Walk 2 Wealth Ep 75 - 3:5:23, 2.04 AM

[00:00:00] This is a Walk to Wealth episode 75. Welcome to Walk to Wealth. Why enlighten and empower young adults to build wealthy, abundant lives? I'm your host, John Mendez, and I'm currently walking to Wealth as we speak. If you know the traditional route of finishing college, working a nine to five interior sixties, and hopefully having enough safer retirement isn't the path you wanna take, then join me as we walk to wealth together.

[00:00:31] You guys know how I normally start my episode? I just want to give a big shout out to you. Yeah, you listening right now. Thank you so much. We are three quarters of the way to a hundred episodes. For those of you guys who don't know, 80 to 90% of podcasters. And don't make it Past episode seven, and I was almost one of those, if you guys go look at my episodes, there's a time period between February and March of 2022 where I almost pod faded.

[00:00:59] [00:01:00] I almost went into podcast graveyard and I would've been one of those podcasts that just stopped posting episodes. But we are at 75 officially, and the next 25 to 30 are already recorded, so we're technically there at a hundred. I can almost feel it, guys, but without further ado, let's get right into this.

[00:01:17] what is your brand? What even is a brand? Like think of it for a second. All of these big companies like Nike, chase, McDonald's, Amazon, all of these companies have a brand. Whether we know 'em off the top of their head or not, they do have a brand. And a lot of times us entrepreneurs, especially us, so entrepreneurs, we get right into trying to sell a product or service and make some money and we never stop, ever to think.

[00:01:46] What is our brand? What do we stand for? Is every, is all the messaging that we're putting out into the world a line. In today's episode, I brought on a perfect guest to help you with this. I brought on Stephanie Rio. She is a brand [00:02:00] strategist and marketing consultant and a founder of Real Deal and Co. She started her bro first business at 22 super young, just like most of us before she even graduated college.

[00:02:11] and since then she's spent more than a decade supporting everyone from small businesses and entrepreneurs like us to Fortune 10 companies. Now, you know the Fortune 500 companies. Well, the Fortune 10 is like the top 10. She's has a wealth of experience helping everyone from all over the spectrum, but it wasn't always this way.

[00:02:31] I actually started my first business at the age of 22. In a lot of ways I had no idea what I was doing because I was still in school and I was still learning. But I. I really, I loved marketing, but I didn't have a ton of marketing experience at the time because I was a, I had a business major, but at the time I was also studying journalism, and I loved storytelling.

[00:02:54] I loved business. I had grew up around entrepreneurs, so I had seen it. I, I felt [00:03:00] like that might be a path for me, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Yeah. And so I started a business to learn all things marketing on the fly I had done, I'd always learned. By doing than in a classroom. And so I started my first business before I graduated college and turned that business into a six figure marketing agency supporting small businesses.

[00:03:24] I went from just doing everything myself to having a team of eight all across the country and helping clients all across the United States too. So it's been a wild ride, but yeah, it started by just going for it, you know? Yeah. Amazing. Uh, let me ask you a couple questions now. Before your first business.

[00:03:42] Tell us a little bit about what was money like growing up? How was money talked about in your household? Did you have some living like beliefs growing up that you kind of had to overcome once you got over and once you got into business? How did your childhood impact? Your business, entrepreneurial future later on.

[00:03:58] I love this question [00:04:00] so much because I think this is the, the why for all of us, every single one of us. It's that initial lesson we learned about money. For me, I'm the daughter of an immigrant. My father came to the United States at the age of six, did not speak English, and really I learned from him. It was hard work to make learning, and I learned the value of a dollar, which is an amazing lesson that I'm so grateful for today.

[00:04:25] But I think I recognize now after years of personal development work and really getting to uncover that question for myself, I learned from seeing him work very hard and from the lessons that I had learned growing up that, that it was hard work and it had to be hard, and there was a. Pushing through and making things happen, and it, it's been interesting as I've, as I've grown and evolved myself, how, how I've seen it, that was very much the, the journey that he lived and, and grew [00:05:00] up in.

[00:05:00] Of course, that's what I saw by, by seeing him work really hard and find success. But it definitely tainted my view of money for a long time. In that I had, I thought it had to be really hard. You had to do something that was really difficult in order for it to be worthwhile to receive money. And it really changed along the way.

[00:05:18] It changed probably a lot of the business decisions that I made subliminally because I always was operating off of, it had to be hard, it couldn't be easy, and I've, I've just recently started changing that and flipping that script for myself and taking ownership of it. So, uh, it, it definitely does. It bleeds into everyth.

[00:05:36] When you, when you have that belief and you're taught, taught something and you see very, very realistically like what that looks like. Yeah. And then I wanted to ask you as well, what was it like, you said he was for 20 tools when you started your first business, you were able to run that up. What was that like at that time?

[00:05:52] At this age, a lot of my listeners out of us, you know, were, at least my listeners, were trying to take that un untraditional route. But a lot of times it, it's [00:06:00] very hard to navigate because you have one group of friends doing this thing, another group of friends. Another group of friends is just still completely lost, but another group of friends probably still just messing around and stuff.

[00:06:10] And it's like you were trying to start something and Right, and, and, and grow that. Right? And not just start a little hobby, but start an actual business. Right. So what was that like at that time? If you could go flashback a little bit, what was it like growing around, starting a business at that age? What were some of the.

[00:06:25] thoughts of your, your peers around you, what were some of the things that you had to tune out? Your family? Maybe like, did you have people that you know weren't supported, that you thought were gonna be there? Tell us a little bit about what was it like that environment, starting at that age? Yeah. I, I think at that age, starting out it was pretty isolating.

[00:06:40] I, a lot of my friends, and especially in, in your twenties, I was in my senior year of college, so a lot of my friends. Parting it up, enjoying the last remainder of senior year on evenings and weekends, and I was spending evenings and weekends working on my business and building clients and, and honing my craft.

[00:06:58] So I wasn't going to the [00:07:00] parties, I wasn't being at social. I canceled a lot of trips. I, I remember once specifically, I was supposed to go, we had planned on going and I got a last minute project that came up and it, the dates conflicted with the dates of the trip. I canceled the trip last minute and I, I don't know that at the time those friends necessarily understood, I think they didn't get it.

[00:07:21] And I think even here flash, if we fast forward 13 years, some friends still don't get it. I, and I think it's hard to know, right? We all have a lived experience and we only know what we know from how we've walked on this earth. And so I've never held any resentment for that, but I definitely did. I gave up a lot of my social life.

[00:07:42] I gave up a lot of those fun things for a different kind of fun because building the business was really fun to me. But it definitely was it, it definitely was. It has been isolating and, and lonely many times throughout this journey. Yeah. So I, I got two good questions for you. The first question [00:08:00] is, so you mentioned that you traded fun for your version of fun, right?

[00:08:05] A lot of people ask, especially, you know, people. Price at some point in time, you know, because they said you never got to experience life, right? They didn't say you never got to live life. But then it kind of makes me wonder, what do you think living life actually means, right? Because if it's partying right, and doing drugs and drinking alcohol and promiscuity and all these other things like that might not be a style of life that I really wanna live.

[00:08:33] So it's like, what was living life for you? What. Because you said you, you managed to decide choosing your business. You were able to stick with it and be okay with it. A lot of times people fall victim of, of peer pressure. But how did you define life at that time? How, why were you so focused? What made you so laser focused on I gotta grow this?

[00:08:50] What made, what kept you geared to being successful and geared towards taking the right action and not geared towards like, Hey, maybe this time I'll go [00:09:00] out with the friends, or maybe this time I'll, cause that could have easily turned the whole shift off. Totally. I think I've always had I, and I think from those lessons and that that relationship with money rooted from a very young age, I've always known and, and not been afraid of working hard.

[00:09:19] And I think for me, I. Would always rather, and I felt that then I would always rather build a life that I actually enjoy and I wanna be in instead of building a life that I have to escape from with the partying and, and all of that because I don't like what I'm building. And so I think I had the, the real perspective then to know that it was just that first step and that future that I wanted for myself.

[00:09:44] And if I wanted something a little bit different than other people did, I had to do things a little bit differently and not get stuck in my comfort. Yeah. And then so then before we begin to today's conversation, let me ask you, what's it worth? It. Absolutely. All righty. So let's get right into [00:10:00] it. So you focus now on helping a lot of people with branding, right?

[00:10:03] Where do we start with branding? What is a brand? Because a lot of times your brand could be co, could be how people define you when you're not in a room. A lot of times your brand could be, people think Nike or Adidas or whatever the brand, Balenciaga, Gucci, whatever it is, but. To actually define what a brand is.

[00:10:21] A lot of people know what brands are, they know what brands they like to buy. But when it comes to branding, why is that important to the individual, to the small business owners, to the entrepreneur? Well, I love that you said it being what people say when you're not in the room. Because I have often said that in my interactions with small business owners and, and entrepreneurs that are starting out, the reality is with social media and with our availability to all have a presence online, whether you realize it or.

[00:10:49] We all have a brand, and I think the beautiful thing with that is that we all have a platform, but the, the, the thing that I all often find, and the thing that I work with my [00:11:00] clients on most often is for that brand, it's really all about feeling, and I don't mean like the emotions or our feelings inside, but the feeling that we want our customer to have with.

[00:11:12] When we're interacting with them, when they're coming to our website, when they're buying our product. And so you mentioned a couple of brands, Balenciaga, Gucci, I mean Nike. If you even think of those. And, and for, for anyone listening, you probably have a certain feeling or idea or thought come into your head for that brand.

[00:11:32] As soon as we say those, those company names, would you have that if they didn't? Years of celebrities wearing their products, years of campaigns, super Bowl placements, installations, different, different events happening. You probably wouldn't. And so the beautiful thing about a brand for a small business is it, it doesn't have to be.

[00:11:55] The Nike, it doesn't have to be a million dollar ad spend. Your brand is [00:12:00] truly how you're interacting with your customers. It's how you make your customers feel when they're in maybe your brick and mortar location or on your online storefront or on your website or on your blog, whatever it might be.

[00:12:10] That is all your brand and those are all very intentional decisions that are made for your brand through the colors you use, the words you choose, even the font, because this is where we really bring in a little bit of psychology. To back up that feeling that you want your customer to have and then backing it up with subliminal messaging of colors, fonts, wording, to really help solidify that so that your brand really gives your customer the feeling you want them to have.

[00:12:37] Yeah. And then, so let me ask you cuz a lot of my listeners too are at that point where like, they wanna get into it, but they don't actually have something that they're selling or a business that they're running right now. At what point in time do people, should people, you know, think about branding. Well, I think there's branding in two ways.

[00:12:51] So there's branding for like a business, so maybe it's your, your storefront, maybe it's your consulting [00:13:00] firm, whatever it might be. But then there's also your personal brand. And I think I've read some recent stats that are really astonishing. I've been building a personal brand since 2008. But there's a lot of data and a lot of reports that are coming out saying that the next decade it's really gonna be where personal brands are skyrocketing and really making a difference.

[00:13:19] And I think that that's where the power of social media comes in, because we all have a brand. If we're posting online and you Google and your name can come up, that's your brand, like it or not. And so I think that the power of brand, to go back to your question is that whether it's your personal brand or your business brand, you're always.

[00:13:39] The way that you show up, whether it's on a platform that you own, a website, whether it's in something like this, a podcast interview, there's always that brand angle to it as well, where you're building brand in everything that you do, anything that you say, how you show up, what you wear, because our brains are intercepting those messages sometimes without [00:14:00] us even realizing it behind the scenes, and that all builds brand over time.

[00:14:03] Yeah. And so let me ask. Which one would you think is more important? A personal brand or a business brand? It's a, like the chicken before the egg. It's a hard, it's a hard one to crack, but for me personally, and I, I always love to speak from personal experience. I built a personal brand before I te.

[00:14:22] Technically had the bus. I mean, the business was there, but the business wasn't technically visible. I started investing in personal brand first, but I've seen businesses do it both ways. I mean, some of the most successful people on the planet, you don't even know their name, but you might know their business name.

[00:14:38] I have a, a couple of mentors and, and she's opened my eyes to multiple 6, 7, 88 figure business owners and we wouldn't even know their. But we might know their brands. And so it really is, it really depends on your goals and what you want that outcome to be. If you really wanna build a business and you want that to be the start of the show, then [00:15:00] it's building the business brand.

[00:15:01] But I think there is a time in every business owner's journey where they then have to start investing in personal brand too. I don't think it's an either or. I think it's a both. A conversation of both. And when that timing. Yeah, definitely. And so now that we kind of got the importance as to what a personal brand is and why we should focus on building whether personal or business, depending, that's just which one we start first.

[00:15:23] But in the and grant scheme thing, we have to do both, right? Yeah. You mentioned too, already subliminal messaging, right? And you mentioned font psychology, Carlos, let's get into a little bit of that. Now. Let's start with colors, right? Because I know there's color theory, I know a little bit about it myself just from, I create a lot of Instagram reels and things like that.

[00:15:40] Try to get in, learn about it a little bit, but what can you tell us about color theory and colors in generals when it comes to branding and picking out your colors? Cause a lot of times it's like, oh, my favorite color is blue. I'll do this. Right. But their brand, their business that they're trying to build is something that is, you know, a, a fun, lively, energetic company, which you probably use something [00:16:00] more like yellow, but like for blue, it was more like trust, if I'm not mistaken.

[00:16:02] So tell us why you should stray away. Using your favorite colors to start your business and am I actually, actually spent some time thinking about, Hey, what color do I actually want to use when I start making this stuff up? Oh, I was so glad that you asked this and that we're talking about this because I cringe every time I hear a business owner say, well, I just really liked the color, or I really liked the, I really liked that, so I did it.

[00:16:24] But my question back is always, are you your ideal customer? Because so often we build a business, right? And we might not be really in that target audience. We have to build it to who we wanna sell to and who we wanna communicate to. Because color psychology hap, it's a real thing. Our brains interact.

[00:16:41] Excuse me, intercept different colors, different ways. Blue, like you mentioned, is very much it's trust. That's why you see a lot of banks and financial institutions use Blue, PayPal, Venmo, Facebook, chase, big Chase, big, big, big tech, big banking. They all use Blue. Then things [00:17:00] like Yellow Vitality. Magenta is also known for creativity and passion and fun and vitality as well.

[00:17:06] Green, a lot of times is for health and wellness. Green also kind of makes our brains think nature. So a lot of times more natural brands, you'll see them have a green or a version of a green or like a blue green, whereas some more futuristic brands are gonna use like a silver or silver and black, because those colors really invoke more, sleekness, more, more innovation and those kind of feelings.

[00:17:32] And that's the. The whole intention when we build a brand for a client, it's not based on the customer's favorite colors, because a lot of times my customers aren't selling to themselves. They are, they're selling to a totally different. Target audience. And so we wanna find out who that ideal customer is first and then build the brand intentionally around that with the colors that we use.

[00:17:55] And I mean, I can go on, we could probably spend the rest of our tion today talking about all the meanings and [00:18:00] intent behind these colors. There's a lot, but that's why it always is so much better to to seek out professional guidance or to do some research first before you just picked your favorite color to represent your brand, when you actually might be deterring your ideal.

[00:18:17] By using that favorite color instead of really putting some science behind it. Yeah, definitely. And I love that you mentioned too, like are we our ideal customers? Because that's a situation I had to come to recently with the podcast and I was thinking about it like, Am I my ideal listener? Then I heard another podcast because I'm my, I'm my target audience's age.

[00:18:35] I'm trying to target other young entrepreneurs who decided to leave school and not take the traditional route because they know they're gonna wanna retire at 60 and pray that they hopefully have enough save. Right? But then I was, I was auditing myself and I was realizing the reason for me starting a podcast is not the same reason for my listeners listening to the podcast.

[00:18:53] Right. I have to get a lot more clear, because I may know, sorry. A couple. The same reason I'm making it. . It's the same reason as someone else is [00:19:00] listening, right? Yeah. And so I just had to assess that like, hey, like although I'm in the same age range at all, I kind of live the same life. I'm actually not my ideal listener, so I have to.

[00:19:11] Take that a step back and audit it and tweak it as necessary. And that was like literally from the time of was recording, it's like two weeks ago. So love, I'm just doing that pretty recently. I love that. We mentioned colors a little bit again to typography a little bit because a lot of people don't think it is.

[00:19:23] It is fancy font. I want the one that looks cool, the squiggles and the script and the fancy handwriting and things like that. What advice would you give about typography when it comes to building a brand in the the name and fonts that you use around your business? Just like colors all. Have subliminal messaging that our brain interprets too.

[00:19:41] So a lot of times, like a more modern brand or a clean and simple brand maybe, maybe a brand that's all about like helping to simplify a process for you, they would be using what's called a stand sero font. And I have a whole course on this. And there's, I've taken courses on this, but I, I built a course on this a couple years ago because of all the differentiations, [00:20:00] but the really clean, like maybe you've, you've probably seen like a, the font Lado or Montserrat.

[00:20:05] I use Montserrat. I, so yeah, it's popular font. I love it too. But it's clean. It doesn't have, the syrups are the little tags and flags that are on the end caps. Of the letters and I, we're gonna get really geeky for a second, but the sander doesn't have those. And so it reads a lot more clean, a lot more modern, a lot more simplified.

[00:20:23] They're also easier to read on the web. And so that's kind of, if, if you're having a more kind of, more modern day fu not, I wouldn't even say futuristic, but more present day, more current brand, you're probably gonna want a samsara font if you're really maybe looking at vintage or, or. Other kind of ways to build in personality.

[00:20:44] Sometimes we can see script or some of those really stylistic fonts come into play. And then like things like a lot of the movie, the movie poster boards and covers with the titles. Those I'll use like a deco font. And [00:21:00] those are, I would typically never re recommend those for just, just a small business or entrepreneurs that are starting out because they're really hard to read and they pigeonhole you too much into.

[00:21:10] That some of them can look very artistic and some of them can look very act and packed. And while that works for movies, it's probably not gonna work for your brand long term. And then, I mean, there's hundreds of other kind of, of types of fonts and thousands of fonts themselves, and so we could really go down a rabbit hole.

[00:21:28] But there are definitely those same subliminal messages that are intact for the colors are there for the fonts too, and really how you're making your customer feel sometimes without even realizing it. So yeah. So we talked about colors a little bit. We got into this font a little bit. Now let's talk into logo, right?

[00:21:44] Because this is what people usually, like, we, we see a swoosh, we, we already know what it is, right? It's, we see three stripes, we already know what it is, right? And when it comes to creating a logo, how can we, what advice do you give us there for Now that we got our fonts, we got our colors in place, but we know what we wanna use.

[00:21:59] What advice you kind of give [00:22:00] us around our logo so that we could have something that actually makes sense to our deal CU customer. And this isn't like just like a random photo of some, I don't know, a squiggly line with your name and then a smiley face or something. Right. How could we, what advice to give us around creating a logo that represents the brand that we're trying to give off?

[00:22:18] I think the number one thing I wanna say before I even jump into this, is the thing to remember for a brand, just like us as humans, it evolve. So you'll even see, like for Starbucks, one of the most recognizable brands on the planet, global Locations, global identity. Their looked out, their logo. It isn't, it hasn't completely changed and shifted, but.

[00:22:40] Their logo has definitely changed and evolved over time. It's gotten a little bit cleaner. The fonts have been ch the fonts have been changed. Kia recently too changed their Kia, the car company. They just recently changed. They their, they did, yeah. They have a really futuristic font now. Yeah, I know. So, but, but I think if we look to those mega brands that are all over the globe as an [00:23:00] example, I, and I say that because I think as small business owners often we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get it right in and be perfect out the gate.

[00:23:08] And I think that, Is the wrong way to do it because your brand and your business, especially if, if you are just starting out your mission, your why it, your why might not change. But the how could really look different. I mean, I've been doing this for 13 years. What I first started up doing in 2010 is totally different than really kind of what that business means to me.

[00:23:37] and giving yourself permission and not pigeonholing yourself where it has to be. It has to be this, and it has to be that because the reality is your logo is likely going to change as your business off offerings and your, your business as a whole evolve. And that's the perfect time for a refresh or a rebrand to make sure that you're in alignment.

[00:23:55] But I think the one thing I see a lot of times, small business owners [00:24:00] where they. With a logo is they try to do it all in that one logo and then it's just, it's so much, it's information overload. I think that a lot can be said for kind of a more dialed back approach. Maybe you're starting with just a mark that has your business name in it.

[00:24:17] You don't need to have the icon or, or have the pressure to have the swoosh from the start tho. Those are things that can come over time as your brand loyalty builds and almost. So I think one of the things we see with some of the bigger brands, Their audience. A movement created around that brand over time, where the swoosh is now, everybody knows what that is.

[00:24:38] That didn't start that way from the very beginning. That was something that the audience really, really helped bring to life. And so I think that as small business owners, we don't need to have that pressure to have that perfect marker, that perfect piece to start. I think that that evolves and comes over time as you get to know your customer better and your offering and, and really fine tune the business [00:25:00] too.

[00:25:00] Would that answer your question? Yeah, definitely. And so we kind of, now we got an idea as to like some of the basics in terms of branding versus personal versus business. We talked about colors and fonts and now logos and now it's time to get that out there. Right. And with that, we need messaging. . That's an extremely important part because as you know, everything that, as they say, what?

[00:25:23] When you get arrested, right? Like everything, anything you say may be used against you in a court of law or something like that, right? It the same thing. Especially not with social media that basical when you open up a Twitter account, . Exactly. It's all right. But when it comes to that, like what Branding and everything in the same thing.

[00:25:36] Everything you say, the way you were sent this. So like what advice can you kind of give there to people so that they could start reaching out to their ideal clients in ways that is easily understandable, easily graspable and attract those people? Yeah, and that just kind of steered 'em away. For example, if, you know you wanna attract, you know, small business owners and you're using doctor level vocabulary, like super sophisticated, high, highly [00:26:00] technical terms, right?

[00:26:01] So what do I never use? Never use that language. Always try to be as simple and clear as possible. I actually have a really awesome workbook that I'd love to offer to your listeners for free that can take them through, because I think what, whenever I'm looking at branding, we start with your audience first.

[00:26:18] We wanna be clear on who they are. So if you don't know or if you think you know who your audience is, we gotta get clear on that first. But then, Kind of the overall vibe that you want the B brand to have, or if you wanna be more laid back and carefree, or if you do need to be a little bit more formal, right?

[00:26:33] Like if you're a medical company, you can't be necessarily using flying and jargon the same way a shoe company might. There. There's a different tonality and appropriate language for your industry. You don't wanna overwhelm somebody with all of the. Medical lingo. Working with medical providers is always my favorite because they'll use these fancy words and I'm like, can't, what is that in English?

[00:26:54] Like, just speak to me like I'm a fifth grader. And I think that that's one thing for anybody who [00:27:00] is kind of new on this journey and you're trying to figure out, how do I speak about this? How would you explain this to a fifth grader around you in the most simple language as possible? That's a great place to start to get to know.

[00:27:13] The bare bones basics of your brand and what you do, and think about it from your customer's perspective. And I think from there you can then figure out words. If you're a tech company, you might wanna have a little bit more edgy speak, but if you're an apparel company, it, that might not align. And so really getting intentional first, and that's what the, the workbook that I, I'd be happy to listen, uh, offered, uh, listen to this.

[00:27:38] I'll get you the link for it so you can. Get it for everybody, but it takes you through all of the pieces of branding that you can diy. So you're, you're ticking through and you're like, oh, is my brand, is my brand more casual? Or is it more formal? Is it more like Starbucks or is it more like Dunking Donut?

[00:27:56] And a lot of these different questions that really can help you understand that positioning [00:28:00] and then figure out the language to take there too. And a lot of times that has to do with your mission and what service or product you're offering. Yeah. And so then let me ask you a little bit, right now that we kind of got all these pieces together, what advice would you give us around getting that ideal avatar created, that ideal customer client that we wanna work with?

[00:28:19] Aside from the simple demographics of, yeah, it's a 32 year old young man with that's currently married and has one kid and lives in the house. Right? That all that demographic information is great to know about your ideal customer, but what advice that you can give us that about finding an ideal customer aside from the, the bare.

[00:28:37] Simple demographics. I think all that information is great and it's a great baseline because it can help you get really clear and targeted for your ad campaigns, things like that that you're doing for the future men, really know that person you're speaking to, but to take it a step further than just age, location, those different pieces, I always like.

[00:28:57] To really, and maybe it's my theater background. I did theater [00:29:00] in high school and college, so I, I, you know, you really like to embody the character. And while that might sound a little crazy to anybody listening who hasn't done theater before, but I think the intention behind there is still the same. So what I mean by that is, Think about that customer and why they're looking for your service, not just where they live or if they have kids or if they have a dog or, or whatnot, but really what is the problem that they have that they're looking for your product and service it?

[00:29:27] Are they looking for a better solution? Are they feeling really, are they feeling really overwhelmed by the options out there and they don't feel. Any provider really gets them. Like, what is that differentiator that you offer? But thinking about it from your customer's perspective first of how you're gonna help them, what are their pain points?

[00:29:46] And I think once we know those, we can del develop an avatars upon avatars and different areas, but we're always gonna come back to those core pain points. And I think that's where I see some people who are doing avatars and speaking about [00:30:00] them getting it wrong, because they're just so focused on age range.

[00:30:04] And where they are in the country or the world and their favorite color, which I mean, at that point you're guessing, right? You're just like putting together and it's fun. I, you can still have fun with it and get playful because it does help you to picture that one person. But I would challenge you to really not only think about that person and, and those demographics behind it.

[00:30:23] But also what is the problem that you're solving for them? Because then you're really gonna help understand them better. Are they a parent that's strapped for time and they need a quicker solution? Well, then you better be talking about how effective and how efficient your process or your product is. So when we really get to know the customer, that's a great way to do it.

[00:30:41] And that's all. This is all when youre first starting out and you don't really know your customer. Once you have your customer and you're starting to do. And have that data coming in constantly surveying your customer, getting feedback on what they liked about your service or your product experience, what they didn't like, and using that to help transform the future of your deliverables, your [00:31:00] service products, and your actual physical products.

[00:31:02] Depending on what kind of business you have, that is where you can really stand out from the cow crowd and can create a community connection with your customer. Nah. I love the, that you gave that advice. As I said, I was doing, I was auditing myself a couple weeks ago. I love it. And I actually reached out to one of my good friends, Darren, he's one of the people that supported me in my podcast journey the most from out here where I live at.

[00:31:23] He listens to my episodes and someone that he shares a podcast episode, and so I reached out. I was like, Hey, Darren, you have like 30 minutes, guy, I just interview you really quickly. I was like, yeah, sure. Hey. He didn't know what I was getting, getting himself into, but then I was like, all right, bro. So I'm trying to really level up the podcast.

[00:31:38] Let me just ask you a couple questions and then like what episodes do you like, what topics do you like, why didn't you like these topics? What were your favorite episodes when you, when I, the guests that I come on, do you like them for their topics or do you like them for how they presented? I started asking all them questions.

[00:31:52] I started asking When you first started listening to the podcast, what made you listen to it? Why you still listening? It's just cuz you're my boy. It's cause you actually like the show, [00:32:00] right? And I started asking him all these questions because when I thought of my ideal avatar, he's the first person that came into.

[00:32:05] So I, I got on, I dmd and I was like, yo, bro, like can I get in the call with you? And uh, and I started pretty much like you were saying, like asking him these questions besides like, I already know how old he is, either you're younger than me. We went to high school together, we played football together. I know he is in college right now.

[00:32:19] I know he doesn't wanna go back. But's like, I know that the basics, but I started asking him some questions to really make him think a little bit and stuff. . And similarly, my other guy that I met that I actually didn't know in person named Kaman, I might be pronouncing his name wrong, but he's from Jersey.

[00:32:30] He's another person, one of those guys that you meet online that supports you and you never, you don't, you don't know who they are or where they came from, but they support you. Like they grew up with you like next door, right? Yeah. And so, same thing though. I got on the phone with him and started asking him some questions about the show, who he likes, what he likes, and stuff like that.

[00:32:45] Cuz I wanna make sure I, of course I'm trying to do all this ideal avatar work on the back end. It's like, I wanna make sure it. The people that I know, I actually listen to. I get their feedback, their opinion, their input. Yeah. So that I can continue growing so I can continue bettering the [00:33:00] show and things like that.

[00:33:01] That's fantastic. And I think that also just I wanted to say, because it, I know when you're first starting out, and for listeners, if you're early on in the stages, it can be really overwhelming. You're like, I don't even have a customer yet. How the heck do I figure out what they want? You, I'm sure everyone listening has some social media channel.

[00:33:21] You can throw up a story. Hey, I'm looking for five people to talk to about X, Y, and Z. Fill in the blank. If you're willing to gimme 15 minutes of your time, I'll send you a gift card for a coffee, send half coffee post, made it or Uber Eves to you for the call, whatever it might be. I just wanna ask a couple questions, get some feedback from you.

[00:33:41] I've done that numerous times throughout my career, even though maybe when I was even just about to bring an offer to market and didn't actually. People purchasing it yet just to make sure that my offer was dialed in and that I was covering their needs. Same thing on brand, and I love that you've already done that and you're sharing that because that's a really easy, tangible way that anyone [00:34:00] can get some insight and feedback and see where and what their thinking lines up for their audience, maybe without even having their first customer yet.

[00:34:08] So there's really no barrier to entry to getting this work done and to making sure that you have that clarity to start. Yeah, definitely. And it keeps you grounded as well. They did. Literally LA within last night, or two days ago from the day we're recording this, I was talking to my friend's mom and she was talking about how her boss has asked her, you know, how do you think the higher ups are during, in terms of like living on our core values, living on our brand, right?

[00:34:33] And she, she mentioned that like, yeah, our core values are like, she named like two things outta the rest. And I was like, well, there you go. Like clearly the higher ups aren't living out the brand in the core values because if you can't. Off the top of your head, if the people work for you can't distinguish what the core values and define what the core value is, and clearly that's not being done very well in that company.

[00:34:57] And so I kind of wanna ask you too, [00:35:00] around the topic, because as you mentioned some of the times what we're trying to put out, May not be something that people are actually looking for. And you kind of mentioned one strategy already. What are some other ways that we could like prepare ourselves in advance when we're doing all this research is branding and things like that so that we don't waste our time putting out something in all these avatars and things like that for someone that actually doesn't wanna buy or someone that doesn't actually ex Well, I think the other thing that, and this you're going to ask, answer your question, but , I think the other thing.

[00:35:32] Just being willing to try so much of marketing and so much of branding is you, you wanna identify your why and your core values first. You can always use that as the, the background of, of what you're, what place you're coming from, when you're going to market, or you're talking to your customer, whatever it might be.

[00:35:51] But I would. Not one. I was like, I'm my hesitation with giving all of this do this first and do this and do this and do this, is that you, [00:36:00] anyone listening becomes so overwhelmed that they don't just take that first action and they don't test it. That might be posting someone on Instagram and seeing what kind of feedback you get.

[00:36:08] Because I think the way that A, as you're going along and you're trying, it might be feedback that you're getting. It might. Likes or engagement on content. It might be someone, you, you being at a networking event and co someone coming up opportunity and being like, Hey, I love what you're posting on social media.

[00:36:24] Like, keep it up. Like it, it, it can come in a lot of different ways, especially in the beginning, but I don't want anyone to be afraid to just try because truly the only way that we can really know if working, seek that information, take that, take that inventory survey like we've been talking about, but also trying different things and seeing what.

[00:36:42] I don't want anybody to be so paralyzed by, oh my gosh, I don't know this data. Stephanie said, I have to know this, this, and this. I don't know that I, I'm not even gonna start, and I would hate to see that happen because we're all just out here trying our best. Even, even if you've been in business 13 years, 30 years, three years mm-hmm.

[00:36:59] three [00:37:00] days, three months, doesn't matter. We're all out here trying different things and a big part of entrepreneurship is just being willing to try and test different things out. So you might just have to try a couple of things and know. It's, it's going to take some, some effort and probably more effort than you think to really dial into that information.

[00:37:19] And that's okay, because that's what, that's what the game is. That's all the game. Yeah. And so I wanted to ask you now that we kind of got the, the, I guess the fr the, the framework for building, uh, uh, a brand, right? We talked about this colors and all the different, like sub-components, or not all of them, but we touched on several ed, but so I wanted to.

[00:37:37] How can you build a brand right, in a market that's oversaturated? Because for the, probably everyone listening for the not 99.99% of us, we're not gonna find like that blue ocean or like that brand new thing that no one's ever heard of or ever found. Like that's so innovative, dude, that it just, it's gonna sell itself no matter what.

[00:37:57] That of time we're answering into places that are usually very [00:38:00] saturated. So for example, me in this podcast, a personal finance space. Absurdly saturated now, right? So it's like what advice would you give to people that are trying to offer a product or service in a market that's saturated where there's already a bunch of other competitors and they wanna stick out and get something going?

[00:38:15] I love this. I think when you're any of us, because the reality is the internet has made all topics in all industries so much more accessible for the most part. But I think the beauty in that, If you're having a, a calling on your heart or you feel like I need to do this, my perspective needs to be shown.

[00:38:33] What's that? Why? Why does your perspective need to be shown? Is it because the person or the most, the people that are out there talking about it don't look like you and you want to be that example for people that do look like you? Maybe it's, you think that something being really missed no matter how saturated the market is, if you focus on what that unique value that you bring is, or the unique perspective.

[00:38:54] That's your differentiator. That's what's gonna set you apart. No matter how many people are [00:39:00] out there talking about personal finance or in my case, marketing. There's something unique to each of us that internal magic, and I don't wanna sound too corny, but truly, I was on an event at the end of last week and one of the speakers was talking about how.

[00:39:15] Yes, there's competition and I even in branding, yes, we, I looked at the competition a little bit, but I'd rather focus on what's unique about my clients and what's unique about the, the brand and the people behind the brand than focus so much on the competition. Because then we're just gonna turn into the competition and that's not what we want.

[00:39:32] We're in this to be ourselves, share our unique perspectives and share why you know it that, why behind it, why you wanted to get started, why you decided to jump. What you thought was missing, and then that becomes your differentiate differentiation that you can hold onto as you're riding the wave in that sea of oversaturation because it with otherwise, we'll find a million reasons not to take that step or [00:40:00] not, or mm-hmm or not to start because the market is saturated.

[00:40:03] But the reality is somebody out there needs to hear your perspective and your point of view, and you're being selfish if you're not. I love that you mentioned that because I always told myself, and it's, I always, I, I know it's a pretty extreme way of viewing it, but it goes back to that, the, the pretty much the connection levels, the levels of connection, right?

[00:40:20] If you know a hundred people and knows a hundred people, know a hundred people, you're only like five or six levels away from a billion people. Right. Which is essentially almost the entire planet. And because I always say it's like the more you hold what you have in you, The, the more negative harm that you're doing to the world by not letting it out because you don't know who you could have impacted and who they could have impacted, and so on and so forth.

[00:40:43] Yeah, and you could have probably not maybe even secondhand, but maybe like six hand. Impacted the world's greatest entrepreneur that probably you never, would never come to fruition because you didn't share that one time where you were supposed to share. And it's a kind of extreme way cuz it, it kind of forced you to, [00:41:00] to carry the burden of letting the world down, essentially.

[00:41:03] But I feel like it pushes, at least for me, it pushes me because it gets me to share, for example, with the podcasts, like, I'm not wealthy yet, but my own definition. I'm not sitting here acting like I am, but. I knew I couldn't wait for me to become wealthy, for me to become successful, for me to start this podcast, which is why I'm starting it now while I'm still at the very bottom of my journey.

[00:41:20] Right. So kind of like let that go. And also, um, learn from others along the way. Right. And so I kind of wanna ask you though, when it comes to the whole unique value proposition, right, the unique value thing, there's kind of like some type of fine line between being unique, being yourself and everything, but also not trying to reinvent the wheel.

[00:41:36] Because a lot of times it's like people wanna be so unique, but it. We're people haven't gone that road for a reason because that road clearly doesn't work. But you wanna be the super unique person and stick out like a sore thumb. But so what kinda advice can you give us around there? So we're not like, we're still ourselves, but we're not trying to reinvent the wheel.

[00:41:55] Well, I think you just nailed it because my, the first thing that came to mind for me is it's [00:42:00] unique, but it's being unique according to you. And I think I have found throughout my journey, That really comes through being authentic and authenticity, because your audience is gonna know if you're not being authentic, even you sharing right now, you, you're starting this podcast, you knew you had to, even though you're not really where you wanna be just yet, but you're on the journey and you're, you're sharing that along the way.

[00:42:25] That's authentic. That's exactly where you are, you're. On Instagram posing with a private jet like you're getting on like so many do, you know? And like live in a life that is not real. And I think that I can't talk about uniqueness without talking about authenticity and you being true yourself because that's gonna look different for everybody.

[00:42:44] Yes, there's some things that they probably haven't been tried because they, or they have been tried and they don't work and that's why you don't see it. But I think where we can really fall into. Like a slippery slope is if we're trying to force it too [00:43:00] much. I think when you're being authentic and you're really truly leaning into what makes you unique and your, your experience and all of those pieces, no matter how you grew up, no matter where you live.

[00:43:12] It's easy, it's flows. It's not it not meaning that every day is easy, but it comes easily to you. It's not forcing it or pretending to be something that you're not. That is the opposite of auth authenticity. And so I think when we're truly authentic, what, regardless of what that experience is for ourselves, there's nothing that can be taken.

[00:43:34] Away from your perspective there, because you're just living truly your experience, sharing where you're at and being vulnerable and authentic enough. Yeah. So let me ask you then, what advice would you give to people entering an industry where they're not the typical demographic? For example, for me, average age of realtors.

[00:43:50] 54. Yeah. I'm 21, right? Yeah. I'm almost a third of the age, right? So I kind of wanna hear your advice as to people like me [00:44:00] entering these industries that. Saturated with people that are Newton, you're not their age, or you may be, you might be in entering a male or female dominated industry, but you still wanna get in there like, there's so many different industries.

[00:44:11] Or you may not be the person that the average person looks like. Right. What advice could you kind of give there so that you success find success in that industry without ha as you said, losing yourself without trying to force upon something, a lifestyle or a, a persona that isn't actually. I have a couple ideas here.

[00:44:31] I think first, if you are in that position where you're entering an industry and it's not representative of who you are, you have an amazing opportunity because, and, and I, and I wanna just like, I mean, I would, I would clap and, and round of applause in a very sincere way because it takes a lot of courage to step up and to be a part of an industry where you don't see yourself represented, right?

[00:44:55] It's, it's very scary to do that no matter what industry it is. So I think. [00:45:00] First, celebrate yourself for taking a path that maybe, maybe you haven't seen done before. I think that that's very awesome. But I think with that, one of the things that's really helped me and Mike is finding mentors. I think the one beautiful thing with having people in an industry who are, where the average age, like in real estate, is in the fifties and a very, a very different composition of people that are in that.

[00:45:27] There are also people that are in the industry and are wanting and eager to help somebody who's starting out to share that knowledge. Sometimes you might just have to ask, right, but I think that there's so much power in mentors and mentors of all kinds. It could be somebody that in your local area who is you meet with one on.

[00:45:48] There's also digital mentors who are sharing content and doing it for somebody that go has been where you wanna go though. Don't just follow somebody who says they're a quote unquote coach and they've never built what you're looking to [00:46:00] build, cuz that doesn't help you. So I think that would be, My first thought, because that has made such an impact on my career of having mentors who have, who have done what I wanna do or are in the space that I'm in, and I really, I recognize and see that their path is a path that I'm interested in.

[00:46:19] And then seeking out ways to connect with them, learn from them, and really soak up all the information that they have because if they have that benefit of that experience, you never know what you could learn. Even from a 15 minute lunch or coffee, you know? Yeah, no, I, I love that you brought that up.

[00:46:38] Cause that's kind of where I'm at as well, where I'm at a point where I'm really like trying to grow this podcast like through the roof, but everyone around me, my coach right now is a real estate coach, and that's not my focus. Right? That's not really, yeah, I'm in real estate right now, but that's not really exactly what I wanna do.

[00:46:53] I wanna really grow this podcast in something that it, it's its own thing, right? Where it's always so it's running on its own. And so it's [00:47:00] like, right now it's like I'm at a point where, All right. Well, the people around me are successful, but none of them have a podcast. So it's like all their advice is great for people that are trying to do that.

[00:47:11] I'm trying to do this. Wow. And now I'm, I'm currently on a search for someone to help me with my, take these, get this to the next level and ramp this up. And I kind of wanna ask you one thing that I kind of been on my mind throughout this podcast. I love that. What advice would you kinda circle back a little bit?

[00:47:29] What advice would you give to people? To stay true to their brand and true to themselves, and being authentic when that first level of people around them, that inner circle of people around them either don't support them or don't support them in the way they would like, or have the, you know, the, the little like backhanded compliments or whatever may be, or like subtle jabs and things like that.

[00:47:52] Especially when you're getting into entrepreneurship. A lot of people don't think it's something that's real or something that's serious until they see pay stubs and checks [00:48:00] coming. , but like when you're starting off, a lot of the time those don't come in early on. Right. And those, it's like, so what advice we give there to being authentic, being true to yourself.

[00:48:08] When you're in the starting phases and people around you don't really see what you're doing? Well that's still common, right? I mean, it happens and it happens. I think it's an important clarification. It happens at all levels of entrepreneurship or anything. I think, especially when we're being really true to our.

[00:48:25] A lot of that objection from outsiders who aren't walking a similar path, I think that it makes that louder. So I think the one thing, and the first thing that comes to mind for that is being really clear on your why and knowing why you're doing it. Because if you know that and you know what, what the future is that you see, you're gonna be more grounded and more solid in.

[00:48:50] How you're showing up regardless of the criticism. Because I think sometimes those that love us the most, I know they mean well a lot of times, but they can sometimes have the sharpest dagger, right, with their [00:49:00] words and what they say because they might not get it. They might live a very different life.

[00:49:04] And I think I learned a couple of years ago that some of my friends who I really was struggling to talk about entrepreneurship with, because they weren't entrepreneurs, they just couldn't even sad. Doing a five figure sale day. They couldn't imagine that. They couldn't. Ima imagine that because they're in education and they're a teacher and I, while that is, I wouldn't know anything about that.

[00:49:25] I mean, I can imagine, but it's hard for sometimes for people to see things that they don't understand or that they can't even imagine as possible. And so I think first and foremost having compassion for that. Cuz I think even like negative comment comments online, I'm a huge Gary Vaynerchuck fan and he always talks.

[00:49:44] Extending empathy for the haters that are sending negative comments, like they must be having a really bad day. And I think if we can do the same thing for those personal haters in our lives who might not be commenting negatively, but maybe who aren't supporting us in the way that we need, having compassion.

[00:49:58] I think the other thing that is on us [00:50:00] though, Is communicating boundaries. I mean it, we can get mad at the people in our lives all we want, but have we communicated what we need for support from them? Because I found through my experience that I wasn't doing that. But then I was mad that somebody wasn't supporting me in the way that I needed.

[00:50:15] But I hadn't said, Hey, it's actually not helpful and you do that. I understand you might mean this, but maybe this is what I need instead. And setting that boundary and having boundaries, maybe there's certain times you hang out with those friends or family members, and I know that. Hard to do, especially with family, but if it's draining you and negative, you have to find ways to keep true yourself and to take care of yourself so that you don't let that negativity and their doubt get you down.

[00:50:41] Cuz that's just a reflection of their secure insecurities. It's not a reflection of you or what you're doing. Yeah, definitely. Until we've been able to talk about brand versus business brand, we talked about the colors, typography, we talked about messaging, we talked about logos, we talked about staying true.

[00:50:57] Who you are, your authenticity and how that can play [00:51:00] back into unique value, and so that you can separate yourself amongst the herd and whatever, no matter what industry, your market you're in. Stephanie, where could we find out more about you? Where could we get in touch with you? We kind of wanted to continue on this path of branding and messaging and needed some help with that because it as, it's a lot, especially when starting off, it's so where can we get in contact?

[00:51:21] I would love to connect with all of you. My website is stephanie real.com, that's r i e l and then I am real deal on all socials. So my last name, R I E L D E A L. You can connect with me and any of my businesses there. Um, and then I will get you the information for that free workbook. It's a part of the branding course, but I'll give your listeners access for free and I'm sure we can work out a reduced rate for the branding course if anybody's interested in it too.

[00:51:46] So yeah, definitely. Anyway, I can add value. I'd love. So now it's time for the final four questions, how we end every single podcast episode. Question number one, what is the most impactful lesson you've learned in life? To trust my intuition always. [00:52:00] What is the most admirable trait you could find in a person?

[00:52:04] Honesty. If you had to change someone's life with one book, which book would you recommend? It's just such a hard question. I've read so many books that have really changed my perspective. There is a. That by the time you're listening to this, we'll be out it, it launches tomorrow, but it is called Wealth Habits.

[00:52:25] It's by a mentor and friend of mine, candy Valentino. I have a, I've received a advanced copy of it and it's incredible. Six ordinary steps to achieve, achieve wealth. It's something that everybody can do no matter what stage of life you're in. Just really great things that can truly help and I believe it's gonna make such a big impact for financial literacy.

[00:52:45] And so I. I'm gonna say that one because I've been blown away by the information that K's been sharing. And what is the legacy that you're trying to leave behind? The value and the mission that I try to, I try to have [00:53:00] always tried to live in business is I treat my clients the way that I want somebody to treat my business.

[00:53:05] If I don't think I'm the best partner for them, I will tell them and a lot of times help them find a different partner or seek out to my community to help connect them with somebody who's truly. And so I think that that living by the golden rule is what, what drives me? And I think for, for that legacy, being a good person, enjoying the right thing, and yes, making bold loads of money, but being a good person at the end of the day, because I think, I'm sure you've heard it said before too, but money's an amplifier.

[00:53:36] If you're a great person, it's gonna make you even better. If you're a jerk, you're gonna be an even bigger jerk when you have money. And so I think for. First and foremost, it's being a good person and if we can make vote loads of money along the way, why not? Why not? Exactly. That's a great way to end the episode, Stephanie.

[00:53:52] It was an honor and a pleasure having you on the show. Really appreciate you taking the time to break down some of these things that a lot of people kind of just skip over [00:54:00] entirely when don't have a business, especially small business owners, just skip over this entirely and don't think about it at all until some, some people never think about it, ever.

[00:54:09] And so I'm, I'm glad you're able to hop on and just really enlighten us on this topic. I appreciate you so much for doing. Well, I'm so grateful to be here. Thank you so much for the conversation and I can't wait to see what's to come for you. That is the for today's episode. Thank you guys so much for just showing up and showing love.

[00:54:27] This has been quite the journey so far, this podcasting road that I have been on, so thank you guys for being a part of it. If you found this episode to be valuable and you want to continue working on your brand, make sure to go check out episode 49 with Cindy Porter, the three Circles to Finding Your Unique Style.

[00:54:44] That'll be an amazing episode to partner up with this one, so make sure to go to go check it out. Again, I'm your host, John Mendez, and I will see you guys in the next episode.[00:55:00]