Interview: CanvasRebel

Dec 9

Meet Marta de Movellan

December 9, 2024

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marta de Movellan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Marta thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

If I were starting over, I would first get a CPA right off the bat! One of the biggest learning curves that I personally experienced was figuring out how to set up my business from a tax and financial standpoint. I had no idea whether I should be a sole proprietor or an LLC. I signed up for an “all-in-one financial solutions” service, and it was a HUGE mistake. It was expensive, they had terrible customer service, and gave me very misguided advice. While the promise was that they would save me money on my taxes, accounting, payroll, bookkeeping, etc., it ended up costing me much more in the long run because I had to redo everything properly once I had a legit CPA. The other thing I would do differently is to figure out a way to scale my services earlier on in my business. Often you start as the only person running/managing your business, and you only have so much bandwidth to serve clients and are limited by your own capacity and hours in the day.

Marta, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Prior to starting my business, my career was in the art world in New York and London, working in marketing and communications for auction houses, art fairs, and museums, but primarily for commercial galleries. Even though I was dealing with very expensive, unique luxury assets, we operated with small teams, and limited budgets, juggling many projects across multiple time zones.

This experience gave me a very ‘jack of all trades’ approach – I know the foundations of the full spectrum of marketing and communications, which positioned me perfectly to guide small businesses with this.

I started my company, Studio Movellan, in order to support small businesses with their digital marketing and content strategy. Our comprehensive approach provides guidance and tools to build audiences, increase engagement, and develop leads while training you to operate and maintain your platforms.

Being a small business ourselves, we know what it’s like to wear all the hats. And that marketing is often the first one to fall by the wayside. Our mission is to make social media, email newsletters, and websites feel less daunting and to help entrepreneurs actively maintain their online presence so that they can focus on growing their businesses.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word of mouth and networking! Making sure your clients have a positive experience working with you leads to recommendations from them which are incredibly valuable.

When you first get started, letting your family and friends know what you’re doing is great because the people close to you are always happy to support you. But when you start expanding that radius, it can feel uncomfortable and spammy to email people in your larger network, but it’s very important! If someone isn’t interested, it’s okay if they unsubscribe. But you never know what might come from it and people will always surprise you – some of my initial clients were people who I had loose connections with but happened to need my exact services!

While networking is not something that comes easily to me, joining local groups has been wonderful for spreading the word and generating leads outside of my immediate network. For instance, I joined a monthly Creative Ladies Night group shortly after I started my business that is comprised primarily of interior designers, decorators, architects, photographers, and other creatives, and I end up with a new lead after each meeting.

Are there any books, videos, essays, or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

As a small business owner where your work and personal life are more closely integrated, especially in the beginning, I fully believe that what you consume – whether it’s podcasts, books, social media, etc. very much impact your performance. I fully believe in expanding your mindset and consuming as much as you can about finance, business, and personal development.

One of the most impactful books that I read is Atomic Habits by James Clear. It has been life-shifting and so important to the success of my business. Until recently, I didn’t have a team, coach, or anyone else to keep me accountable in my own business. When you’re wearing all the hats, managing all the clients, and doing everything possible to grow your business, I personally need a structure and foundation for my day-to-day in order to perform at my best.

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