Your “Inside Out” Brand
Happy summer, Creatives! I hope this finds you inspired and enjoying the long days and warm nights. My son is in France for the summer, Mia is in a production of The Jungle Book, and I’m writing, resting, and meditating on the changes we are experiencing in our world. I’m also excited to chat with you over the next few posts about your personal and professional brand.
Why are brands important? Because they create a resonance—a vibe—for you to experience and share your life with others. My brand/vibe is a no-nonsense, mystic business leader; when I’m at the office in NYC, members of our management and the C-suite call me for a tarot reading. I’ve loved giving readings since I was a child, and I adore using magic to shift business outcomes—so being “on brand” allows me to live my passion, and to experience mysticism and spirituality in the business world. When you are “on brand” it allows others to know who you really are, what you love and your values, therefore your brand has a tremendous impact on how you are seen and experienced by others, and how you in turn will see and experience your life.
In this series of posts, we’re going to talk about the power of the four mindset shifts in order to create a natural, authentic brand—one that doesn’t feel like it owns you, but that you can easily and effortlessly flow into. Let’s start with the fact that…
1. You Are Not a Guru.
So take the pressure off yourself. Being a brand is simply being a flavor and feeling for others to sample and experience—it’s simply having a point of view that is not censored. You have a worldview that may or may not resonate with others, so, take the pressure off you and your creative work and simply express what you believe in, how it helps you, then how it might help your audience will come naturally. You are not a guru, isn’t that a huge relief?
2. Express don’t Preach.
Have you ever been to a dinner party where one of the guests is trying to convince everyone else to meditate a certain way, buy Bitcoin, or become vegan? If you are expressing your point of view, it doesn’t mean you have to coerce others to be like you, or to see the world as you do. Be inclusive in your expression, share what is real for you about that meditation or that diet, and then let it go. If you don’t get a response in the form of heads nodding, “likes,” or clicks, that’s ok. You being you and expressing it truthfully will eventually bring you the audience that is just right. Expressing your worldview is a gift to you before it’s a gift to others, if you are doing it for a response, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.
3. Share don’t Teach.
Ever notice the difference when you tell a friend what she should do, versus saying, “What has worked for me, that might have value for you is…” Same with your branding. Whether you are a personal coach, writer, founder, or any other role where others are looking to you to learn, reframe “teaching” into sharing. The difference is a subtle shift, but it liberates both you and your audience by making the content optional and only one possibility among many. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to show Mia how to do a math problem and she showed me a totally new way of thinking of it. We both arrive at the correct answer, but when I am simply sharing how I do it, versus “how it’s done” then it opens the possibilities for me to learn as well. You are here to share your world and what you’ve learned, not to claim to be a teacher of how “it’s done.” Your POV is one option in a sea of infinite possibility.
4. Be Invisible.
There is an Instagram poet who has sold nearly 100,000 hardcover poetry books of his work and his photography. Our sales staff at Simon and Schuster are mightily impressed, and everyone is happy with the results. The poet wore a mask to his book tour and wrote under a pen name. None of us have ever seen his face, nor do we know his real name (perhaps the legal department does, or accounting, in order to send him his checks).
Why does he opt to be anonymous?
His editor said he wants to, “Write what he feels, not what he thinks he should feel.”
This is a brand.
Authenticity cherished above fame.
Truth above being right.
Expression over recognition.
Sharing from the heart, not the ego
What would it take to be yourself? Do that.
This is the only real branding advice you need.
You are the offer.
You yourself are an offer to the world. Is the offer true to your heart, or true to what the trends may say is “hot.” What you are feeling informs what you express, and feelings are everything. Feelings translate while data may not.
When the tea company hired a CEO, I helped him. We clashed a lot though because we had two different ways of doing things. He would look at sales data, analyze it, and then create a product that was “on trend” with the market. I call this “outside in” business. It leads to copycat products and failure because if you’re looking at a trend, it’s probably almost over.
I always went into the blending room, blasted Fleetwood Mac, and asked my heart for inspiration. From there much was created from the pure creative flow. While many of the products came from external feedback—like seeing coconuts hanging over a chai stall, much of the most successful products—like the Gypsy Tea Parties—were totally inspired from a vision, a dream, or a prayer that welled from deep within my soul. That is “inside out” business and branding. You might be a few years ahead of your time with this method of creating, but it’s much better to be ahead than behind.
I hope this branding post and our ideas are helpful for your personal and professional branding journey. As we work on the exciting upcoming program for our class of 2019 POP Mastermind, this subject is hot on my mind and in my heart! Meet me in the comments here …I look forward to catching up with you all also on social! xx
