We chat with Clarissa Harris, Director of True Tribe, a Melbourne-based communications agency specialising in the hospitality and lifestyle space. Services include PR, social media, events, branding, photography and graphic design. In less than a year, True Tribe has grown to include a wide range of hospitality and lifestyle clients including Marriott, Proud Mary’s, Wine Republic, Mick Adams Burger Bar, Mjr Tom and Hobba.
Tell us about your background?
My background is in PR and communications. I completed a Bachelor of Communications (Public Relations) at RMIT University and have held both in-house and in agency roles.
So what inspired you to launch True Tribe?
My husband, Tim started a blog and Instagram page called I Heart Fitzroy about two years ago, to serve as a platform to share his photos and I started helping out with the copy. We began meeting all sorts of people who wanted us to create similar content for their businesses. That’s when we realised there was a social media need for the local guys and decided to quit our jobs and launch True Tribe.
Did you have a business plan for True Tribe?
To be honest as soon as we started with our first client, word-of-mouth spread so quickly we didn’t really have a chance to put together a plan. I made sure we wrote down our goals, but in terms of a legit business plan, it’s always been a work-in-progress.
The written and visual content on your accounts is quite impressive. How does the team regularly come up with new ideas?
We like to discover what’s unique about each brand and put our spin on it. Imagery and words come naturally when a client is just as passionate about what they do as we are. It also helps working with a really creative team who are always coming up with fun ideas. We’re all mates and always collaborate where we can.
Describe a typical day for you.
Although each day is different, my ideal day begins at 8am. I’ll head out to Fitzroy pools, mostly for the gym, sometimes for the pools and be back at my desk by 9ish. I’ll get the bulk of my work done before heading out to a client meeting. Sometimes it’s hard to switch off, but a good excuse to break things up has come around ever since we got our staffie, Scout and dogs love to walk. Cooking is essential to wind down and a glass of red wine.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a new business?
In the words of Ron Swanson – ‘Don’t half-ass it, full-ass it’. We tried having our full-time job and our side hustle, and eventually realised it wasn’t going to work. And if we didn’t take the risk it would always be just that, a side hustle.
What’s next for True Tribe?
We’re currently working with a few fashion brands, so looking forward to launching campaigns in that space. We’ll also be hosting a few workshops later in the year.
For more details, visit truetribe.com.au.