Building an authentic brand begins with being authentically you [Lessons Learned #2]

If you’ve been with me for a while now, you’ve probably heard my story that I’m the daughter of entrepreneurs, and that I formerly had a steady and lucrative career as a Senior Economist for the federal government.

As a child, I bore witness to my father giving up his stable 9-to-5 to pursue his lifelong dream to become an Innkeeper. This absolutely cleared the path for me to believe it was possible for me to pursue my dreams too. (I cannot overemphasize enough that by following our own dreams, we give permission for others to do the same.)

Learning how to be authentically YOU in your business is a key ingredient for success.

Embracing all of who I am, both as an economist and gregarious adventure seeker, have been essential to building an authentic brand for myself.

The result has been both a combination of systems and processes which make my business work for me along with providing me outlets to get my needs for adventure and play met.

If I were to give you a tour of the backend side of my business, you’d see a ton of systems and organization in place to help keep my business running smoothly.

I used to think this was just normal for entrepreneurs (I mean, who doesn’t use spreadsheets and track everything in their business, I’d ask myself?) until I started getting more and more questions from colleagues and clients about how to make it all work.

It became apparent to me that my background as an economist had made a real presence in my business through the systems and organizational structures I’d put in place.

I was amazed that I had never realized this before. It was just me being authentically me.

Working with a coach on a weekly basis is a great way to discover (and act) upon your most authentic beliefs. (It’s been a game changer for me!)

This coaching has helped me established a framework and backbone for my business through regular conversations where I’ve distinguished what I want, made a commitment to do the next thing, and then followed up with them to let them know when it was completed.

In addition to the accountability, a coach brings to your business, I’m a HUGE proponent of discovering what works for YOU through trial and error.

→ It took working with 4 web designers to discover my brand as a coach (let alone what types of professionals I most trust collaborating with)
→ It took 3 group coaching programs until I landed upon a sustainable model that I loved
→ It took 28 months of building my coaching business before transitioning to it full-time
→ It took 28 months of consistent pursuit and fulfilling my declarations towards my goal
→ It took 28 months (+ 5 years!) of not giving up on myself

All that to say, each entrepreneur’s journey is unique and honorable.

There is no right path, no perfect system, and no one system that works for everyone.

What I’ve learned about my authentic self, is that my priorities are automation and play.

If you peeked behind the curtain of my business, you’d see that I’ve set up a ton of Google spreadsheets, automated invoicing, auto monthly investment debits for retirement and savings. Combined with my international transformational retreats to the Dominican Republic, India, and two new countries being launched in 2020, it’s the perfect combination of grounded and adventure.

That is just me.

Cred: Leah Beilhart

I’m thankful to have grown a business that is the full expression of me.

It required putting down the notion that anyone’s model or framework was better than what felt authentic and empowering for me.

So now it’s your turn.

Hit ‘REPLY’ and tell me how you are building your business to be authentically and sustainably-you!

Authentically yours,