Meet Ana Leyva | Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant

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

Hi Ana, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I come from a cultural mindset where the only way to be successful is by having a university degree and a fancy job title. So I did! I got a degree in Business & Marketing, worked for Fortune 500 companies, moved up to work with the government. I was good at climbing the ladder!

Then one day, my dad told me, “Why can’t you just stay in one job, work there for 20-plus years, just like me, until you retire?”

That was my breaking point. I admire my parents; they came to the US from Peru at age 30 and worked two jobs, seven days a week. So I asked myself, do I want that for me too?

Back in 2019-2020, when the pandemic was at its peak, I decided I wanted to go back and educate myself. I graduated from University back in 2014, at that time they didn’t teach us how to use social media as a marketing tool! I had two options: get an MBA at UCLA or learn from YouTube, online courses, and mentors.
And guess what I picked?

What should our readers know about your business?
My entrepreneurship journey has been an adventurous rollercoaster since 2018, exploring different business models like brick-and-mortar stores, eCommerce, network marketing, social media management, consulting, photography… you name it!

Each venture taught me new skills and helped me discover and develop different stages in business, bringing me closer to my entrepreneurial goals.

One of my first mentors told me, “Your first business idea won’t be your last.”
Personal growth goes hand in hand with professional growth. As you evolve, so does your business, so by now, you’ve outgrown your initial business ideas.

In 2020, I launched ALEY Digital Business Management, an agency dedicated to helping people kick start their online business journeys. We handle business registration, contracts, hiring and training freelancers, project management, system automation, and branding.

In 2022, I expanded with ALEY Social Media Marketing Agency, working with coaches who wanted to turn Instagram their ATM, building online brands, managing social media strategies, content creation, sales funnels, websites and landing pages.

At this point, I was constantly working, rushing to meet deadlines, and managing multiple clients simultaneously.
Working over 10 hours a day, managing a team of 5 which eventually led to burnout.

This challenging period forced me to reflect deeply on my business journey and taught me that transitioning from employee to entrepreneur requires more than just hard work, it demands a shift in mindset.

If you are in your 30’s, then most likely you grew up in an environment where making money requires an exchange of time.
For example: you work 40 hrs. – 5 days a week and make $3,000.
My goal at that time was to make $10,000, so my subconscious mind was programmed to work overtime, non-stop.

But after working with spiritual and business coaches made me realize I was doing business backwards.

Entrepreneurship is 80% mindset and 20% strategies.

When you identify your old patterns and programming, limiting beliefs and fears, then you become aware of the stories you are telling yourself about being successful.

So, instead of creating an hourly business, I developed a business model that allowed me to make money even when I sleep.

My morning mantra is: your bank account is the reflection of how many people you help and the transformation they get to experience.

At the beginning of 2024, for the first time I opened the doors inside my marketing agency and created “The Social Sage” an intuitive hybrid service designed for spiritual coaches (life coach, holistic nutritionist coach, yoga coach, manifestation coach, etc) using social media to promote their 1-1 programs or digital courses.

We all start our businesses from scratch and on a budget, and most likely wearing all the hats. But with the right mindset, systems, strategies, and tools, you can grow your business while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Our service is uniquely tailored to each client’s needs. We begin with an audit to understand their current situation and goals, then develop a quarterly plan based on their priorities and schedules. Whether they have a full-time job or limited hours to dedicate to their business, we adapt our plan accordingly.

We divide our services into three stages: Business, Marketing, and Mindset:

Business: We focus on packaging your ideas, knowledge, experience, gifts, and talents into programs that can help others. We provide managing tools, templates, and checklists to track finances, growth, sales, payroll, expenses, and more. We create systems to automate your business and teach you how to recruit, onboard and train a team member.

Marketing: We develop an intuitive social media strategy, audit your previous content, teach you how to edit videos for better retention, generate content ideas, use tools like ChatGPT for captions using your brand voice, and more.
We install our signature CONTENT MACHINE SYSTEM TM created to help you simplify your content process and get full access to agency hashtags, hooks, CTAs, graphics, and templates.

Mindset: We focus on tapping into your limiting beliefs, fears, and old patterns. We work with the subconscious mind through activations and visualizations, healing past traumas, aligning chakras, and activating your inner wisdom.

My goal is to help you become the energetic match to your wildest entrepreneurial dreams, unlock your next level, and become unapologetically you.

More and more people are going through their business awakening journey, realizing they are done working on jobs that are not in alignment with their core values and accepting that they are meant for more.

So my mission is to share everything that has worked for me as a full time entrepreneur. Also, what I had to let go and who I needed to embody in order to become one.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m such a Cali girl, so I’d definitely take you to the beach or on a hike with a stunning view. I’m a sucker for sunsets, so finding a perfect, tourist-free spot is my thing. Over the past 10 years, I’ve lived in different states, and wherever I go, I always seek out local hangouts.

LA has an incredible food scene. We could have dinner at a five-star restaurant with valet parking and a reservation made two months in advance, or we could grab some delicious tacos from a food truck outside CVS parking lot.

We could get boba and then drive around the canyons, stopping to take cool pictures of the views and singing along to 2000s hits.

Our itinerary would include fun places like Disneyland, The Getty Center, the LA Zoo, Chinatown, and if we have more time, then a trip to San Diego or Santa Barbara is a must.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents came to the US when I was 3 years old, I stayed in Peru with my grandparents and aunt until I was 18 years old, when I came to the US as an international Student.

All those years apart, they worked so hard to make sure I never had to pay rent, school or even ride a bus.
Their support and sacrifice is my “WHY” in life.

Mom: Flor Guimet
Dad: Jaime Leyva
Aunt: Ana Guimet

Instagram: @business.yogi.official

Image Credits
Brand photos taken by ALEY Social Media Marketing Agency