Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisa Franklin.
Hi Marisa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I graduated from the University of Missouri in 2020 with a B.A. in Communication through the College of Arts and Science, with an emphasis in Media Communications. I graduated right in the middle of the pandemic, which was obviously a pretty unusual time to be entering the workforce. The job market looked very different than I had expected it to when I started college, so like a lot of new graduates at the time, I was trying to figure out what came next.
During that period, I came across the world of virtual assistant work and started realizing there was an opportunity to use the skills I already had in a completely different way. I had previous experience in marketing and communications, and I loved the idea of being able to work directly with business owners while helping take things off their plates. What started as an exploration into virtual assistant and social media work eventually turned into me officially starting Virmar Social around April 2021.
When I first started the business, I thought it would primarily be focused on virtual assistant work and social media management. As I began working with more clients, though, I quickly realized their needs extended far beyond that. They did not necessarily need someone who only managed their social media. They needed someone they could trust to step into different areas of their marketing, learn their business, and help keep things moving.
Over time, Virmar Social naturally grew with those needs. My work has expanded into social media and content creation, email marketing, website updates, graphics, marketing projects, and a variety of behind-the-scenes support. No two clients are exactly the same, which is actually one of the things I love most about what I do.
Today, I think of Virmar Social less as a social media or virtual assistant business and much more as a flexible marketing partner for small and mid-sized businesses. I get to become an extension of my clients’ teams and help make the marketing side of their businesses feel more manageable, while giving them more time to focus on the parts of their businesses that need them most.
Looking back, I definitely did not graduate college knowing this was exactly where I would end up. What started during a really uncertain time grew into a business that has continued to evolve alongside me, and I think that is one of my favorite parts of the story. Five years later, I have been able to build something that gives me the flexibility I value while doing work I genuinely enjoy for business owners across a wide range of industries.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not always been a smooth road. One of the biggest lessons for me has been learning how much unpredictability comes with owning a service-based business.
When you work closely with other small businesses, you are affected by the changes happening within their businesses too. Budgets shift, priorities change, companies grow in different directions, and sometimes clients need to scale back even when the working relationship has been great. I think one of the harder things I have had to learn is not to automatically take those changes personally. When you care about the work you do and become invested in the businesses you support, it can be difficult not to wonder what you could have done differently.
There is also a lot that comes with running a business by yourself that I did not fully understand when I started. I am not only doing the client work. I am also responsible for finding new business, managing contracts and invoices, setting boundaries, figuring out pricing, keeping my own marketing going, and making decisions about where I want the business to grow next. A lot of that has been learned through experience rather than from a textbook.
Another challenge has been allowing the business to evolve without feeling like I have to have everything figured out all at once. What I offer today looks very different from what I thought Virmar Social would be when I started, and learning to trust that evolution has taken time.
There have definitely been seasons where things felt incredibly steady and others where I have had to regroup, put myself back out there, and remind myself that fluctuations are part of running a business. Those moments are uncomfortable, but they have also made me more resourceful, more confident in the value I provide, and much clearer about the kind of business I want to continue building.
As you know, we’re big fans of Virmar Social. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Virmar Social is a flexible marketing support business that works primarily with small and mid-sized businesses that need consistent marketing help but may not need, or be ready for, a full in-house marketing team.
One of the things I think is most important to understand about Virmar Social is that there really is not a one-size-fits-all version of what I do. Every business has different priorities, different gaps, and different things that keep getting pushed to the bottom of the list. My role is to step in where support is needed most and become an extension of that business and its team.
Depending on the client, that can include social media management and content creation, email marketing, website updates, graphics, marketing campaigns, project coordination, and other behind-the-scenes marketing support. Sometimes I am managing a large portion of a client’s ongoing marketing, and other times I am supporting an existing team by helping keep projects organized and moving forward.
I think what sets Virmar Social apart is that the relationship is very hands-on and personalized. I take the time to learn each client’s business, their voice, their customers, and how they like to work. I do not want to simply check tasks off a list. I want my clients to feel like they have someone on their side who understands their business and can step in without needing constant direction.
I am especially proud of how much Virmar Social has evolved since I started it. It began with virtual assistant and social media support, but the services grew naturally as I listened to what business owners actually needed. That evolution has allowed me to work with businesses across a wide range of industries while still keeping the personalized, flexible approach that the business was built on.
At the end of the day, my goal is to help business owners stay visible, consistent, and supported without feeling like they have to do every piece of their marketing themselves. I want Virmar Social to be the kind of resource that makes running their business feel a little more manageable.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
One of my favorite parts of growing up was how much I got to travel with my family. My parents took my sister and me on cruises almost every year, sometimes even twice a year, and it became such a big part of my childhood that my fun fact in school was usually how many cruises I had been on. (Ha!)
Some of my favorite memories are from those trips and getting to experience different countries and places together as a family. Looking back now, I am so grateful that my parents gave us those experiences and made travel such a special part of our lives.
I also really cherish all of the photos they have from those trips. They bring back so many memories, and I love being able to look through them and remember all of the places we got to see and the time we spent together.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://virmarsocial.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virmarsocial
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/virmarsocial
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisafranklin/
- Other: Contact Email: marisa@virmarsocial.com
