I’m Ana, an ex Opera Singer & Influencer turned 6-figure entrepreneur.
And this is my story.
After hitting a fork in the road working my 9-5 corporate position, I decided to take the leap & start my own business.
I studied the ins and out of Google and Meta ads until I became an expert.
Now, less than 2 years later, I’ve managed over $3 million in ad spend, scaled businesses to over $4.5 in revenue, and hit consistently high ROIs for my clients (4 up to 26x).
But the story of who I am goes far beyond what I've accomplished...
Where it all started...
A Creative Performer & Mastermind From A Young Age
My years of life to date have been one heck of a whirlwind. And I'm so grateful to have you here on this journey with me. You (yes, you, even if we haven’t met yet), inspire me to keep pushing forward when life gets a little too much, and to keep dreaming and believing in the potential for abundance within us all. So, in a humble attempt to give back that inspiration, I wanted to let you into my world and share my story with you.
I believe everything happens for a reason. And these experiences, whether welcome or not, make us who we are today.
I grew up an only child of Romanian immigrants. My parents taught me the value of hard work, resilience, and the pursuit of my own dreams. But when I started school, I didn’t speak a lick of English and needless to say, I felt different. Some would call it a culture shock, but I see it as my first course in the school of life.
Here’s what the curriculum promised:
✅ An incessant and undying love for nature and adventure. Growing up on my dad's boat and camping in Algonquin Park, the feeling of being mesmerized by a crackling fire in the middle of nowhere, and sailing off on a boat into the sunset gave me a sense of true freedom, and I think this is really where I found myself… who I was… at my core.
✅ A drive for independence. For a long time, I didn’t know what it felt like to be tied down to a specific location in life. I think, if I could hazard a guess, this is what made me want to freelance, because I learned that life isn’t meant to be lived sitting at the same desk of a high rise in the city, 9-5 Monday-Friday. (But more on that later).
✅ A sense of limitless possibility. Something that always inspired me was how my fresh-out-of-Romania parents came to Canada, with nothing but 1 suitcase each, and built an empire. Watching them thrive as entrepreneurs, I was always challenged to think outside the box and believe in myself.
✅ Exposure to culture and passion for travel. My family traveled around the world, taking trips to Las Vegas, Spain, Portugal, Antigua, Costa Rica, The Dominican Republic, Romania, Greece, Italy, and the Bahamas. I believe this exposure to a wide range of cultures and lifestyles gave me the juice and the creative inspiration to become the powerhouse I am today!
Despite all these amazing experiences, my childhood wasn't without its challenges. I still felt different from my peers in school, and at 10 years old my feelings of isolation drove me to seek out activities on my own. While the other kids in school were making friends, I dabbled in 3D design and coding, 3D-printing out monsters I’d created from Cosmic Blob with my dad’s printer, exploring the possibilities of technology, and expressing my artistic side (thanks, engineer parents!).
Then, things took a turn.
During middle school, I was bullied. BADLY. And that’s what led me to my first ever breaking point.. At only 13 years old. The isolation and misunderstanding I experienced during this time tested my resilience. I thought maybe I was the problem, and that these feelings might never go away...
So I threw myself into singing and performance art, finding that this expression helped me through those dark times. I participated in school musicals and won piano and vocal competitions, which all gave me a sense of purpose and helped me discover my unique voice. As I entered high school, I began to receive recognition for my musical talent. This newfound validation boosted my confidence and helped me to overcome the challenges I’d faced in the past.
I finally felt like I had a place on this earth.
And so, here comes the high-achiever comeback narrative we all know too well…
I excelled in high school, graduated with a 94% average, and was one of 5 women accepted into McGill University’s Opera Music Program. At 17, I packed my bags and moved to Montreal.
But of course, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was 17, after all. It was like being thrown into water, and told to learn how to swim...
And I realized, about halfway through my degree, that my dream of becoming an opera singer was not aligned with the lifestyle I desired.
I knew I wanted to work remotely (ideally from an island 🏝️) and never be tied down… anywhere. I wanted to make my own rules.
But I pushed on. I continued to work my butt off, completing my degree in 2 years with a 3.9 GPA, while learning Italian, French, German, and Latin as a part of my prerequisites.
After graduating, I found myself working 4 jobs just to pay RENT… and I lost all sense of meaning in my life.
I refused to take any more help from my parents. I’d graduated from University, and I wanted to be independent. So that meant I was spending all my time…
1) Singing at a church on Sundays as their lead soprano
2) Hosting at a nightclub in downtown Montreal
3) Working as an operations intern for a fitness company (I actually did this for free so I could get experience!)
4) Working as a full time social media manager for $13/hour
And I managed this all super well, made all my bosses happy, saw my friends every week, slept 8 hours a night, and went to the gym every day!
… Just kidding. I completely burnt out and had to make a choice to put all my eggs in one basket: working my social media job to, hopefully, climb the corporate ladder. 🤞🏼
I gave it my all.
Everything was going well, until it wasn’t…
About 4 months into my full-time social media management position at a jewelry company, the pandemic hit.
I was at a loss for what to do. I had bills to pay, but my hours had been cut from 40 to 10 per week (I’ll let you do the math on $13 x 10 hours.. Ouch!)
I was at rock bottom again. And the one thing I couldn’t control … was a global pandemic!
With only an Opera Degree under my belt… I felt hopeless.
Enters the stage: Imposter Syndrome
So, I had to make a change.
Enters the stage: Pandemic Makeover
The whole nine yards here. Broke up with my boyfriend, moved back with my parents in Ontario, and channeled all of my pain into a new career to distract me from the overhaul of my life (and to make some extra cash): I became a social media influencer.
I quickly learned the ins and outs of online marketing and professional influencer life, even getting invited to YSL and La Roche Posay events as a successful influencer with 17k followers, getting PAID contracts out the yahoo. My entire office was filled with PR packages and my emails were flooded with inquiries from prestigious brands!
Luckily, once the pandemic settled down a bit, my corporate position had me back full-time. After pushing hard both as an influencer and at my job, I got promoted 3 times within 3 years: from Social Media Manager, to Marketing Manager, to Ads Specialist…. to Marketing DIRECTOR.
(Oh, Imposter Syndrome, You never left the stage? Cool, cool, cool.)
But even though things were going well and receiving multiple promotions despite my lack of a Marketing Degree….something still felt like it was missing.
I burnt out. HARD. (again)
I had been thinking I had it all… I was leading a team while working from home… just like I wanted… yet somehow, I still was losing my mind.
I didn’t feel like myself, and I was constantly on edge, cringing at constant slack notifications, and having to pull my car over multiple timesdue to heart palpitations from what was going on at work. MENTALLY, I was chained down to my corporate job. 😵💫
And there it was: My third rock bottom.
That’s when I decided to go on my first vacation in 5 years to get my mind off of it all... TULUM baby!
And boy, did I get some clarity while I was there… clarity that changed everything.
When I got back…
I quit my perfect and stable corporate job.
WITH NO PLAN, and $5k in debt.
BOOM… flashback to Cosmic Blob. That 10 year old data and coding obsessed girl in me was SCREAMING to be seen. That’s what I was missing. Don’t get me wrong, a stable income and invites to YSL parties are amazing, but I was desperate for the science and the data analysis in my day-to-day life.
I knew the basics of ads, but I was by no means an EXPERT. I knew I wanted to take my goal of being a freelancer as seriously as possible…So I made the tough decision to use the last $3K available to me on my credit card, and hired a coach to start learning the nitty gritty Meta & Google Ads.
I was really risking it all at this point, eating tuna cans for lunch and dinner…
Standing over my bathroom sink one day, the girl in the mirror said to me “Ana, this is it. You’re going to sink, or you’re going to swim.”
Slowly, but surely, I started growing this business… meaning I spent every waking hour making my website, launching lead magnets, creating my resources, diving into data. I made it my mission to learn everything I could, even if it meant I was spending my bottom dollar on coaches and courses. I needed to understand the reasons WHY some ads flopped, while others increased leads by 120% (yep I made that happen for the one and only client I had at the time…). That is how I became the Meta and Google Ads Expert I am today.
But the beginning was TOUGH. I was crying every day, unsure of how I would pay my bills, and making only ~ $2k/ month after a full year of hard work.
I knew something had to change when a client refused to pay me for a service I provided for them… and I DESPERATELY needed that money.
I seriously thought about quitting my dream of being a freelancer… I’d had enough.
But luckily, I didn’t quit. I pushed on through every setback, and that brought me to where I stand today! I still work hard, but now on my own terms, and with enough time, space, and money to live the life of my dreams.
Writing out my life story has been incredibly eye-opening.
Just how many times I…
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Hit rock bottom
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Wanted to throw in the towel
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Wasn’t sure of my next move
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Put in 150% effort while seeing 0 results
It has been a lot. And as an entrepreneur, I’m sure you can relate.
But looking back now, I know that being pulled down to these low points is how I made multiple quantum leaps in my life. Like a catapult, these challenges sprung me forward and brought me to where I am today.
Spending the last $3k on my credit card, as crazy as it sounds, was the best thing I could have done. It paid off into a multi-6-fig year, in only my second year of doing this thing.
That's an ROI of like... 3233.33% - JEEZ
I believe in sharing this with you, because all of this uncertainty and challenge taught me a valuable lesson: sometimes, being at your worst makes your wildest and most profound dreams the most clear.
And maybe you won’t be ready right away to go for those dreams, but if you continue to play it safe, you never will be.
So, take the risk. Invest in yourself, even if it scares the shit out of you.
Because you could be stepping into the BEST and most ALIGNED chapter of your life.
Taking risks has given me priceless wisdom and autonomous growth in my business, only 2 years in.
These leaps of faith are what took me from making $13/hour to hitting 10k, 15k, 20k, 25k months (and counting!), just by sharing my story and my passion for scaling businesses with ads.
Now I work, and more importantly, LIVE on my own terms. I surround myself with people I love, and work from my 13-inch pink Macbook in places like Tulum, Jamaica, St. Lucia, you name it…
And it's my goal to help other powerhouse women like YOU do the same: harness motivation, passion, data & science-backed techniques to create and live the life of their dreams.
Let this be a reminder to you to remember who DF you are… a badass CEO, a force to be reckoned with.. and to do the things that scare the crap out of you IF you know deep down they need to be done. How else are you finally going to actually LIVE the life you’ve been dreaming about?
It’s often the things we avoid the most in life that form the barrier between your past and your future.
So if you’re considering hiring a business coach, buying a house, taking a one way flight to Bali, taking the leap to invest in paid ads (wink, wink)… or whatever it may be…
THIS. IS. YOUR. SIGN.
At the end of the day, it was my mom whispering in my ear to, “take the risk now because you never know what good could come out of it.” It was the text I got late one night from my business coach, telling me she knew how hard it was, but that I should stick with it because she believed in me. It was my high school best friend who’d moved overseas, crying on Facetime with me as we both agonized over growing pains. And it was the girl in the mirror telling me it was “time to ink or swim.”
The women in my life have consistently shown me the power of perseverance, leadership, and grace. Had I not listened to those women, I wouldn’t be where I am today. It’s been a bumpy road, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
