We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elle De Freitas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Elle, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My dad!
I am an extremely competitive person and I think that trait alone is one of my best qualities and a reason why Wonderkind Co has grown as quickly as it has. I owe that one to my dad.
Growing up I played soccer and ran track. My dad was my unofficial coach for every sport. He would give me motivational speeches before races, tape my ankles, put Mineral Ice on my knees. He would always be in the stands cheering me on. One of my very favorite moments was a state track meet, biggest race I competed in. I ran the 800 meter and the game plan was first lap, pace, and second lap, sprint.
I was up against the best runners in the state. I started the race well. Paced the first lap and in the second lap, an all out sprint. I was loosing steam coming into that second lap, most the runners were passing me. I rounded the last 200m, having given up a bit as I went into the final 100m, and I hear my dad yelling “LOOK AT ME RACE ME ELLE RACE ME ELLE” and I look to my right and my dad is running alongside me in the bleachers, dodging spectators, racing me in the stands. I turned on the gas, racing my dad, passed girls and finished 4th.
My dad instilled in me a work ethic that implores me to do my best, every time.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I played soccer in college and graduated with a Social Work degree. From there I took a job in on-premise wine + sprite sales for Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, a large distribution company. I worked in Dallas and Austin restaurants and bars selling our 1,000+ wine labels. From there, I started making connections with local food and beverage brands and planning events for them in Austin. I wanted to connect consumers to my favorite products. As I made these relationships, I started to understand where they needed the most help, social media marketing. While my background wasn’t in social media marketing, I knew enough about it personally, so I started to work with these brands and run their Instagrams. At the time my best friend wanted to also work with me and with brands, so she joined and I began seeking more brands for us to work with. This was 3 years ago.
Today Wonderkind is a social media, design and photography studio built specifically for consumer brands!
We are a team of 35 gals down in Austin, TX obsessed with brands and the experiences they give their consumers. We specialize in social strategy, content marketing and design.
We are soon launching Threads, merch and WK-owned events.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities that had the most impactful in my career were: Hard work
Sales mindset
Empathy
The advice I have is to get into a sales position, you learn so much!
Customer Service
Account Management
How to Set Goals
How to Achieve Goals
Accountability (you are your success)How to Provide Value
Relationship Building
How to be an Expert
How to Appear to be an Expert
How to Identify Solutions
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
So much things. But one would be, never take advantage of the day you’re given. There are people who would DIE to be in your shoes, make the most of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wonderkindco.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderkindco/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wonderkind-co/
