills, and is my EVERYTHING but alas it is not. Or at least, not yet. I know, I know. Shameless plug, party of one.
What I actually do as an adult human is something that I have a hard time articulating. I literally have my hands in so many pots. I used to consider myself like a human LinkedIn for food and booze, but it’s morphed into way more than that. One of my hats (and favorite hats, I might add) is the Director of Marketing for NK Agency, I currently focus on managing relationships with clients, brands and influencers.
While we are a creative agency, our wheelhouse is very much social media. This is less about just posting a photo and more about how that photo will effectively communicate your brand identity and overall message. It’s cute to post a photo but it needs to be authentic, and it needs to make sense. Most importantly, it needs to have a call to action. What are you using social media for? Social proof? Sell a product or service?
Not to mention a lot of companies cut their marketing budget when finances get tight. This is such a backwards school of thought. Without marketing, you literally have a product or service that no one knows about. Good luck trying to get on the Forbes list with that obstacle in front of you.
Your social media needs to work for you. We can help.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ginaruccione.com AND www.aseriesofunfortunatedates.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @ginaruccione @seriesofunfortunatedates
Image Credit:
Ajay Jhaveri – Argentum Studios
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