Latest / The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson / The Power of Your Brand Story With Bijal Patel

Transcript

The Power of Your Brand Story With Bijal Patel · The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson

• 0:37
  Jennifer Johnson: In a world where consumers are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages every day, simply having a good product or service isn't enough anymore.
• 0:46
  Jennifer Johnson: People don't just buy products, they buy stories, emotions, and connections.
• 0:50
  Jennifer Johnson: They choose brands that resonate with their values and make them feel something.
• 0:55
  Jennifer Johnson: But here's the challenge.
• 0:57
  Jennifer Johnson: How do you tell your brand story in a way that cuts through all of that noise that actually makes people care?
• 1:05
  Jennifer Johnson: How do you transform your business from just another option into something that people genuinely connect with?
• 1:12
  Jennifer Johnson: Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Bajal Patel, who is the founder and CEO of a world-class brand strategy business.
• 1:23
  Jennifer Johnson: And it is called Launch.
• 1:25
  Jennifer Johnson: Or is it called We Launch?
• 1:26
  Jennifer Johnson: Launch.
• 1:28
  Jennifer Johnson: Launch.
• 1:28
  Jennifer Johnson: We're going to explore the art and the strategy of brand storytelling and how to create authentic connections that turn customers into loyal advocates.
• 1:39
  Jennifer Johnson: Welcome, Bajal.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's Beejol.
• 1:42
  Jennifer Johnson: Beijo.
• 1:43
  Jennifer Johnson: I'm sorry.
• 1:43
  Jennifer Johnson: See, I did it again.
• 1:45
  Jennifer Johnson: That's all right.
• 1:46
  Jennifer Johnson: That's all good.
• 1:47
  Jennifer Johnson: I go by Queen B.
• 1:48
  Jennifer Johnson: That's my brand name.
• 1:49
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay.
• 1:49
  Jennifer Johnson: All right.
• 1:50
  Jennifer Johnson: We are talking with Queen B.
• 1:52
  Jennifer Johnson: I love that.
• 1:53
  Jennifer Johnson: I love the see.
• 1:54
  Jennifer Johnson: There we go.
• 1:54
  Jennifer Johnson: Branding, right?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: There we go.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: There we go.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's brand new.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can make it fun.
• 1:58
  Jennifer Johnson: That's awesome.
• 1:59
  Jennifer Johnson: So starting with the foundation of branding, what is actual brand storytelling?
• 2:06
  Jennifer Johnson: What does it look like in the realm of real world business?
• 2:10
  Jennifer Johnson: I mean, we can have textbook, but then it needs to translate into real world business.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think uh brand storytelling is a combination of the founder's story, like what got you to where you're at, what motivated you?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's your comeback.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's usually a comeback story.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, somebody went through something and then you just came out and now you're doing something amazing.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: So people love that.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: They love to hear those type of stories.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: They love to get lost in your come up because that's where people get the emotions of inspiration.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: They want to feel like, oh my God, you weren't always this successful, Jennifer.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like first started out with just like one store and then like look at you now.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so people find inspiration in that story.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: So there's the actual owner or the founder of a practice retail store.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter who you are or what type of business you are, but the main person who's starting it.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: And then the second type of story that's associated with the brand is what is the brand's story?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: So if you a great example of this is Apple, just to make it really easy for everyone.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: For the iPhone, there's a story of Steve Jobs, like this, you know, advanced visionary of all visionary, he was going to take us into the future.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but he didn't make a mobile phone.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: Blackberry, if you recall, was actually the I mean, thank God that we're not there, right?
• 3:41
  Jennifer Johnson: I know, but I still remember I felt like when we went from the the Blackberry to the iPhone, you couldn't like you had you felt your fingers on the keys, and now it's just like second nature.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, no, totally.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, there was like there was a time when you needed the keyboard and the round thing and all of that.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: And it was so heavy and clunky.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: But at that time, Motorola and Blackberry, they they were the reigning champs.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: So the distinction I want to make is Steve Jobs nor Apple actually made the mobile phone.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but the story is that Steve Jobs wanted to make the easiest mobile phone that had the most amount of just intuitive information already locked in.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that is the difference between what did Steve actually, Steve Jobs actually want compared to the story of our iPhone that exists now today, is that the people who have iPhones feel a brand attachment to it because they've gone through series after series after upgrade after upgrade.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: And the story of an iPhone is very different than the story of um Google's phones or any of the other competitors that are out there.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: So the brand story can be different than the brand founder's story, and that's a distinction I wanted to make.
• 4:58
  Jennifer Johnson: Sure, and that makes complete sense.
• 5:01
  Jennifer Johnson: So let's say you're working with a company or an individual who's thinking of starting a company or whatever, and they don't really think that they have because you do a lot with branding.
• 5:12
  Jennifer Johnson: That's what you do, right?
• 5:14
  Jennifer Johnson: You help people with their brand.
• 5:17
  Jennifer Johnson: But and I would assume that the story is an integral part of the brand of their business.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: It can be.
• 5:25
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay.
• 5:26
  Jennifer Johnson: It can be, it's a component.
• 5:28
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay.
• 5:29
  Jennifer Johnson: So if you are working with somebody and somebody's like, I don't have a story to tell, how do you help them uncover what that is to put all the pieces together?
• 5:39
  Jennifer Johnson: Because, you know, like you said, it's a component of the brand, but is it like the most important component of branding your business?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think so.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm not, I'm not gonna advocate the Donald Miller uh two-do story brands.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm here to keep it real.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Keep it real, keep it real.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm here to bring cash into your bank.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: So we do branding for uh bank.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we need to make you dollars.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: So the most important part of your brand is your ability to communicate what your offer is.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: So that is the most important thing.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: If you don't submit that first and you jump into brand and you're out here telling the world what your story is, like the people like stories, they'll respond to it.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: But the question you should be asking, has anyone given me their credit card?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: And if they haven't, you're busy telling a story that no one's paying for.
• 6:36
  Jennifer Johnson: That is great.
• 6:37
  Jennifer Johnson: Because what as business owners, we're conditioned to think that it's about telling the story first.
• 6:45
  Jennifer Johnson: You know, because we're not hearing the complete component of how to position your brand, how to put your brand out in front so that customers pay attention and like you said, fill your bank account.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's that I think that people get into whatever is new and whatever is cool.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: So, like the story brand movement, it evokes a lot of emotions for people.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of people like stories.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like it's like it's like the next thing to hook on to.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but like branding, branding is appropriate once you have gotten your business up and launched.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this is not the place.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: If you're starting up and you're just starting out, like go tune into one of the other podcasts here and just remember this that this is not your place.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like once you get to 20K of revenue a month, then you can come back and watch this and you can tune into what branding is, but you'll waste a whole lot of time picking your brand colors, spitting out a brand story that no one in your audience that you haven't built yet wants to hear, and you won't make any sales.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'm just not interested in that.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: So the very first step is to be able to establish what is my offer, how do I position my offer, and who is gonna buy this bad boy?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: And are my clients and customers happy?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: Those are the basics, basics of business.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Do your research.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, do your research and and adhere to the sequence.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: You first have to build the business to then have a brand to deploy.
• 8:15
  Jennifer Johnson: So let's say you built your business, okay, and now you're ready to take the next level.
• 8:20
  Jennifer Johnson: So when people think of building a brand, what I hear all the time is, oh, I need to, like you just said, I need to pick my colors, I need to pick my font, but it's much more than that.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: If it was colors and fonts, everyone would be rich.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: We'd all, we'd all pick, we'd pick Sarah font, we'd make sure that it was black and gold, and maybe in your instance a little bit of pink, and then and and then all the companies who needed trust would every company would be blue because everybody wants trust.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um trust means money, and then we would all be good.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: But since it's not that, and since that isn't what happened, it just can't be true.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: So, like anything in life, um yes, people do judge a book by its cover.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: It is nice to be presented well, it does have an impression.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it is subconscious.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: But I think of it this metaphor is the easiest way to think of it, Jennifer.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: It is the frosting on the cake.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: So it's 10% of it.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: It looks beautiful.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: The design is appealing.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: People like appealing things, it brings value, gives it, gives a sense of uh luxury or exclusiveness or something that makes it special.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: But really, the 90% of it is what are the ingredients of the cake?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: What are the flavoring of the cake?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: What oven was it put in?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: What was the altitude?
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: What pan was used, what oil, what eggs, how long was it put in?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, many, many, many, many other things go into the development of the brand.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: So what you're referring to is the visual brand.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I can see the visual of it.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: What is super important is the voice of the brand, which is the messaging, the positioning, the differentiation.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: Why are you different?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, the brand recall, why would anybody remember you?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: And those are the, and then there is a storytelling component to what that looks like.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: But if you imagine it like a really well-done cake, then you can see that there's always going to be multiple ingredients to it because that is, it's worth the time, but there is a level of complexity there that goes beyond just storytelling.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: And if that's all you hear in this podcast, I will consider my job done here because you'll finally understand what branding actually is by us describing what it's not.
• 10:31
  Jennifer Johnson: And and there's that misconception of what brand what people think branding is, because that's what we're being fed everywhere.
• 10:38
  Jennifer Johnson: You take all the there's so many courses and so many books and so many things that that's what people talk about because it's the fluff.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:47
  Jennifer Johnson: It's not the work, I feel like.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, isn't there, I mean, I I don't even think it's anyone, I don't think it's any entrepreneur's fault.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: I always say branding has a branding problem.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like the fact that we call brand, like the logo, the type, like the font, the icons, and the colors is called branding.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then the voice behind the brand, the messaging, the positioning, the unique statement, the value, all of that is also brand.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it just confuses people.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_02: Branding has a branding problem.
• 11:21
  Jennifer Johnson: Right, absolutely.
• 11:23
  Jennifer Johnson: So when you're working on your branding, because I know that we we were going to focus today on storytelling, but I feel like it, it's it's there needs to be more of the story told, per se, about branding, right?
• 11:36
  Jennifer Johnson: Because I went into this going, you know, we need to talk about storytelling, but there's so much more, as you pointed out, to the actual brand of your company once you reach that that threshold in which you're able to do so.
• 11:49
  Jennifer Johnson: What makes a brand memorable?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Why would I have authenticity?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: So authenticity is an ingredient to storytelling, but the easiest way to think about this is whenever you meet someone else, like I met you, and there are several things I actually remember about you because you are a memorable personal brand.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like you are a memorable person.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: You are a hundred percent not a wallflower, not a wallflower, nor am I.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so shocker that we just like saw each other crowded together, sat next to each other, and then everyone else at lunch wanted to talk to us, but we were having a two-person conversation with an eight-person table, and we're like, okay, well, we're kind of involved you in, but it's okay if you're not a part of this.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: So, what people remember is authenticity.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: And let me define authenticity again, just like I will branding for people.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: Authenticity is not the question of like, oh, am I showing up real?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's so basic.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like, duh, like that's table stakes.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: Authenticity is being able to answer the question with a positive yes to do you like you.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like you?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I want the listeners to pause.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: And before we're ready to market our personal brand to the world, the very first step you'll need to take is take that mask that you're wearing off and go look in the mirror.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: And it's time to show up to yourself, have a mirror conversation, like Mel Robbins says.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like you?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like what you see?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like what you see?
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like what you hear?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like who you are?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like what your values stand for?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like the mission that you're building towards?
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like your business?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like your clients?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like your industry?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and it's okay if the answer is no.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's okay to be frightened by this exercise, but it'll take you further than any of the other fluff to potentially hear about what your brand is.
• 14:06
  Jennifer Johnson: Because it can be scary.
• 14:08
  Jennifer Johnson: If you don't like what you're hearing, then what?
• 14:11
  unknown: Exactly.
• 14:13
  Jennifer Johnson: Do you go back to the drawing board?
• 14:14
  Jennifer Johnson: Do you, you know, because at this point that you're doing this exercise, presumably you do have that business where you said, you know, you're making 20K a month at least, and you're ready to move to the next level.
• 14:27
  Jennifer Johnson: What do you do?
• 14:29
  Jennifer Johnson: What do you do if you literally look at yourself and go, I don't like anything about my brand?
• 14:34
  Jennifer Johnson: Maybe it's not about you, but maybe it's about your brand.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: It could be, yeah, it could be any of those things.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: It might, it might be both.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: You you stop and you say, Good, now I know.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: No judgment, but I need to do some of the work.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: And some of the work might be the inner work that we're avoiding to face.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like I have a really steadfast belief that business owners will only grow as tall as the foundation of their worthiness and deservingness.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: You will not scale.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're at 20K and you can push yourself to 50K a month, you'll still stall out with the upper limit problem that's really described really well in the big leap book.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: But until you build that foundation of worthiness and deservingness, there's nowhere higher to go with the scaffolding.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I tend to I tend to think with a principle of like the end in mind, like that mental model, like keep the end in mind.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: So if you want to gain another 10K of revenue, you're probably gonna be fine.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: But I think most people listening to this podcast want to continue to scale, continue to grow.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and we need to have an honest conversation rather than a comfortable conversation in order for people to get there.
• 15:50
  Jennifer Johnson: And I can see that.
• 15:51
  Jennifer Johnson: And I I believe I've I know I've read that book.
• 15:55
  Jennifer Johnson: And I have seen in myself at times where you get so close to something.
• 16:01
  Jennifer Johnson: And is that the book that they talk about, your temperature rising?
• 16:04
  Jennifer Johnson: Where all of a sudden you're feeling like, okay, you're on the up and up and up and up, and you get to a point where it feels really uncomfortable.
• 16:13
  Jennifer Johnson: And they liken it to the realm of a thermometer.
• 16:17
  Jennifer Johnson: Your temperature gets hotter and hotter, and all of a sudden you feel really uncomfortable because it's uncharted territories, and you feel like I've never been here before and I'm scared to death.
• 16:28
  Jennifer Johnson: So, what you do is you cool yourself down to what you know, and that and I've been there.
• 16:36
  Jennifer Johnson: And then when you figure that out, that's when you have that growth.
• 16:40
  Jennifer Johnson: When you go, I know why I'm stuck.
• 16:42
  Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a big fan of getting comfortable where you're uncomfortable.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: That's the only place you'll grow is when you're uncomfortable.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have any tips for that?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like how you do it?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: I I cold plunge.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: I cold plunge and throw myself in a cold plunge.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I do meditation like 10 minutes a day.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: I do different challenges.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm on my round two of 75 hard.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, not for the fitness.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, the fitness is good, but I'm actually doing it for the mental discipline's sake.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: But you when you develop a mental, emotional, somatic, and spiritual practice with understanding that you as an entrepreneur will only go so far as where your container will allow you to go.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: And that's not woo-woo.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: That is that is like measured time and time and time again.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: So once you see that, it really is your business ends up being a reflection of your personal development journey.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: So the more comfortable you get with being uncomfortable, the more you can face yourself in the mirror and say, this is going to be painful.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: But I've been through, I have survived.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: Every person listening has survived every painful thing you've ever gone through before this.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: So why not you?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: Why not you?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: So, first you calibrate yourself with rituals and habits to make you stronger, discipline-wise.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: Discipline will keep you in the game much, much, much longer than any tactics ever will.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: And please don't get me started on your brand colors.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: No one cares if you're a bright miracle, yellow.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's not gonna keep you in business.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's not gonna save you.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like your perfect icon won't save you, but like you and your inner discipline and the ability to just show up and go and row, that's gonna get you there.
• 18:30
  Jennifer Johnson: Sure.
• 18:31
  Jennifer Johnson: Now, I want to go back to what you do as a business when you're working with clients.
• 18:36
  Jennifer Johnson: A client comes to you.
• 18:37
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay.
• 18:39
  Jennifer Johnson: They typically go, What?
• 18:41
  Jennifer Johnson: I need help with my branding or I need help with my marketing.
• 18:45
  Jennifer Johnson: What do they how do they start in your journey with you?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: They usually have an eye, they have a sense that something is off.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: They have an inner sense that I think it might be related to my messaging.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like something is going on where we're not speaking to our most ideal clients the way we used to be.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: So remember, these are established business owners.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: So this isn't their first rodeo.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: They've bought other offers, they've gone through the highs and the lows, they already have a logo and colors XYZ, but they can feel that there is a drift and it sits in their stomach at night, and they can feel like my alignment to my vision isn't there.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm just getting up doing the things, I'm going through the motions, but I'm completely, uh, completely disassociated from my business, my clients, my team, and whatever.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: As long as we hit our numbers and we keep going, they've lost all the passion.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's a lot like marriage.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think people can say, oh, well, it's year eight.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, God, whatever.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just used to this now.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of like that's what people entrepreneurs end up going through in their business.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: They kind of fall out of love with it.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: Everything becomes routine.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: There's really nothing exciting besides I'm supposed to hit my next numbers.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: And their relationship to their vision becomes very transactional.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: So when they find that their soul is no longer ignited, there's nothing that makes them feel pumped up, they start to get this sense that, like, why is it that I won't put out any content?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: How come none of my content hits?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: How come I everyone says that I'm supposed to be doing this and doing that with my content?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm supposed to, you know, message my people in this authentic way.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: I don't really know how to do that.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: We've tried it 50 ways to Sunday, we're not getting it.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: So it's more like a sensation that something is not aligned.
• 20:40
  Jennifer Johnson: So then going from that to if somebody really doesn't have the passion left for their business anymore, how do how do you navigate that?
• 20:51
  Jennifer Johnson: How do you get out from under that to go, you know what, I do want to continue that journey?
• 20:56
  Jennifer Johnson: Or is that kind of where they realize, oh, maybe I need to sell my business?
• 21:00
  Jennifer Johnson: Or is it just as much of you digging in with them and figuring out what areas they may not like, or what is it?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Is that we yeah, we go really, we go really, really deep.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: We go into like what our processes uh brand 360, and we just go super deep with them, like a hundred feet in.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: And most most of the times it's just again like similar to a marriage.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like you just got used to what you got used to.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: And as you grow, like as a child grows, they need bigger shoes.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: They need they need pants that are longer and with you know bigger waistbands.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: Your brand also needs to be able to expand.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: So most of the time, I'd say 98% of the time, nobody wants to actually sell their business.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: They're just doing the whole, like, I'm gonna burn it down.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like, you're not gonna burn it down.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: You just have to like, you have to redance with what the vision is, and you can't do that alone.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like most businesses just bootstrap their first brand.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: They use Fiverr, they use Upwork, they might use AI now, they slap some branding on there.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Chat GPT told them what their voice is, they felt like it was good enough.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: They were just excited they had a voice, right?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then they're done.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so now they're ready to mature up and become a legitimate business, and they want something that they feel aligned to.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: And in our process of our flight plan, that's actually when they start to feel reignited again about where they're going, why they're going there, who they're serving, and exactly who they're not serving.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, we have a really unique process called the flight plan that we've done over five years.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: We've taken hundreds of business owners through it, and um, we don't Don't ignore the hard stuff.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: We don't do a bunch of fluff.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: So the reason people don't succeed in most branding programs is it's a b it's a bunch of like dust.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, let's just dust this off a little bit and everything will be fine.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I've never seen anyone scale to the moon with that kind of strategy.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: So that doesn't work.
• 22:53
  Jennifer Johnson: Well, it's more inspirational and and and that kind of thing.
• 25:24
  Jennifer Johnson: And it's like you said, you know, it's just scratching the surface.
• 25:27
  Jennifer Johnson: Um, so I find that very interesting because businesses, you can't, like you said, it's kind of like a marriage, but it's it continues to live and breathe and grow.
• 25:38
  Jennifer Johnson: It's a it's a living organism, your business is.
• 25:41
  Jennifer Johnson: And as it grows, you can't expect it to stay with the same things that you had before, as far as your brand, right?
• 25:50
  unknown: Yeah.
• 25:51
  Jennifer Johnson: And and that's what can get you stagnant, stuck, not growing.
• 25:57
  Jennifer Johnson: All of that.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, totally.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: And the coolest thing is the flip side of it is when people do feel reignited about their business again, it's usually from some type of looking at their most ideal clients, which most people don't know how to define.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: And we take it four layers deep.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: We have layer one, your most ideal.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: We have layer two, like pretty ideal, but not the most.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: And then layer three, like good, but like we're not trying to grow in that direction.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: So once we define it to that level of segmentation and detail and nuance, people are like, oh my God, I've never put this to paper.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh shoot, we didn't realize that we actually love this type of client.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: We love our ICP one, our ideal client profile number one, but we're talking to three.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then we define specifically what we call ICP four, which is who do we not want to work with?
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: Many people miss that step.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: So until we just get massive clarity on what we're building and who we're building it for, of course, we're gonna market very broadly and target the wrong people.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, speaking of local business owners, this like idea of like if more people just hear about us, we'll do great.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: That is such a lie.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like so many times.
• 27:08
  Jennifer Johnson: I have said that many, many times.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: The more people, no, the more people who hear you include the more wrong people that hear you.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: If a bunch of eight-year-olds know your name, it's not going to increase your law business, you know.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: No, surprise, surprise.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if a bunch of like 50-year-old trucking men hear about your plastic surgery business because they drive by your billboard every day, um, you're not going to get more breast augmentations from them.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, no, more is not more.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you need to be more targeted on the right person you're speaking to.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that's that level of nuance.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: But once you get energized and repumped up, you're excited, you're ready to go, you're ready to build.
• 27:51
  Jennifer Johnson: It's not, you know, you're not throwing spaghetti at the wall anymore.
• 27:54
  Jennifer Johnson: You're being very targeted, like you said.
• 27:56
  Jennifer Johnson: And I I have to imagine for you going through this journey with a business owner, at the end of it, when you see this, it has to feel pretty darn good.
• 28:05
  unknown: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 28:06
  Jennifer Johnson: You've taken them to where where they need to go.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's super exciting.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's super that's why I think there's so much um certainty in my voice.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's not cockiness.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: I definitely don't have that, but I have a lot of certainty after taking hundreds of businesses through this.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Is that when I hear people come into my programs with the wrong ideas about branding and they've wasted their time, money, energy, and effort because they listened to a course or someone taught them surface level stuff.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: And then we have to reset them into what actually works.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'd rather just have y'all here right here with me and Jennifer.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: So you're learning it now instead of costly mistakes later, where you're like, oh shoot, branding doesn't work.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's not true.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: The right branding does work, and I will stand by it.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: Marketing will make you millions and branding will make you billions.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: Branding is worth pursuing.
• 28:59
  Jennifer Johnson: Um, you just have to be at 20k months.
• 29:02
  Jennifer Johnson: And you cut through, I mean, from everything I'm hearing, you cut through the BS.
• 29:09
  Jennifer Johnson: Which is important because business owners don't have time to waste.
• 29:13
  Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
• 29:13
  Jennifer Johnson: When they're dealing with their branding.
• 29:16
  Jennifer Johnson: So if you were to give our listeners the top three mistakes that people make, and you may have already touched on them, but let's put a bow on it.
• 29:25
  Jennifer Johnson: The top three mistakes that people make, businesses make, when they're thinking of branding or they're branding their businesses.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, well, the first one we talked about was branding too early when you're a startup and investing too many dollars into that when you're less than 20k months.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: The opposite, though, of that is getting past 20k months and not investing properly in rebranding yourself.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: So there is actually a lot of money left on the table when you don't step into the arena to like come get rebranded by somebody who actually knows what they're doing.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's huge.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that's number one.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, number two is too much emphasis on personal stories and not enough emphasis on the brand story and then the customer or client story.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: So, yes, the founder story should be emphasized, but Steve Jobs won not because we wanted to be Steve Jobs when we grew up.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: Steve Jobs won because he told the story of iPhones and iPods that put us at the center.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: You have to make your client stories, your client wins, the center of what the story is and then what the brand is.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: So use storytelling, but use it with a lot of different people, get to be the narrator.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: That makes sense.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: Number two.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: So take it back to your storytelling pieces.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, number three, I want people to hear this loud and clear.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: We're not tired of talking about AI.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: Only 40% of businesses even use AI.
• 30:55
  Jennifer Johnson: So that's staggering.
• 30:57
  Jennifer Johnson: That I mean, it seems like a lot more with everything that we're hearing.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, we're we're not hearing it.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: We're entrepreneurs in a myoptic circle of other completely top entrepreneurs.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: That is not the state of affairs.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: So if the founder or an entrepreneur or uh who owns the business is using AI, their team, his or her team is not using it.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: So the businesses that are going to continue to not just survive but thrive into 2026 and moving forward, they are going to have a team who is also equipped and AI powered.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: And you need to have a brand that is built literally, you need to have a custom GPT that's built for your brand, period, or you'll fall behind.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: So that's like step number three.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's already, you're already at the cusp of like, you need to get on this.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: And that is that is how people get speed and leverage.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: And you help people with that.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, we help people with that.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: We literally help people build out what their custom GPT is, and so that the entire team can actually be able to use what the brand voice is supposed to sound like for email, social media, for website copy.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then we also on our higher tier agency program, we do the entire visual brand.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like we will make the logos, the websites, make it SEO friendly, do the copy.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but we only do that for people who are established at 50K in revenue.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 32:29
  unknown: Yeah.
• 32:30
  Jennifer Johnson: So we're gonna move into what I call the final four of our episode.
• 32:34
  Jennifer Johnson: I am I love doing this part because every guest that comes on my show does this.
• 32:40
  Jennifer Johnson: And I don't think there's only one time I've had the same book mentioned.
• 32:44
  Jennifer Johnson: So I'm excited to ask you these questions.
• 32:47
  Jennifer Johnson: What is your favorite book and what was it that made it stick with you?
• 32:54
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay.
• 32:55
  Jennifer Johnson: Um, you want an entrepreneur book or a personal growth?
• 32:58
  Jennifer Johnson: Doesn't matter.
• 32:59
  Jennifer Johnson: Doesn't matter.
• 33:01
  Jennifer Johnson: What is something that really resonated with you?
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: My favorite personal uh growth book, since we've talked a lot about personal brand and you needing a solid foundation, is when you're ready, this is how you heal with Brianna Weist.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: Twice.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: Twice or weist, yeah.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: I have not heard of that.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, it's my it's my favorite book recommendation.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: And what is the name again?
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: When you're ready, this is how you heal.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: So you know you asked me that question.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: What happens when you have to ask yourself, do you like you and all the variants?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: And what if the answer is no?
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: Start reading the book.
• 33:41
  Jennifer Johnson: Awesome.
• 33:42
  Jennifer Johnson: Great suggestion.
• 33:44
  Jennifer Johnson: Do you have a favorite quote or piece of advice that you find yourself coming back to time and time again?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think I'll give you the one.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_02: I I have lots of quotes and lots of sayings to kind of keep things going, but one of my favorite things is that you have to be your number one cheerleader.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's my current season.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: I used to be everyone else's number one cheerleader, and I was known for that.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when you want to talk about a bright light, it is Bijel Patel.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: What I didn't realize that that is some of my fawning trauma response is to be everyone else's cheerleader.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: So, those of you who are listening, entrepreneurs, 90% of us have some kind of trauma.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_02: We have some kind of chaos we are brought up in.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's why we're entrepreneurs.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's what makes us good.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: So, my advice to you as somebody who's doing the work and healing and doing all the great things is be your number one cheerleader.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: You're you don't become dependent on external validation to fill your cup.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: And you start to really build your self-worth by affirming yourself, by acknowledging yourself, and by validating yourself.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: That self-love you pour into you is also part two of building the do you like you?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_02: And you can look in the mirror and say, hell yes.
• 35:05
  Jennifer Johnson: I'm not perfect, but I definitely like me.
• 35:07
  Jennifer Johnson: I accept me for who I am.
• 35:09
  Jennifer Johnson: Flaws at all.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, I am who I am.
• 35:12
  Jennifer Johnson: You're flossom.
• 35:14
  Jennifer Johnson: You're flossom.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_02: Who doesn't like that?
• 35:18
  Jennifer Johnson: What habit or practice have you kind of picked up along the way that has really changed your life?
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to have so many.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: I have so many rituals.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'll give you the latest one though.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mentioned cold plunging.
• 35:40
  Jennifer Johnson: I know that's not everyone's jam, man.
• 35:41
  Jennifer Johnson: That'll make you add.
• 35:42
  Jennifer Johnson: Oh man, I don't like to be cold.
• 35:45
  Jennifer Johnson: I'm not doing that.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: It really works.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'd recommend a 10-minute walk a day in sunshine.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: Do a 10-minute walk a day.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_02: You deserve it.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_02: You deserve to be outside.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_02: It'll change you.
• 35:58
  Jennifer Johnson: And you know what?
• 35:59
  Jennifer Johnson: Sometimes when you get out of your house or out of your office, that's you know, people always say, Oh, in the shower, my ideas come.
• 36:05
  unknown: Yeah.
• 36:06
  Jennifer Johnson: And it's when you get you just get out of where you're normally at your routine, I guess.
• 36:12
  Jennifer Johnson: So that's great advice.
• 36:14
  Jennifer Johnson: Wonderful advice.
• 36:15
  Jennifer Johnson: And if you're implementing yes, easy.
• 36:18
  Jennifer Johnson: If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'd like to go back in time and have dinner with Harriet Tubman.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: I want to know.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_02: I want to know what in her soul kept her going when she didn't read one damn book about being motivating, why there wasn't one reason that she should be selected as being a heroine, why there was no reason for her to have the self-worth that was stripped of her.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_02: And she just had it in her.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: I want to, I want her energy, I want her vision, I want her loving heart despite all the trauma.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: She came back and she just took people to higher ground and not one person was lost on her watch.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: I want that maternal, magnetizing, feminine, protective, warrior-loving instinct to run through my veins.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_02: That was beautiful.
• 37:25
  Jennifer Johnson: Oh my gosh, I love that.
• 37:27
  Jennifer Johnson: Love that.
• 37:28
  Jennifer Johnson: That is that is just wonderful.
• 37:32
  Jennifer Johnson: So I'm at Queen B, as you're known, aka uh Beij Patel.
• 37:38
  Jennifer Johnson: Um I got it.
• 37:40
  Jennifer Johnson: But Queen B, if our listeners want to get a hold of you, would like you to to help them with their branding, how can they do so?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_02: You can find me on Facebook or Instagram at beijl b-j-a-l.launch, or you can check out our website, we launch.design.
• 37:59
  Jennifer Johnson: Fabulous.
• 38:00
  Jennifer Johnson: Thank you so much for being uh just a great light today.
• 38:03
  Jennifer Johnson: We talked about a lot of different topics, a lot of topics that will resonate with our listeners, not just about branding.
• 38:09
  Jennifer Johnson: And it was just a valuable conversation.
• 38:11
  Jennifer Johnson: Thank you.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: Agreed.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate it.