We had the good fortune of connecting with Alisha Kumar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alisha, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I started my brand, MPOC (Marketing Proof of Concept), to support minority owned women led businesses. After experiencing corporate culture in my first few years post-graduation after attending an extremely liberal undergrad college, I realized the serious gap that exists in minority representation in the workforce.

It was really clear to me that minority owned brands didn’t have access to the same information, resources, or support that it’s non-minority owned counterpart did.

My brand supports small to large mission-driven businesses in the areas of digital marketing: SMS, email, social media, marketing strategy, and marketing management. I help brands get their voice out there to their target customer, convert their lead to a “sticky” brand champion, and help them navigate where their marketing dollar is being spent for the highest conversion.

Our team of 10+ contractors is also comprised of all minority women. I really believe that to uplift the community, put our resources to support BIPC women-owned brands, we can do the best by also uplifting women of color within our brand as well. We provide coaching, tools, and resources so that our internal team continues to grow, whether we serve as a resume booster or a place to grow internally.

My goal is to even the playing field — so all minority brands and aspiring marketing creatives have the same access to information and tools as all other. I want to see more people who look like me and my team win.

What should our readers know about your business?
What is MPOC? MPOC is Marketing Proof of Concept, a full-service in-bound marketing agency catering minority owned mission driven brands in the direct to consumer (DTC), consumer product goods (CPG) space. We hone all of our marketing strategy spanning social, email, sms, website development, and marketing management with data as our focus. Now more than ever, you are able to predict the habits of your customer using historic cart and interact data — it’s all in the data!

What sets you apart from others? I would say our strong focus on consumer habits, purchase patterns, and keen understanding of the consumer’s journey grounded in data sets us apart. We aren’t just here to tell our brands when something looks “pretty” or “might” be strategic and impactful — we have our data in place to not old historically monitor brand growth and progress, but also to predictively provide insight on how an campaign strategy can lead to brand success and conversion. The short version, we peel back the “onion” to data one layer deeper than what your basic analytics or other agency might be able to.

What are you most proud of? I would say our growth. In the span of 2 years, we have been able to work with over 60+ brands some of who range from just starting out to crossing $1M months. We have also been able to grow our team from a 1-woman business in 2020 to over 10+ contractors in 2022. Some of our clients have been with us since the very beginning and we see very little turnover within the team.

How did you get to where you are today business wise? Quality service and trustworthy deliverables. Since we know many minority owned brands don’t have access to the same capital, we know when our clients trust us with their brand it’s not only a business decision, it’s a labor of love an extension of their passion project. When I first started MPOC, my goal was to deliver on time, with quality, and really provide something the end receiver would audibly say “WOW” when they received. If I didn’t feel like this was a “WOW” deliverable, it wasn’t what I was going to submit. I started with 1 client, who told their business friends who became 2, 2 became 4 and it continued to grow from there. We crossed 60+ in March 2022 and I don’t see things slowing down any time soon.

Was it easy? Absolutely not. After the first client rejection or a client didn’t resign their contract I would take it REALLY hard. I thought I had failed the client and always wondered what I could have done differently. Understanding that not everyone is going to be your customer and refining your service scope to fit your business is extremely important. I think a lot of rising entrepreneurs fail to realize, myself included, is that you get to control what your work looks like. It’s not longer an employee relationship where someone else is creating your work scope. If you want to see a 3+ month retainer in your contract, you have the ability to create it! If you only want to work with a specific type of brand, you have the ability to do so. A lot of failure and experiencing the same lesson has helped me overcome the “I failed” feeling.

How do you want to be known? As an agency that is actually committed to your brand’s bottom line growth. We have been able to help brands go from $400,000 to $1.5M+, supported brands being able to achieve a $1M month, and moved the lead with reach generation and follower growth for our clients to help them use social, email, and sms as revenue drivers for their brand.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Slutty Vegan. Every single time I go to Atlanta, I have to make at least one trip to Slutty Vegan. I don’t care if I don’t have the transportation for it — I’m taking myself, my Uber driver, and whoever else is in the car to it.

That’s actually how I met one of my employees! She was my Lyft driver and I had just landed into Atlanta and I asked her if she wanted to go with me, she said yes. We got to talking and long story short, she is one of our Senior Copy Specialists.

My whole itinerary is Slutty Vegan 😂

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I give my credit to my first client, Donata Skinfood. As a first-time entrepreneur with a ton of ideas but no experience, Donata took a chance on me and has continued to pour into me. Not only are her Hair and Skinfood products the 🐐, she is also all about uplifting her team and community — something I aspire for within my own agency.

Website: https://www.mpocmarketing.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mpocmarketing/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mpoc-marketing/

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