Brand & business strategic coaching for the passionate entrepreneur
 
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the branding + marketing podcast // for mission-driven entrepreneurs

available on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify!

 
 
 
 
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Catch the latest episodes below:

 
 
 

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If you're a creative, this one's for you. If you're not a creative, YES you are! ✨ You're alive = you're creative. You've made things, written things, scribbled things, hummed things, said things. You have "brought forth the treasures that are hidden within you" (as Liz Gilbert says) in one way or another. ✨ It's no easy thing! Even "the greats" are human: frail, flawed creatures, made of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium... grasping at, clumsily channeling the divine. ✨ Even “bad” art, the worst thing you’ve ever made, the thing that you’d be embarrassed for anyone to see, is a miracle. ✨ You're a MAGICAL being. You can CREATE. Take a dim, blurry idea that doesn’t even exist in any material way... and transmute it into space & time. ✨ INSPIRATION is your birthright - you can get inspired by anything. A smudge on the pantry door. A leaf caught in a bicycle wheel. A song you’ve heard a hundred times. ✨ Tune into it, channel it, transform the dim light into something - a song, a drawing, a photo, a blog, a course... an Instagram post! ✨ It doesn’t have to be great. It doesn’t even have to be good. It’s YOURS. And it would never exist if you weren’t here to create it. It’s a fossilized imprint of your heart, mind, and soul. It's proof that you are ALIVE. That you are CREATIVE. That you are YOU. That you are pure MAGIC. That you simply ARE. ✨ What do YOU create? What will YOU leave behind? ✨ ✨ ✨ 📸Unsplash
"I'm getting old!" I starting saying this every year on my birthday when I was 22. 22!! I was a baby, already afraid that I was running out of time to make my dream life happen. ✨ On Sunday I turned 33 (still a baby). This is the year I start CELEBRATING each year instead of complaining that I'm getting older. ✨ This is the year I APPRECIATE how far life has brought me, and the hard-earned lessons and experiences - good and bad - that have made me who I am, and prepared me to make the difference I want to make. ✨ Here are some of the lessons I'm GRATEFUL to have learned, that I would tell my younger self (and anyone else who needs it): ✨ Follow your fears, because they point the way to the life you truly want. If it scares you, do it. Always do the thing that scares you the most, and watch the life you want come to life. ✨ No one else knows better. Don't wait for someone else to give you permission or tell you what's okay to do. Start trusting yourself to create your own life and your own future. ✨ Don't dim your light. Don't hide away your gifts and your passions. It's always time to shine, because someone out there needs it. ✨ It's not about you. People who cause you pain (intentionally or not) are on their own journey that you'll never fully understand. Pay them no mind, or send them love from afar and move on. ✨ Be kind to yourself. Choose the words you repeat to yourself with compassion, caution, and intention. Because like it or not, you will believe the things you tell yourself. ✨ Someday never comes. Make happiness and gratitude a daily practice, because there are "good" and "bad" things in every day, including the BEST and WORST days of your life. Choose to focus on the positive, and you'll always have joy. ✨ Be patient with yourself. Good things take time. Big changes take time. Keep showing up, keep doing what is right in front of you, and learn to be happy with your progress and enjoy the process. ✨ What's one thing you'd tell your younger self? . . .
I was SO focused on the visual side of my brand, I forgot to figure out what I actually had to SAY. ✨ Try getting to know someone only based on how they LOOK. The way they dress. How they wear their hair. Their facial expressions. You can SEE them in action, but never exchange a WORD. ✨ Now try getting to know someone only based on how they TALK. The ideas they share. Imagine you can talk on the phone, or exchange letters, but never MEET in person. ✨ These would both be hard to do, because we express ourselves through BOTH what we say and how we look. Visuals and words can work together; they're both useful in getting to know someone. ✨ But there's something extra POWERFUL in your words. Yes, "design is the silent ambassador of your brand." (Paul Rand) Design makes the introductions and gets the MEETING. ✨ But once you're in the room together, WORDS and TONE take the lead, plunge the depths, and build the connection. ✨ We communicate so much through WHAT we say, and HOW we say it. We express our FEELINGS, explore IDEAS, reveal what we care about, and untangle MEANING. We tug on invisible threads, and stitch them together to link our hearts. ✨ @chantelbalch tells me my future is what I make it - it's something I can actively create. Through her words, her visuals, her actions. ✨ @_theskyinside_ tells me real life is messy and complicated, and that's beautiful and precious. Through her words, her visuals, her actions. ✨ @erinpride tells me success is the result of hard work and staying true to yourself and your values. Through her words, her visuals, and her actions. ✨ So... looking at YOUR brand, what is it saying? And how? Do YOU have something to say that you're working to express? Sum it up in the comments 👇🏼 . (P.S. If you're not sure what your brand is here to say, I have ONE more Tune into You Brand Clarity session left. DM me for the deets!) . . .
I used to think this entrepreneurial journey was HARDER for me than other people, because of my past, and my personality. ✨ But after witnessing so many people unpack their stories to discover their PURPOSE and their message, buried deep in their personal story of struggle... I'm a believer that "the wound is where the light enters you" (Rumi) ...and your struggle can truly be your greatest STRENGTH. ✨ Your pain and your wounds are the beginnings of your greatest STRENGTHS. Find your pain, the scar, and you'll find the STORY that can move and inspire others. ✨ What wound have you learned to IGNORE, to get through the day? The years? Did someone make you feel inadequate? Did someone steal your power? Did you find rock bottom? ✨ The HEALING begins, your STORY unfolds...your story of resilience, or patience, or self-acceptance... your deepest self knows. You have come through so you could tell a story that the world NEEDS. ✨ Your wound is where the LIGHT first enters you, but it belongs shining out into the world. ✨ P.S. Finding your light, your voice, and your message is what my new "Tune Into You" Brand Clarity sessions are all about. I only have TWO left this month - send me a DM to claim your sesh 🧡 ✨ Tag someone you know who shines their light brightly 👇🏼Some of mine are @_theskyinside_ @erinpride @chantelbalch
I hid away myself for SO long. I swept myself under the rug, into the "safe zones" of my life... ✨ I allowed my husband, my two best friends who love me unconditionally, to see the real me... and occasionally, cautiously, the friend or kind stranger I sensed might be a kindred spirit... a gentle soul, navigating life and the human experience in search of meaning. ✨ When I came online to build a business, I envied people who were fearless and 100% "authentic" to a world of strangers. ✨ I knew opening up and "being myself" would help me make a bigger impact. But I thought it was an all-or-nothing deal. Either open up and share the WHOLE ME, all at once, and be totally fearless... or don't show up at all. ✨ But that's NOT the way it works, especially if you're an introvert. If you're not used to opening up, the only way to do it is on your OWN terms, a little at a time. ✨ "BE AUTHENTIC!" the Internet shouts, and those of us who live life closely guarded, feel like there's no room for us. ✨ But there is. Take it ONE step at a time. Share your depths and true self, piece by piece. Open on your own terms. ✨ Open slowly, if you need to... there's no right or wrong in how to make this journey. But open. You were made to open. Start today 🧡 ✨ What are you doing/sharing this week to open up a little more in a way that serves your community? 👇🏼 ✨ 📸Pexels
"This is just the way we do things. It's how we've always done them!" ✨ This answer makes my brain hurt, and my palms sweat — Anyone else? 🙋🏼‍♀️ ✨ Building a brand is about doing things with intention! It means always asking yourself WHY. WHY am I doing this work? (that's a big one - check out my story from this morning to see my WHY) WHY am I using these words? WHY am I using this imagery? WHY am I marketing my business this way? WHY am I using this platform? WHY is my website structured this way? WHY is this my client intake process? WHY do I onboard clients this way? WHY do I run my projects like this? WHY is this my wrap-up process? ✨ Yea... you do start to feel like a curious toddler who can't ask WHY enough times. 👧🏼 ✨ But when you find a question you don't have a thoughtful answer for, what you've really found is an OPPORTUNITY! An area of your business or brand that could be much more STRATEGIC. An area you can be more intentional about, to get (and deliver) BETTER RESULTS. ✨ Here's a question I'm asking myself today: WHY am I on stories so often lately? Answer: Because I preach showing up as you are, even if it's scary, and I'm PRACTICING what I preach! ✨ Because my dream client wants that real CONNECTION with someone before she reaches out! ✨ Because the FRIENDS I've made here are such an important part of my journey, and my daily happiness. They bring so much light to my day. 🧡 ✨ (P.S. if you want someone to ask you ALL the right questions about your brand and your biz, and really help you dive deep and create YOUR strategy for success, remember there are ONLY 2 SPOTS remaining in Brand your Brilliance! DM me for the deets ✌🏼) ✨ Have you ever asked yourself "WHY am I doing things this way" and then made a change? What WHY question can you ask yourself today? 👇🏼
I am a master FEAR-CRASTINATOR. ✨ Being "busy" all the time but not seeing progress. Filling my day with tasks that feel productive. Waiting until conditions are perfect. Feeling relief when I postpone a task another week. Seeing it still on my to-do list a month later. Wondering why I keep putting things off. Doubting myself and wondering if I'll ever reach my goal. ✨ Have you ever gotten stuck in the cycle of fear-crastination?? A few months ago, I didn't even realize it was happening - I just knew I was FRUSTRATED with myself, and getting burnt out. ✨ But NOW I recognize the signs. When I see them, I go find the biggest, ugliest, SCARIEST thing on my to do list and just DO IT. ✨ And then I go treat myself to a soy chai latte and an hour to do whatever I want. ✨ What are you fear-crastinating on? What has been on your to-do list for weeks and weeks? What are you putting off because it scares you? Because it might not go well? It's time to TACKLE that fear monster and take it down. ✨ Go put that scary thing on your calendar for THIS WEEK. Maybe it's getting on IG STORIES for the first time. Maybe it's calling that local venue to SCHEDULE your first workshop. Maybe it's showing up LIVE in your Facebook group. ✨ If it's going to take you an hour to do the scary thing, schedule that hour, and then block off the next hour to do whatever you want. If it's gonna take you three hours, schedule a little more time. ✨ The things that scare us are the things that will catapult us forward the FASTEST. They're the most important to PROGRESS. And you'll feel more comfortable tackling the NEXT scary (but awesome) thing, and the NEXT one, and the NEXT one. ✨ What's the thing that scares you that YOU are going to do in the next week?? I want to cheer you on!! 👇🏼
"I won't be good at that - I'm too introverted." ✨ Meeting new people Initiating conversations Running a Facebook group Posting on Instagram Coaching Teaching Leading workshops Being on video Hosting a podcast Interviewing guests Opening up on social media Leading a challenge Doing live video Being a guest speaker ✨ These are all things I thought I COULDN'T DO because I'm an introvert. Because I'm shy. Because I can be awkward. Because I have performance anxiety. Because I blush when I'm nervous. Because I lose my train of thought sometimes. Because I'm more of a "behind the scenes" person. ✨ And then slowly but surely, I did ALL of them. ✨ And you know what? I survived, and I'm actually pretty good at them... just NOT in the way I expected. ✨ To paraphrase one of my clients (an executive leadership coach for women in STEM): YOU can REDEFINE any role you want to step into, on your OWN TERMS. Fulfill it in your OWN WAY. ✨ YOU have what it takes to do to anything you want to do. To lead. To inspire. And you don't have to do it like anybody else. You don't have to have a booming voice, or a commanding stage presence, or make everything look easy. ✨ Personally, I believe the world needs MORE LEADERS LIKE YOU. More people who speak up -- not because it's easy, but because they're BRAVE. ✨ More people who prove to the rest of us that the way you talk, or dress, or move effortlessly across the online stage isn't what matters. It isn't about YOU at all. It's about the way people feel about THEMSELVES when you're around. ✨ And no one else can do it quite like you can. All it takes is stepping up, being WILLING to try, and doing that thing with heart and purpose. In the only way you can. By being YOU - perfectly imperfect. ✨ So... what's ONE THING you thought you couldn't do at the start of your journey, that you've actually DONE? Bonus points: How do you do it differently from anyone else? 👇🏼
WHERE does your brand LIVE? If you had to go point to it with your finger, where would it BE? ✨ On your hard drive? On your website? In your social media feed? In your journal? In your words? ✨ Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope! ✨ Your brand lives in your customer's BRAIN. 🤓 Imagine walking down its corridors. The walls are lined with stacks of hobbies, dreams, memories, feelings, beliefs about the world... and in its tidy little corner, sits your brand. ✨ It's where she stores all her experiences with you, her beliefs about you, her thoughts and feelings about you - all the intangibles that make up what you mean to her and what you represent in her mind. What does she believe about you? What does she love about you? What does she WONDER about you? ✨ Look closer... see all the individual IMPRESSIONS that your words, your visuals, your customer experience, have left over time. Which experiences STAND OUT the most? ✨ Was it that time you took an extra minute of your time to thoughtfully answer her question? Was it that story you posted on Instagram that made her feel less alone? Was it the random reference you made to her favorite TV show? ✨ If we can stop thinking about marketing as a chore, and start thinking about it as building a relationship with our customer, it takes on so much more meaning and is SO much more powerful for our business, AND our customer. ✨ It's time, you're ready -- to shine your LIGHT, raise your VOICE, leave an IMPRESSION, and THRIVE by being you 🧡 ✨ If you found the corner in your customer's brain where you brand lives, what specific memories would be there?👇🏼
We almost didn’t get her. ✨ Chris and I really wanted a puppy. For weeks, we watched @co_puppy_rescue, flipping through puppy photos, pointing out the cutest ones to each other.. until we saw puppy #806. 11 weeks old, shy, awkward, looking very confused. And to us, 100% ADORABLE. ✨ In the days leading up to the adoption event, we were so excited...but also nervous that a new puppy might accidentally hurt our little cat Lilah. ✨ The morning of the adoption event, we decided not to go get her. We were too worried about how she'd interact with Lilah, so we went to breakfast instead. We were sitting at the table, looking at each other sadly...and I had this sudden thought. ✨ “What if we go get her, and then she becomes such a big part of our lives, we can’t believe we almost missed her?” ✨ Chris had the same feeling. We packed up our food and rushed to the adoption event, knowing that it was first-come, first-served. ✨ Puppy #806 was in a big kennel with her siblings. They were all barking and wrestling, but 806 was sitting quietly behind them, looking worried, out of place. ✨ We anxiously waited for our turn. When it came, we asked to meet puppy #806, sat down with her, and fell instantly in love. ✨ Fast forward to today—Penny is 90 pounds of gentleness and love. If Lilah sneezes, Penny panics and rushes to see what’s wrong. If two dogs are playing too rough at the park, Penny wedges her body between them. If we hand her a treat, she takes it carefully and softly, so no one gets hurt. ✨ We can’t imagine our lives without her. Deep down, that morning, we knew puppy 806 was our girl. ✨ You KNOW what the next step is. You may hesitate, question your intuition, and have legitimate hangups or fears for pursuing what your heart wants.. but when in doubt, choose LOVE, and what brings your heart joy. ✨ What was one time you chose love? ✨ Flip through to see photos from the day we brought our girl home 🧡
I'm making a prediction: that you'll THRIVE this year, by being YOU. ✨ You'll get the best results for your biz when you lean into who YOU are. You'll adopt some people's tools and methods, use the ones you like, modify others to fit, and "pass" on the rest. ✨ You'll find or create your OWN path to success, one that feels right for YOU. You'll discover that you are who you are, for a reason. ✨ That's WHY I do this work... helping you peel back the layers, to discover your own voice, mission, and internal compass, so you can BE YOU ON PURPOSE (to paraphrase Dolly Parton). Learning to TRUST YOURSELF is the most powerful thing you can do for your business. ✨ Because I believe you are here not to fit in, but to make a DIFFERENCE, in your own way. To be UNAPOLOGETICALLY YOU. As you lean into who you are, you'll naturally draw the right people to you, through your own unique gifts, honest voice, and heartfelt message. ✨ Because YOU are meant for MORE than the status quo. You have so much more to offer the world than just more of the same. You have people to inspire, and NEW WAYS of doing things. ✨ So, what's ONE AREA in your business where you're committing to do things YOUR way? Claim it in the comments, I wanna know 💕👇🏼
2018: The year of uncontrollable FLAILING. ✨ ALL year long, I was totally out of my element. Again and again, as a new business owner, I had to learn a new skill, something I had never done before, and be okay with publicly sucking at it. ✨ I wasn't naturally good at posting on social media. I wasn't naturally good at networking. I wasn't naturally good at stepping into the spotlight. I wasn't naturally good at being on video. ✨ But I had to do it, and so I did it! ✨ And of all the things I got better at, the new skill I'm most grateful for is the skill of LEARNING. I got pretty damn good at trying something new, and accepting that I was just gonna be awful at it for a while, and that was okay! ✨ Miraculously, I learned how to show up on Instagram stories without having a minor panic attack every time. I wanted to make quick strides, so I joined a 30-day Challenge, committed to posting every day, felt extremely uncomfortable for the first few days, and within a couple weeks I felt SO much more comfortable and competent, and even started seeing results in my growth and engagement. ✨ Being good at learning DOESN'T mean you're good at things the FIRST time you start them. It means you do things EVEN when you're bad at them. Even when you're AWFUL at them. ✨ And because you've endured the learning process enough times, you know that sucking is just part of the process. ✨ What new skill do YOU want to learn? Drop it in the comments 👇🏼I want you to CHALLENGE yourself to do a little every day, for 30 days. If you can, find a group to hold you accountable! ✨ And if you wanna get better at Instagram, I'm kicking off a new Shine on Social 30-day Challenge that's perfect for you! We've got an amazing mix of entrepreneurs, and we're starting THIS Monday, January 7! ✨ Send me a DM or check the link in my bio for details. Everyone else, be sure to let me know what new skill you're learning, so I can cheer you on! 👇🏼
 
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