Why hello there! 👋🏼

My name is Stella Torino, and if you haven’t seen me at a League City Regional Chamber of Commerce event yet - you will soon, I promise. 😉

(and if a Chamber event is how you stumbled across this page - THANK YOU for scanning the super secret squirrel QR code on my card! 🤗)

As a serial entrepreneur who has also done her time in Corporate (and has served as a frequent volunteer ever since her Girl Scout days), I have observed a few key things:

  • whether you’re a multi-billion-dollar global entity with offices around the world…or a tiny “mom & pop shop” with only one location…if clients don’t know you exist? They can’t do business with you (or donate, if you’re a NPO)

  • without CLEAR processes, there cannot be CLEAR communication, and it is in that “oops - they accidentally fell through the cracks” moment that customers go elsewhere to hand over their money (or volunteers stop offering to help)

  • sales is good. Repeat sales (and donations) is better. If you don’t have a system in place to follow up with customers, all that hard work you did to get them in the door that first time has been lost - which leaves you exhaustedly scrambling to find new clients over and over (and over, and over…)

Despite the rough economy, the GOOD news is that so much of how you choose to run your business is 100% within your control.

Once you’ve identified where your business is weak, you can work to improve those areas slowly but surely.

And then?

All those happy clients can now become mini brand ambassadors of your products & services, which helps lighten that heavy (and never-ending!) marketing load from your shoulders.

Here are a few specific ways I can help, thanks to us being neighbors!

  • Do you ever want custom marketing stuff…but only a tiny amount of it?

    Like - not only is your need not enough to meet the minimum order requirement of a standard print company, but the idea is SO off the wall that it’s hard to even describe your vision to another human being - let alone try to order it through a traditional website?

    As a small business on a shoestring budget, I’ve had to get real "creative” with how I market.

    And designing event-specific marketing materials helps me deliver a concentrated dose of impact to the exact target market I’m aiming for that particular day.

    If you are sponsoring an event in the future, let’s talk about how to amplify your presence and make the most out of that marketing investment with custom-branded marketing materials. 💖

    From stickers of all shapes & sizes to passing out fun treat bags on a major holiday, even something small can leave a lasting impression when done with intention.

    Design work starts at $30/hr

    Already got a jpg/png/svg file and just need it printed and/or cut to a certain size? Custom-cut marketing materials start at $25 per sheet

  • A picture speaks a thousand words, right?

    But how many pictures do you have of your shop, staff - or simply what exactly it is that you do?

    In my prior life, I was a photojournalistic photographer who documented weddings, births, and military homecomings in addition to “lifestyle” family portraits and everyday Army family life.

    My work has been published through various online blogs and digital publications, thousands of my prints are displayed in homes around the world, and you can even see a few of my photos on one of the episodes of “Coming Home.”

    Let me apply my 20+ years of visual storytelling to your business so your clients know exactly who the amazing people (and story!) are behind the products & services they know and love. 💖

    Photography starts at $500

    (and yes - you get ALL the good pictures! there is no limit to how many I take during our time together. you will also receive both hi-resolution & ready-to-share web-sized images, along with a signed print release should you ever need it. those pictures are for YOU - use ‘em to market your business in any and every way you can!)

  • I see it all the time during my mentoring sessions:

    Clients can talk about their business ALL day long, but when it comes to writing it all down for the website or social media?

    • Crickets

    • They clam up tighter than a bank vault in Switzerland

    • “I am not a writer” (raise your hand if this is you?!? 🫣)

    Well lucky for you, I am a natural storyteller, avid writer, and someone who LOVES to ask questions about how & why your business got started!

    If you need to update the “About” page on your website or bio on your Facebook page - or draft up some “evergreen” social media posts that you can recycle regularly to have a more consistent online presence - I got you!

    Copywriting services start at $100

  • We don’t know what we don’t know.

    (and that’s not always a bad thing! but it can halt our growth)

    Far too often, we get guidance online from people (or AI chat bots) who:

    • don’t live here

    • don’t know our story (or current resource limitations)

    • don’t care what we do after hitting that “pay” button 🤷🏻‍♀️

    • don’t factor in the things we don’t directly tell them (because our life experiences are a BIG part of why - and how - we do what we do)

    We end up with SO much new knowledge…but zero idea of how to actually APPLY it to our particular situation - as well as when those changes make sense to kick off.

    (I cannot tell you how many times I’ve done this… 🤦🏻‍♀️)

    As a PROUD League City resident and fellow local business owner, I can 100% promise you this:

    • I will be the BIGGEST damn cheerleader your business ever did see. True story.

    • I will never ever (ever) sell you something that you don’t need because I would rather you put that money elsewhere to grow your business if that area needs it more

    Often, we don’t even know where to START, so that is where my quirky little creative-yet-ridiculously-analytical brain comes in:

    • I see the BIG picture and can provide a holistic game plan that doesn’t exclusively strengthen one area (while ignoring the rest)

    • I will also drill down into the teeny-tiny-micro-details (and love doing so!). Hard to follow SOPs? Not with me. 😉

    If you’ve been going round and round in your head, asking yourself, “what should I do about _____?,” let’s grab some coffee so we can see if I’m able to help - or at least connect you to someone else in the local area who can. 💖

    Mentoring Sessions start at $100

    (but that coffee date? that’s on me, ya hear?)