2 6 • GCU TODAY
GCU
Alumni
#aheadofthegame
Skills learned at GCU helped Speers’
social media business prosper
N
atalie Speers, founder of Social Ally, a social media and
branding agency based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has long been
an early adapter. As Facebook, Twitter and Instagramwere
reshaping human connections, she was helping shape social
media as a communication tool for clients.
When she first started out, Speers worked for an event and
entertainment company, promoting events in the Phoenix area and getting
paid based on the number of people in attendance.
At the time, Myspace was popular. Speers took advantage of marketing
to its large audience by building a database. She taught herself HTML code
and created a promotional Myspace page where people could RSVP for the
events, then get in for free.
At those events, Speers invited paying guests to sign up through
Myspace for future events in exchange for providing their contact
information. She added the phone numbers and email addresses to her
database and eventually developed a list of more than 10 million
people, she said. Speers’ boss noticed her efforts and created a
department for her called “New Media.”
The Grand Canyon University alumna then launched a social
media business with clients that included high-end restaurants
and nightclubs in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Las Vegas
and Scottsdale and in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Business was
booming, until her mother became ill.
“I was so focused on taking care of my mom that our
company began to fall apart,” said Speers, who earned her
bachelor’s degree inmarketing in 2014.
Speers took a year off after her mother’s passing to grieve
and refocus. She emerged with a clear head, the will to start her
own business and a great idea with growth potential. She lacked
a business plan, but she was enrolled in a business class at GCU that
taught her to develop the framework for Social Ally.
“GCU served as the foundation and catalyst I needed to build and
maintain my agency,” said Speers, now 28. “Having learned marketing
principles, strategic management, advertising and public relations, I
now have the ability to live prosperously in my purpose of helping other
entrepreneurs share their messages and services. I am beyond grateful for
the staff and peers I had the privilege of learning from and alongside.”
Today, Social Ally (socialallyusa.com) has become so popular that Speers
has potential clients on a waiting list. But she still finds time to help nonprofits
and small businesses that can’t afford social media and branding services to
“prosper in their passion.” She also is launching a new site, Social Natalie,
which will offer small businesses and social media professionals free advice
related to the latest industry trends. —
PAIGE GRUNER , ALUMNI RELATIONS
photo
by
paige
gruner
Watch a video about GCU’s role in helping Speers become
an entrepreneur at
