Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Marshall
Hi Christina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been on a long journey spanning several years digging into and embracing my story, but I did not let it really show on my social media for the longest time. A central part to my own growth is when i started to share my story. I realized that building a brand was infusing my story, my very self into my account and I’m going to take some time to share more with you today. My goal is that for you, you’ll come to embrace your story and utilize it in a way that builds your brand- which is instrumental in seeing your account grow & having a magnetic platform.
Fun facts- i was born in southern california, moved to Guam (little island in the pacific ocean) when i was 3, childhood there before moving back to california which is where i live now.. Navigating my own ethnic identity being multiethnic- dad born in japan, he is half japanese half australian (grandma-japan, grandpa australian). Mom born in south korea, she is half korean and half chinese (dad fled china met my grandma in korea). It has been a complex and yet amazing journey embracing the fullness of who I am and being proud of my heritage. (This comes into play on my account bc I love supporting and platforming authors who are women of color!)
Always loved reading. My parents are both readers. I remember my mom always having a book in the car when she was waiting for me during soccer practice reading. I remember walking into my parents bedroom each night and she would have her latest book in her hand laying in bed reading with her glasses on. I did not realize until later in life how much she impacted me as a reader. And how much I love it now. I was always extremely close with my mom and adored her, looked up to her, wanted to be like her.
Went to university, got a bachelors in psychology, met the love of my life in our friends to enemies to lovers pipeline- story for another day. We got married right out of college. I graduated college with the intention of becoming an MFT. I abruptly opted out to pursue a mentoring job I was passionate about at the time.
Life was pretty good for me until my world was rocked shortly after we got married when i was 24.
I remember my husband and I were driving to the beach to play beach volleyball with a group of friends and I opened my email in the car and it was from my mom saying she was diagnosed with cancer. I was shaken.
It was very sudden, she was young and healthy. It was end stage cancer right off the bat and she was given 6 months to live. My mom passed away 6 1/2 months later, 3 months before I gave birth to our first child.
That time, from moving in with her to help take care of her, the whole cancer battle and treatments, to saying goodbye, then right after having my first child- hardest thing ive ever had to go through. Through losing her I learned so much resilience. Raising now 3 kids without family support.
It is so interesting bc reading became a space where I felt really connected to my mom (later on discovering some of the titles she read were romance books and i had no idea at the time). Reading also for me, became a way to cope with my grief. I always loved it since I was a kid, but it really ramped up after that. From my mom passing away, it was just the first of many many hard things to come in my life that I had to walk through-including last year (2022) being one of the hardest seasons of mental health struggles.
Starting my bookstagram account at the same time actually acted as a reprieve from everything that was hard in my life. A space where i could just care about books and create.
HOWEVER When I learned what a bookstagram was I really wanted to start one.
BUT i didnt for the longest time because I had so many fears around it. I followed one book creator for 2 years and always wished i could be like her and just post stuff about books, get free books every week, stuff like that. BUT I felt like i had no idea how to, knew close to nothing about running an account (other than the personal one i had). I was scared of no one caring about what i had to say about books. I had no idea how to take pretty photos. And then even watching reels I thought- i will never make a reel, I have no idea where to start!
But i also thought to myself, hey ive been through hell and im still here. so i can do this whole booksagram thing. I’ll figure it out.
i was so passionate about reading and i wanted a place to express that. At the end of 2021, one of my good friends showed me her secret bookstagram account (i remember we were at a korean fried chicken restaurant in la) when i met up with her christmas eve and that night i decided to start one randomly! I was very scared. I had a hard time even figuring out my handle name. Was at my dads house so i went through my old childhood books, picked one, and took a very bad quality photo of it next to the fireplace at night, bad lighting and was like here goes nothing! I remember when i started my account thinking it would be so amazing if i could get my account to 1,000 followers and make a few friends who also liked to read.
I started taking random photos of the books I read in front of bushes and plants, on my bed, had no consistent aestheic whatsoever, didnt even know what an aesthetic was. but it was so much fun.
I remember really wanting to grow my account and had no idea how to. I followed a few instagram coaches and tried implementing their advice, but i always felt like the advice was so broad and a lot of it didn’t apply to the bookstagram niche.
I slowly made changes to my account over time and I’ve pinpointed the most important things I did where I noticed I started gaining more followers and building a connected community.
Within that first year i went from 0 to 90,000 followers, built a very energetic and connected community, and surprisingly, started earning decent money without seeking after it. My dream had always been to start a business (for like the last 10 years, i wrote in in my husband and mines dream book every single year “one day i want to start a business that i love) and i wanted it connected to my main passion (books and seeing peoples lives change). It literally felt like a dream though, like a dream that would never happen, it was too perfect and unattainable.
I love books and connecting with authors, and I also love coming alongside others and seeing people experience transformation and reach their goals. Starting and growing my business has quite literally been my dream come true.
It was so scary leaving my stable job of 10 years to go for this, but i am not looking back and it was one of the best decisions ive made. In December 2024, I will be celebrating 2 years in business- helping others in the book industry thrive. Teaching + coaching bookstagrammers, authors + businesses how to grow + monetize their IG platforms organically. Helping authors market their books. All the while being able to spend time with my family and of course, read the books I love.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not. Initially starting an instagram account was scary for me, and trying to figure out how to find my audience. It took a year of trial and error to grow my community to 90,000. Deciding to quit my stable job of 11 years was also one of the scariest choices I made, as I had 3 young kids to provide for. The first offer I launched was a masterclass, and day 2 of my business I remember sobbing in bed, having only sold 3 spots in the class, calling my brother and telling him and my husband I was giving up and the idea was completely stupid. After their tough love and encouragement, I kept selling my offer, sold 20 spots in my first live masterclass, and that first month of business was a $5k month. It was a pretty amazing start right off the bat. From there, I was able to scale my business to $15-$20k months consistently, and hit $100k revenue in my first 9 months of business. But those first 5 months were incredibly scary. I didn’t anticipate the anxiety that would come with launching new offers, putting myself out there, launching new trainings, booking clients who were best selling authors and being full of self doubt, having many people copy my content and work, and even full on copying my business. I had a lot of low, stress filled weeks, wondering if I would fade into obscurity. In the end, making it to 2 years of business was a lot of staying in my own lane, focusing on my own goals, and persistence through the hundreds of moments that I was so afraid to fail and be a public laughing stock of my online community (that is now at 160k). I was terrified of public failure, but kept moving forward and pushed past those fears.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I help creators in the book niche find their audience through social media. I am someone deeply obsessed with reading and all things literary, and transformed my number one hobby into a business that supports other creators going after their bookish dreams. This means helping indie and trad authors market their books, finding their ideal readers. Helping book businesses scale by utilizing social media. Helping new creators launch and grow hobby book accounts. There are thousands of social media and business coaches, but I specialize in helping book-focused accounts (authors + bookish creators). I specialize in helping romance and romantasy/ fantasy authors market their books to their target reader. I am also a proud multi ethnic asian american, passionate about uplifting bipoc and indie authors through my platform and services. Another thing that sets me apart is that my approach is focused on sustainability and anti-hustle. I believe that you can have a successful business and successful platform without hustling and grinding away, so that you can enjoy time doing what you love most, whether it be spending time with family, friends, writing your next best seller or curled up in bed with a romance book. I am proud to have scaled to a multi 6 figure business within 2 years, to have an amazing team that helps Tina Marshall LLC running smoothly, and to be a present mom of 3, still reading about 70 books per year because i am NOT working 24/7. That is the dream for me! I am also proud of being able to have worked with incredible authors (who I also fangirl over) like Kate Golden, Imani Erriu, Kay Cove. Having interviewed NYT and USA today best selling authors like Carissa Broadbent, Rebecca Yarros, Ali Hazelwood, Ana Huang, Thea Guanzon, and Kennedy Ryan. Having worked with brands like Meta, Audible, Amazon, Harper Collins and Disney.
Lastly, I am proud of working with debut authors, setting them up well so that they make it to the top of amazon charts, Melissa Dymond is an indie romance author that debuted and hit #1 in her category.
I have a community favorite offer, which is my membership, called Bookstagram 101 that is a comprehensive training on growing your online presence from content creation to optimizing sales. I offer courses on increasing your reel reach, landing paid brand deals and creating killer content. I also offer private coaching and consulting for authors, businesses and book creators wanting to level up their social media and brand to reach a wider audience and increasing sales.
How do you define success?
To me, success isn’t just about the numbers or hitting milestones; it’s about creating a life that feels rich in experiences and joy. My version of success is being able to make enough money to support a life where I can make beautiful memories with my husband, three kids, and best friends, while still having time to read the newest romantasy book every night (because what’s life without a good book?). If I can do all that while growing a business that truly changes lives and helps people chase their dreams, then I’ve made it. That’s what success looks like for me-a life full of purpose, impact, and reading lots binge-worthy romantasy books.
Pricing:
- Bookstagram 101 membership : $55/month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tinamarshallco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookedtildawn
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@bookedtildawn
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bookedtildawn
Image Credits
Janelle Koch, Jessica Martin
