Meet Keisha Liburd | Creative Strategist and Cultural Connector

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

Hi Keisha, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started TCH agency, originally K.marie Creates, in 2020 because I wanted to help businesses. I looked around and saw people shutting down not because there product or service wasn’t good, but because they weren’t able to properly market themselves or afford a super big agency to push their stuff. I often joke that before Keith Lee, there was me. I was 6 months post grad school, attending a virtual conference when I shared my thoughts with someone and they told me to do it myself. So that is how things got started for me. I worked doing freelance branding and consulting work for social media for small businesses, beauty and fashion were my target markets then. While well intentioned, targeting a market where businesses didn’t have a lot of liquid capital didn’t always help me make my own ends meet, so I did get a job as a Content Marketing Manager in tech and did freelance work on the side for almost two years before coming back to full-time entrepreneurship.

It was during my time in tech that pivot in my freelance work shifted into content creation and full-time social media management. I have always loved to document the world around me and my friends often would say I’d often have the most footage. I was pretty active on Atlanta social scene and would often document my journey through content. This lead to me working with events, djs, and creatives in the entertainment industry to capture content and market themselves. As things started to pick-up and I realized that long-term my job in tech wasn’t going to bring me the fulfillment or growth I desired I refocused on my mission. The day before my 30th birthday in 2023 I left my job and tech and leapt back into entrepreneurship full-time.

I knew that it was bigger than me this time, so I needed to also change the name to reflect that and TCH Agency as born. It’s first iteration was the The ContentCreateHer agency, but I shortened to TCH for easy communication, and decided I would share the full name with those when asked. I understood coming back into this journey that my mindset was focused on growing a company that would create opportunities for others, specifically women of color to thrive in a creative career. I thought about my own experiences in the industry and wanted to create a safe sustainable work environment for us to do good work and create impact for whoever we work with.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The TCH Agency is a marketing agency that provides content creation, social media marketing, and consulting services, to brands, events, and creatives. The services we are most commonly known for are content creation, videography, and social media marketing for events. A few of my early clients coming back into my business full-time included Black ATL Speedating, Mashup Sessions, and The Jumpoff Series and from there my client portfolio has grown to work with other brands like LVRN, Mercer and Prince, Milk and Cookies Fest. While it has been great to have some big client names, a lot of my work success has built working with events like Flip Me Off, collectives like Werc Crew, and more. I shy away from saying we are an event marketing content agency, but the bulk of TCH’s client work comes from that sector. So really it’s time to just lean into that.

We are known for captivating and presenting content in a way that generates buzz and capture the essence of the experience. We help our clients by being an overall marketing partner. Not everyone we work with has a team, so we operate as auxiliary marketing partner as they are building to help them. From sorting through ideas, help with branding, or other marketing functions. Everything we do at TCH is approached with a brand-first strategy and storytelling in mind. When I say brand first, it’s because I learned early on that is what drives things forward. It’s hard to build a house without a solid foundation, and marketing an event, product or brand is no different. You need to know who you are, and who your clients are, and then you can create from there what you need to connect to them. With TCH Agency we don’t promise virality, but what we do build is community. We help to cultivate our marketing plans to help ensure the connection in person continues with the brand interactions online and beyond.

I’ve had a variety of experiences that have added to this understanding. From an events marketing side, during my time at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, I interned with an events marketing group. During my time at A&T it was instilled in me there how to present myself and speak with confidence. We were taught early on how to elevator pitch ourselves and just overall taught a foundational level of business acumen. I also had my first social media internship for a small fashion brand during my time at A&T.

After undergrad, I pursued and received my Master of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design. During that time that is when I understood and learned the core things I know about branding that my Agency uses to help clients today. Working as a retail manager full-time while in grad school let me see the practical real-world side of things. It also allowed me to be empowered to lead a team and consumer mind-mapping in real-time, making decisions for the business to directly impacted and drove sales while making lifetime fans for the brand. My time in tech also gave me some gems. I am a student of life so overall, all of my experiences directly impact how I show up in my business and for my clients.

The journey of building this business has not been a crystal stair, but it’s a journey that is well worth it. I learned while it’s always great to get experience, figure out what you need as well. That way if there are certain compromises you make along the way to gain your experience you know exactly what you’re getting out of it and how to use it. Beyond that there comes a time to know your worth, I think as creatives it’s important to know that. There comes a time in everyone’s journey when you go from entry-level to seasoned, and sometimes you get less than what you’re worth because you don’t ask for it, not because you don’t deserve it. Also, you need to know yourself and stay grounded in who you are. As things get busier in the journey of growing and grinding sometimes you can lose pieces of yourself in the process. Make sure that you’re checking in with yourself, and those who help you stay grounded connected to your most authentic self.

I think even more so now with the very recent loss of my mother, things for me have shifted to want to push myself and my business to the next level. This agency has always been bigger than me, but nothing puts more of a battery in your back than realizing you don’t have forever to make the impact you have in the world. At the same time though the support from my community as I’ve been navigating this very new reality has shown me the impact I’m looking to leave on this earth is already happening and that makes me smile, even if I haven’t reached every milestone yet. I’m on the right track.

A big part of my company and my story is faith. I wouldn’t even been on this journey without it. Leaps of faith are what got me here to Atlanta 8 years ago. My time at SCAD was an act of faith, it was the only grad I applied to at the time that didn’t have a GRE requirement, all the other ones I looked at then did so I told myself I could get into this highly competitive program on one shot I would go. I got in the fall of 2015, on January 3rd, 2016 I moved to Atlanta, started my program, and began to find my footing down here. By the fall of 2019, I was done and feeling lost and it was a sermon series from Transformation Church, that changed my life and led to me leaping to leave with no real plan, but knowing where I wanted to go wouldn’t be achieved by my current environment. My last day in retail was 2 weeks before the pandemic shut the world down but I knew what I was doing was a faith move. God guided me to a vision and connections that would change the course of my life as I knew it. Even coming back into entrepreneurship after landing the big tech job and salary and coming back into entrepreneurship was faith-led. I learned a good bit of valuable information I still use today working as a Content Marketing Manager, but I realized it wasn’t my forever because I needed more than just a paycheck, I needed work that could fulfill me. The work I was doing as a freelancer gave that to me, so it was then after many talks with God and a few close friends, I left that job to do things again with a renewed vision. That is the story behind the story of all milestones listed earlier. Having the faith to go beyond what my life was supposed to be and to go out and create a new one for myself and others. That is what put before you today as the leader of TCH Agency.

Lastly, I’m also excited to share TCH Agency has its owned partnered event series that started last month. We’ve joined forces with DJ Brixla, curator and DJ here in the atlanta market, for Nights Like This, which aims to bring new 3rd space to the city every 4th Thursday! We’re creating a space where creatives and 9-5 professionals liked can come to cowork, play games, enjoy great bites and music. The next one is Thursday September 26th at Buteco , located the Beacon at Grant park.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Okay, so this depends on which week but if I’m directing them to some dope spaces and dope places to experience starting with Monday entertainment wise I’m going to say check out Controllerise if you want a relaxed social experience, It’s every week Monday Night Brewing, they play different shows and movies, there physical games, video gaming stations, drinks, food options, vendors. Poetry on Peter is another dope Monday night gem. I’d direct them foodwise to check our Chattahoochee Food Works lunch, for breakfast Rosie’s Cafe by the Mercedes Benz Stadium, Thumbs Up Diner, Silver Skillet are all good breakfast options. On Tuesday I would tell them to try Breakfast at Barneys or Toast on Lenox ( either location) for breakfast, I’m gonna say Tacos and Tequila, Monterray’s, or Zamas. Dinner South City Kitchen, Twisted Soul. Your Tuesday night entertainment could vary depending on what you like to do Shuffle Atl usually does a pop-up somewhere with games, karakore, and hookah.

Wednesday I would try Fellini’s for a lunch slice, maybe hit Krog street market, honestly Atlanta has a lot of dope food halls to eat so really you could do a different one each day of the week end experiences a variety of foods from all over. MJQ for the locals is a pretty good night out. Thursday at the Bassment is a speakeasy below Apartment 4B there is a dope weekly event if you want to talk and catch a bite after a workday, In the Mix in the gallery at Rocksteady for those who want a more social party vibe. Some of my favorite coworking locations would include Muchachos, Brooklyn Tea, and Bookstore Gallery.

As for the weekend’s events I would say pay attention to the event collectives like Werc Crew, Player99, Social Club ATL, The Greatest Linkup, That Game Social, and DJs like Kidd Kreme, Bomb Jahlaam, Sean Falyon, Hourglass, Abe Hyde and more are usually on the roster of the top parties for the weekend or somewhere curating some dope vibes. The key to having fun in atl in the nightlife space is really to find the DJs and curators you like follow them and you’ll unlock a world full of the kind fun you enjoy. Atlanta is a place of many scenes so it’s finding what you like and going from there. It’s a lot to keep up with lol but I do my best to share things I come across on my IG broadcast channel and through my series on Dope Spaces Dope Places on IG Tiktok .

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think my story is a culmination of the many influences throughout my life who have supported me. I have been very grateful to have community of people behind me of friends and family that have helped along this journey of life and more recently as business owner. So rather than just zoning in on one person I want to take a moment and really say thank you to my community as a whole for pouring into me. For all the people who have offered me support as I’ve been building my journey and continue to do so. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

I actually do want to a moment to shoutout my mother , who recently passed, for encouraging and nurturing my creative abilities. She was my biggest fan and I miss her dearly.

Website: http://www.workwithtch.agency/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keishaswrld_?igsh=MXE2MzU4dGx2cmUyYQ==

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keisha-liburd

Image Credits
Anitra Isler
Greg Otos
Wire Atl
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