You might not assume that a meth-addict-turned-single-mom with practically zero job experience, let alone actual business experience, would eventually build a multi-million dollar clean-eating empire using only her cell phone. But, in the extraordinary case of Rachel Maser, you would be assuming wrong.
That’s the power of social media in our age; more importantly, that is the power of combining your passion with long-term, focused dedication.
After giving up drugs entirely, Maser states on her website that she grew addicted to something else: sugar. She baked cookies, cupcakes, and all kinds of sugary sweets for her four children; that’s what a good mom should do, she thought.
A good mom bakes, and feels like crap, apparently. “I just thought, that’s how life is supposed to be: you get old, you feel bad. That’s just how life is.”
But when she joined a neighborhood workout group, she was inspired to make some changes. She turned her entire lifestyle around, choosing healthy, whole foods to make for her kids instead of sugar-packed treats. Not an easy change to make for most people, but, then again, this is a woman who gave up meth and cigarettes, cold turkey.
The remarkable thing about Maser, however, is that the things she’s been able to give up are entirely overshadowed by what she’s been able to build.
“My friends at the fitness class would ask what I was eating,” Maser explains of her business’s inception in 2013, “And I’d just say, oh, last night we made pizza on bell peppers. They’d say, how do you do that? So I said, well, I’ll post it on Instagram.”
A bright, cheerful picture of the food, accompanied by a detailed recipe, continues to be the basis for Maser’s Instagram layout. Her following grew to over ten thousand within six months, which, according to her, is thanks to her dedicated consistency in posting.
“Whatever you decide to do for your business, as far as Instagram or Facebook goes, be consistent. If you decide to post three times a week, once a day, whatever it is: Be consistent. Show up. That’s the only way that people get to know you over time,” says Maser.
That initial success is what inspired her, a few years later, to take her first frightening business risk.
Faced with a divorce, albeit amicable, Maser was left with a household to support and almost no relevant job experience. That’s when she decided to lean into what she loved most: she made Clean Food Crush her full-time job.
She “completely went for it,” knowing that this was her only way to earn the income she needed and also stay at home with her kids. “When you jump like that, it pushes you,” Maser says of her headlong dive. “There’s no choice: You have to make it work.”
Thankfully, she’d already connected with many fellow entrepreneurs online. “People say interactions on Facebook and Instagram are so fake, but I’ve had the complete opposite experience. It’s where I’ve met my best friends, my best business partners — every connection I have has all been through social media!”
What she discovered was that when you connect authentically to others and support them in their business goals, they’ll be there to help you in yours. “Authenticity wins on social media every time.”
And indeed, Maser was connected to her current business partner, Cory Shanes, through a mutual friend on Instagram just a few months after she’d made that life-altering leap.
That’s when things really got rolling.
Read more about Rachel Maser inside HER Magazine. Access May’s issue for free, by downloading our magazine in iTunes or Google Play.
Want to hear her story? Watch our interview with Rachel and our Founder, Nineveh Madsen below.
