Latest / We Built This Brand / Building Brands That Resonate & Transform with Victory Harbin

Transcript

Building Brands That Resonate & Transform with Victory Harbin · We Built This Brand

• 0:00
  Chris Hill: Welcome to
• 0:00
  We Build This Brand.
• 0:01
  I'm your host as always, Chris
• 0:02
  Hill, and today we're talking to
• 0:05
  Victory Harbin from The Social Brand.
• 0:07
  The Social Brand was founded in 2018,
• 0:10
  and over the years, Victory has grown the
• 0:12
  business into an award winning agency.
• 0:14
  She's generated hundreds of happy
• 0:16
  customers, and she's currently
• 0:18
  thriving as a small business
• 0:19
  here in Knoxville, Tennessee.
• 0:21
  Victory is also a public speaker.
• 0:23
  She's well versed in marketing, and she
• 0:25
  holds over 30 different certifications
• 0:27
  related to social media, SEO, marketing
• 0:31
  strategy, and even website development.
• 0:33
  I've known Victory for a while
• 0:34
  now, and as you can see, we think
• 0:36
  a lot alike on different topics.
• 0:38
  Our conversation covers everything from
• 0:40
  her humble beginnings, to how she scaled
• 0:42
  her business up and then down again, as
• 0:44
  well as business strategy, and of course,
• 0:47
  we talk about branding a little bit too.
• 0:49
  So without further ado, here's
• 0:51
  my conversation with Victory
• 0:53
  Harbin from The Social Brand.
• 0:59
  Victory, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:01
  Victory Harbin: Yeah, thank you.
• 1:02
  I'm glad to be here.
• 1:03
  Chris Hill: Yeah, it's great to have
• 1:04
  you here on We Built This Brand.
• 1:06
  So today we're going to talk about
• 1:07
  your business, The Social Brand, and
• 1:10
  how you got it started and everything
• 1:13
  that The Social Brand entails.
• 1:15
  So let's, let's dive into it.
• 1:17
  I'd love to hear a little bit more
• 1:18
  about where you come from and what
• 1:20
  led you to creating this business.
• 1:23
  Victory Harbin: Yeah, so I have
• 1:25
  a very creative background, and
• 1:28
  I've always just loved creativity
• 1:32
  and finding ways to be creative.
• 1:34
  And actually, in college,
• 1:38
  I was an art degree.
• 1:39
  I was an art student, and then
• 1:42
  eventually got a degree in healthcare
• 1:45
  administration, and somehow
• 1:47
  marketing just kind of combined all
• 1:50
  the things into the perfect mix.
• 1:52
  and allows me to use my creative
• 1:56
  background as well as like the strategic
• 1:59
  administrative kind of that I have.
• 2:02
  And a lot of fun.
• 2:04
  Chris Hill: That's really cool.
• 2:05
  So coming out of school
• 2:07
  without this, wasn't your first
• 2:08
  job out of college, though?
• 2:10
  Victory Harbin: No, no, I worked
• 2:11
  in doctors offices, and I did
• 2:13
  marketing for doctor's offices for
• 2:17
  a while, several years, and then I
• 2:19
  actually helped an ex partner start
• 2:23
  another business and it business.
• 2:25
  And then we sold that business and
• 2:27
  I started the social brand in 2018.
• 2:31
  Chris Hill: That's cool.
• 2:31
  So you've already been through
• 2:32
  the cycle of starting a business,
• 2:34
  building it, and then getting it to
• 2:36
  a point where it's viable to sell.
• 2:38
  Victory Harbin: Yeah, I think that
• 2:40
  when I found entrepreneurship, I
• 2:42
  really found my calling in life
• 2:44
  because I was just like, this is it.
• 2:46
  It doesn't matter what I'm doing.
• 2:49
  I love this.
• 2:50
  And now I'm in a position.
• 2:52
  With working with other
• 2:53
  entrepreneurs where I just get to
• 2:55
  live and breathe it all the time.
• 2:57
  So I love it.
• 2:59
  Chris Hill: Yeah, it's a lot of
• 2:59
  fun getting to work and kind of run
• 3:01
  your own, manage your own destiny,
• 3:04
  run your own business and do that.
• 3:05
  So that's, that's really cool.
• 3:07
  So what led you to starting
• 3:09
  the social brand though?
• 3:10
  Like, so you've, you've got,
• 3:11
  you've sold this business.
• 3:13
  Did you just say, I want
• 3:13
  to start a new business?
• 3:14
  Was there a need in the
• 3:16
  market that you saw?
• 3:17
  What was it?
• 3:18
  Victory Harbin: Yeah, so in
• 3:19
  the first business, I wasn't
• 3:22
  Doing marketing for people.
• 3:25
  I was doing marketing
• 3:26
  for ourselves, right?
• 3:27
  And that had always been
• 3:29
  the role that I had played.
• 3:31
  You know, I would work for a doctor's
• 3:32
  office and do their marketing,
• 3:35
  or I would do the marketing
• 3:38
  for whatever place I was at.
• 3:41
  And then, as I was doing that
• 3:44
  at my first business, I started
• 3:46
  having friends approach me and say,
• 3:47
  Hey, would you help me with this?
• 3:49
  Would you help me with that?
• 3:51
  And then, actually, the Small Business
• 3:53
  Development Center, Here in Knoxville
• 3:56
  approached me and asked me to teach a
• 3:58
  class for how to use social media to
• 4:01
  grow your business and I picked up my
• 4:04
  first few clients in that class And I
• 4:09
  kind of was like, Oh, I'm now getting
• 4:11
  paid to do this for other people.
• 4:14
  And within a month of that class,
• 4:16
  I had launched the social brand.
• 4:18
  It really happened organically.
• 4:21
  And I think that's the beautiful
• 4:23
  thing about it because I never have to
• 4:26
  question, you know, if this was meant to
• 4:29
  be or if I'm supposed to be doing this
• 4:31
  because it really found me and chose me.
• 4:34
  Chris Hill: I find that's the best
• 4:35
  kind of validation in a business too
• 4:36
  when it just kind of grows organically
• 4:39
  because that's kind of how my business
• 4:41
  was really started was just people
• 4:43
  saying, Hey, I need some help.
• 4:45
  And would you help me with this?
• 4:46
  And you're like, yeah, sure.
• 4:48
  I think that's, remembering back on
• 4:50
  some of our early conversations, I
• 4:51
  think that was kind of one of the
• 4:52
  things we connected over was just,
• 4:54
  Hey, we have similar businesses,
• 4:55
  kind of similar starts and all that.
• 4:57
  So that's, that's really neat
• 4:59
  that it kind of grew from that.
• 5:00
  So when you're building a business,
• 5:02
  you're, you're talking about building
• 5:03
  a brand and you know, that brand
• 5:05
  image means a lot to the business.
• 5:06
  So why did you choose the
• 5:08
  name, The Social Brand?
• 5:10
  Victory Harbin: I think that
• 5:10
  The Social Brand has evolved.
• 5:14
  And what it means to me, because initially
• 5:18
  it meant like social media, right?
• 5:20
  And brands that were the brand
• 5:23
  that helps you be on social media.
• 5:25
  But we do a lot more than just social
• 5:27
  media now, and ultimately the social
• 5:32
  brand kind of stands for, you know,
• 5:35
  the brand that connects with people.
• 5:38
  And one of our core values at the
• 5:39
  social brand is human connection.
• 5:42
  It's in our mission statement, you
• 5:44
  know, that we exist to creatively
• 5:46
  promote human connection.
• 5:49
  And so, I just really look at
• 5:52
  marketing as a way to creatively
• 5:54
  promote human connection.
• 5:56
  We exist to help our clients
• 5:58
  connect with their customers and
• 6:01
  we get to connect with our clients.
• 6:04
  My team gets to connect with each other.
• 6:06
  Like all these relationships exist
• 6:09
  because the social brand exists.
• 6:11
  That to me is just like
• 6:13
  a really profound thing.
• 6:14
  Chris Hill: Yeah, there's
• 6:15
  a lot to unpack there.
• 6:16
  I mean, I think that that's what
• 6:17
  people are looking for in marketing
• 6:19
  today and in branding and in
• 6:21
  business really, like you're looking
• 6:23
  to deal with people like you.
• 6:24
  Can I trust these people?
• 6:25
  Do I know these people?
• 6:26
  Are they the ones that I want to talk to?
• 6:28
  And you know, can I trust them with my
• 6:30
  money to do the thing that I need them
• 6:31
  to do to help me promote my business?
• 6:33
  So I think that that's a really cool
• 6:35
  way to evolve the meaning of the
• 6:38
  name and, you know, continue to.
• 6:40
  Make your brand relevant, so to speak.
• 6:42
  So, it's really neat.
• 6:43
  Victory Harbin: And I think that,
• 6:45
  you know, I've had advisors tell me
• 6:46
  like, Oh, you've outgrown your name.
• 6:48
  You've, you should consider renaming.
• 6:50
  And, but it's just like, I don't think so.
• 6:53
  I think that it's, you
• 6:55
  know, it's evolved with us.
• 6:56
  And social media is part of what we do.
• 6:59
  It's part of our history.
• 7:00
  But I think social means so much more than
• 7:03
  just Facebook and Instagram and TikTok.
• 7:06
  Chris Hill: And that's, that's
• 7:06
  an interesting point, like having
• 7:08
  people pushing you to change the
• 7:10
  name and rebrand and all that.
• 7:12
  I mean, it sounds like your messaging,
• 7:13
  though, is really where you're
• 7:14
  changing and updating the importance
• 7:17
  of what the name or the relevancy
• 7:19
  of what the brand name means.
• 7:20
  So that's a really cool approach.
• 7:22
  Victory Harbin: Yeah, I think that I
• 7:24
  look at brands like Google and Coca
• 7:27
  Cola and Pepsi and Apple, Amazon,
• 7:31
  you know, those names don't mean
• 7:34
  anything except for because they
• 7:36
  chose to make it mean something.
• 7:39
  So I really think that
• 7:41
  the name is important.
• 7:42
  It's kind of irrelevant, you know,
• 7:45
  it's like, what does Google mean?
• 7:47
  It's like a nonsensical word.
• 7:49
  I'm just saying like before Google
• 7:51
  made Googling a thing, it was just
• 7:54
  a sound and now it means so much.
• 7:56
  It's a verb and it's a whole way of life.
• 8:00
  So I don't know, I think that that's
• 8:03
  something that I talk to even my
• 8:04
  clients about is creating a brand.
• 8:08
  That can become a verb,
• 8:11
  you know, Facebook.
• 8:12
  I'm going to Facebook that.
• 8:13
  Chris Hill: I mean, that means a lot
• 8:15
  when your business gets to that place.
• 8:17
  I mean, that kind of dives into
• 8:19
  positioning and how your brand is
• 8:20
  positioned because when you're positioned
• 8:22
  at the top of your market, Like, your
• 8:25
  name is synonymous with the action.
• 8:27
  And so, you know, you Google it.
• 8:29
  You might Xerox.
• 8:30
  Even today, some people still say,
• 8:32
  I'm going to go Xerox something.
• 8:33
  I mean, you don't hear
• 8:34
  it too often anymore.
• 8:35
  But, you know, for a long time
• 8:37
  growing up, I can remember people
• 8:39
  saying, Yeah, let's go Xerox that.
• 8:40
  And it was like, Oh, yeah, go run a copy.
• 8:42
  Like, that's all that
• 8:43
  meant back in the day.
• 8:44
  And yeah, Googling it, same thing.
• 8:46
  Just, yeah, so that's, that's really neat.
• 8:48
  So, have you had any businesses
• 8:49
  that have gotten to the point where
• 8:50
  they're, they're becoming a verb?
• 8:52
  Victory Harbin: Yeah.
• 8:52
  I think that I have businesses that
• 8:55
  have become verbs in their own way.
• 8:59
  And I think that's another, another
• 9:01
  really important thing is that I
• 9:03
  work with a lot of people who truly
• 9:06
  don't have goals around their brand.
• 9:09
  Goal setting is another thing that I spend
• 9:11
  a ton of time talking to people about.
• 9:13
  I can nerd out about it all day long.
• 9:16
  And you have to decide, well, what do you
• 9:19
  want your brand to be synonymous with?
• 9:22
  And so, you know, I, I have one particular
• 9:25
  brand that I can think of and their
• 9:27
  ultimate goal is to be like a family.
• 9:30
  And when you read their hundreds and
• 9:32
  hundreds of reviews, it's repeated
• 9:34
  over and over and over again.
• 9:36
  So I would say, yeah, they're verbing
• 9:39
  it, you know, like they're living
• 9:41
  it, they're living and breathing it.
• 9:43
  And they're hearing it
• 9:45
  back from their customers.
• 9:46
  It's all over their social, it's
• 9:48
  in all the feedback they get.
• 9:50
  So, I would say that anytime you're
• 9:52
  living out your values like that,
• 9:54
  you're on your way to success.
• 9:56
  Chris Hill: Yeah.
• 9:57
  Absolutely.
• 9:57
  When, when it's proven in the clients
• 9:59
  that you have, I think that's a
• 10:00
  good, that's a good way to put it.
• 10:02
  So, you do social media.
• 10:04
  What else does your business offer?
• 10:05
  Tell me a little bit more about the
• 10:07
  specifics of what the social brand does.
• 10:09
  Victory Harbin: We do marketing and we, we
• 10:11
  say that we do strategy first marketing.
• 10:14
  So, everything.
• 10:16
  that we do in the social brand
• 10:18
  really comes down to having a
• 10:21
  really solid strategy in place.
• 10:24
  that's based on data and based
• 10:26
  on validating theories before
• 10:29
  we put dollars behind them.
• 10:31
  When it comes down to implementation,
• 10:34
  we're capable of doing most of the
• 10:37
  marketing implementation that your
• 10:40
  average service based small business has.
• 10:43
  And when it's not something that
• 10:45
  we're super great at, We have a lot
• 10:48
  of partners that we can pull in.
• 10:50
  So we can, you know, do everything from
• 10:54
  branding and websites and SEO, Google ads.
• 10:59
  Right now we're building a web app.
• 11:01
  So there's, you know, just some crazy
• 11:05
  fun experiences that I've gotten to have.
• 11:08
  But those all come out of the strategy.
• 11:10
  It's not just, I need social media.
• 11:13
  Well, some businesses
• 11:14
  don't need social media.
• 11:16
  And We really want to make sure that
• 11:18
  we validated that you're going to see
• 11:21
  the results that your business needs
• 11:23
  before you start investing in that.
• 11:26
  Just like podcasting.
• 11:28
  It's not right for every single business.
• 11:30
  Chris Hill: Oh, no, no, no.
• 11:31
  Listeners don't, don't hear that.
• 11:32
  It's for everybody.
• 11:34
  No, I'm kidding.
• 11:36
  You're, you're, you're,
• 11:36
  you're exactly right.
• 11:38
  You're, you're, you can edit that out.
• 11:41
  No, I'm, I'm, I'm with you though.
• 11:43
  Like you're, you're right.
• 11:43
  It's not for everybody and I
• 11:45
  don't purport to be for everybody.
• 11:46
  So I, yeah, I totally
• 11:48
  get what you're saying.
• 11:49
  Victory Harbin: Yeah.
• 11:49
  And I think that's one of the reasons
• 11:50
  why like you and I have connected
• 11:53
  so much over the time that we've
• 11:54
  known each other is because we both
• 11:56
  have a very clear understanding of
• 11:59
  who our client is and who it isn't.
• 12:01
  And so it's so easy to talk to your
• 12:04
  customer when you know who they are.
• 12:07
  But when you don't, and you're
• 12:09
  just like, swayed by any idea that
• 12:12
  comes to you, it's very difficult
• 12:15
  to get the results that you need.
• 12:17
  So that's why we always start with
• 12:18
  strategy, because part of that strategy
• 12:20
  is defining who is your audience?
• 12:23
  Where are they?
• 12:24
  What do they need?
• 12:25
  What do they want from you?
• 12:27
  What's the experience they're
• 12:28
  looking for from your brand
• 12:29
  and how do we provide that?
• 12:31
  Chris Hill: Do you have a certain
• 12:32
  methodology or approach that you follow
• 12:34
  when it comes to your strategy sessions?
• 12:37
  And, you know, I'm always curious like
• 12:39
  what people draw from when they say,
• 12:40
  Hey, we're going to do strategy first.
• 12:43
  Victory Harbin: We do just a
• 12:45
  three week kind of process.
• 12:48
  of getting to know brands, getting
• 12:51
  to know their goals, their audience.
• 12:54
  We also have that methodology
• 12:57
  on our website as a free mini
• 12:59
  course that people can take.
• 13:00
  You know, we always make sure that
• 13:02
  people know, like, this is something
• 13:04
  that we can do for you, or this is
• 13:07
  something that you can do yourself.
• 13:11
  Regardless of who does the marketing plan,
• 13:13
  it's just important that we have one.
• 13:15
  And that we're not just randomly picking
• 13:18
  a list of services to start doing.
• 13:22
  Chris Hill: Yeah, they don't
• 13:22
  come to you and order off a menu.
• 13:24
  You start with the strategy
• 13:25
  and execute based on that.
• 13:27
  Victory Harbin: And the strategy
• 13:28
  needs to be very well grounded in data
• 13:32
  and not just, because I see people
• 13:34
  saying, Oh, this is my strategy.
• 13:37
  And even their strategy is an opinion.
• 13:40
  It's not even an educated guess.
• 13:41
  It's just a guess.
• 13:42
  Yeah.
• 13:43
  And I'm like, okay, let's back up here
• 13:47
  and define what strategy actually is.
• 13:50
  Chris Hill: I feel like this comes up
• 13:51
  almost every episode now, but I definitely
• 13:53
  have had the clients that like just
• 13:55
  want to go viral or want their content
• 13:57
  to just be the biggest thing out there.
• 13:58
  And I'm like, you may not need that.
• 14:00
  That may not be the best objective
• 14:02
  for you, but yeah, everybody has that.
• 14:04
  Or not everybody, but often you
• 14:06
  run into those folks that just like
• 14:08
  have no idea exactly what they want.
• 14:10
  They just want success.
• 14:11
  They want something to.
• 14:12
  Be successful.
• 14:13
  And so they'll keep trying anything as
• 14:16
  long as they see it and it gets exciting.
• 14:17
  And if it's new and shiny,
• 14:18
  sometimes you see them chase
• 14:20
  that down and go do that instead.
• 14:22
  So that's definitely,
• 14:24
  definitely good to hear.
• 14:25
  You're starting with that
• 14:26
  strategy approach first.
• 14:28
  Is there like an author or You
• 14:31
  know, framework or something.
• 14:32
  You mentioned a class, which
• 14:33
  we'll definitely make sure
• 14:34
  to link to in the show notes.
• 14:36
  Um, cause it's free on your website.
• 14:37
  So we'd love to have
• 14:38
  people check that out.
• 14:39
  But like, is there, is there an author
• 14:41
  or somebody, I'm just really curious.
• 14:42
  I'm, I'm a bit of a strategy nerd.
• 14:44
  Victory Harbin: I think
• 14:45
  that Donald Miller.
• 14:47
  I'm reading another Donald
• 14:49
  Miller book right now.
• 14:51
  Donald Miller has so much to say
• 14:54
  about really knowing your customer.
• 14:57
  And I think the biggest takeaway
• 14:59
  that I've had from Donald Miller is
• 15:03
  that you don't need to be the hero
• 15:05
  of the story that your brand tells.
• 15:09
  Your customer needs to be the
• 15:10
  hero and you're the guide.
• 15:13
  And just to go kind of back to
• 15:15
  something that you mentioned,
• 15:17
  like what does success look like?
• 15:19
  I think that's so important.
• 15:22
  That's the first step of
• 15:24
  defining what your goals are.
• 15:26
  You, as a business owner, have
• 15:29
  to know what success looks like.
• 15:31
  And success, Can't just
• 15:33
  be a dollar amount.
• 15:35
  Success truly is so much more than having
• 15:39
  a certain number of dollars in your
• 15:41
  bank account or making a certain amount
• 15:44
  every year or winning a certain award.
• 15:47
  I was talking to like a really good
• 15:49
  friend of mine who is a business
• 15:52
  owner, and he's had this long time
• 15:54
  goal of winning a certain award.
• 15:56
  And recently, he's kind of come to the
• 16:00
  point where he's realizing like, maybe
• 16:02
  that's not where the world is taking him
• 16:04
  right now at this point in his journey.
• 16:07
  And so how does he find success?
• 16:10
  even though that award doesn't
• 16:12
  look like it's in his near future.
• 16:14
  And you know what?
• 16:16
  He came to the point where he realized,
• 16:18
  no, success through my business is
• 16:20
  going to look like being present for my
• 16:22
  daughter and being a good husband and
• 16:26
  being present in my relationships and
• 16:28
  being able to afford to do X, Y, and
• 16:30
  Z and serving my clients in this way.
• 16:32
  You know, when we know that success looks
• 16:36
  like that, Then our strategy can answer or
• 16:39
  solve for how to accomplish those things.
• 16:43
  And I think Donald Miller does a
• 16:46
  really good job of taking the ego
• 16:49
  out of being a business owner and
• 16:51
  remind you that like, you're the
• 16:53
  secondary character in these stories.
• 16:56
  You're here solving their problems.
• 16:59
  And when you can totally, like,
• 17:01
  deeply grasp that and understand that,
• 17:04
  it's like, there's no ego in this.
• 17:07
  Like, we're working really, really
• 17:09
  hard to solve other people's
• 17:10
  problems, and we're blessed to do it.
• 17:14
  It's just this feeling of like, Gratitude
• 17:17
  versus like, I'm the most powerful,
• 17:20
  you know, I don't know, it's just,
• 17:22
  it was a real mindset shift for me.
• 17:24
  Chris Hill: I mean, I've read some
• 17:25
  of Donna Miller's works, you know,
• 17:27
  I've read the, the story brand book
• 17:28
  as I think a lot of people have and,
• 17:31
  um, so I can speak to some of that.
• 17:33
  And yeah, I, I think, I think
• 17:34
  it is about making them,
• 17:36
  especially in service oriented
• 17:37
  businesses anyway, like, you know.
• 17:39
  Producing podcasts or
• 17:41
  helping with social media.
• 17:42
  Like there's an element of that
• 17:43
  where it really isn't about me.
• 17:45
  It's like, how can we help you?
• 17:47
  And so having that, that human focus,
• 17:49
  if you will, and really focusing
• 17:51
  on person on that, you know, on
• 17:53
  that client and helping them first.
• 17:54
  Like I always think that's the better
• 17:56
  road to take when, when you're working on
• 17:58
  anything is serving the customer first.
• 18:00
  So, you know, my dad always used to
• 18:01
  say the customer's not always right.
• 18:03
  But they're always served.
• 18:05
  And I think, you know, as we go, as we go
• 18:08
  through things, you know, that's, that's a
• 18:10
  good lesson that I've taken on my journey.
• 18:12
  It's just, you know, okay, well,
• 18:14
  you know, now I'm going to guide
• 18:15
  them and I'm going to consult them.
• 18:16
  But at the end of the day, like
• 18:17
  I still have to serve them.
• 18:19
  And then, you know, if they think
• 18:21
  about that way for their clients,
• 18:22
  and if we can impart some of that
• 18:23
  on them, like I think over the long
• 18:25
  run, that's a good place to be.
• 18:27
  Victory Harbin: And I think true
• 18:28
  success comes out of not pretending
• 18:31
  like you're the guide, but like actually
• 18:33
  believing that you're the guide.
• 18:34
  And that comes from an authentic place.
• 18:37
  You find joy in playing that role.
• 18:40
  That's where success really
• 18:43
  comes is like, you love your job.
• 18:46
  It's rewarding.
• 18:47
  You love what you do.
• 18:48
  You spend your time doing things
• 18:51
  that fill your cup, you know?
• 18:54
  Chris Hill: I think, especially for
• 18:55
  small business owners like us, like
• 18:58
  being an entrepreneur, like there's
• 18:59
  a bit of what I call founder magic.
• 19:01
  in the business where you're just
• 19:04
  like, I'm the one who could do this
• 19:06
  better than anyone else because
• 19:07
  I'm the most passionate about it.
• 19:08
  I'm the one who realizes I'm
• 19:10
  the guide and all this stuff.
• 19:11
  And I'm not saying it in an arrogant
• 19:12
  way, but it is something that you
• 19:14
  realize over time of like, you've got
• 19:17
  the ability to Impact other people and
• 19:20
  the business in a way that others can't
• 19:22
  just because you know it inside and out.
• 19:24
  You also have control over the
• 19:25
  business, which helps a lot.
• 19:27
  Um, so, you know, employees have to go,
• 19:30
  well, let me check with my boss a lot
• 19:31
  of times before they make decisions.
• 19:33
  And sometimes you could just fire
• 19:34
  from the hip, but in reality,
• 19:35
  like, I think that, yeah, that's a
• 19:37
  really cool part about owning the
• 19:38
  business in that regard, but yeah.
• 19:40
  So from there, like, then as you
• 19:42
  grow the business, cause it's not
• 19:43
  just you anymore, how many people
• 19:45
  are at the social brand right now?
• 19:47
  Victory Harbin: So we have seven
• 19:49
  full time employees right now.
• 19:51
  So
• 19:51
  Chris Hill: that's really cool.
• 19:52
  So how do you, how have you
• 19:54
  approached scaling the business then?
• 19:57
  Because that's another place that
• 19:58
  you become very humble very quickly.
• 20:00
  Victory Harbin: Oh, yeah.
• 20:01
  I scaled my business the
• 20:04
  total wrong way during COVID.
• 20:08
  Because everybody and their brother
• 20:09
  needed to get their business online.
• 20:11
  And I was like, it's now or
• 20:14
  never, baby, I'm doing this.
• 20:17
  And I got up to 22 employees.
• 20:19
  I was miserable.
• 20:21
  I was just like anxious and
• 20:23
  struggling personally and, and my
• 20:26
  employees were miserable, right?
• 20:28
  They, it wasn't fun to work for me.
• 20:30
  I was not a good leader and I
• 20:32
  was not a good, a good boss.
• 20:34
  Like I just, I wasn't ready for it.
• 20:36
  I bit off more than I could chew.
• 20:38
  But what I've done is I've really
• 20:41
  slowed down and I control the pace now.
• 20:44
  Sometimes that means saying no to
• 20:46
  things, but I really want to say yes
• 20:48
  to because I can see the dollar signs.
• 20:51
  Is it gonna help me accomplish
• 20:54
  success the way that I define success?
• 20:58
  And I've really defined success
• 21:00
  for me personally as having
• 21:03
  really strong relationships.
• 21:05
  And so I apply that to my clients,
• 21:08
  I apply that to my team, I
• 21:10
  apply that in my personal life.
• 21:13
  So saying yes to something threatens
• 21:16
  any of those three domains,
• 21:18
  then it's a hard no for me.
• 21:20
  So if it means less time with my
• 21:21
  family, if it means that I'm not going
• 21:25
  to have a good relationship with this
• 21:26
  client because we have different views
• 21:28
  on things, they're not a good fit.
• 21:31
  If it means that it's going to put stress
• 21:34
  on my team or make them miss time with
• 21:37
  their families, again, it's a hard pass.
• 21:40
  So I think the key to success
• 21:43
  for me when it comes to scaling
• 21:46
  is that there's a lot of no's.
• 21:49
  that have to be said.
• 21:50
  Slow and steady wins the race.
• 21:53
  There's a lot of businesses that scale
• 21:56
  really fast and get to thousands and
• 22:00
  thousands of employees and then have
• 22:02
  to do layoffs or declare bankruptcy
• 22:05
  or go out of business or whatever.
• 22:07
  Like I don't want the fast growth.
• 22:11
  I want the sustainable growth.
• 22:13
  And I also want the growth that
• 22:15
  gives me the lifestyle that I need
• 22:18
  to be a healthy, happy person.
• 22:20
  And for me, sometimes that means
• 22:24
  having a lower income and a slower pace
• 22:27
  because I'm a single lady in the city.
• 22:31
  I don't need that much.
• 22:33
  It's me and my dog.
• 22:34
  I live with my sisters.
• 22:36
  You know, my life is simple and I've
• 22:38
  designed it that way on purpose.
• 22:41
  Because I'm happiest that way.
• 22:44
  So I need a business that supports that.
• 22:48
  So a lot of people who are like
• 22:51
  deep in the trenches of growing
• 22:52
  a business struggle with that.
• 22:55
  And I think if I would hear myself
• 22:58
  talking two years ago, I'd be like,
• 23:00
  Oh, that's, I would probably have some
• 23:02
  really strong things to say about it.
• 23:04
  You know what?
• 23:06
  It's about peace for me.
• 23:07
  As growth is sustainable and doesn't
• 23:10
  add stress to my life, I'll do it.
• 23:13
  So I think another Donald Miller quote
• 23:17
  here is that I'm right now I'm reading
• 23:21
  Business Made Simple by Donald Miller,
• 23:23
  which is a great book, by the way.
• 23:25
  It's set up where you read like a
• 23:27
  little piece of a chapter every day.
• 23:29
  And his whole thing is that.
• 23:31
  A business is like an airplane, right?
• 23:34
  And so anytime you make a decision
• 23:37
  that's not propelling your business
• 23:39
  forward, then it's dragging it down.
• 23:42
  I've been just thinking about that a lot.
• 23:44
  Like, if it's not propelling your
• 23:46
  business forward, it's dragging it down.
• 23:49
  You can apply that idea to a lot of
• 23:51
  different kind of decisions that you
• 23:53
  get faced with as a business owner.
• 23:55
  Chris Hill: Lots to unpack there.
• 23:57
  So, I think that being selective
• 24:00
  in the business is hard.
• 24:01
  I mean, I will admit, like, it's
• 24:03
  hard for me to say no to things.
• 24:04
  It's, if we have an opportunity
• 24:06
  to do it, we'll do it.
• 24:07
  In fact, I'll, I'll share one with you
• 24:09
  that was a huge mistake, um, because I
• 24:11
  don't think I'm under an NDA for this.
• 24:13
  If we do, we'll cut it out later.
• 24:17
  Um, but we were hired, um, we were
• 24:20
  hired by a company right when my second
• 24:22
  daughter was born and some of this is
• 24:24
  like there's founder magic and then
• 24:25
  there's what I call parent or dad magic
• 24:28
  where, um, there's something about having
• 24:30
  a child that just propels you forward.
• 24:32
  In a weird way, it's like, I don't
• 24:35
  know if it's like chemical or
• 24:36
  biological or just like emotional,
• 24:39
  but something as a dad just makes me
• 24:41
  go, I need to provide for my family.
• 24:43
  So I'm going to go out there
• 24:44
  and, um, I'm going to go and
• 24:47
  hire like, or I'm not hire.
• 24:49
  I'm going to go do whatever it needs
• 24:50
  to be done to make this business work.
• 24:53
  And right after the birth of my
• 24:54
  daughter, while I was on paternity leave.
• 24:57
  I got an opportunity to
• 24:59
  work a live stream project.
• 25:01
  So this is right, kind of early,
• 25:04
  like late, late COVID time.
• 25:05
  So like 2021 or so, it was one of those
• 25:07
  opportunities to like really come in
• 25:09
  and do a cool live stream project.
• 25:12
  And it ended up being with the NFL.
• 25:14
  Victory Harbin: That would
• 25:15
  be a hard one to say no to.
• 25:17
  Chris Hill: Right?
• 25:17
  The pay was good.
• 25:18
  I'm sitting here looking at
• 25:19
  medical bills and family stuff and
• 25:21
  I'm just like, I, we need this.
• 25:23
  Even though I should have said no,
• 25:25
  I, my gut was like, we need this.
• 25:27
  I can do it on my own.
• 25:29
  I've just got to pay one other guy to
• 25:31
  come in and help me with the production
• 25:33
  and, and we'll be able to handle it.
• 25:36
  You know, I've got a gig
• 25:37
  internet connection here.
• 25:37
  What's the worst that could happen?
• 25:40
  And the worst happened.
• 25:41
  The day of the stream, the,
• 25:43
  the MC's feed crashed on us
• 25:47
  during the start of the stream.
• 25:49
  Uh, the screen went black.
• 25:50
  It defaulted to another camera.
• 25:52
  I didn't expect it.
• 25:53
  And I, I said some choice words
• 25:56
  because I was surprised and
• 25:57
  didn't realize I was on a hot mic.
• 25:59
  It was embarrassing.
• 26:00
  And it was like, oh gosh.
• 26:02
  Um, and then we got it all up.
• 26:03
  It happened really quick.
• 26:04
  Nobody saw it.
• 26:04
  It was like at the very
• 26:05
  beginning of the stream.
• 26:06
  Like happened really quick and
• 26:07
  we got it subsequently done.
• 26:08
  But.
• 26:09
  You know, that didn't end up, you
• 26:11
  know, going the way I had hoped at all.
• 26:13
  And I, I learned the very, the
• 26:16
  very important lesson of like,
• 26:17
  you shouldn't take everything that
• 26:19
  comes along just because it's money.
• 26:21
  Like there's some things
• 26:22
  you need to hand off.
• 26:23
  There's some things you should
• 26:24
  just say no to because you're
• 26:25
  not equipped to handle them.
• 26:26
  And we, the rest of the stream was fine.
• 26:28
  Nobody had any trouble
• 26:29
  the rest of the time.
• 26:30
  We got the production done.
• 26:31
  It was great.
• 26:31
  But man, that was such an embarrassing and
• 26:33
  powerful lesson because on top of that,
• 26:35
  I'm, I'm like layered with the shame of
• 26:37
  like, I took time away from family, you
• 26:39
  know, right after my daughter was born.
• 26:41
  And I put a lot of effort into
• 26:44
  this happening and it took up more
• 26:45
  time than I anticipated, of course.
• 26:47
  And it ate up a lot of production
• 26:49
  time, ate up company time.
• 26:50
  And it was just, um, it
• 26:52
  was just a huge stressor.
• 26:53
  So I feel you when it comes to
• 26:56
  that, that decision making challenge
• 26:59
  of how do you scale and how do
• 27:00
  you grow appropriately, but.
• 27:02
  Victory Harbin: Yeah.
• 27:03
  And stress is a denominator.
• 27:06
  that affects everything.
• 27:08
  Stress decreases your productivity,
• 27:11
  it decreases your joy, it decreases
• 27:15
  everything that we need to thrive.
• 27:18
  So stress is a huge factor, you know,
• 27:21
  it increases turnover with your team,
• 27:24
  like it, it's just everything bad
• 27:27
  that we don't want in our businesses
• 27:29
  comes when we introduce more stress.
• 27:33
  And so that's a huge one
• 27:34
  to really pay attention to.
• 27:36
  Chris Hill: I feel like I'm
• 27:36
  still learning that lesson.
• 27:38
  Victory Harbin: I'm still
• 27:39
  learning that lesson.
• 27:40
  It's hard.
• 27:42
  Chris Hill: You never know when like
• 27:43
  that next client is going to be the
• 27:44
  lever that just makes it so much more
• 27:46
  chaotic for the team and it's like,
• 27:48
  oh gosh, didn't expect this coming.
• 27:50
  Yeah, that's, that's great.
• 27:52
  What have you learned about branding
• 27:54
  in building your own business?
• 27:56
  I mean, branding, of course,
• 27:57
  is the name of the podcast.
• 27:58
  You have social brand
• 27:59
  in your business name.
• 28:01
  Tell me, what have you learned
• 28:03
  about branding in all these years?
• 28:05
  Victory Harbin: I think that it
• 28:06
  was Maybe a Seth Godin quote.
• 28:09
  I could be wrong on that.
• 28:11
  But I think it's a Seth Godin quote that
• 28:14
  basically says, Brand is the perception
• 28:18
  of your business in your customer's mind.
• 28:21
  And when I first read that, I
• 28:24
  was writing a branding course.
• 28:26
  And I was like, Oh, that's stupid.
• 28:29
  Like I just, I didn't like it
• 28:31
  because I couldn't control it.
• 28:33
  And as a marketer, I'm like, Oh no, we
• 28:38
  have to, we have to control it, you know?
• 28:41
  And that is it.
• 28:43
  Like I always come back
• 28:45
  to that for years now.
• 28:47
  I've come back to that.
• 28:48
  And branding really is.
• 28:51
  Just like that business I was
• 28:52
  talking about who treats their, you
• 28:54
  know, their customers like family.
• 28:56
  That is their brand.
• 28:58
  Their brand is how they treat
• 29:00
  people and the sum of their reviews
• 29:05
  and how people talk about them
• 29:07
  when they're not in the room.
• 29:09
  So brand is so much more
• 29:11
  impactful than a logo.
• 29:14
  You can have a brand
• 29:15
  and never design a logo.
• 29:17
  You can have a brand and never
• 29:19
  have a website, which as a
• 29:20
  marketer, is like mind boggling.
• 29:23
  I'm like, you mean you don't need
• 29:25
  a style guide with typography
• 29:28
  and, you know, but you don't.
• 29:31
  Because brand is is like an intangible
• 29:35
  and you have to like come to peace
• 29:39
  with that, I think, to be good at
• 29:41
  marketing because like in marketing
• 29:44
  we're striving to control things
• 29:47
  that we really don't have control of.
• 29:49
  We're trying, we're striving
• 29:51
  to affect how people perceive.
• 29:54
  And we're striving to affect
• 29:57
  their decision to buy or not buy.
• 29:59
  And it's really just all about, again,
• 30:02
  trying to control things that we
• 30:03
  ultimately don't have complete power over.
• 30:06
  In order to be good at marketing,
• 30:08
  you have to just like come to peace
• 30:10
  with the fact that you're not going
• 30:11
  to have control over everything.
• 30:13
  And Just enjoy the ride.
• 30:17
  Chris Hill: Yeah, that's one of the
• 30:18
  daunting things about it, isn't it?
• 30:20
  You know, you could, someone,
• 30:21
  someone could adversely affect your
• 30:22
  brand without your control or, you
• 30:25
  know, people may tell you what your
• 30:26
  brand is and you may not even know.
• 30:28
  I mean, that's probably part of the
• 30:29
  reason why you start with strategies.
• 30:31
  You want to hear from the
• 30:33
  person's audience what they say
• 30:34
  about that brand to begin with.
• 30:36
  Because, yeah, they may
• 30:37
  have a different perception.
• 30:39
  Then you even perceive your own
• 30:40
  business and that could be a challenge.
• 30:42
  If you don't realize your customers think
• 30:44
  of you one way and you think of yourself
• 30:45
  another, it's, you know, just like it
• 30:47
  would be if your personal identity was one
• 30:49
  way and people were like, Oh, are they?
• 30:51
  Oh, I always thought of them as this.
• 30:53
  It's like, Oh no, no, no, no.
• 30:54
  This is what they do.
• 30:55
  Oh, really?
• 30:56
  That means there's a misalignment
• 30:57
  there that has to be fixed, but
• 30:58
  that's what you're good for.
• 30:59
  And that's what social brand helps with.
• 31:01
  So what's top of mind in
• 31:02
  your industry right now?
• 31:04
  Victory Harbin: I think AI is like
• 31:05
  the big shiny thing right now.
• 31:07
  I think AI is the shiny thing
• 31:10
  in all industries right now.
• 31:12
  And AI is like the coolest thing ever.
• 31:14
  So I think that it's a beautiful tool
• 31:19
  that if used ethically, And honestly can
• 31:24
  empower us to be a lot more impactful.
• 31:27
  I think that AI is also dangerous
• 31:29
  because it empowers the lazy in us.
• 31:32
  And it makes it really easy to
• 31:35
  be like, I'm going to check out
• 31:37
  of my marketing and just use AI.
• 31:40
  And Marketing is literally the
• 31:43
  engine driving your business forward.
• 31:46
  So being hands off on your marketing is a
• 31:49
  really dangerous place to put yourself in.
• 31:52
  Chris Hill: I definitely, I
• 31:52
  mean, we see it in what we do.
• 31:55
  AI has been used in podcasting for ages
• 31:58
  through different software and things
• 32:00
  like that that manages production.
• 32:01
  Editing tools and things like that.
• 32:03
  So in some ways, it's not new,
• 32:06
  but in other ways, like in the,
• 32:07
  in the sense we're talking about
• 32:08
  now, which is the generative AI.
• 32:10
  Yeah.
• 32:10
  There's a lot of push for people
• 32:12
  to just be like, well, why
• 32:13
  can't we just run it through AI?
• 32:15
  And okay, fine.
• 32:17
  But you're not going
• 32:17
  to get the same result.
• 32:18
  Like you'd still need a
• 32:20
  human to look over it.
• 32:20
  You still need.
• 32:22
  Human to address that and you're right,
• 32:23
  like people will get lazy and just
• 32:25
  think that I can have a computer do it.
• 32:26
  We've even had that said about
• 32:27
  podcasting, you know, Oh, we'll
• 32:29
  just run it through an AI machine
• 32:31
  and it'll make our podcast perfect.
• 32:32
  And I mean, there's a lot of cool tools
• 32:35
  out there that can speed up the process,
• 32:37
  make things a little easier, but there's
• 32:39
  still a lot of technical stuff to be done.
• 32:41
  It's still not to a
• 32:42
  place where you can just.
• 32:43
  dumped something in, and it comes out
• 32:44
  the other side magically complete.
• 32:46
  So, and with the marketing
• 32:48
  side, especially, I hear you.
• 32:49
  Well, Victorie, as we wrap up, I
• 32:51
  just wanted to ask you just a couple
• 32:53
  less questions before we're done.
• 32:55
  And the one I always like to ask at
• 32:56
  the end of every interview is what
• 32:57
  brand do you admire the most right now?
• 32:59
  Victory Harbin: My most
• 33:00
  admired brand right now, it's
• 33:03
  probably either Marie Forleo.
• 33:05
  Or Jenna Kutcher.
• 33:08
  Chris Hill: I don't know either of
• 33:09
  those brands, so please tell me more.
• 33:11
  Victory Harbin: Both of them are
• 33:13
  women who are killing it and just
• 33:15
  being like their authentic self.
• 33:18
  Both of them empower other
• 33:21
  women through their brands.
• 33:22
  And that's something that's really
• 33:23
  important to me as a business
• 33:25
  owner is just like, Empowering
• 33:28
  other people who look like me.
• 33:30
  You should definitely
• 33:30
  look at both of them.
• 33:31
  Marie Forleo and Jenna Kutcher.
• 33:34
  Chris Hill: And what, what do they do?
• 33:34
  Are they just influencers?
• 33:36
  Are they, what brand do they have?
• 33:37
  Victory Harbin: They're
• 33:37
  more like educators.
• 33:39
  I'm like Jenna Kutcher has a bunch
• 33:40
  of marketing courses that teaches you
• 33:44
  how to use social media and email.
• 33:46
  And she was really good for me when I
• 33:48
  was just kind of getting my feet wet.
• 33:50
  And Marie Forleo really teaches
• 33:54
  people how to build their business.
• 33:56
  through not just marketing, but
• 33:58
  other, other methodologies as well.
• 34:01
  And she wrote a book called
• 34:03
  Everything is Figureoutable.
• 34:05
  Great book.
• 34:06
  I
• 34:07
  Chris Hill: love the name of that.
• 34:09
  Everything is figureoutable.
• 34:10
  Okay.
• 34:11
  Well, that's, that's really cool.
• 34:13
  Normally we get like Apple or
• 34:15
  Ferrari or something like that.
• 34:16
  So this is, this is different.
• 34:18
  I like it.
• 34:19
  And yeah, they're definitely people that
• 34:20
  like, I mean, people are brands too.
• 34:22
  I mean, they're your personal brand
• 34:23
  is just as important as, um, as your
• 34:25
  business brand in this day and age,
• 34:27
  especially as you know, as you said
• 34:29
  earlier, like talking about Donald
• 34:30
  Miller and talking about how as a
• 34:32
  guide, you want to be known as the
• 34:34
  guide and that's what you love doing.
• 34:36
  Like, I think part of that becomes
• 34:38
  like your personal brand and that's how
• 34:40
  you get known and grow a lot of times.
• 34:42
  So, um, all right.
• 34:44
  So last question, where can
• 34:45
  people connect with you?
• 34:46
  Where can people find out
• 34:47
  more about the social brand?
• 34:48
  Victory Harbin: www.
• 34:52
  thesocialbrandtn, like tennessee.
• 34:53
  com.
• 34:54
  That's the best way to learn all about us.
• 34:57
  Chris Hill: Very cool.
• 34:58
  And if people want to get in touch
• 34:59
  directly with you, do you have social
• 35:01
  media or anything where you want
• 35:02
  people to get in touch with you or?
• 35:04
  Victory Harbin: Yeah, LinkedIn.
• 35:05
  I'm just Victory Harbin on LinkedIn.
• 35:08
  And Uh, I will say that you have
• 35:11
  to mention something about this
• 35:13
  podcast for me to like respond
• 35:15
  to you because I'm not a fringe
• 35:19
  strangers kind of girl on LinkedIn.
• 35:22
  So, if you mention this podcast
• 35:24
  though, I'll definitely.
• 35:26
  Accept your friend request.
• 35:28
  Chris Hill: Awesome.
• 35:29
  So noted.
• 35:30
  And for those who are interested in
• 35:32
  connecting with Victory, you tell her
• 35:34
  that you've listened to the podcast.
• 35:36
  Well, great.
• 35:36
  Well, Victory, thank you
• 35:37
  so much for coming on.
• 35:38
  We Built This Brand.
• 35:39
  I've really enjoyed having you on today.
• 35:41
  Victory Harbin: Yeah.
• 35:41
  Thanks for having me, Chris.
• 35:43
  I really enjoyed being here.