I first heard the word "entrepreneur" when I was in college, where I studied biomedical engineering. I never thought I'd actually become>It started as a hobby
I wasn't making any money off of Packs Light at first. But in 2018, it brought in $2,000 through a few small social media campaigns. The following year, I made close to $8,000.
In February 2020, after saving money and coming up with a plan, I quit my $69,000-per-year engineering job to work full-time as a blogger and consultant. Last year, my gross income from Packs Light was over $170,000.
My brand and social audience have grown a lot since 2018. Today, I have 252,000 followers>From a full-time job and side hustles to a 6-figure business
Thanks to scholarships and grants, I was able to graduate from college debt-free. To feel secure about leaving my job, I needed to save at least $15,000 (for startup expenses and an emergency fund).
I took>How I grew my income
During my first year of full-time business, I worked on six partnership campaigns — each worth an average of $3,000. In 2021, as travel became easier, I landed 12 contracts and increased my income to about $10,000 per project.
My campaigns, which often consist of sponsored social media posts, blog content and business-to-business marketing consultations, make up the bulk of my business earnings.
I have supplementary streams of passive income, too: Blog ad-income, paid membership communities and digital products like online courses for aspiring digital nomads.
Gabby BeckfordPhoto: Gabby Beckford
Since taking my business full-time, I've worked with major clients, including Facebook, The North Face, Delta Airlines and Adidas.
I credit my success to three major lessons:
1. Your 'why' is an important part of any business pitch
It's more important to establish your "why" early on. I have a deep and genuine love for traveling. I'm passionate about showing young women from all walks of life how they can find joy and meaning through travel — without all the planning stress that it typically comes with.
Someone who knows their "why" is more authentic and attractive to clients and customers because it makes clear that they enjoy their work and are motivated by their mission.
2. Be decisive and embrace mistakes
As an entrepreneur, you're making all of the choices, and it's so easy to waste time waffling between different options and potential outcomes. But we advance so much further when we try and fail.
Being decisive allows you to hop on last-minute opportunities, and to put 100% of your effort and attention into the choices you make. Even if it turns out to be the "wrong" choice, the lessons you learn push you closer to success, especially when compared to the paralysis of perfection.
I always like to say, "Done is better than perfect."
3. Study your targeted clients and audience
Identify and get to know your core customers and followers. What are their interests? How and where do they spend their time?
I serve Gen Z and young millennials with my travel content, and since I'm 26, I have an advantage in understanding their social media behaviors. But I still experimented with posting content on multiple platforms — TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
I got the most relevant engagement on TikTok and Instagram, so that's where I'm continuing to focus my efforts.
This principle rings true when finding business clients, too. Remember how I mentioned earlier that I'd ask brands what they were looking for in a partnership? That was me figuring out what customers they wanted to reach and how they wanted to reach them, then finding a way to meet their goals with my product.
