Today we’d like to introduce you to Sondra Diggs.
Hi Sondra, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
As a divorced mom of two teenage girls, caretaker of aging parents, a CPA, and a corporate CFO of a multi-million dollar international company, life felt like I lived in a constant batting cage.
In just one year, I dealt with my mother having a stroke from Lupus, my father being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and aggressive prostate cancer, the loss of my longtime mentor and boss, and unexpected mental health issues with both of my teenage girls.
The only time I was truly happy was when I was hosting a party for my girlfriends.
The planning process alone was my prescription to control anxiety. I escaped into the details and the ultimate high came when I realized magic was happening. The dynamic of these women together was the greatest therapy anyone could ask for. Hours of laughs, one-on-one chats, and secrets were shared. Everyone bonded and left feeling a sense of relief and the feeling that their load was a little lighter.
I loved it so much that I wanted to box up that feeling and share it with the world. When I turned 50 I vowed to do what I am passionate about, so I hung up my calculator and took a leap of faith.
And, Girlfriend Therapy In a Box was born.
Girlfriend Therapy In a Box is a sparkling, personalized gift box that captures the very essence of having her girls by her side to help her celebrate and get through life’s ups and downs at a moment’s notice, curated with a SMILE to help her Sparkle, Move, Indulge, Laugh and Exhale, just like she would if you were there.
The result is beautifully curated gift boxes that are tailored for specific things, such as battling cancer, or loss, breakups, celebrating new beginnings or your best friend, treating yourself, and even when you’re burning down the house with hot flashes. In addition, we have limited edition boxes for Galentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Graduations, and more.
My passion is to promote girlfriend therapy in person as much as possible, but there are times you can’t be together. For those times, I wanted to create a way to deliver that feeling to her door to help her deal with whatever life throws at her, or to help her celebrate one of life’s many milestones.
We’ve designed our boxes around our philosophy of SMILE – Sparkle, Move, Indulge, Laugh and Exhale. Why? Because that’s exactly what we do when we are together as girlfriends. There are five items per gift box, tailored to the theme of the box, with one item for each letter in the word SMILE, plus an extra SMILE item. “S” is for Sparkle; “M” is for Move; “I” is for Indulge; “L” is for Laugh, and “E” is for Exhale. What does it spell? SMILE – A curve that sets everything straight!
I personally enjoy connecting with women and bringing them together to enjoy a SMILE. A key part of the business is hosting Girlfriend Therapy Pop-Up events. We did a Galentine’s public all-inclusive event for ladies’ night out that was a huge success! Hosting and seeing women leave their worries at the door for just a moment, to Sparkle, Move, Indulge, Laugh and Exhale brings me more happiness than I could have ever imagined. This year in 2022 we have been able to revive the pop-up events from Galentine, Mom’s Night Out parties to more intimate events like Therapy in the Vineyard, or Sip n Smile at a self studio and our recent Pour, Paint and Promise Breast Cancer event that brings women around the DMV together to meet out like-minded women as we help each other get through this thing called “life” one SMILE at a time.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For our first anniversary, I summed it up in one word – PIVOT! Little did we know that a pandemic was lurking just around the corner when we launched. I was focusing on learning all the things it takes to market your business because when it comes to e-commerce, the old saying “Build it and they will come” doesn’t work. I went into it with the idea that everyone would see the first post and fall in love with the concept, mission, and product of Girlfriend Therapy in a Box and instantly feel compelled to gift a box to a friend.
While I was working on the “like, know, and trust” concept that consumers require before purchasing, the world stopped! Lucky for me, my creativity works better under pressure. So as we went into the pandemic and the unknown I was able to use our gift boxes as needed and make changes at a moment’s notice.
And, we still do this to this day. Because we are a small business we are able to pivot and adapt to meet the wants and needs of our customers at any time.
In our second year, I would sum it up to Consistency. Sales volume is most likely the number one goal a retailer is trying to accomplish. As a new company and having an accounting background, the concept of entertaining on platforms is not one would have thought of in the past, however, we are now in the world of Social Media. As I began to pivot and see that we could also assist men in purchasing the right gift for any woman in their life, I realized that I only had a female audience. Like so many others did during the pandemic, I downloaded TikTok and began making videos.
TikTok is a platform that thrives on authenticity, so I decided to go for it. I had already started a “Move Monday” series on Facebook, where I recorded my workouts and encouraged people to get moving. I love dancing to old school hip hop and gogo music that I grew up on in the DMV area. One night I set up my cameras in front of my backdrop where my table of gift boxes was displayed, turned on a Chuck Brown song, and danced like no one was watching.
I woke up the next morning to find this video went viral and had over 100k likes and it continued to grow. The Tiktok algorithm categorized me as the DMV GoGo TikTok girl and I loved it. By the end of our second year, I had gained 40k followers, with 65% being men, successfully sold out of our Valentine’s and Mother’s Day gift boxes, and gained a new persona as Glitterbug, the GOGO TikToker. The only way this grew is from CONSISTENCY.
This year was also probably the most change in my circle of people but I continued to tell myself what I was doing was working and to stay consistent, regardless if this fit into other people’s lives or not. The world of entrepreneurship can be very lonely. It takes hours of dedication and it changes your world as you knew it. I choose to believe that things were removed to clear the way for this second half of life where I’m able to do what I am passionate about.
As you know, we’re big fans of Glitter Me This & Co. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I consider myself a girlfriend relationship advocate and creator of Girlfriend Therapy in a Box by Glitter Me This & Co.
I encourage women navigating through “middle age”, which I redefine as the “batting cage stage”, to tackle life’s obstacles by nurturing relationships through Sondra’s proven S.M.I.L.E method, leaving women with more sparkles and less anxiety.
I started Glitter Me This & Co. to provide multiple channels for women to uplift each other through not only her creation of Girlfriend Therapy in a Box that captures the very essence of having her girls by her side to help at a moment notice when you can’t be there in person, but also all with inclusive Girlfriend Therapy Pop-Up events that provide a means for women to help give back to the community through supporting charities that enhance the lives of other women and teens, and Girlfriend Therapy In-Session Live Show featuring unfiltered talk, allowing women to gather together, grab a glass and remotely join in for some fun girl talk.
Through my 25 years as a CPA and corporate CFO, I redefined the standard 9 to 5 professional image by bringing sparkling energy into boardrooms while hosting countless theme events enabling women to leave their worries at the door.
I know my personality and energy set me apart in the area as unique and inviting as the area pop events continue to bring women who may only know me from Social Media TikTok to want to come along to an event full of other women they have never met because they know how comfortable I have made them feel behind the screen.
I want readers to know that even though we may have gotten used to being alone during a pandemic, that you don’t have to do life alone. That all GENX women or mid-life women between 40-65 at some point battle the same issues of loss, raising teens, raising aging parents, break ups, divorce, menopause, new beginnings, and milestones and that showing up for someone is just as much therapy for you as it is for them, and not to forget if your circle has changed there are other women longing to build new relationships at this stage of life to help us press forward with a SMILE.
Last, but not least, I am proud to be Indigenous owned and operated, as I am a proud member of the Lumbee Tribe Tribe.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I just spoke at my high school to a group of ladies taking an entrepreneurial class and some of the key points I told them
1. You have to have a fire in your soul. Be extremely passionate about what you want and believe people need.
The fire will tell you “you can do this”
2. You can not be scared to fail. Failure makes us better.
3. Fear will take you out of the game. Great things are on the other side of FEAR! Remind yourself of the younger you when you didn’t think twice about falling.
4. You have to know your numbers. Learn and become intimate with the cost and profit of what you are conquering to do.
5. Practice makes you better and better because no one is perfect.
6. Don’t reinvent the wheel, there is always a course or a mentor who has done a major part of what you want to do, learn from them so you don’t waste time.
7. Drill down to your NICHE, it takes time, keep drilling until you know what makes you unique. We are all unique.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.glittermethisco.com
- Instagram: @glittermethisco
- Facebook: @glittermethisco
- Twitter: @glittermethisco
- Youtube: glittermethisco
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/groups/girlfriendtherapylounge
