My name is Iquo, and I help people tell their stories, market themselves and raise money.
Imagine if...
You could live your wildest dream
I’ve been helping artists, entrepreneurs, small business owners, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies level up their storytelling, marketing, branding, and fundraising game for 15+ years.
If you need to tell your brand’s story, I’ve got you. If you need to market your business, I’m you’re girl. If you need to raise money to fund your dream, I’ve got the tools. Plus, I love to partner with organizations who serve artists and founders to bring these critical insights to the folks who need it most.
about me
Driven to combine my passion for social change and the arts, I enrolled in NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program, where I launched my first fundraising campaign. The rest, as they say, is history.
MY FUNDRAISING STORY
When I was at NYU Grad Film School, I launched my first crowdfunding campaign.
Back then, I had zero email list, zero following, and zero budget—yet, using basic principles of communications, marketing, and fundraising, I was able to exceed my goal by 25%.
That campaign was a truly transformative experience. It helped launch my career—both as a filmmaker and as a fundraising consultant, with a passion to help artists & entrepreneurs launch and fund their dreams.
past clients
my founder story
I started a consulting business that earned $45K in revenue in under 9 months while supporting my writing and film career sustainably.
I parlayed my communications, marketing, and fundraising experience into a consulting career working for brands like Xoom, TED, and Pfizer. Since then, I’ve helped dozens of people launch their dreams, too!
Are you waiting on your dream?
You don't create the life you want by waiting for someone else to give you an opportunity; you do it by setting a goal, getting prepared, making an action plan, and creating your own opportunities.
You might have heard the old phrase that luck is when opportunity meets preparation; but the truth is, luck is when opportunity meets preparation PLUS action. Don’t know where to start? That’s where I come in!
receipts
With a BS in biological sciences from Stanford University, I began my career at a communications firm representing global health clients such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program and the National Institutes of Health.
Driven to combine my passion for social change and the arts, I received my MFA in film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts—where I launched a fundraising campaign that raised $15k in 4 weeks for my short film.
My film Aissa’s Story was a semifinalist in the Student Academy Awards, nominated for the Africa Movie Academy Awards, and won the Spike Lee Production Fund grant.
I’m the former Communications & Marketing Director of two arts nonprofits + a consulting firm; a former strategy consultant for Public Equity Group, a firm that helps mission-driven organizations amplify change; and the founder of a film company + artist residency. Building on 15+ years of experience, I help brands tell their stories, market themselves, and raise money. I created Crowdfund Your Dream to help people fund their dreams.
My Consulting Services
In addition to providing communications, marketing and fundraising support, I offer career & creative business consulting for artists, entrepreneurs & small business owners. Click the links below to get started.
Power Session
In this strategy call, we’ll devise 3 action steps to solve a business problem you’re facing—exploring your goals, current challenges, success path, and a roadmap for getting there. You’ll leave this call feeling energized, with a clear picture of the next steps in your business development journey. 
This investment can be applied toward any of my consulting packages.
VIP Day
Need an expert for a day?
Grab a virtual VIP Day intensive and get a handle on your storytelling, marketing, or funding strategy—plus some action steps and deliverables to take your efforts to the next level.
This work begins with a clarity call and workbook, followed by your VIP Day and 1 follow-up call. 
Rent a Director
Need a communications, marketing and fundraising director? We start our work together with your brand story, positioning, messaging & marketing strategy, and come up with a game plan for your fundraiser and/or business launch. This is a great option for folks (especially creatives!) looking to fund, launch, pivot, or rebrand a new business, and get support for a successful roll-out. Starts at $10,000/month (3 or 6 months). 
YOUR SUCCESS PATHWAY
ASSESS
Conduct your self assessment and articulate the dream you want to bring to the world. For existing businesses, audit yourself.
STUDY YOUR COMPS
Choose your comps, study their success paths, and compare them to where you want to go.
position your work
Position your business in the market, defining your key value proposition and what sets you apart from others.
tell your brand story
Define your brand identity, hero story, mission, vision, values, and key messages.
handle your business
Choose a business model, get registered, set up a payment platform and simple customer management system.
create an attraction plan
Define your ideal client, create your marketing strategy and launch plan.
make magic
Hone your craft, create a minimum viable product, prepare to sell, and create marketing collateral.
share your magic
Launch your dream, make some noise, and start selling.
find your frequency
Find your people, fulfill your brand promise, build your systems, and grow!
Iquo held me accountable even when I didn’t believe it was possible. I was in awe of her brilliance. I thank her for believing in me when my confidence was shaken after a layoff and for pushing me to continue to dream big.
It was an intense time of learning for me that left me feeling prepared and empowered. I didn’t expect to receive so much and for Iquo to be so hands-on. As a result, I know exactly what I need to do to launch and manage a successful campaign.
Launch Your Dream
I’ve packaged up the primary exercises from my 1-on-1 consulting program into this how-to manual to get you started. Get to the heart of who you are, the project or business you want to create, the internal and external obstacles to getting there, and a process to overcome them. Follow my step-by-step guide to create an action plan for launching your dream project or business. Best of all, it’s free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription!
part I
In Part 1, Who You Are, tune in to yourself with a series of questions designed to bring you back to the core of who you are and the future state you want to create in your life. Learn the top challenges faced by people starting a new project or business, as well as how having a positive mindset and self-care action plan can help you overcome them.
Part II
In Part 2, What You Want to Create, you’ll define your big idea that you want to bring into the world. Learn about how to start a daily creative or business practice to generate, evaluate, and clarify your ideas. You’ll also learn some quick and dirty solutions for overcoming the top obstacles that come up when you start a new venture.
part iii
In Part 3, Your Comps + Yourself, chart a path to success by studying comparable artists or entrepreneurs offering similar products, goods, or services as you. Then you'll come up with your launch to-do list!
part iv
Lastly, in Part 4, Launch Your Dream, learn how to get out in front of the right people with a launch template you can tailor to your project or business. No more posting SOS messages in all your Facebook groups, asking for help and getting a range of mostly bad answers. Chart your path and start connecting to the right people and opportunities for success.
My clients have …
and here's what people are saying...
I have a high status job and was finding it hard to create boundaries around my work. I wanted to get some balance and move my life from just being centered on work to include my personal passion for writing and supporting those who are striving for financial security to improve their writing. I think the opportunity to center your passion is rare. And there is no better time than now to do the work. Iquo is one of the best people to help you in that journey. She’s direct; I need that. I have already recommended her to two colleagues
I’m so grateful for Iquo’s direction and support while I move forward with my design business dreams. Iquo has broadened my vision of my business and what I can do to make it possible. She helps me communicate and find my voice and how to present it to my community. I recommend Iquo to any struggling artist or business owner who has a dream, but does not know the steps to make it a reality.
this could be you, too!
stop waiting and start living your dream.
I’ll teach you how to tell your story, market yourself, raise money, and launch your creative business. 
(even if you don’t know where to start)
“Iquo gave me very nuts and bolts advice that I could use immediately on my crowdfunding campaign. I really appreciated how supportive she was and how she targeted her advice to provide guidance specific to my project.”
“Iquo gives us a workbook and bonus material that are so well put together they’re bullet proof. All one has to do is follow the plan she laid out. Each week I was excited to work with Iquo and my classmate to paint a better picture of how to crowdfund my dream project.”
subscribe to iquo’s podcast
Get Your Weekly Dose of Inspiration from Creative IQ.
Writer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur Iquo B. Essien is giving you the tea in “Creative IQ,” a weekly podcast that delivers her musings on film, dance, writing, music, culture, and the arts—while leveling up your creative business game.
