Episode 39: Building a Badass Brand & Conquering Entrepreneurship

“Too many companies want their brands to reflect some idealized perfected image of themselves. As a consequence, their brands acquire no texture, no character.”

This quote is displayed on the Rookery website and I think it embodies everything Mandi and her business is all about. What I love about Mandi’s approach to marketing and branding is that there is no time for BS or wishy-washy behavior. She’s all about finding that authentic, raw core of who you are as a business owner and finding ways to share that in a real way with clients.

Utilize your time working for other people to learn and grow your skills:

I always say that no time spent is wasted. That means that even if you are still working in a full-time job and just have your business as a side hustle, that’s valuable time you can be learning and growing your skills. Utilize your time working for someone else to grow your skills and learn more about being a business owner so that you can take that knowledge with you when you’re ready to go out on your own. Don’t look at it as time that’s wasted because you’re not full time in your business yet. You can still pick up valuable lessons and information that will help you down the road and keep you have having to learn it the hard way on your own dime!

Sharing interesting quirks or passions about yourself is a great way to get to know your clients:

Mandi is great about opening up and sharing her personality with her clients. Not only does that help build a relationship, but her clients feel more comfortable opening up to her. Don’t hold back who you are when working with your clients because they want to get to know the person behind the business! Your interests and passions can even help bring in business. For example, Mandi competes as a professional weight lifter and she has been able to network and gain clients from that community.

We can get along with everybody, but there are certain types of people we are drawn to:

When you’re in the beginning stages of your business, it can be tempting to simply take on any client because you need the money or are anxious to grow your business faster. Mandi suggests avoiding that temptation and to really focus on only taking on clients you know will be a good fit for your business and brand. If you need extra money, take on a part-time job instead of accepting clients that are wrong for you. This will start you on the right path from the beginning and will help you identify your ideal client really instead of later on when your business is already established.