Daily Inspiration: Meet Angelica Pequeño

Today we’d like to introduce you to Angelica Rosa Pequeño, also known as Angee Smallz.

Hi Angelica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I always wanted to settle down in Los Angeles and head back to my home state and set some roots after traveling throughout my childhood as a child of a military soldier in the ARMY. In my mid-twenties, I decided to create a new entertainment publication for Latinos in Hip Hop. I earned a degree in Communication Advertising, and I was able to produce the magazine end to end; I designed the magazine, sourced the ad revenue, connected with artists for interviews, and built up a pretty good following for the publication. The magazine was originally called Latin Affiliated, but after connecting with more local artists in Los Angeles, I wanted to evolve into a more inclusive brand and relaunched the publication as Style Life And Music or S.L.A.M. Since then, I have learned so much about branding and how to start over with a new brand. My love for working with musicians has always been at the core of what I do. Los Angeles has afforded me many opportunities to do this.

Outside of the publication I created, I wanted to get more experience as a professional in the advertising corporate world, and what better city than Los Angeles to do that in. I worked for the Los Angeles Daily Journal as an editor in the back office of the Los Angeles Times and then at the award-winning travel advertising agency Myriad Marketing. I have also worked as the Director of Marketing for California’s most successful Keller Williams real estate office as my last “real job”. I opened an office of my own in Downtown Long Beach the year before COVID hit for my marketing agency Just Ad Me but then closed during quarantine. During quarantine, I spent my time immersing myself in self-educating for marketing, studying the tactics of Gary Vaynerchuk and under Facebook ad expert Dennis Yu. Since then, my time has been spent building up my own personal brand for my S-Corp Angelica Productions. I provide User Generated Content for beauty and fashion brands, and I truly love what I do. I feel that all of my years of education and experience have contributed to the success I am having now.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There are always bumps in the road. Things were tough when covid forced the shutdown as I had employees that I had to let go of and that was very hard. I don’t publish the magazine as of now either. It became overwhelming to run as a single owner. Wearing a lot of hats was probably the most challenging thing for me. I am grateful for where I am now, and I still provide consultations and advice to my former clients when requested. I always want to be there for my clients even though I have since decided to focus on my personal brand Angelica Productions.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a UGC (User Generated Content) Creator, which allows me to be creative and have fun while promoting different beauty and fashion products. I have been getting a lot of skin care products that send me their items to review, which I love. How fun is it to try these amazing products for a living? It feels like a dream sometimes. I am known as Angee Smallz, which is a play-off of my full name. My last name means small in Spanish. I am known for working with celebrities as somewhat of a connector. I help my entertainer friends get on podcasts as well, and I love the art of public relations. One of the things I am most proud of is being able to be an ambassador for Khloe Kardashian’s fashion line Good American. I want to be able to work with more reputable companies like these. What sets me apart is my ‘can do’ attitude.

Chances are, if you want to work with me, I will find a way to make it happen. I always make time for people in my life, and I am pretty good at time management. I can produce a lot of content in one day. I think a lot of people think it’s easy to be a social media digital marketer or a UGC Creator, but there are strategies behind what I do. It may be fun, but I know my skills are due to all of my years of training. A lot of people don’t know I actually have a degree in Marketing (Communication Advertising) as well as a tech certificate in Multi-Media. I am well versed in the entire Adobe Creative Suite, which has been quite useful to this day even though I graduated in 2009 over ten years ago. I am currently featured as a nominee in the Fab Over 40 Contest, and I would appreciate your vote so I can win and share the prize with my dear friend who is battling cancer.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I have tons of people that have supported my journey, and I would not be where I am at without them. A lot of my previous clients were women who just wanted to support my small business. Namely two realtors from Keller Willians, Brenda Trigo, and Jamie Saltman. Also, David Culen who had the confidence in me to make me the Director of Marketing of his thriving real estate brokerage. Other than that, my lawyer Ted Sieving helped me become trademarked as ‘Your Marketing Coach’ and gave me an office space at his co-working space in downtown Long Beach Work Evolution Laboratories. My girlfriends Angelique Sabori, Jamie Vanessa Duarte Sisquieros, Jamie Duarte, and Cimona Maes have also been with me since the beginning and have provided countless hours of lending their ear to me so I could vent. They are smart business owners in their own fields, and I am forever grateful to them. I am meeting many new friends along the way, and I believe if you keep positive people around you, everyone will succeed.

Special thank you to Voyage LA for bringing more artists into the spotlight! I am very honored to have been selected for an interview!

Pricing:

• $150 for sponsored post
• $150 for product review content

Contact Info:

• Website: angeesmallz.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/angeesmallz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angeesmallz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelica-pequeno/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@angeesmallzugc
• Other: https://linkin.bio/angeesmallz

Image Credits
Jamie Vanessa Duarte, Priscilla Torres, Robert Harmon