On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Angela Lyons, an award-winning freelance graphic designer with a focus on print, including magazines and branding. KEY TAKEAWAYS I’ll have been a freelancer for 11 years this April. I started off in a publishing company, then a software company before deciding to go freelance. It can be quite hard to do initially because of the fear that you’re really stepping away from a salaried career and out of your comfort zone. You were going into other companies' offices (before working from home became a thing) trying to work out what’s going on while working for them too. When I first started I Googled ‘freelancing’ and nothing came up, so I attached myself to recruitment agencies, and they had a lot of networking events which I went to. I’d go to the offices of companies I was freelancing for and talk to the people there in the break rooms and told them what I was doing there .That’s how my work developed over the years, those people would tell other people what I was doing and that I was good and would help them out with what they needed. I didn’t have a social media strategy. I just followed a lot of people, saw what they were doing, I spoke to someone about whether I should join this group to get tips and she said: “No, you’re clever, you can see what’s going on around you, don’t copy people. Just be yourself”. I’ve met the most amazing people through social media, like yourself. But if I do see anything negative there I just block and move on. There’s too much going on in the world for you to have negativity on your phone as well. I always want to plan, but then stuff happens and gets in the way. I don’t know if it's luck or being blessed but stuff comes to me, or people put things in my way. People have asked me to do webinars and I haven’t done any yet, mainly because I haven’t had the time but also because I was nervous. But, I could put a webinar together from repurposed bits of work I’ve done in the past. I think social media is going to become monetised soon and your content is going to be paid for so people can see it. LinkedIn is the best place to be at the moment, especially for reaching potential customers because they haven’t introduced any form of monetisation yet. Instagram and Twitter are asking the user to pay. I’d much rather post content only to my website because at least I own that. BEST MOMENTS ‘I got headhunted by a software company to do graphic design for them and it sounds really terrible but I hated it. The people were lovely, but the work just was not me, it wasn’t creative at all. I got ill, my body broke out in hives. I spoke to my husband about it and I decided to go freelance.’ ‘My husband says I like to talk too much and I really do, I even talk to people at the bus stop! They look at me a bit funny, but they tend to talk back.’ ‘I never used to use social media until a couple of years ago, I thought it was an awful place, but I’ve started using it recently and have found out it’s not. Now a lot has changed!’ ‘I’m a graphic designer, but I hadn’t had a proper website in about five years, terrible, I know! We’re working freelancers and solopreneurs, there’s a lot to do.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Lyons Creative is owned and managed by Angela Lyons. I am a freelance graphic designer who creates clear and engaging designs. I offer graphic design services from initial design concepts to final produced graphics. Designs include magazines, brochures, branding, logos, social media graphics, event design and marketing materials for startups, corporates, and charities. Website: https://www.lyonscreative.co.uk/ WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Danny Allen-Page, CEO of Gravity 7 – a disruptive marketing agency that helps brands find their voice – about building his brand, building a personal brand and how he helps other people do that as well. KEY TAKEAWAYS As an entrepreneur my downfall is that I don’t celebrate any wins, I’m always chasing an expectation, I’m always trying to push. I’m growing my business, my passion is to go down the coaching side more, but the agency isn’t in the position where I could leave it and it’ll do its thing, so I’m trying to build the infrastructure for the agency to grow so that I can start being a coach as well. Being an entrepreneur, building a brand or a business, being a coach, all these things are hard. People like to paint a picture that it’s easy but it’s hard, so you need to gamify what motivates and drives you. These are all levers that you can pull to get yourself going. On socials everyone’s just spouting info, you’ve got to digest it and then apply it to what it means for you. It’s not gospel. It’s a way that they might have found, they might have read it and copied it, or they don’t even know anything about it, they’ve just put it in ChatGTP and it gave them some content – that is the reality of our world! Since 2020 one of the funnels I set up for a client has generated £20 million in sales. It does around £800,000-£1 million a month. Ultimately, to make those types of sales there needs to be synergy, an irresistible offer, an offer that’s in demand. It needs to be a growing market and then you need an acquisition machine, a sales funnel, a system that’s going to take them from cold to giving you money. With those three things in place you have a funnel that can scale to those numbers. Most people have an offer and a sales system but not the market demand which means it’s really hard to grow to the millions because there’s either no demand for what you’re selling or loads of people are selling the same thing. You’ve got to try something different. You need to understand who you are, who you help, what you do, and what you’re going to sell that at. People often go for the logo and brand identity, but that to me is just another kind of procrastination. What you should do is understand your values, understand who you help, and understand how you help them. Once you understand that at least you start putting out consistent content – don’t even expect it to be quality, be consistent first – you’re already going to be ahead of someone by building the muscle of consistency. Then you’ll naturally get better and you start putting out better content. Then I would start to spend money on potentially branding and things of that nature. BEST MOMENTS ‘I respond better to negative than positive, which is not always better. I'd rather you say something negative or critique me and I grow and learn from it rather than from a pat on the back. I’m not saying it’s the right way to do it, it’s just how I am.’ ‘AI is here and it’s happening, you’ve got to understand what it means to you and it could not mean anything right now, or you could leverage it for your business.’ ‘If you’re a coach or even an agency you’re better off having a sales funnel than a website. If you’re a brand agency or consultant you might want a website to showcase your portfolio and case studies, but it depends on what your goal is. If your goal is to make money and create leads you need a sales funnel.’ ‘You can grow faster on social platforms leveraging a personal brand in my opinion, unless you’re exceptionally good at creating content. Scaling full-stop on social media right now is a nightmare and it's a game that will drive you crazy.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Danny Allen-Page is CEO of Gravity 7, a marketing agency that isn’t like the others. He likes to ensure that course creators and coaches get more attention, more leads and more sales by creating high converting sales funnels. Instagram: @dannyallenpage PODCAST DESCRIPTION The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others. On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you! ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Anthea McCourtie about her career from full-time employment to finding her passion, to having a side hustle which eventually became her full time job as a nutritional therapist. KEY TAKEAWAYS As a teenager I was into the dieting approach, I was very obsessed with calories and all the unhealthy attitudes that a lot of us had in the 90s. I became really interested in what food could do for us, so I did a BSc in nutritional therapy part time while I was working and finally qualified at the end of 2012. I was also doing martial arts about 14 hours a week until I had to have shoulder surgery which meant I had some free time, so I got a personal training qualification which bolted on to nutritional therapy. People are never just looking for help with their nutrition, there’s factors of weight loss or fitness. Now I work with my one-to-one clients at their homes (for the initial consultation at least) so I can get a feel for how they’re living and their lifestyle. If they do the transformation programmes with me, they’ll be doing nutritional therapy as well as personal training and/or yoga. We work on lifestyle changes as well, it’s more all-encompassing than when I first started. Becoming more of a personal brand, with You By Anthea, to incorporate the different things that I do gave me a lot more freedom because, at the end of the day, you’re buying from the person. When I work with people one-to-one, they are buying into me. That allows me to put a lot more of myself into what I do than in my early days on Instagram, it was soulless and very factual. Now I post pictures of myself climbing and doing pole fitness, I don’t teach those things but I feel like I can show it because I want to share what I’m about. Calorie counting is a massively flawed system, I don’t use it. Calories are not the same across all foods. Half the time they’re not measured correctly, especially when you’ve got food that’s more than one ingredient, it’s not possible. Calorie output is such a difficult thing to measure – even the machines at the gym or smart watches, it’s wild guess work. But also, food is information: 100 Calories of almonds is going to have a completely different impact on my body than 100 calories of gummy bears! So much of it depends on our hormones, our sex hormone balance, sleep levels, cortisol levels, blood sugar levels and insulin response. The gut and the microbiome have a massive impact on how much energy is extracted from food. BEST MOMENTS ‘I like to really immerse myself in things, I’m a bit of an all-or-nothing person.’ ‘I work a lot locally, but since the pandemic we’ve all figured out we can do more online than we realised before.’ ‘Having my name in the brand has given me a lot more scope to show myself.’ ‘My mission is all about empowering mainly women, though I do work with some men as well, to feel amazing about themselves, not just discovering their health, there’s a massive mindset thing in there as well that will directly impact their health and their food choices.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Anthea McCourtie: I am a registered Nutritional Therapist with a BSc in Nutritional Therapy from the Centre for Nutrition Education and Lifestyle Management (in partnership with Middlesex University). I am a Level 3 qualified Personal Trainer specialising in at-home and outdoor training using a range of equipment including kettlebells, suspension (TRX) equipment as well as Thai Boxing fitness. I also have a Level 3 award in designing Pre and Post Natal Exercise Programmes and am a Master Kettlebell Instructor. I am a qualified yoga teacher, registered with Yoga Alliance Professionals and offer vinyasa, yin and ashtanga yoga classes as well as individual and partner yoga instruction. I am a full member of BANT (British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine), the CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council) and Personal Trainer. Website: https://youbyanthea.co.uk/ Instagram: @you.by.anthea PODCAST DESCRIPTION The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others. On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you! ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Mike Villiers-Stuart, course director at Birmingham City University. He has worked in the creative industry for over 30 years running digital marketing and creative teams for global brands, including the BBC and ITV. KEY TAKEAWAYS Familiarity is really, really important for brands. If I had to refine it down to one other word it would be ownership. Those are two very powerful words, and that kind of sums it all up really. Literally branding is ownership, right from branding cattle so it couldn’t be stolen. Fundamental mark making is super important, like the red tab on the back of your Levi’s 501s. When you’re looking after a brand, or starting one from scratch, it’s important to know where it’s come from. You’ve got to know what your product is and what its purpose is. Is there something special in the market or are you competing with lots of other brands? When you identify these things, you start to locate your brand amongst other brands where people are looking. You’ve got to position yourself in that competing market, so you have to find something to mark yourself out with which sets you apart as different. After you’ve found the core of your brand, you then need to ask who’s interested in it? Who’s going to buy it? Who’s going to invest in your brand and believe you? Once you’ve identified your target market, you’ll have a pretty good idea of who you’re trying to reach and convert. Now you’ve got a brand and an audience that you understand and the next trick is to find the shared values between the two – what have I got that they want – and in the middle is the zone where you’re doing it right. Designers say you’re taking away the creativity when you say you want to protect the integrity of a shape/logo. But, it’s not. Your job is to find ways to creatively articulate that message. It’s about preserving the integrity of the shape and being creative around it. So, again, you need to understand the product, the market and how the product differentiates itself from other products in the market, that’s where you find the creativity and make the difference. BEST MOMENTS ‘What’s the secret ingredient that you’ve got that makes you stand out? That secret ingredient is frequently called your “unique sales proposition”. Once you’ve identified it, that’s the very core of your brand.’ ‘Emotionally charged moments between a customer and a product make superb pieces of content for marketing campaigns because it celebrates the values of the brand at the very core of the brand and it celebrates what’s important to the user at the heart of their own experience.’ ‘The iconic shape of the 2 for BBC 2 and you own that as a brand guardian, it’s a beautiful thing to work with. I work with that shape to protect the integrity of that shape.’ ‘You don’t need to put badges on it, you don’t need to put wheels on it, you don’t need to turn it into anything that it isn’t, just go with the integrity of the shape (logo) because that’s what people recognise and buy in to, that’s the shorthand that everybody recognises without even having to read it, they see it and they know what it means.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Mike Villiers-Stuart: I'm a university lecturer in the Birmingham Institute of Creative Arts where I work with talented colleagues in teaching bright, hard-working students of design, advertising and digital marketing communications. This follows 30 years in broadcasting where I worked with gifted and fun teams of professional creatives at the BBC, ITV, Al Jazeera and many more international TV, media and advertising agencies around the world to deliver fab briefs, get results and win awards. Now I'm standing on the shoulders of giants and sharing the view... with inspirational colleagues and students at Birmingham City University. Email: mikev-s@virginmedia.com PODCAST DESCRIPTION The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others. On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you! ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Luke Tonge, brand designer and director of the Birmingham Design Festival to talk all about his career and branding. KEY TAKEAWAYS Everybody has a personal brand whether they like/realise it or not; how people describe you when you are or are not there. That really is your brand, and it might not be what you hoped it would be or what you might want other people to think of it. That’s true of consumer brands as well and about what customers think of them. We create these by telling stories and consistently doing certain behaviours, acting or coming across in a certain way. In your teenage days your tribe, culture, music, sport and all that stuff is really fundamental to what crowd you fit in with, how you dress, how you self-associate. Alternative music, BMX-ing, rollerblading and that scene was a part of my identity. It becomes less important as you get older, but it’s definitely seeped into my psyche, language, tastes, how you dress, etc. How much of that you hold on to and how much you are is interesting to think about. Something people don’t often warn you about as a young person, especially in a very connected and visible industry, if you come out and are having a go – it’s easy to snipe on projects and to pooh-pooh work that you don’t like. But, you don’t realise that work that’s gone on behind the scenes and why that stuff has happened, or the reality of working on some of those big jobs. You can easily get a name for yourself if you’re not careful by sounding off about things. Be cautious and careful of how you come across, but don’t let that stop you from having an opinion. People like to overcomplicate things to make it seem like they’re doing a really lofty and special thing. But really, we’re just very fortunate to be designing for a living, creating work for people, we’re sharing it, we’re having an opinion on things, that’s all there is to it really. BEST MOMENTS ‘There’s always a worry in many different industries that if you don’t look the part you won’t fit in there. I think society has learned that lesson now, it’s important to have diverse voices, backgrounds and interests.’ ‘Things tend to work out for those that are prepared to work hard. In every industry the ones that want it the most and are prepared to go the extra mile are the ones that succeed.’ ‘Be doing stuff, be active, be proactive, be enthusiastic, be consistent, persevere with things, be visible, be kind to other people, and be gracious.’ ‘No one bit of advice fits all people.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Luke Tonge is a Brum-based, shorts-wearing, type-nerding, eyebrow-raising, ice-cream-loving independent graphic designer – specialising in brave brand identity & editorial work – currently found running Luke Tonge Studio, guest lecturing at BCU and co-directing Birmingham Design (inc BDF & Gather) Website: http://www.luketonge.com/ PODCAST DESCRIPTION The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others. On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you! ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Ed Nell, a BBC radio presenter who helps business owners engage more deeply and turns audiences into customers. KEY TAKEAWAYS Media Insiders has been going for 12-18 months and it came about partly because I felt like I needed a new career, but also because I felt like there was a need for what we offer as well. I’ve been a radio presenter for 20 years, it’s all I’ve ever done and thought about. That came to an end and usually I’d get another contract, but because radio has shrunk by about 60%, those opportunities weren’t there, so I sat with a blank piece of paper, wrote my skills down and thought about how I could turn them into something that other people might like! A lot of business owners, especially SMEs, think the media is one of those things that only big brands can afford. It’s just not the case. They say you can’t advertise on the BBC, but you can, it just depends on how you talk about it. If you’re not gratuitous about it, and add value, you can become the BBC’s go to expert in your field in your area, talk about your business and get loads of exposure to thousands, potentially millions, of people that you wouldn’t normally get to speak to. People often listen to podcasts on their own through headphones, it’s really in their ears, and often while they’re doing something else. But, at the same time, that message is still going on. Radio is the same. You’ve got a captive audience and it’s really effective to get your message out there, but it’s about how you do it and how you sell it, that’s what Media Insiders does. So much of radio is not only about telling your own story,it’s all about connecting with the listener, talking about really relatable things on a really powerful level. If you think you’re a good story-teller I can make you into a better one, if you think you’re not a great story-teller at all, I can give you basic techniques to start you off to become a really good story-teller. This is really good for business because people connect through story-telling. BEST MOMENTS ‘The BBC does radio in a totally different way than I’d done before, it’s a lot more speech-based with guests. I saw a real opportunity for business owners to get themselves out there.’ We want to debunk the idea that: “it’s going to be terrible, I’m going to look really stupid”. It’s not, as long as you prepare, we can lift the curtain back for you, like the Wizard of Oz – it’s just a man working a few sticks, it’s not the voice of God!’ ‘Repackage you interview after it’s been done, put it on your social media channels and then reach even more people by saying “look what I did, isn’t it great?!”’ ‘It took me a long time, and probably only in the past few years of analysing it, to realise that story-telling is why I’ve always loved radio. The idea that, just with someone’s voice, you can make people feel every emotion imaginable, story-telling is what does that.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Ed Nell has 20+ years of experience in the media and is a CPD certified corporate trainer and high-performance coach with extensive experience as a BBC radio presenter and event host. He has worked with Premiership football clubs, national retail brands and some of the biggest UK radio stations. Having lived and breathed their brands, Ed can teach you how they connect and delight their ideal customers to create deep and long-lasting relationships. He delivers in-person and virtual masterclasses on content creation and lifts the curtain on how you can become the media's go-to expert. Website: https://www.themediainsiders.co.uk/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ednell/ PODCAST DESCRIPTION The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others. On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you! ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Illana Gambrill, lover of dance and founder of Dance Box. Illana runs online and pop-up dance classes for all, with a focus on empowerment. She has turned her passion into her career and the pair talk about how starting a business and growing a meaningful brand are achievable. KEY TAKEAWAYS When I was 12 years old, I decided this was what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I started at a local dance school because I had this innate passion to move, I just loved it. I begged and pleaded to be allowed to spend all day on Saturdays at dance school, from 9am-6pm. I stepped into the first class and took to it like I’d done it my whole life and many lifetimes before. I got into a professional dance college, but it was really toxic, they turned you into robots and encouraged eating disorders. At 27 I decided to take my life into my own hands and stop putting my worth into what other people thought of me, and I wanted to give back to the human race rather than just to dancers, that’s when Dance Box was born. I’ve had the business for nine years and it’s been hard. I used to do classes seven days a week and people wouldn’t show up, because they’ve got other responsibilities as adults. But, I persisted, I never let it go and I kept it going, there’s more to come. Dance studios are notorious for being unwelcoming to new people and scary. It’s vulnerable to dance in front of a room full of people. If you’ve never danced before you really need to feel safe. That’s what sets Dance Box apart, you could never have danced in your life but you’re going to feel so welcome, so loved and supported. BEST MOMENTS ‘At 13 I was asked to join a dance class that was 16 and up, and I’d never felt so honoured, it was the best time of my life, I was so inspired, I was obsessed.’ ‘My motivation comes from an unshakable knowing, deep down that this is what I’m supposed to do and that everything isn’t going to be easy to get where you want to be.’ ‘Dance is such a special thing and such a magical thing to do with your body. I’m going to bring back joy for other people and I’m healing my wounds as well.’ ‘You need to be showing up as your authentic self, if you’re not it’s soul destroying to watch.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Illana Gambrill has been dancing since the age of 12 – starting her professional career in dance at the age of 18. Illana has worked alongside many artists in music videos, TV shows and tours. After travelling the world with dance, Illana gained an extensive amount of experience and now shares her incredible passion of dance with the world – DanceBox Website: https://www.dance-box.co.uk/ Instagram: @danceboxofficial PODCAST DESCRIPTION The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others. On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you! ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by lifestyle entrepreneur, Sue Parker, who educates women on the how, the why and the what to help them create a life that works for them. KEY TAKEAWAYS When I had my kids I realised that this corporate career had no flexibility or freedom, I couldn’t deal with the school holidays, I was never going to see them. I saw dads going through this as well, we all wanted to be successful in our careers and have purpose and contribute, but at the same time you can’t get a work life balance when you work for somebody else. So, I thought enough’s enough. I didn’t know what my values were. We have a lot of conditioning when we’re growing up. For me, success was having the career ladder, having the status/title, earning more money, doing better every year (while constantly hitting the glass ceiling). People think you’re doing well when you have a good job, parents and family will comment on it. For me, when I became a mum, all this stuff I’d worked for, all these values I had were somebody else’s, not mine, they didn’t matter. You’re brain-priming all the time. If I expose myself to negative people who don’t believe in what I’m doing all of the time, and I let that become my inner monologue, I wouldn’t have done this. But I didn’t, I literally consumed and absorbed every influencer that was having a positive impact on me, every person in my life who was on a similar journey or interested, I would go for it. I was finding out who the person I was when I was a teenager and I felt like the world was my oyster. I’d suppressed this for so long to be this perfect professional that I’d forgotten my personality. When I’m with the kids I’m most me, authentic, open and honest, I laugh, dance and do stupid things and I was OK with that. But with my husband, family members and friends, I just couldn’t be like that. I found that it was as much about showing up bolder, a little bit sillier or authentic every single day. BEST MOMENTS ‘Becoming an entrepreneur, I’ve literally had to forget all the things I would have known, trusted, valued and leant on. I now check off against a different set of values which means my decision-making has changed.’ ‘For me, having a lifestyle business is not to do with building a Fortune 500 company, it’s about having a business that works for your life, and I think so many of us need this now.’ ‘If you’re in this position, it’s going to take a long conversation [with your partner] over a long period of time. They want to know you’re serious and that you’ve bought into this goal, that it’s not just a whim because you’ve had a bad day or an argument with your boss.’ ‘If you listen to too much news it feels like everything’s out of control, and that makes you feel powerless. You need to feel empowered, and the only way to do this is to change and control your narrative.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Sue Parker: Like most of us I studied hard and went into a tech career. I found myself in a male dominated space proving myself over and over. After finally climbing the career ladder to become a data leader I thought I’d have more time as the boss, more control and freedom to finally use my potential. Instead, I was stressed, I had no time and hardly saw the kids. My passion is helping women to unleash the best version of themselves while creating a business that works for their dream life… one with freedom, fulfilment, and joy. I started questioning every career choice. Frustrated and resentful of people with more freedom. Then I realised I must use my personal power to create a business that works for my dream life. It can be hard on your own without support to make a massive transformational change in your life. When I started my business I had commitments, I was the breadwinner with a successful career, and I had two kids under 5. And no one around me believed or supported my ideas. It's about choosing yourself & knowing how much others will benefit. Website: https://sueparker.io/ PODCAST DESCRIPTION The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others. On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you! ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Emma Glover, founder of Victress Digital, a social and paid media agency to talk about all the amazing stuff she does in digital marketing and social media. KEY TAKEAWAYS All I wanted to do was do an ethical business. I’d been in an agency for a long time and I always wanted to try and be the boss that I never had. It’s my goal to have a team – not necessarily a big team – I like to refer to us as a micro-agency, bridging the gap between a freelancer and a 60-80-man agency. It’s quite personal in that regard, but I like managing people and being around people. From the minute I started freelancing I never referred to the business as me, it’s always been Victress throughout, which made an easier transition between me as an entity on my own and growing the team. Always in the back of my mind I wanted to grow it at some point and that would be an easier transition. The need to grow the team came from the demands of my clients, they were asking things of me I couldn’t deliver on my own. I created the agency around what the clients were asking for. Naming the company Victress future proofed me. I wanted to work very hard, but I wanted to allow the time and freedom that comes with working for yourself. If clients didn’t meet other people they would always rely on me being the only person they could talk to which puts you in the position of not having a holiday or a break, which is problematic when you’re the only person people can rely on We predominantly focus on social media and paid media, but with the freelancers we have we can service other types of marketing. We focus predominantly on SaaS brands and B2B brands, not a lot with eCommerce brands because they need to be serviced by people with that specialism. We’re more numbers people, getting into data and getting into strategy. Predominantly we look at lead generation, so if you’re a business that needs to get more leads down into your sales pipeline or you’ve got a sales team that needs to have more leads to handle, we look at creating those leads from a combination of either organic or paid media. It tends to be LinkedIn focussed and PPC – Google search, Microsoft search – though we handle a little bit of Facebook and Instagram for a couple of brands. BEST MOMENTS ‘There’s a lot going on in the world, especially with Gen Z where you need to have a work/life balance, which I completely appreciate and, if I’m honest, I don’t want my team to have to think about work when they’re not at work. But it’s what I signed up for and chose, so if I need to work on a weekend that’s fine.’ ‘Previously people wanted to go into shops and wanted things they could hold, now in a digital marketing space, the world has become more obsessive about how we make everything digital now.’ ‘A lot of the brands we work with are not doing something no one else is doing, they’re doing something that 10-12 other people are doing, but they’re marketing it slightly differently and they’ve found a gap they can get in with.’ ‘I wanted to set the standard that this is a female-owned company that is going to give heavy weight to females at director level. I had a vision of female founder female led company. It wasn’t and isn’t something I’ve seen before in this industry, so I’m flying the flag for that.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Emma Glover is a social media specialist with more than a decade of digital marketing experience. She’s managed the accounts of Kellogg’s South Africa, Dulux, and Barclays Africa, and worked as the lead social advertising strategist on multi-million dollar SaaS brands. Website: https://victressdigital.co.uk/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmakglover/ ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Carol Urry to talk about building her coaching business, Warriormum Coaching, amongst other things. Books mentioned: Open with a Close: The twelve point guide to closing more sales by Matthew Elwell https://amzn.to/3M2Ewze Alcohol Explained Workbook (William Porter's 'Explained') by William Porter https://amzn.to/3UZzZBw THIS NAKED MIND: The myth-busting cult hit for anyone who wants to cut down their alcohol consumption by Annie Grace https://amzn.to/3V1MUmM KEY TAKEAWAYS A lot of people doing Sober October just want to do it to prove to themselves they’re not alcoholics, which is a word that we don’t really use in the coaching space around alcohol freedom. There are a range of benefits to giving up alcohol for a month, it’s a great thing. But, from a coach’s point of view it’s hard to put yourself through that, and what have you actually learned at the end of it? As an alcohol free coach, the programme I teach looks at why we drink, why we need to drink and all the different scenarios around using alcohol – self-medicating, confidence, help sleeping, stress, need to chill. A lot of coaches go into coaching because of experiences they’ve had and they want to help other people, and that was the same with me. I started drinking in my early teenage years at the local disco in the pub, but drinking wasn’t really a big thing. I spend 13 years in the Army and drinking wasn’t a massive part of my life then – though there are a lot of veterans who use alcohol because they’re away from home a lot of the time and it’s quite difficult. Also, they’re quite bored, a lot of people drink through boredom. Drinking, for me became more of a habit over the years and the thing with a habit is you then get the tolerance so you need more to get that buzz. I love studying the stuff that goes on in your brain and your body when you take on board alcohol. It’s amazing. The one thing that blew me away was a single sentence in a book that I read that alcohol is a carcinogen, it’s cancer causing, and after some more research I found out that in 1987 alcohol was classed as a class 1 carcinogen and actually derives from ethanol, which is what we put in our petrol tanks. That floored me, and I just thought I want to be around for my kids and my grandkids. That was a big turning point for me. Thankfully, a lot of young people aren’t big drinkers. A lot of my clients are sitting around the 40-50 mark, the yuppie era where they were drinking champagne and partying and going to Spain and Ibiza and raving. There’s a lot of people in this bracket where alcohol has been part and parcel of their growing up. People don’t think about choosing an alternative, you’re either drinking or you’re not. I tell people to have one soft drink for every alcoholic drink as a starter. BEST MOMENTS ‘I, like many other people, Googled “am I an alcoholic” and felt great when I didn’t score highly on that.’ ‘After my divorce I drank at least a bottle of wine every night for over a decade. That’s why I do what I do because it breaks my heart to think of mum’s struggling out there, trying to keep everything together and turning to alcohol – and I don’t blame them for doing that – but it’s an addictive substance and once you get into that cycle it’s really, really hard.’ ‘The night and day programme that I run is re-programming that subconscious thinking around alcohol because it’s not our fault. Society gives us an addictive substance, promotes an addictive substance, puts it all over the place – on TV and in the supermarkets – and then blames us for getting addicted. It’s crazy.’ ‘If you have 3 alcoholic drinks a week you increase your risk of breast cancer by 15%. One additional drink increases that risk by 10%. The drinks industry don’t want you to know about these statistics because they’re making an absolute shed-load of money out of it.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Carol Urry: I am a certified This Naked Mind coach and a trained Integrated Coach to ICF standards. I have been alcohol free since October 2019 and work specifically with Mums who are struggling to keep children, work, relationships and home life running smoothly. Whilst raising two children of my own, one who lives with the challenges of autism and ADHD, I realised I was using alcohol to help cope with all of life’s responsibilities, including a challenging marriage that ended in divorce. I have worked in the care sector since the 1980's, including 13 years' service in the Army. In 1997, after moving to a small rural village, I became involved in my local branch of the Royal British Legion, holding positions as Chairman, Case Worker, Treasurer & Welfare Visitor, and continue to be involved in our local Poppy Appeal. Community is very important to me and during my many years in my small community I have sat on several committees and been involved in many local projects and fundraisers over the years. My Christian faith is very important to me. I love nature, bird watching, gardening, travelling, and am passionate about steam trains. I am now remarried and enjoy riding pillion on our Goldwing motorcycle and supporting our favourite football team. A lover of Yoga and meditation, I love a challenge and have always been an enthusiastic self-developer. Website: https://www.warriormumcoaching.com/ Socials: @warriormumcoaching or @carolurry ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Robbie Swale who coaches people on the careers, work and lives to talk about what he does and how brands can succeed. KEY TAKEAWAYS My Mother, for the last 20 years of her life, was a counsellor, my Dad had some time as a psychotherapist, so they understand talking to people and helping them – it’s different to coaching but overlaps in some related ways – my Brother has worked in coaching a little bit and my sister is now doing counselling training so my immediate family gets it, I think. I tend to start with I’m a leadership coach and then I wait to see what people say because there’s no perfect way to explain what I do to everyone. If what I really want is in the end to have more clients then the thing that I want is to have actual connection with somebody who is interested in my work so that at some point they might think “I need some coaching, I should talk to Robbie”, or when they’re speaking to somebody else they think about me. To get someone to that place isn’t about telling them the perfect thing. Most people like, when they get into an interesting conversation, learning about them and that’s often what’s memorable. These days I give three examples of what I’m most interested in which gives them a lot of space so that if they’re interested in any of those things we can have a conversation about that so that I can find out about their leadership challenge, partly because that’s what I’m interested in and partly because it’s best for business. Everybody has self-doubt and procrastination happen to them and I’d take certain thoughts as proof that I shouldn’t do certain things (create a business, write a book). But you don’t have to listen to those thoughts, you can choose to believe that they’re resistance, which is something probably trying to keep you safe or out of harm’s way, but it’s stopping me doing the things I want to do. Instead, you can power through those and dance with them in different ways. Each thing I’ve done has been a different dance with all these ways that I hold myself back and try to avoid the creative battles. Big sportswear brands’ TV advs might feature different athletes, but the feel of them doesn’t, so you have a feel for what ADIDAS means and Nike means because you’ve watched a lot of those adverts over a number of years and have that feel for consistency and the fact the message aligns. We’ve got a baby and buying nappies, I remember TV ads for nappies when I was 6, Huggies Pull-Ups – we don’t buy Huggies, we buy Pampers – but I remember that so clearly and they’re essentially the same product now because they’ve got a winning mix. I know Huggies do Pull-Ups and I still remember that because they said it over and over again. BEST MOMENTS ‘I’m interested in the craft of coaching, creativity and how we lead with what we might call honour.’ ‘I’m a recovering perfectionist.’ ‘If an idea comes to you and you don’t take it, it’ll go on to someone else.’ ‘Any medium, like podcasts, where we share what’s influenced us and been useful for us is really useful. It’s how I’ve found loads of things that have impacted me.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Robbie Swale As a coach, my clients hire me because I have a powerful ability to see things differently. I have cultivated for years the ability to understand different perspectives. I see the truth in the world - I'm not afraid of it. And I'm not afraid to do or say the right thing. I can dance in the moment, I have an ability to feel deeply, and I inspire and invite others to do the same. My clients are innovative, loving and creative. They yearn to understand themselves and their relationship partner. They have a heightened sense of right and wrong and a desire to change the world. My clients include entrepreneurs, investors, theatre directors and even other coaches. If you feel "the rules" are holding you back... If you are ready to break the rules in your field... Or if you just want a partner to challenge the way you think (especially if you already think big!)... then get in touch. We should talk. And your world will transform. Website: https://www.robbieswale.com/ ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by ultra-marathon runner, coach and Oxygen Advantage Master Breathwork Instructor, Matt Bagwell about how branding has changed over the last three decades as well as his move into breathwork and coaching. KEY TAKEAWAYS I was right there at the beginning of things like e-commerce and the first dot com boom, and everything changed: Customers’ interactions with brands changed, channel strategies changed, and I was right at the very heart of that. Inter-customer experience design, which in 2008-9 customer experience – of UX as people might know it now – began to evolve and develop and subsequently you saw the emergence of social media. With that everything was disrupted, the role of brands, the roles of individuals, so my work was about the transformation of companies to interact in those spaces across channels in the most appropriate way, which I did for lots of international brands, leading significant, successful and very talented teams. My job was to inspire people to do their best, encourage them to do their best, support them so they could do their best, make sure that the conditions that surrounded those people encouraged, engendered and nurtured them in such a way that they could do their best. But, I needed great people around me to execute the work. There’s reciprocity in that, great thinking, great ideas, challenge, growth all comes from your interactions with other people. I’m the kid who used to take apart calculators. I took that curiosity into my adult life and went into companies and even breath work. I understand the spiritual modality and truly respect it. I love what Wim Hof does – never a dull day with Wim Hof – but I wanted to understand the science and the very practical application of ‘functional breathing’. In the pandemic I could tell that anxiety was through the roof, initially there was shock and then we started to become used to it. We all thought this was going to last for 4-8 weeks, which is why I drank so much rose wine! Not to misunderstand that it was a deeply stressful time with people displaced from their work and from their families. There was an unusual cocktail of high and low emotion and I looked at the issues that began to emerge very rapidly with social isolation and people began to carry anxiety. The way for me to help was to help people breathe through the anxiety to move into a calmer state, so I went live on Instagram and it took off. The internet has created a global village and I can interact with people, doing breathwork, with people in Texas, California, New Zealand, Australia and all over Europe. That’s really powerful, because there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of breath work instructors all over the world. It’s great that people internationally have been able to connect in these virtual communities that have been created and are so accessible with platforms like Zoom and Instagram Live. But even as brand marketeers, sometimes we overlook that stuff that’s literally within 5 square miles of where we actually live. BEST MOMENTS ‘There’s an intention to ensure that everything that I’m doing is helping other people optimise their lives and live as extraordinary a life as possible.’ ‘A problem shared is a problem halved, or even an opportunity doubled.’ ‘They used to call me “Jazz Hands” in most of the companies I worked in!’ ‘The beach is a nice environment for breath work, there’s the sound of the sea, a metronomic wave breaking and if you’re on a pebble beach, like Brighton, you can hear both the inhale and exhale. There’s something quite calming about that.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Once a designer, strategist, business leader and founder, Matt Bagwell is now a coach and Oxygen Advantage Master Breathwork Instructor. He is on his own quest to fulfil his potential. From an intentional daily practice to purpose and values, Matt is curious to find, to expand, to be extraordinary. Website: https://mattcoaching.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewbagwell Instagram: @mattbagwell ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Paul David Perry and William Gadsby Peet, founders of Literal Humans, who have a focus on creating not just resilient brands but brands that are mission-driven and have real values. KEY TAKEAWAYS We gambled a little, but were thankfully proven right on, as there probably wasn’t a better time to start than in the middle of a pandemic. Obviously the first six months were pretty rough, everyone battened down the hatches and no one had any budget. But then everyone realised that the only way we can make money is online and it was a good time to run a content and digital marketing agency because to sell stuff online you need content and digital marketing, so it proved to be a bit of a lucky/strategic masterstroke. The name gets us a lot of mileage, I think it sticks in people’s heads and maybe they laugh about it initially, but they ask about it. To be fair, your first job as a marketer when you’re starting an agency is to build something memorable, build a memorable brand for yourself that will be sticky in people’s minds and thankfully we’ve accomplished that, I think. SaaS is Software as a Service – Dropbox is SaaS, technically Netflix is SaaS – it’s anything you pay a recurring retainer for and in return you get software as a tool, like Adobe, Figma or Canva. With the world we live in today those are the ones that tend to be unicorns. The reason we focus on startups in the SaaS space is they tend to grow very quickly and very interestingly. With regards to mission-driven, we work with people we think are making the world a better place in some regards. We don’t work with anyone we think is doing something actively bad and we don’t work with anyone we think is not going to be into our style and our marketing, anyone who’s going to be too by the numbers, boring, uninterested in what we do. One of the most common things that annoy us about brands is 1) that they’ve drunk their own Kool-Aid and they think that they’ve created a revolutionary product, then you use the product and you’re like: “Mate, this is just a rip off of something else with slightly different branding and one USP.” Be eyes wide open about what you’re selling. 2) No one has any fucking creativity or interest in being risky any more. In the 90s brands’ logos and work marks were made, now every single brand copies Apple’s; a straight monochrome word mark because everyone would rather be non-offensive than actually inspiring. One of the things we love about our agency and the people we get to work with is they’re up for taking risks. They’d rather delight 70% of their market and piss off 30% of it than be a bowl of oatmeal to all 100%. That’s one of the biggest things branding is missing at the moment: Risk takers. BEST MOMENTS ‘Most marketing is shit. The reason that it’s bad is it just talks at people rather than to them. All the best marketing tells a story, treats people like humans and tells a human narrative.’ ‘Everything we do is for humans by humans.’ ‘Bad branding is bad branding, I don’t think by doing a bad job you should be crucified online. But, you kinda should do it.’ ‘A principle we laid down early on, and we’ve seen the data and we just know intrinsically and morally, frankly, that diverse teams perform better. It’s not even just about performance, it’s the ethical right thing to do in 2020 in one of the most diverse cities in the world.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Prior to launching Literal Humans, Paul David Perry worked as a freelance writer and content strategist for a number of different tech brands, including Contentstack, Submittable, TransferWise, and Toptal. He also helped build a previous agency from $500K ARR to $1.5MM ARR in under two years by providing high-quality content strategy + execution across a range of clients and building internal agency systems. Before his career in content marketing, he worked in education and nonprofit management in the US. William Gadsby Peet is a former journalist turned digital marketer that specialises in content and digital marketing strategy. Before co-founding Literal Humans, he worked as a performance marketing specialist and consultant, generating millions of pounds in profit for a roster of international clients. Website: https://literalhumans.com/ Socials: @literalhumans ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Anne Leatherland who helps people make a real impact with their voice. KEY TAKEAWAYS Very often, people who use the voices in their businesses don’t realise that they’re a professional voice user, especially if that voice use is quite extensive during the day. Even people using their voices less so will nevertheless depend upon them for when they’re liaising with new clients or colleagues or staff, so it’s relevant to all of us really. The biggest challenge as a voice trainer and personal growth coach is helping people to realise that their voice is something that’s important, that they need to look after and that they can work with to make it better if they want to… and why shouldn’t we want to? Why would I be happy with it just being OK? Human beings are very sensitive to even small nuances in a voice (pitch, pace, tone, volume), and sometimes it can even be subliminal. So what they can understand from a voice is going to be important to you, you might be giving out messages that you don’t mean to give out if, in certain situations, the nuances in your voice aren’t the ones that people need to tap into. These can all affect how someone understands us, but also, whether they trust us or feel that they can work with us. Ultimately this will be part of our business success and these are all things we can learn to control and work with. People in advertisements or people who are aggressively trying to sell me things and politicians, I can tell at a thousand paces whether they’re A) telling the truth and B) whether they’re genuinely interested in what they’re speaking about. And they can’t help it from leaking through to their face, you can see it in the eyes and you can hear it in the voice. It’s those nuances that give it away. Having a relationship with your own values as a person and what message you want to bring across is absolutely vital if you want to sound believable and speak with integrity. The coaching side of my business is important because I have to take people on a journey sometimes. They think it’s their voice and they might lack confidence or they might not like their own voice or they might not get their message across. But, when we actually start chatting, it turns out to be that they’re not very clear on who they are as a person and how they want to get that across to the world. That’s where that lack of confidence, or that inability to speak to a group of people, actually starts. BEST MOMENTS ‘Our voice is obviously a vital part of our communication along with our facial expression and movement (which both affect our voice as well), so the whole package goes together.’ ‘There are certain aspects of voice that some people might find annoying. For some reason they can’t put their finger on it, they just don’t gel with a person and that can be the voice.’ ‘I’ve been thinking about Liz Truss for the last couple of days, and she’s doing that thing that female politicians are probably instructed to do, which is to lower the pitch because you sound more serious. But what that does to the voice is that I can’t get any tonal variety down there because I’ve a female voice and it makes it really difficult for me to make those nuances, which is why she sounds a bit robotic, in my view.’ ‘I think confidence comes from being secure in who you are as a person, what your own values and beliefs are and your message, and then having the control and skill to express that fully with your voice – as well as being secure in what you have to offer in your business and how your values and beliefs actually show up in your business day to day. If you’re happy with that, the voices will follow and you will sound more authentic.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Anne Leatherland: I have always been a singer but only came to formal singing training in my late 20s when I was producing a school musical. I simply wanted to know more and explore what my voice could really do. So, whilst training with Coral Gould MBE I gained my singing teaching diploma and left school teaching behind to run my own studio. After about ten successful years of this I was hungry for further training. I undertook the Vocal Process Accreditation programme with Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher, becoming their first Accredited Associate Trainer in 2012. There followed eight years of working with Musical Theatre and Acting Undergraduates at Liverpool Theatre School and LIPA, training them in Singing, Singing Technique and speaking voice for Acting. I decided eventually to return to developing my own business, VocAL Intuition as I wanted to work more widely with professional voice users of all kinds. It has become obvious to me that voice use depends not only on physical processes, but also on the way we see ourselves. So, as part of my own development I took a training course in Life Coaching, completing this in 2020. I am now passionate about integrating this with my voice training. In my downtime I love drawing, photography, walking, books, acoustics and going to shows and plays! Website: https://anneleatherland.co.uk/ Email: anne@vocalintuition.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneleatherland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vocalintuition/ ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Karese Laguerre, an orofacial myologist and myofunctional therapist, to talk about and explain her profession. KEY TAKEAWAYS I describe myofunctional therapy in a simple way as kind of like personal training, but for all the muscles below your eyes and above your shoulders. We work with the group of muscles that comprise your lower face and your throat. No one ever thinks about these muscles and why you would ever need to give them a work out, but these muscles surround your upper respiratory system and so having dysfunction anywhere in the chain there can create a lot of problem with you sleep, digestion, breathing, facial development, stability in terms of your teeth and how they shift, there’s a lot of influence these soft tissues have. Working with a myotherapist really helps to amplify that upper respiratory health into overall health. I never though that my son’s ADHD could be about sleep. You think it’s neurological and you have to get medication and that’s the only way to treat that. What we don’t talk about is that there’s a 70% overlap between the symptoms and manifestations of ADHD and those of sleep disorders in children. Children who are sleep deprived aren’t like sleep deprived adults, we get lethargic, fatigued and drag through the day, children get more ramped up, their bodies can’t slow down or focus their attention. If muscles aren’t activating when they should in the neck or throat they’re under-developed, so I have to work on strengthening and training so we can get them to become stronger and learn to co-ordinate so we can use that muscle appropriately. People who grind or clench their teeth may have over-developed muscles in their jaw, so we have to relax those muscles and teach them to engage other muscles. It’s about finding a harmonious balance that’s going to leave all the hard structures well supported. The way that we breathe seems to be the least thought about thing when it comes to health and wellness. We focus on diet and fluid intake, but the way that we breathe is so impactful on our body. Sometimes it’s the simplest of things that we take for granted, how we breathe matters more than anything else. BEST MOMENTS ‘There’s a lot of things parents don’t say about their kids when they talk to other people because of shame, we say they’re great. But, I was in the principle’s office all the time with my son who had ADHD, my daughter had every sleep issue under the sun for 10 straight years every single night. My littlest two had a lot of upper respiratory infections. All that stuff from all my kids came back to how they were using their facial muscles. Optimising that with myotherapy really changed my family.’ ‘I love working with children because they’re so mailable and you see change rapidly. It’s incredibly rewarding.’ ‘Every failure is an opportunity for us to learn and to move forward and be better.’ ‘We can go weeks without food and days without water, but we can’t last a few minutes without air.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Karese Laguerre: As an EDUCATOR/SPEAKER I offer lectures that challenge dental professionals to re-discover their passion, achieve sustained productivity, and enhance their clinical perspective. As a MYOFUNCTIONAL THERAPIST I work with patient's of all ages on natural resolution of sleep, breathing and digestive issues. As a HUMAN I strive for excellence in all things I put effort towards and am in constant pursuit of the best opportunities to utilize my skills and knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others; while providing valuable service to my community. I have various digital resources for learning more about myofunctional therapy and its benefits. My blog website, www.airwaymatters.blog, has many guides and free downloadable content, as does my practice website, www.themyospot.com. Amazon has both print and digital copies of my latest published book available, Accomplished: How to Sleep Better, Eliminate Burnout, and Execute Goals. Website: https://www.themyospot.com/ Socials: @themyospot ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Emily Redfearn, independent illustrator, animator and designer, to talk about her business which she started in 2020 after becoming a freelancer at a very difficult time. KEY TAKEAWAYS It’s taken me a long time to develop my own style and it is something that’s ever changing and evolving, but it’s something that so many people struggle with. Some people like your style to be diverse where others want to hone in on a specific visual aesthetic and everyone wants to be unique and different. But, it’s inevitable in this day and age that nothing’s entirely unique or different, some things will break that mould. But something I’ve come to realise is that I should be doing what makes me happy rather than what’s going to change the world and how can I be immortalised? I can’t choose what my favourite piece of work for a brand is. I’ve always been in quite varied roles doing multiple things. I love doing book covers, I love doing animations, I really enjoyed the documentary I worked on for Quorn, but it’s really hard to say because there are different benefits to all of them. One of the biggest challenges as a freelancer is making time for yourself, giving yourself the boundaries between work and personal and letting yourself have that holiday, whether it’s a day or a week. It’s easy to neglect if you run your own business, you want to succeed and get more work. I wish I’d thought about budgeting for tax better, it’s something people don’t really talk about. It needs to be like a bill you pay every month to put aside for your tax and pension. But, I have an accountant who helps me to take a portion off each job to put aside now rather than leaving it til I needed to pay it and scraping it all together. Maths has always been such a struggle for me and I think it is the same for a lot of creatives. BEST MOMENTS ‘Who am I trying to please? Is it the art directors, clients, my peers, is it something where people will remember me and is bigger than myself? Asking those questions has got me nowhere, in the end I’ve thought about what makes me happy? What do I enjoy doing the most? Through a process of elimination, I’ve found what’s most fun for me to do: animation, fruit character, character design, illustration.’ ‘You can’t force things; you’ve got to try it ‘til it feels right.’ ‘The five-day working week doesn’t work today, what the hell’s that about?! I can’t imagine doing a regular week, 9-5 with an hour break. I like a two hour lunch so I can go on a long walk with the dog.’ ‘Set yourself lists to do so you don’t go to bed and can’t sleep because you’re thinking about what you’ve got to do.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Emily Redfearn is an illustrator, animator & designer based in Sheffield, UK. Some of the work Emily has been commissioned for ranges across TV documentaries, TV commercials, social/digital advertising, OOH advertising, GIFs & animations, hand drawn murals, branding assets and infographic designs. Previously Emily has created work for Vodafone, Intel, Quorn, Beauty Kitchen, True North Brewery Co, Heist Brewery Co, Bodog, DCMS, The Leadmill, Terrace Goods, Lucky Fox, Crooked, Hooch, The Scout Association, Sheffield Hallam University, Grimm & Co, Dig Deep, Printed by Us, Cathedral Archer Project and more. Website: https://www.emilyredfearn.co.uk/ Tag for all social media: @emredfearn Email: emily@red-fearn.co.uk ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Julia Burkin, a life guide who helps people and business owners get through their ups and downs. KEY TAKEAWAYS We’re one human being and we do lots of things, and if you get an imbalance in any area of the one human that you are, that can have a knock on effect to other parts of your work/life/activities that you’re trying to do. It’s a fine balance to look for, be that physical or mental. It’s not really me finding the balance for them, it’s them realising they have to find the balance for themselves. Most people feel that they can look after themselves and make decisions that work for them. Some people recognise that the things that they’ve been doing over and over again are still keeping them in that ‘stuck place’ that they’re in. They might have tried every other way of moving from where they are now to where they want to be, and at that point they realise that they could read another self-help book or listen to another podcast or talk to a different friend, but they’re still stuck and they need to have some help. I guide people from being stuck to being unstuck. Once people realise that someone can listen to what they’re saying and identify perhaps some of the reasons why they’re stuck and explore them in a safe and caring environment. Imagine you’ve solved all the problems that are stopping you from being where you want to be, imagine what that life looks like for you and the we explore what you see, hear, feel, touch, taste, who might be with you. Then I let the person paint a picture or create a visual or something about themselves in this future place that they want to be. The longer you do that and the more detailed it is there’s a shift between saying “I want to be happier” and being able to see what happiness looks and feels like, which makes it a lot easier to get there because you’re going towards something you’ve imagined. Self-care, for me, is the ability to check in on yourself from top to toe and look at what’s working, what’s feeling a bit achy/croaky/not quite 100% and what can I do to fix it? BEST MOMENTS ‘Some people recognise the imbalance and decide to act, and it’s that deciding to act that allows you to get your life back on track.’ ‘Sometimes as a life coach you need to be challenging and you might push people to go where they don’t want to go, but you have the skills to hold them in a safe space if you do go there. Other times you say: “I’m listening” and for some people that’s all they need – somebody to listen to them.’ ‘If you imagine something to be true and you put that out there into the universe your internal systems don’t know if that’s true or not, so they assume it is true because you’ve said they are there.’ ‘You should always keep your own cup filled and only give to others from the overflow that goes into your saucer.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Julia Burkin is a life coach who has had her fair share of family and career ups and downs; some of which are relevant to her clients. Regardless, she has a great deal of life experiences and learning that she brings to her coaching work. Website: https://www.juliaburkin.co.uk/ ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Sam Warner, The Autistic Interpreter, who helps business owners attract and keep talented neuro-divergent employees. KEY TAKEAWAYS I discovered that I thought the grass was greener elsewhere, but it actually isn’t. The same systemic problems were cropping up everywhere in my previous roles and I lost my get-up-and-go so I got-up-and-went! I now help attracting the right people for diversity of thought at work because diversity of thought is really healthy for a business. If you’ve got a team of “yes men or women” who agree with everything the boss says and they all have the same interests and hobbies, and they all get along famously, there’s no diversity of thought there at all, no one’s going to challenge anything, come up with awkward questions and potentially you might not have innovation and invention going on because everybody’s towing the line. This was a side-hustle I started in 2008 and I quickly realised I preferred it to my main job. The job interview is such an outdated way of assessing potential new staff, it doesn’t work for anybody, but especially not for neuro-divergent people, because it’s actually showing people under stress not under pressure. To test people under pressure you need to give them a timed test of some kind, it’s a more accurate way of checking they can hit a deadline, or cope with something that comes in last minute. How do you know if someone’s a “good fit” if they haven’t met the team? How many times have you seen in a job advert “salary negotiable or TBC”, why would you even apply for that job if you don’t know you can pay your mortgage? What I earned previously has nothing to do with this job, you’re just trying to find out if you can pay me less, I not interested in working for you f that’s what you want from me as an employee – maximum work for minimum money. To me, the term neuro-divergent means that you were wired up differently in the uterus. It’s formed as you’re forming. It’s a different way of connecting all those synapses and connections in the brain. People who are neuro-divergent see the world through a different lens, they interpret the world differently and often it’s a bit confusing. The biggest challenges businesses bring up include ‘conflict’, which is a misunderstanding of how to use language. Some people aren’t prepared for someone who has a lot of questions, they think that their knowledge and ability is being questioned or their ego has been bruised or they’re embarrassed. But that’s actually a reflection on them and their abilities and their way of receiving a question. Another is about the expectation of the speed of taking something new and running with it. Quiet often people give instructions, but they don’t give you all of the instructions, there’s an assumption made about some things instead of making sure there’s a baseline that we’re all OK with and then giving the instructions. BEST MOMENTS ‘Many companies believe they’re doing the right thing by telling individual staff members to ask for what they want, which is really hard when you don’t know what you’re allowed to ask for. You don’t want to be the diva that gets special treatment because that never goes well, you actually want a list of reasonable adjustments that anyone in the company can access, such as wearing headphones.’ ‘If I go on your website and I don’t see any reference to diversity, equity and inclusion, I’m not going to feel 100% confident that you have a reasonable list of adjustments, or that I could ring up or email before the interview and say “I just want to let you know I’m autistic so I’m very sensitive to things like temperature and I struggle when people sit in front of a window and all I can see is a silhouette because I need to see you facial expressions to understand a little bit extra on top of the words you’re using. Can I get a copy of the questions in advance so I can have time to give you a great answer instead of being put on the spot?”’ ‘Let’s just stop the fluff and get to the point, say what you mean and mean what you say.’ ‘Wouldn’t it be really great if we were already teaching this stuff in school so that by the time people were leaving school there is no fear. Kids are the most acceptable, tolerant, flexible people on the planet, so when you teach them about ‘different’ people they wouldn’t be judgemental about it, they would have greater insight.’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samwarner/ Website: https://get-your-message-across.com/ ABOUT THE GUEST Sam Warner works with organisations wishing to attract and retain neurodivergent talent. Supporting them in enhancing their recruitment and onboarding processes, including job adverts, interviews, & inductions. Sam runs the The New Rules of Engagement (TM) training course to inform, combat conflict, alleviate difficult conversations and create an inclusive team culture. Sam helps businesses put together a list of offered reasonable adjustments/accommodations/adaptations they can offer to any new starters to help them achieve approx 15% increase in profits. Sam also provides an interpreter service for adults & older teenage children with diagnosed or un-diagnosed Autism, ADHD and PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) & helps them, their friends, family & co-workers to communicate better. She shares a lot of techniques she employs as coping mechanisms for various behavioural problems & challenging situations. Sam understands the different ways in which the brain processes information & makes sense of the world. She offers an informal pre-diagnosis consultation to help people find the words to self-advocate for a formal diagnosis. She uses her broad knowledge when working with a variety of people from different backgrounds and is known for her communication and behaviours interpreter work with Neurodivergent adults and their friends, colleagues and families. ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Gabriela Pulido, a business owner and entrepreneur who has worked with over 300 brands globally, helping clients implement the best in branding and communications solutions. In this episode Gabriela talks about starting and scaling businesses across the world, how to run successful businesses and making sure the branding and communications enable the brands to grow. KEY TAKEAWAYS I originally started in industrial engineering and what I learned there was how to solve problems creatively. I was planning on working in a paper plant in my home country of Venezuela. But management consulting brought me into a new realm of problem solving for people. These are not divorced from each other, they’re both bridged by problem solving and connecting dots. Brands come to me when they want to enter a new market or release a new product or even talk to their own employees or collaborators because they might be needing to grow or add a different competency into their solutions. Those are the things that I like. Companies and people in Chapter 11 or bankruptcy are a bit more tricky, I prefer to see companies when they’re in the midst of growth and I can help them do that. New companies and startups are figuring out the power of branding earlier on now, when they go fund-raising or putting together their team. You need to get the right message and that’s not only verbal, it’s visual, it’s an experience. Nobody’s perfect. I don’t believe in perfection, and it took me a long time to realise that. At this point, what I strive for is excellence and finding the best way. I hate complacency and excuses, but I try to take a step back and try to figure it out with my team. Do good without looking back, this is part of my essence, my religion, what I believe. BEST MOMENTS ‘You can easily confuse a consumer when you package things similarly. How can your brand make a difference? What is the problem you’re trying to solve?’ ‘We figure out your ‘why’ and lock it into your brand and communication so that it makes sense.’ ‘People buy from you emotionally in line with what you’re doing and the essence you express. You need to understand what the passion is within you that you’re trying to fulfil. This may not be that unique, so how do you make it more unique? Differentiate yourself and then begin offering products.’ ‘Get the right mentors. Pick their brains and take their advice when you think it’s relevant to you, if it’s not you have another opinion about it anyway.’ Recommended book: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown ABOUT THE GUEST Gabriela Pulido is an experienced strategic marketing executive with more than 30 years of building emblematic brands. From strategic consultant to creative entrepreneurship, she is assertive and creative developing strategies fuelling the business intent, advising companies on transformation processes, portfolio management, branding, and digital transformation. Built strategies promoting business objectives for more than 100 brands such as Amerant, Shelton Academy, Endeavour, Insigneo, Lifeinvest, Kawa Capital, Empresas Polar, Mercantil, Cafam, Avianca, Nestlé, Miami Symphony Orchestra, Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, among others. She has served as a founding partner, CEO, director, advisor, and mentor in different companies as well as non-profit organizations. Recently she pivoted her company towards solving creative scalability challenges and created Scalto, a Creative Consultancy, to help organizations navigate through the challenges of becoming truly scalable, from a client perspective. When exploring scaling options, Scalto believes in creatively thinking three steps ahead and generating smart solutions, with a comprehensive perspective, to set the company to scale. Venezuelan born, mother of four, Gabriela is a passionate believer in the power of the right mindset, a strong purpose to generate value while doing good. Website: www.scalto.com Instagram: @scaltoglobal Facebook: @scaltoglobal ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/] Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke | [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke] Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.com Website: www.danielleclarkecreative.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Alexis Kingsbury who runs software and consulting businesses that help leaders grow their business and their teams with less stress. He is a long-term entrepreneur and has scaled several businesses and helped them to systemise and grow. KEY TAKEAWAYS My background was as a management consultant with some medium sized businesses and then I worked with some very large businesses like AstraZeneca, Honda and parts of the UK Government helping them to optimise their processes to achieve more with either the same or less resource, sadly in some cases. When I left the consulting world to set up my own businesses I had to take everything that I learned and completely unlearn it! Because a lot of what you do for large companies doesn’t immediately apply to small companies. There’s a temptation as an early-stage entrepreneur, to hold onto the concept or the idea that you have too tightly. Entrepreneurship is a really weird balance, you need perseverance and a thick skin when you’re getting rejections and friends and family are questioning your crazy idea, but on the flip side you need to be able to listen and change and pivot and iterate. The trick, or the solution, is to get passionate and focus on the pain and the customer. If you’re really clear on the people you want to work with and the problems you want to solve for them based on real problems they have, not ones you assume they have, then the solution itself matters a bit less and you can pivot and change that to find what fits and helps them. When you’ve got that you’ve got something magical that can then grow and turn into a successful business. We’ve had to rebrand a few times and it’s always incredibly painful to do. SpiderGap is an example of where the product and customer changed significantly and yet, when we reviewed it and spoke to customers, they liked the name and said it did stand out from the usual suspects of HR Solutions and so on. So, we concluded it was fine. You can spend so much time on renaming the business – and there are other businesses where we have changed the name and the branding. Often one of the most common areas for business owners and early stage entrepreneurs to let go of next is around sales. Perhaps they are the only sales person in the business, so when they get busy the sales pipeline slows up, which holds them back. Then they start to think about hiring, but that could hold them back from making sales and both things will impact money coming in. It’s a barrier for people to make that first leap. The mistake I and other entrepreneurs make when hiring a sales person is they assume the answer is to bring in a really experienced sales person to come in and solve all their problems. We did that, and that didn’t happen. We realised that at their old job they had a sales process, pipeline management, sales collateral and really clear sets of questions and things to cover. Making a mistake like that can cost you a year, but next time round you must implement a sales process. BEST MOMENTS ‘At various points in my life I’ve started up 9 businesses, but it’s probably telling that, of those 9, I essentially have 3 still active and one where I’ve paused. The process of building a business is an iterative one, or at least it should be.’ ‘As an entrepreneur, you do need to listen and have lots of conversations and that’s often one of the hardest things to do is go out there and have those conversations, but it’s only through that that you can truly pivot and innovate.’ ‘One of the most important things when you’re looking at branding is messaging: What’s your description of the customer, what’s your description of the pains and frustrations that your customer has that you’re solving for them, and how do you succinctly describe what you do and demonstrate that?’ Continuous improvement is so valuable, like tweaks and changes over time add up to huge shifts I the results that you get over years. If you don’t document things and continuously improve them, you’ll get the same results and never grow.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Alexis Kingsbury is the Director of Bridging Insight and co-founder of Spidergap, AirManual & Parentpreneur. Websites: https://www.spidergap.com/ and https://www.airmanual.co/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkingsbury/?originalSubdomain=uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexis.kingsbury Twitter: @Alexiskingsbury Instagram: @alexis.kingsbury ABOUT THE HOST Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers. 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