Are you trying to grow your Instagram? Are your followers not turning into clients? Elise Darma is an entrepreneur and social media expert who helps small business grow their revenue through Instagram.
In this episode, Elise shares her beginnings as an entrepreneur, how she grew her account to over 100k followers, and how she reached 6-figures in her business by following a few key strategies.
Listen now to learn how Elise helps small businesses monetize their small audience and how you can too!
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Ina Coveney
Amazing pleasure of interviewing Elise Darma. Hi, Elise, it's so nice to see you. Thank you so much for coming on.
Elise Darma
Hi, Ina! It's great to be here. I'm really excited to chat with you today about all things.
Ina Coveney
Well, we'll see. We'll see what you have up your sleeve. Oh, yeah, we got some stuff. So before we get started, why don't you tell everybody what it is that you do right now and who you do it for?
Elise Darma
Good question. I am an Instagram educator and strategist for small business owners. I help them make real sales from social media back to their coaching services or product-based business. I specialize in helping people who are not famous. So generally, my students have less than a thousand followers, and they're able to make five figures or more, all from Instagram and social media platforms.
Ina Coveney
Small audiences. You're speaking my language. That's all I talk about all day long—profitability of small audiences. So I love this already. I always like to go back way in the beginning to kind of get to know you better. So can you tell us where you grew up? What was little Elise like growing up?
Elise Darma
I was born in Vancouver, Canada. So I grew up in the suburbs just outside of Vancouver, and I was one daughter with three brothers—the only girl in my family. I grew up in a fairly conservative Christian family, and so there was a lot of tradition and stability and community and consistency, I would say, in terms of where we lived and my routine in life. It was a great upbringing, a great childhood. My parents were young when they got together and had kids. Looking back, I can't believe they were twenty-somethings with four kids.
Ina Coveney
That’s wild!
Elise Darma
Now that I'm in my mid-thirties and about to have my first baby, I’ve done the complete opposite! But I had a great upbringing with young parents who were fun and energetic. Our idea of a vacation would be taking the van and driving from BC to Alberta through the Rocky Mountains and visiting family. Nothing too crazy, nothing too fancy, but it was always a good adventure.
Ina Coveney
You mentioned your parents were pretty conservative and religious, but you also said they met on a Contiki tour. Can you tell us a little about that? How do you reconcile that? Fun, loving parents who were also risk-takers, out there traveling the world?
Elise Darma
Yes, Contiki is a travel company that started, I believe, in the seventies. A New Zealander rented a big Volkswagen van and would drive around Europe, and that became tours of Europe. When my parents took a Contiki tour, I think it was in 1982, they met during a six-week tour of Europe. My dad is European but grew up in Australia, and my mom’s Canadian.
Ina Coveney
That’s amazing!
Elise Darma
Yeah, they met and fell in love in those six weeks. My mom was 17, and my dad was 20. Six months after that trip, my dad flew to Canada to visit my mom for Christmas, and he just didn’t go back to Australia. They were married the following summer.
Ina Coveney
Wow, what a story! You’re basically a product of a Contiki love story.
Elise Darma
Pretty much! I even went on my own Contiki trip and worked for the company. It definitely fueled my love for travel, knowing that my parents met on one.
Ina Coveney
That’s incredible. What was your relationship like with your parents as a teenager?
Elise Darma
As a teenager, I was really focused on being the best daughter and student I could possibly be. I was ambitious. At 13, I started my own piano teaching business because my mom had been a piano teacher and taught me. Once I reached a certain level in the Royal Conservatory of Music, I knew I could teach beginners. So, I started teaching at 13.
Ina Coveney
Wow! That’s impressive.
Elise Darma
Yeah, but I burned out by university. I went so hard in high school that once I got to university, I started dropping classes and getting C's. It felt like I was wasting my time and money, and I knew I needed a break.
Ina Coveney
Let’s dig into that. As entrepreneurs, we often work through limiting beliefs. Have you done any analysis on why you were so driven to achieve and be perfect?
Elise Darma
Yes, I’ve done reflection and therapy in my twenties and thirties to understand that. I think it came from the culture I was raised in. Being in a big family, I felt I had to stand out and not be a problem child. It was also reflective of the religious culture I grew up in, which encouraged striving for perfection.
Ina Coveney
Do you think the burnout came from constantly trying to be perfect?
Elise Darma
I think so. I was so driven in my teen years that I didn’t leave enough time to just be carefree. When I got to university, it felt overwhelming—like I had a million paths I could take. That’s when burnout hit.
Ina Coveney
It sounds like the Contiki trip you mentioned was a turning point.
Elise Darma
Definitely. That trip was my first taste of freedom. I didn’t have to be the perfect student or religious girl. When I got back, I wasn’t the same, and it shaped how I approached life and university.
Ina Coveney
Let’s skip ahead to when you started doing social media for work. What year was that?
Elise Darma
That was in 2010. I got a job at my university’s tech incubator, running their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Ina Coveney
When did Instagram come into play?
Elise Darma
Around 2012. I created an account and started posting, but I didn’t know much about photography. Then in 2013, a friend asked if I knew a “marketing rock star” to help with Instagram. I realized I could offer my own services.
Ina Coveney
And that was your first client?
Elise Darma
Yes! A week later, we signed a contract, and within six months, we grew his Instagram to 100,000 followers. That experience taught me a lot.
Ina Coveney
That’s incredible. So you were working full-time and freelancing on the side. What was that like?
Elise Darma
It was busy! For about eight months, I juggled my full-time day job and my freelance clients. I worked nights and weekends, and I loved it. Eventually, a client asked for more of my time, which meant I had to quit my job. That was the fork-in-the-road moment.
Ina Coveney
And you decided to take the leap.
Elise Darma
Yes, I did. By the time I was running my business full-time in 2014, I had five clients.
Ina Coveney
Amazing. At that point, you were traveling and working remotely. What was the hardest part about balancing travel and running your business?
Elise Darma
The hardest part was the loneliness. I wasn’t prepared for how isolating it would be to leave my job and work alone at my dining table.
Ina Coveney
How did you deal with that?
Elise Darma
I found co-working spaces, especially when I was traveling. For example, in Bali, I worked from a place called Hubud, which was like an adult treehouse. Being around other people working was energizing, even if I wasn’t super social.
Ina Coveney
At what point did you realize you needed help in your business?
Elise Darma
After a couple of years, I knew I couldn’t scale without support. I looked at what only I could do—like client-facing calls—and what I could delegate, such as blog writing or graphic design. I started by tapping into my network and hiring people I trusted.
Ina Coveney
A lot of coaches feel like no one can do their job as well as they can. How did you overcome that mindset?
Elise Darma
I focused on the value of my time. Hiring someone allowed me to take on more clients, which ultimately grew my business. It’s also about trusting the process and staying involved in quality control. For example, my clients didn’t even realize I wasn’t writing their blog posts because I was still reviewing everything.
Ina Coveney
That’s such a smart approach. But at that point, you were still in an agency model. When did you start shifting toward more scalable offers?
Elise Darma
That happened in 2016. I was making about $60,000 to $70,000 a year, which was great, but I wanted to hit six figures. My first instinct was to get more clients, but I knew that wasn’t sustainable.
Ina Coveney
What did you do instead?
Elise Darma
I decided to grow my personal brand on Instagram as a portfolio piece to attract clients. That summer, I started posting travel photos and stories. By the end of the summer, I had grown to 30,000 followers.
Ina Coveney
Wow, that’s impressive!
Elise Darma
Thank you. But I made a mistake—I didn’t collect any email addresses. It was all vanity metrics. Eventually, I realized my followers didn’t want my agency’s marketing services. They wanted something else. That’s when I decided to hire a coach.
Ina Coveney
And what did the coach help you with?
Elise Darma
The coach helped me launch my personal brand, EliseDarma.com, and create my first digital course in 2017. That’s when I hit six figures for the first time.
Ina Coveney
Incredible! What has changed about Instagram since then?
Elise Darma
Back in 2016, it was all about looking Instagram-famous and gaining followers. Now, it’s about engagement and meaningful connections. Small business owners don’t need massive followings. They need to focus on serving their audience and driving sales.
Ina Coveney
That aligns perfectly with what I teach about small audiences. What’s your advice for someone with fewer than 1,000 followers who wants to monetize?
Elise Darma
First, stop comparing yourself to influencers. You’re not trying to work for Instagram. You’re trying to use Instagram as a tool for your business. Appreciate the audience you already have. Imagine a room full of 400 people. That’s a lot of people! Focus on connecting with them instead of chasing followers.
Ina Coveney
That’s such a powerful mindset shift. Elise, this has been amazing. What’s one thing you want people to do in the next 24 hours?
Elise Darma
Post something, even if it’s not perfect. Go into your drafts, pick something, and hit publish. Your audience doesn’t care about perfection; they care about your energy and message. C+ work is good enough.
Ina Coveney
I love that. I’m going to post something from my drafts today! Where can people find you and learn more about what you’re offering?
Elise Darma
You can find me on Instagram at @elisedarma. I also have free resources, like a reels calendar, at elisedarma.co. And check out my YouTube channel for tutorials and marketing tips.
Ina Coveney
We’ll include all those links below. Elise, thank you so much for being here today. This has been such a pleasure!
Elise Darma
Thank you, Ina. It’s been amazing chatting with you!
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