Behind the Business: The Insta Glow Club

Hello! I am Mo, & my business is called The Insta Glow Club which offers social media management, content creation & graphic design services as well as Instagram & Canva coaching. I absolutely love helping small business owners create a strong, recognisable brand and teaching them how to grow their business online using social media, blogs & email marketing. I am based in Bearsden (I work from home) and many of my clients are local small businesses, but I also have clients from all over the world including Switzerland & Greece!

I started my business in the crazy year that was 2020 whilst on maternity leave. I originally started out as a general VA (Virtual Assistant) offering a variety of different admin & social media services to small business owners but quickly realised that my passion lay with the creative side of things & all things social media and so decided to focus solely on these. I originally started the business with the aim of running it as a side hustle alongside my job but I soon built up enough of a client base to enable me to not to return to work at the end of my mat leave. It hasn’t been a smooth journey that’s for sure and the carefree life I imagined running an online business from home would be, is far removed from the reality! However, I absolutely love it & the freedom, creativity & flexibility it gives me. I would say to people considering becoming their own boss to be ready to work harder than you’ve ever worked in employment (I never switch off!) and always seek help & advice along the way, you’ll not be able to do it alone.

I had my first baby a couple of weeks before lockdown hit so life was going to be very different for me anyway, so I adapted quite quickly. I actually quite enjoyed the initial first few months of lockdown & the slow pace of life. However, I soon felt a little cheated that I missed out on what I had imagined mat leave to be – no baby café’s, groups or classes or getting out & about to show her off! But lockdown did give me lots of time to dive into researching & starting my business, I’m not sure I would have actually done it otherwise!

I love all things Instagram & am passionate about helping small business owners harness the use of it to grow. At the moment, Instagram Reels (short-form videos & IG’s answer to TikTok) are huge and are giving businesses the opportunity to grow & reach so many more people than with traditional posts. I love both creating reels for my clients & teaching them how to use them to get fantastic results.

I am usually woken by my toddler or dog, whoever wakes first wanting breakfast, and after taking my daughter to childcare, I make the short commute back to my home office to start my day. My days consist of creating content for my clients which can include creating graphics for social media, designing marketing materials, editing videos, writing blog posts or creating email campaigns. My days are mainly spent at home in front of my computer but I do get to go out & about to meet my local clients too which is nice. I will often visit their place of work to capture video & photo content for them or do some on-site Instagram/Canva training which makes for a nice change of scenery! I do ensure I take at least a couple of breaks away from my desk, one usually to put a wash on & the other to take the dog out & get some fresh air! I usually finish for the day around 4.30/5pm, collect my daughter & start our evening routine. A simple day but I love it & do not miss the M8 rush hour commute to work one bit!

In all honesty, I find it very difficult to switch off & have suffered from burnout in the past as I overstretched myself. I now try to limit my working days to 4 days per week & do not work weekends at all (I used to work every day including weekends). I also take time off my phone when not working to concentrate on family life (the nature of my business means I spend a lot of my time on my phone so time away from it is needed!).

To switch off I enjoy going to classes at my gym or simply order a pizza, put my feet up & binge-watch Netflix – bliss!

I have just finished Where the Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – loved it! I love a true crime podcast (Serial is fab) and also the Social Media Podcast (great tips on how to market your business online).

There are so many Instagram accounts that I love, it’s tough to narrow it down but a couple to follow would be  @puregallussocial (fabulous Glasgow Instagram expert) & @thisisvirginiakerr (fab advice for creating video content).

Carrot cake without a doubt, because it’s delicious & one of your five a day right? I’m also partial to a slice of red velvet too.

My Instagram is @Insta_Glow_Club & my new website (launching soon!) will be www.theinstaglowclub.co.uk.

If you are looking for help with content for your socials, advice on how to market your business on Instagram or training on how to use Canva, please email me at mo@theinstaglowclub.co.uk – I’d love to hear from you! Mo x

Thank you to Café Crème for asking me to take part in this, I was delighted as I love connecting with & hearing about other local businesses, so I absolutely love this blog series.