We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emma Barrera. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emma below.
Emma, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
In my senior year of high school, I had big dreams to head to Washington, DC and pursue a degree in politics. I was set to start in one of the top ten International Affairs programs in country.
And then everything changed.
After 10 months of spiraling out of control, of losing all of my friends, of losing MYSELF, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder. Three separate doctors had told me no, that there was no way it was possible.
I’ve always been one to act as soon as I had my sights set on something. You tell me what needs to happen, and I’ll make it happen. And during that time, I was not going to give up until I had a doctor who would give me the diagnosis I knew I needed.
Medication, therapy, and that diagnosis didn’t fix the issue, but it pushed me to take action. Just a few weeks into my third semester of college, I called my mom on the way to class one day and told her that I was going to be applying to transfer. I was coming home.
My outlook after that became rooted in one core belief: There is no Plan B. It has to work.
Three semesters later, I found myself graduating college a full year early with a degree in Anthropology. I had no idea what I was going to do next, because my entire college experienced had centered around one thing: surviving.
Now I had to figure out how to thrive.
I’ve never shied away from telling my story online, from infusing it into the values of my business. Mental health is at the center of my “why.” I will never be able to work a “normal” job. So I created one that fit my needs.
I think that’s one of the most powerful things about the online space.
Now, we include mental health days in our contracts, I make sure it’s a discussion with all of my students, and I hold space for my clients when they need it.
We were meant for more than surviving: we all deserve to thrive.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I never planned on being a CEO. Hell, I never thought Right Hand Glam would ever grow to be what you know (and love it) as these days.
Right Hand Glam was founded in 2020 as a way to make ends meet during the pandemic after both the gym and the restaurant I worked at were forced to close.
It wasn’t a dream. It was just…there.And then it grew. And grew. And GREW.A few years and hundreds of clients later, I think we’ve got this shit down.
You see, we cornered the engagement market before there even was one. No one was calling it engagement or lead generation back then. Everyone simply knew that there was a lot of power in Instagram and they wanted to harness it.
I’m f*cking proud of what we’ve built, and I know this is just the beginning.
You see, the beautiful things about these online business is that the sky truly is the limit.No one telling you what you can or can’t do. No one else making the rules.It’s just you.
And I know that can be a lot. But that’s where we come in.
Want to know why I think I was able to scale Right Hand Glam so quickly? I’m a theatre kid I have a degree in Anthropology. I’m a Manifesting Generator. Translation? I freaking LOVE people and their stories.
And that’s what engagement boils down to: telling epic f*cking stories day in and day out.
Right Hand Glam has scaled far beyond done-for-you engagement services. We have now taught over 130 women how to add engagement to their product suite through our signature program, The Engagement Academy, and have converted more than just a few to the dark side — they’re now full-time engagement strategists themselves.
We’re now taking it IRL — this November we hosted our very first in-person retreat, and I’m planning on teaming up with local business owners on the ground here to teach about social media.
This has always been about more than an online service. It’s about changing lives for the better. If I could birth this company in the darkest period of my life, then the sky is the limit for all of us.
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?
Three of our key values here at Right Hand Glam are boldness, authenticity, and empowerment.
Boldness: We don’t hold back, we take chances, we’re daring to do things differently.
Authenticity: We believe that people should get to be themselves and that none of us is ever “too much.”
Empowerment: We’re a champion of lifting women up through business, social media, and genuine connection.
Throughout my entire life, I’ve been called obnoxious, too much, extra…you name it. I was always dreaming big. I was always thinking past where I was and making a point to connect with people who had different experiences than I did. And as a teenager, that was so difficult.
I remember when I was 16, I came back from an international youth leadership conference and was so MAD at the world around me. No one cared. No one was thinking about the same big questions I had been faced with while I was away. And that’s when I knew that I had the ability to make a difference.
No one was going to stop me.
I think of how many people would have been saved from misery and depression if they knew freelancing existed long before I did. In the future, I see myself teaching high school and college students about this opportunity, of showing them there’s another way — there are more options than you’re being presented with.
My best advice? Post the things you think no one cares about. Post the things that are important to you. It doesn’t matter how many likes or comments the piece gets. What matters is that you can touch just one person, change just one life. The power of social media is unmatched.
Too often we see it used for bad — there truly is SO much good. You just need to be willing to put yourself out there so you can connect with YOUR people.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
My coach called me out a few weeks ago for my loyalty complex. This wasn’t anything new to me — one of the hardest ideas I grappled with when I decided to transfer colleges was whether or not people would need me down the line, and I just wouldn’t be there to help them.
Let’s get one thing straight: self care is NOT selfish. And the right people will stay by your side through it all.
My loyalty complex has resurfaced recently, and it’s not because of a person. It’s because of my business. I built the first engagement agency. Right Hand Glam is the blueprint. And we’ve trained most other engagement strategists out there. We don’t say that to boast — it’s simply the truth.
And when I think about what’s next for me? I know it’s teaching — both online and IRL. It’s creating something that I know the market doesn’t have yet, that I have proof that people want. In fact, I told a friend who works full-time for one of the most well-known online coaches out there and her jaw dropped at what we plan on doing next.
It’s so hard to let go of what’s comfortable and known and SAFE. But Right Hand Glam 2.0 is on the horizon. It’s scary and thrilling all at once.
But with each passing day, I know it’s the right move. You have to lean into the big, scary thoughts. Most of the time, those are what will take you further than you ever thought.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.righthandglam.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/righthandglam/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-barrera
- Twitter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-barrera-962474181/
