Meet Bianka Curvey | Digital Marketing and Brand Strategist

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

Hi Bianka, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My business was actually started out of necessity, so the thought process was pretty simple. “Find a way to pay for grad school.”
I was preparing to leave for grad school but didn’t have a job lined up in Lubbock. Luckily, the company I worked at suggested that I continue working for them as a freelancer. It was the perfect setup to float me through school! When we shifted to this new structure, the company owner was so happy with my work that he started telling his friends about me. From that, I started getting calls from a friend of his who wanted to work together almost every week! After about four months, I saw I could turn this into something sustainable.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Prosper Now is my secret weapon in the master plan of my career. Many people always ask me what’s my endgame for my career, and the truth is I don’t know exactly. All I know is that I love geeking out over analytics, new marketing trends and helping tell brands’ stories. That is all I want to do, but my creative and curious nature makes it hard to figure out exactly in what capacity I want to. My business allows me to explore and gain experience while I push myself and my expertise.

This is slightly embarrassing, but I am a chronic overachiever (some may say I’m a try-hard.) That is what sets me apart from other service providers. I am motivated to overdeliver for my clients because their success is my success and my lessons learned. I take so much pride in my work and projects and you can really see that difference. All of my clients tell me how much they feel that I care, and that’s because I do. Like, a lot.

My journey from 2018 to today was a wild ride. I started my business out of necessity, and it has also been a side hustle at various points. There were times when my business fully fulfilled my “Rich Auntie” dreams and times when I had to get a full-time job and put Prosper Now on the back burner. Reentering the workforce was a difficult pill to swallow, and I felt a lot of guilt and shame around it. I didn’t feel I could still call myself an entrepreneur if I was on someone’s payroll. It got to me, and slowly, the clients I had while working full-time dwindled down until they were nonexistent. It wasn’t until my toxic 9 to 5 work environment started causing my mental health struggles to present themselves physically that I realized it was time to pivot. That word is well known by anyone who owns a business, but hopefully, it triggers the iconic scene from “Friends” with Ross’ new couch for any other readers. Imagine that chaos and panic happening in your head daily while sitting in an office where you’re constantly told your work isn’t good enough (by someone with less experience and degrees than you!) *rolls eyes* I felt like Ross’ couch. I was being shoved into a plan that I didn’t fit in. That may sound strange and overdramatic, but hey, we all experience things in our own ways. That experience taught me that I AM an entrepreneur and will always be one because I take calculated risks and learn from my mistakes! Enjoying the journey has been one of the biggest lessons to learn and is easily the best perk of being an entrepreneur.

I want the world to think of me as an authentic businesswoman who likes to geek out about brand building and storytelling. There is no smoke and mirrors here. I am a spicy 29-year-old black woman navigating building my legacy, delivering results and trying to stay sane in the process. I champion my clients and their brands and celebrate when they thrive.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Funny that you asked for an itinerary! When my friends come to visit, I always make an itinerary for them. Some love it and others call me a nerd. Either way, I was born for this question.

Saturday: Streetwear – shopping on the Westheimer curve + lunch at The Pit Room + Cidercade and EaDo bar crawl (The new Little Woodrows is amazing!)
Sunday: Comfy chic – visit Color Factory + lunch at The Orignial Ninfas + drinks at Aye Candy
Monday: Sporty chic – day trip to NASA (because duh) + lunch at The Spot + HEB trip and movies at home. Yes, HEB is something you should do with friends from out of town. They need to know what they are missing out on. 😉
Tuesday: Sporty chic – a walk at Buffalo Bayou park + lunch at The Burger Joint or BB’s (depends on how hot the walk was) + Taco Tuesday at Pistoleros
Wednesday: It Girl attire – trip to Love and Make + lunch at Rice Village + dinner at Uchiko
Thursday: By now, my friends have usually stopped listening to me and just sent me things to do on TikTok!

Houston is growing extremely fast, and it’s hard to keep up! I try to show my friends a few staples that remind me of happy memories and mix in a few new and shiny options that make Space City so dreamy. As long as they black out my road rage and the trauma that comes driving on 610 near the Galleria, they always have a blast!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Absolutely! I would like to shout out to the Sesh Coworking team here in Houston. While my business thrived for three years, like almost every other business owner, COVID-19 was a significant setback for me. I ended up moving back to Houston during the shutdown and was struggling to find new clients without being able to go out and network. Sesh Coworking was opened just months before the shutdown, and they were in a tight spot. As soon as the shutdown was lifted, they were back up and running! I was lucky enough to join their supportive community, watch the co-owners, Maggie and Meredith, navigate all of the curveballs that entrepreneurship brings and meet other business owners that led to new contract signed! Maggie, Mere and Sesh were all lifelines during those extremely trying times.

Website: https://toprospernow.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biankacurvey/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/biankacurvey/

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biankacurvey