Sept. 16, 2024

Laura Sauter, strategic brand consultant and founder of Agency Bel

Laura Sauter, strategic brand consultant and founder of Agency Bel

Laura Sauter, strategic brand consultant and founder of Agency Bel, is a seasoned brand expert, speaker and educator. With brand strategy and design, she supports entrepreneurs, and long-time founders, feel confident during corporate transition -...

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Laura Sauter, strategic brand consultant and founder of Agency Bel, is a seasoned brand expert, speaker and educator. With brand strategy and design, she supports entrepreneurs, and long-time founders, feel confident during corporate transition - launching, merging or creating a succession plan.

Laura leads brand transformations by turning ideas into actionable strategies. Her approach is defined by an ability to cut through complexity and deliver clear, effective strategies that drive results.

Winning Business Radio is broadcast live Mondays at 4PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Winning Business Radio is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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WEBVTT

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The topics and opinions express in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not

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those of W FOURCY Radio.

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It's employees are affiliates.

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We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,

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or products mentioned on air or on our web. No

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cy Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or

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comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you

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for choosing W fourcy Radio.

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Churchill said, those who failed to learn from history are

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condemned to repeat it. Kevin helen N believes that certainly

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applies to business. Welcome to Winning Business Radio here at

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W four cy Radio. That's W four cy dot com

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and now your host, Kevin helen N.

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Thanks everybody for joining us again today. I am Kevin

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Hallanan and welcome back to Winning Business TV and radio.

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We're on talk for tv dot com, streaming live W

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four cy dot com. We're also on Facebook and that's

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at Winning Business Radio, and of course we're available in

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podcasts after the live show on tons of platforms pretty

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much wherever you get your podcast content. We're there, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple, etc.

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And the list goes on the mission of winning business

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radio and TV. As regular viewers and listeners know, is offerings,

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insights and advice to help people avoid the mistakes of others, right,

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and that's to learn best practices. Those are the how tos,

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the what toos, the what not tos, to be challenged,

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of course, and hopefully to be inspired by the successes

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of others. Those folks are consultants, They're coaches, they're advisors, authors,

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founders and owners, entrepreneurs, people with expertise. But you know,

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virtually every successful person that I've ever had a chance

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to talk to has had some form of failure in

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their lives and careers. So, as I say every week,

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while we all have to get our knee skinned once

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in a while, I'm driven to keep those scrapes from

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needing major surgery. Let's endeavor to learn from history so

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we don't repeat it. I've spent the better part of

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my career equipping businesses to grow from solopreneurs to small

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and medium sized companies all the way to the fortune fifty.

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I've seen some of those companies win into varying degrees

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I've seen some fail I've had the opportunity to rub

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elbows with some of the highest performing people around and

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with some probably should have found other professions. In my

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own businesses, I've had a lot of success, but some

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failures too. So I like to think I've learned a

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lot from those experiences, and therefore you're going to hear

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from me my opinions and insights. But and because Laura,

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anyone who knows me will tell you, I sometimes have

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a hard time being quiet. But more importantly, you're going

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to hear from experts, those consultants, those coaches, authors, advisors, founders, owners, entrepreneurs,

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And today is no exception. My guest today is Laura Souder,

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strategic brand consultant and founder of Agency Bell. Laura is

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a speaker, a seasoned brand expert, and educator with brand

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strategy and design. She supports entrepreneurs and longtime company founders

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alike to feel confident during their time of corporate transition,

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whether launching, merging, or creating a succession plan. She's consulted

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for multinational companies such as Fidelity, Biogen, and TGX, as

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well as many small and mid sized companies. At Agency Bell,

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Laura leads brand transformations by turning ideas into actionable strategies.

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With thirty years of experience in brand strategy and identity design,

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she specializes in helping established companies navigate transitions, whether they're

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facing M and A challenges, succession planning, or entering new markets.

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Her approach is defined by an ability to cut through

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complexity and deliver clear, effective strategies that drive results. Laura

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thrives in environments that require decisive action, helping brands move

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forward and achieve their goals. She excels it sorting through

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the noise to find the best path forward. She helps

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but he's identify opportunities and avoid pitfalls, ensuring that every

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move is aligned with long term success. She understands that

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every company and team is unique, and so she tailors

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her approach to bring out the best in every individual,

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creating cohesive, high performing teams that are greater than the

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sum of their parts. In addition to leading agency bell,

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Laura's an expert who facilitates branding and marketing conversations that

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resolve major business challenges. She's presented to and facilitated groups

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of all sizes and expertise levels, including boards of trustees.

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As a former board chair herself, Laura brings a particularly

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deep level of empathy and expertise to her work with boards.

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She holds a BS in Design from the University of

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Wisconsin Madison. She lives in Milton, Massachusetts with their fiance Mark.

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She has two kids, Margot who's twenty and Gwyneth who's

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twenty three, and is excited to have two future step kids,

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identical twins, Charlie and vv who are sixteen. Laura, Welcome

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to Winning Business Radio. Thanks for being here, so good

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to be here.

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Thank you.

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I hope I pronounced all the kids' names.

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You did, right, I say Vivi, but it's all okay.

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His name, her name is Vivian Vivian.

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So first, let's talk a little bit about the personal side.

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Tell us about Mark.

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Oh gosh, we've been together for six and a half years.

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I have been divorced twenty so I'm very excited to

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be on the path to marriage. Taking our time. Mark

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is a fractional COEO and we talk business all the time.

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That is one of our big connector points. He's actually

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next networks with me often and we you know, we

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go to different events together. So he and I are

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kind of a little power team, a little power couple

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in addition to being passionate parents and all the rest.

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That's awesome. Now tell us about the kids, your kids,

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and then your step kids or anywhere you want.

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Well, I have four daughters, well to to be. Gwynneth

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and Margo are mine, Charlie Vivi or his of course.

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Gwyneth is wrapping up her masters at Columbia, so she's

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smarty pants a year old, is finding her way. She

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just left her first year of college, but she is

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emerging into the workforce and learning about what that feels like.

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She just had her first day today as a receptionist

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at a law firm.

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Cool.

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And then the twins are juniors. They're working so hard.

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They're great students and college bound. Nice.

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Love to hear that. All right, So where did you

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grow up, La?

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I'm a Chicagoan. I'm a Midwesterner. I live on the

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East Coast and when I moved here, everyone gave Chicago

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a hard time, and I said, Hey, it's the stuff

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between the bread that makes the sandwich. So just laying

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off the.

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Show, listen. I think it had something to do with sports,

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but I could be off base there.

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But well, I am a Midwesterner. I went to college

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in the Midwest, and I grew up on the south

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side of Chicago, So I am an urban girl.

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Nice, nice, And what were your early interests?

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Actually, I went to a college prep private school. My

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mom was a professor, and I grew up in academia.

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But I was sort of the artsy FARTSI girl. And

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even though I was a good student, I just always

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loved the creative pursuits. And so in a senior year,

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we were given the opportunity to have what was called

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May Project but basically a young person's internship program, and

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we could do anything we wanted with our last month

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of high school. I chose to work in advertising, and

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I literally opened up the phone book back when that

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existed and went to the biggest print name in the

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phone book under advertising, called them, and they gave me

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an internship. It was J. Walter Thompson.

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And that was the epitome of a cold call right there.

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Yeah, that is that is the epitome of a cold call.

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Had no idea where what I was getting into. And

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when I strolled up to the address, of course, it

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was the John Hancock Building and They had sixteen floors

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in that building and had Oscar Meyer and other big accounts,

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and that was the start of my young career.

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Well, I was going to say, it seemed like you

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knew you wanted to be in design judging from your

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bachelor's degree.

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Yes, that was my passion. I wanted to be in design,

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but I also wanted to be more than a design er,

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so I did a dual degree in journalism and design,

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my goal being to be a magazine designer, which is

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what my first jobs in New York were.

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Yeah, I'm going to ask you about those what before

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I do?

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Though?

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Why'd you choose Wisconsin?

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I had done quite a bit of college touring Cornell

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in the East Coast, and when I came back from

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my big month long trip, my dad said, how about

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University Wisconsin. That's where he got his PhD. So I

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of course gave him a hard time being there urban

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girl that I was like, I don't want to be

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where the cows are. And of course when we drove

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up there, just me and my best friend, we fell

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in love with the campus and it really was the

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epitome of college.

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That's awesome. It sounds like a good experience for you.

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All right, so your first position was at Town and Country.

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Tell us about I like to ask questions that I

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think the audiences, the viewers and the listeners are going

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to want to know. So how did you get that

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first job? That was it a cold call? And the

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yellow pages? And then tell us about the job itself.

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So my my cold call was softened by I had

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a strategic college class. So I, as I mentioned, had

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put myself into the journalism school along with my design school,

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which was actually pretty difficult in such a big college

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like that. It was two different segments of the college.

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So my magazine class basically was I was the art

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director of this magazine and we had other you know

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students in different roles. So as in preparation for writing

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the article, which was my particular article was featuring redesigns

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of other magazines, I got to basically call the art

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director of Time magazine, the art director of GQ magazine,

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and all these other magazines. And I had all these

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basically you know, interviews, but I was interviewing them for

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their jobs. And so when I came to New York,

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I had these kind of relationships and made the rounds

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and obviously not everyone needed a designer, but I'd say,

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who do you know? Who do you know? I was

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young and prea that was very brave, much braver than

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I am now because I know too much. But long

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story short, I worked my way into town and country,

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which was almost one hundred and fifty years old, and

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I got to do some really amazing work with amazing photographers,

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other amazing desig I mean, really the cream of the cream.

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It was amazing.

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What would you say would be a key lesson learned

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or key takeaway from that first role.

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I was young and I was already a manager, and

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I think that kind of surprised me. I thought, well,

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young people need to do the grunt work. But this

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was right at the turning point of technology, and I

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grew up in technology. I was really the first level

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of people. So I knew how to do the production

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with the computers, and I knew how to, you know,

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really run and run the department if you will. And

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they saw that, and I was confident and really just

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stepped into some shoes. So folks that were in their forties,

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et cetera. Were under me, and I was running the

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department of how to actually produce the magazine, because that

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was really what I had studied.

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So what were the interactives, the interactions between those more

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seasoned folks and you, the young buck.

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I think initially surprised, just again because on principle, most

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folks tend to be older than their their underlings. But

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I was confident and kind and I wasn't snooty, so

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they respected me, and I did my job well and

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I allowed them to go home on time, so they

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really liked that. In the magazine world, that's not always

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the case.

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So you were a city kid, but you were still

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in a midwesterner, so I was kind. I could get

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the job done, but you did it nicely.

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Yes, I wore black, so I did the you know,

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the New York black yeah thing. But I was still

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a nice girl, nice all right.

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Then a editorial designer role, which well that was how

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s Beautiful magazine tell us a little bit about that one, so.

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That magazine focus.

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On I should have said this, I'm sorry to interrupt,

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focus on what you learned during that process.

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I had a terrible manager there, actually, and I think

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as a young person, I was still quite young. As

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a young person, I had not come across that and

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the art director of this magazine was very abusive verbally

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and inappropriate. I mean this is very early in the nineties,

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you know, ninety three, ninety four, whatever, it was, ninety five.

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And so when I went to the HR department, they said, oh,

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you've been there for a couple of months. We've been

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expecting you. Instead of saying, oh, well, bring it right away,

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they kind of gave me a little talking to and

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said boys with boys, And of course they reported it

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to the editor in chief and he kind of gave

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me a talking to about I shouldn't have done that.

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So what did I learn? I learned to leave, to

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leave abusive relationships. And so I loved that magazine. Amazing magazine,

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amazing product, and other amazing people. But I was not

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well treated there, nor were others in his care.

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That's not in a good way. But that's that's amazing. Yeah.

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Then graphic designer for Waters, Oh, that was.

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A wonderful position. This was through networking. I had this

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kind of icky situation at this really good magazine, and

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I through the network, found this wonderful fellow, John Waters,

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not the filmmaker, who had a seventy person design firm

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in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, and he, I mean,

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he's really what I model my agency after.

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He was a really.

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Really high, really amazing fellow, good designer, but a very

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good networker and hustler in a positive way. And he

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empowered us to run our accounts, but he did all

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of the new business. So I learned. I I listened

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to him about how he spent his time, how he

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spent his mornings, what he did, and how he did it.

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And I really learned a lot from him, without realizing

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that I was going to take these lessons into my

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own business.

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All Right, Laura, we're going to take our first break

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right here, everybody. We'll be back in about one minute

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with Laura Souder of Agency Bill.

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You're listening to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene on

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W four cy Radio. That's W four cy dot com.

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Don't go away. More helpful information is coming right up

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Now to get booked on one of our shows. That's

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And now back to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene,

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presenting exciting topics and expert guests with one goal in

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mind to help you succeed in business. Here once again

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is Kevin Helena.

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We are back with Laura Souder, strategic brand consultant and

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founder of Agency Bell. Let's talk about a couple of

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other roles. Then we'll get into your your firm. Let's

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see Future Brand and Borders. Was that like the Borders

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the bookstore.

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Yes, I was a create structor, So Future Brand was

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really where I started to go global Waters Design incredible,

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but more of a local design firm. Future Brand was

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part of the IPG network of companies, so global. They

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have kill Holliday and others in Boston, very very large

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global company. So our accounts were airlines and national international

301
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banks and so forth. So this is really where I

302
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started up my game in terms of reach and strategy

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and the way that their organization was founded. It wasn't

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you know, I really came as the designer. But this

305
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is really where we had teams that were doing the

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upfront strategy piece, brand valuation, brand implementation, really really large

307
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programs and in their system. We all worked together from

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the start. So even though I was not at the

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time a brand strategist working in tandem, I was part

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of the interview process. I got to speak to CEOs

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and other stakeholders of these large organizations, and likewise, once

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it became more in my camp, the strategists were part

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of my team. So I've taken that model into agency

314
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bill where the brand strategy is part and parcel of

315
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every project. Even though I come with a designer's lens,

316
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I do have that strategic piece. It's been built into me.

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Yeah, I definitely we're going to talk about that for

318
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sure in a little bit. And then Borders. I haven't

319
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seen the name Borders for years.

320
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Yeah, Unfortunately they went out of this bookstores are not

321
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as much of a thing as they were. I was

322
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very lucky to have this opportunity. My ex husband moved

323
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us to the Midwest, back to the Midwest in n Arbor,

324
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and I made Lemonade out of Lemons. I did not

325
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want to leave Manhattan, but I was provided this opportunity

326
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to be the corporate creative director for Walden Books and

327
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Borders Books. That was an incredible opportunity to oversee the

328
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creative marketing operations of over twelve hundred stores.

329
00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:14.799
Wow, yeah, I love a good bookstore. That's another story

330
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for another time. But still go to Barns and Noble, you.

331
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Know, Yeah, I love books.

332
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Yeah, Gangler worldwide.

333
00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.799
Okay, that's more of a stint. I would say. I

334
00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:32.400
was asked to come in and transition the Fidelity account

335
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from New York to Boston. I did that for almost

336
00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:41.359
a year, and that was when I say Fidelity. This

337
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was bringing the brand to life in the investor centers.

338
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So if you think about colors and typography, that is

339
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something that most people think about on the web or

340
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in print, but a really well thought out program will

341
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also start to think about how does the brand and

342
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live inside of a building? Interesting, you know, how do

343
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the employees interface with the brand? And so we developed

344
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these large stripey patterns which got overlaid in the atriums

345
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in the larger conference rooms. You could see it from

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the street and really start to identify the vibe and

347
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the vitality of the organization of fidelity from every touch point.

348
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Now this next part isn't exactly chronologically. I think this

349
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one is. But the next couple years, I mean for

350
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the audiences, not like you stopped doing one for the other,

351
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but you started teaching at a manual for a while. Yes,

352
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I coll itels about that, and then I want to

353
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hear about the Art Institute's as well.

354
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I was a professor part time for eleven years. Actually

355
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I was at Emmanuel in the New England Institute of Art.

356
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I loved this phase of my life. I'm also glad

357
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to not be a teacher because I have my days

358
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backed for my practice. But I did take a day

359
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off every week to teach, and I had over seven

360
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hundred students. That was a really incredible experience and I

361
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felt like it really kept me young and vited and

362
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with the times and so as you know, from technology

363
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to the trends, et cetera, and inevitably every student always

364
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asks their teacher something that the teacher doesn't know the

365
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answer to. So I was constantly learning and really keeping fresh.

366
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And like I said, I had over seven hundred students,

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many of which were interns for me, and I still

368
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am in touch with today.

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So this is a deep sociological question. We were able

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to stay. Friend, tell me why women and girls can

371
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use the word brow to each other?

372
00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:48.759
Why? Well, I think it's I think it's you know, like,

373
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hey guys, let's.

374
00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:52.480
Go guy, but I get a kick out of it.

375
00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:57.119
That guy is a guy male usually, but it's become

376
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more of an overhanging for hey, yo, hey bro, let's go.

377
00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:07.839
That's our deepest question for the day. So I understand.

378
00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:09.960
You know, I don't know where I saw it reference,

379
00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:13.559
but you were an accidental entrepreneur. Tell us about that.

380
00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:15.079
What does that mean? How did that happen?

381
00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:17.960
Well? I did mention that my ex husband moved us

382
00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:22.079
to Michigan from Manhattan, and he also moved us from

383
00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:26.680
Michigan to Boston area. All right, so at this point

384
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I had a fourteen week old baby. Oh well, I

385
00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:34.359
left my corporate job in the Midwest with no job here,

386
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:40.680
so that was super awkward. I had a mortgage in Michigan,

387
00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:44.079
I had a brand new house in Hingham, Massachusetts, six

388
00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:48.920
bedroom home and a fourteen week old baby. So I said, hey, hey, bro,

389
00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:53.960
creative here and I'm going to start my own business.

390
00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:55.759
I think I know how to do this. By now,

391
00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:59.480
let's do this. And so I used one of my

392
00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:03.559
six beds as the start of my business. And I

393
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:07.839
started off with a hair salon and Biogen. Those are

394
00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:09.640
my two first projects.

395
00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:11.920
Well, two ends of the spectrum.

396
00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:13.559
Very very very broad spectrum.

397
00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:15.720
Yet so what did you do in general? For the

398
00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:16.240
hair salon?

399
00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.000
So I literally was getting my hair done there and

400
00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:23.359
I asked the receptionist, who do you use for your advertising?

401
00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:27.559
And I did photo shoots and the layout of the ads,

402
00:23:28.039 --> 00:23:31.559
placements of the ads in Boston Magazine and other publications.

403
00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:35.400
And you know, that was the start of that little gig.

404
00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:39.839
And then for Biogen, they even though they were large,

405
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:46.599
they were still operated very entrepreneurially, and they grew so quickly.

406
00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:49.359
They didn't really have their own brand, if you will.

407
00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:51.839
They had a logo, but they didn't really have what

408
00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:57.480
I would consider the framework. And I knew because I

409
00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:04.039
was part of this insular relationship with the VP of

410
00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:08.079
Strategic Initiatives, that Jim Mullen was looking to merge with

411
00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:14.440
another company in California and an oncology company. So they

412
00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:20.480
were looking to kind of fortify from below their brand

413
00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:23.359
and start to become a little more attractive and relevant

414
00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:26.119
to some of these other bigger players in the marketplace

415
00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:31.920
in order to be eligible to merge. So it was

416
00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:35.480
really part of two things. They were turning twenty five

417
00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:37.799
and that was sort of a signal to the whole

418
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:42.160
community that they were a force. And then additionally, they

419
00:24:42.200 --> 00:24:46.759
wanted to have the real brand look and feel that

420
00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:49.920
would be attractive to this other company.

421
00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:51.319
So I'm going to get into that, but I'm going

422
00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:52.680
to ask I was going to ask that in a

423
00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:54.720
few minutes, but I'll ask, now, how do you desire

424
00:24:54.759 --> 00:24:58.400
how do you begin that process, that transformation process. I'm

425
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.039
sure this is not an easy answer, but.

426
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:03.319
Right well, with Biogen, we knew it was going to

427
00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:06.559
be somewhat temporary because if that merger did go through,

428
00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:09.599
we really wouldn't have to roll it out. Typically the

429
00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:15.119
rollout or the implementation is the most complicated and time consuming,

430
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:19.039
but for us, we were really looking to almost do

431
00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:22.519
an internal campaign because at the end of the day,

432
00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:26.759
the employees are the brand ambassadors for a company, so

433
00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:30.200
we really wanted to do more internal communications, i would say,

434
00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:34.200
versus external communications, to really get everybody on the same

435
00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:37.440
page about these are our values, this is our mission,

436
00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:39.440
this is who we are, this is what we stand

437
00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:44.519
for and really identify and not just wing the values

438
00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:49.880
that most people followed, but really put out to the

439
00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:55.119
employee base the strengths and values that they embodied. And

440
00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:57.519
then there was a little bit of a refresh from

441
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.920
the identity standpoint, a little bit of a a framework

442
00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:05.440
for the way that their outward facing communications looked. And

443
00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.720
like I said, it was their twenty fifth anniversary, so

444
00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:11.920
we did some billboards and some other kind of external

445
00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:16.559
promotion just to let the world know that they were celebrating.

446
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:19.119
So when you say a little bit of a refresh,

447
00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:23.079
this wasn't a whole new brand. It was a welth

448
00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:25.720
I'll use the word again, refresh of the current brand.

449
00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:26.640
Is that what it sounds like.

450
00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:29.359
Yeah, In this case, it was more of a refresh

451
00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:36.920
and an internal employee communications process. A true rebrand is

452
00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.200
going to be a brand new logo, everything looks and

453
00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:45.519
feels different. This was more of a solidification of what

454
00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:48.400
they had been kind of winging for all those years,

455
00:26:48.440 --> 00:26:53.039
because again, they grew fast, but they still kind of

456
00:26:53.559 --> 00:26:57.200
operated like a entrepreneurial venture even though they were at

457
00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:59.519
the time I think a billion dollars already.

458
00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.880
Well so here. This is something that's just I'm curious about,

459
00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:06.759
and I think others probably are too. Where do ideas

460
00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:10.559
come from? I mean, you say somewhere probably in your bio.

461
00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:15.039
You lead brand transformations by turning ideas into actionable strategies,

462
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:16.839
and I want to get to that question in a moment.

463
00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:19.440
But where do these ideas come from? How do you start?

464
00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:21.759
You must talk to a lot of people internally, externally

465
00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:23.279
I do.

466
00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:28.359
And I liken it to being someone who's panning for gold.

467
00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:31.960
There's a lot of muckety muck in there, and I

468
00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:35.240
Am going to sift through it and shake it and

469
00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:38.160
find the glimmers of gold, and then usually I present

470
00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:41.319
it back to them. They think I'm very smart, but

471
00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:43.000
they've given.

472
00:27:42.759 --> 00:27:44.000
Me most of it.

473
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:47.400
It's just that things get so cloudy and confusing, especially

474
00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:50.359
for larger companies. And this happened at Borders as well.

475
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:55.240
We had so many different stores, and every store manager

476
00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:59.200
tried their best to make their store seeing you and sell.

477
00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:01.480
But at the end of the day, we were a

478
00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:04.440
chain and we wanted it to be consistent. So I

479
00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:08.039
had to go through and again help things kind of

480
00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:11.079
fall to the bottom and let those glimmers of gold,

481
00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:14.440
be more of the focal point and get rid of

482
00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:17.880
the junk and just focus on the gold. So once

483
00:28:17.880 --> 00:28:20.599
we have the gold identified and I present it back

484
00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:24.839
to them and they think I'm very smart, we usually

485
00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.880
further edit and then we'll start to check in with

486
00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:33.160
the marketplace. Is this resonant, is this powerful? Does this

487
00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:35.839
have a place in it? Is there anybody's you know

488
00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:37.920
who we have to kind of elbow out of our

489
00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:41.880
way and protect our space. That's also part of it

490
00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:44.400
is we look at the competition and where they're going

491
00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:48.599
and try to stay out of you know, either carve

492
00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:51.680
out our own space in the in the in the

493
00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:56.839
competitive marketplace, or really make sure that our elbows are

494
00:28:56.920 --> 00:28:59.279
sharp and keep them away from us.

495
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.319
Do you do this? Do do you surveys? Do you

496
00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:05.240
make phone calls or maybe zoom now? But do you

497
00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:08.359
have meetings? How does that communication take place?

498
00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:13.000
Well, at first, it's the stakeholders, the leadership, so it's

499
00:29:13.559 --> 00:29:16.839
the founder, it's you know, depending on the level of company,

500
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:20.680
it could be five or eight people. I try not

501
00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:23.200
to have it be more. Even for a large company.

502
00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:26.640
If it's a very large company like the Biogens or

503
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:30.960
the Fidelities, they're going to have their own internal reporting structures.

504
00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:32.519
But at the end of the day, it's still only

505
00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:35.880
five to eight people. For smaller businesses, we might have

506
00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:40.200
three to five. And again it's those stakeholders who have

507
00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:44.319
either built the company from the ground up or who

508
00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:50.519
have been charged with really establishing the program. It always

509
00:29:50.599 --> 00:29:54.759
goes back to business. Branding is business. It's what does

510
00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:59.160
the business need and want. I mean, not a business advisor,

511
00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:03.880
although I do end up doing some some negotiation and

512
00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:06.720
some mediation for that. But at the end of the day,

513
00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:10.440
we are reflecting where the business is going, and branding

514
00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:13.799
is aspirational. So this is something that we want to

515
00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:16.279
be in the future. This is not where we are now.

516
00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:19.079
We are looking out five to ten years in the

517
00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:23.759
future so that that business has room to grow into

518
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:24.440
that space.

519
00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:27.640
One last question before the commercial do you involve legal

520
00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:30.240
in this process too, for copyrights and that sort of thing.

521
00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:34.319
We do. I have checkpoints along the way once we

522
00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:37.759
get to the design phase, naming phase, anything that can

523
00:30:37.799 --> 00:30:43.279
be trademarkable or registered. I do have a way to

524
00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:47.000
take the pulse. A full full research will be done

525
00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:51.200
after we've decided the path makes sense.

526
00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:53.359
All right, We're going to take our second break, everybody.

527
00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:56.160
We're going to be back with Laura Souder. She is

528
00:30:56.279 --> 00:30:59.759
a strategic brand consultant and founder of Agency Bell. Will

529
00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:02.880
be right back in about a minute.

530
00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:09.319
You're listening to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene on

531
00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:13.559
W four CY Radio. That's W four cy dot com.

532
00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:16.400
Don't go away. More helpful information is coming right up

533
00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:18.839
right here on Winning Business Radio.

534
00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:24.200
The yp dot com website is your local search engine.

535
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541
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545
00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:58.079
And now back to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene,

546
00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:02.079
presenting exciting topics and expert guests with one goal in

547
00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:05.680
mind to help you succeed in business. Here once again

548
00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:16.519
is Kevin Helenett. We're back with Laura Souder of Agency Bell.

549
00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:22.640
All right, so actionable strategies, how do you arrive at those?

550
00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:25.000
And this is very general. I know I do want

551
00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:27.559
you to provide a couple of sort of case studies

552
00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:30.680
at a moment here, but how do you turn those ideas

553
00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:32.200
into actionable strategies?

554
00:32:33.559 --> 00:32:40.000
So the team gets together multiple times, typically going through

555
00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:44.319
again where are they going, what's been the stumbling block?

556
00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:47.799
These They have their own homework that they bring to

557
00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:52.599
the table, and once, you know, once we've done some

558
00:32:52.680 --> 00:32:56.680
of the number crunching and ideation, we come up with

559
00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:01.400
really a set of attributes actually quite simple. The bottom

560
00:33:01.480 --> 00:33:05.319
of the triangle are things that they are that typically

561
00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:08.720
most of their competitors might be. The second up middle

562
00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:11.759
of the triangle is what starts to set them apart.

563
00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:14.759
And then the top of the triangle, the apex, is

564
00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:19.720
the thing the brand essetce that really is their differentiator.

565
00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:23.640
That leads to taglines, it leads to mission statements, leads

566
00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:29.319
to value statements. Those attributes become kind of the lifeblood

567
00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:34.640
of every communication messaging that is now trying to capture

568
00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:39.519
their identified audience. So that's really where the action comes

569
00:33:39.559 --> 00:33:42.480
in is you take these attributes and you don't even

570
00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:48.359
have to use them literally, let's say passionate or you know, agile.

571
00:33:48.880 --> 00:33:54.240
These attributes are embodiments of where their brand is going

572
00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:57.599
and we let go of the old ones that have

573
00:33:57.759 --> 00:33:59.240
been holding them down.

574
00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:02.799
Be difficult for some, it is sometimes.

575
00:34:03.720 --> 00:34:06.599
But some of them are really obvious, like maybe they

576
00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:08.840
were the cheapest when they first started. That was one

577
00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:12.400
of their differentiators. Well, you know, starting to see yourself

578
00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:17.519
as a luxury product or service is something that will

579
00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:20.360
really start to change the way their mindset and how

580
00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:23.360
they think about themselves and how their team thinks about

581
00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:27.880
themselves as they're sharing and promoting the brand. So the

582
00:34:27.960 --> 00:34:33.119
action gets into really those messaging touch points that are connecting.

583
00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:37.400
Those messaging touch points could be the obvious like websites

584
00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:40.199
and brochures, but it could be scripts for sales folks,

585
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:48.840
or other types of motivational videos or social media advertising posts.

586
00:34:49.719 --> 00:34:51.840
That's really where the juice comes.

587
00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:54.199
Alive, and it really does sounds to me like it

588
00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:56.079
becomes part of that DNA after a while.

589
00:34:56.559 --> 00:35:01.960
It does. So oftentimes you'll see a tagline. Sometimes you'll

590
00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:10.000
see just three kind of atmospheric words you know, intelligence, motivation, aspiration.

591
00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:14.079
Those those are I call them kind of clarifying lines.

592
00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:19.719
Those aren't officially taglines. They start to give that feeling

593
00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:25.719
about the brand and that connective tissue that the associates

594
00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:31.039
and other staff need to feel connected to where the

595
00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:31.800
brand is going.

596
00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:34.159
That's such a good term, connective tissue. I get that.

597
00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:37.079
Can you and you can keep it confidential if you

598
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:40.000
want to or need to, but can you provide some examples?

599
00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:42.119
Not quite a case study, I did say case study,

600
00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:44.119
but some examples of some of the work you've done,

601
00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:46.280
you know, describing the project, et cetera.

602
00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:50.239
Well, I'll use one that didn't go well. This was

603
00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:52.840
for a bank, And I say it doesn't go well

604
00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:57.400
because I, again was this was not my client, an

605
00:35:57.480 --> 00:36:01.719
agency bell. But when I was still in the agency

606
00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:07.440
world and we were we were working with the marketing director,

607
00:36:07.480 --> 00:36:10.679
which isn't a bad thing, but typically the marketing director

608
00:36:10.840 --> 00:36:14.800
has the reporting lines to the CEO because he or

609
00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:17.719
she's been charged to do this big project. In this case,

610
00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:21.039
it was a nine hundred thousand dollars project and we

611
00:36:21.079 --> 00:36:24.719
had whittled down the logos to the final five and

612
00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:28.519
we were doing a presentation to the CEO our first time,

613
00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:32.239
our first touch point with the CEO, and this CEO

614
00:36:33.079 --> 00:36:36.000
was someone who literally started in the mailroom and worked

615
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:39.239
his way up to become the leader. And he had

616
00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:42.519
charged his marketing director to quote unquote do a rebrand.

617
00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:44.840
Their logo had been done in the seventies and this

618
00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:52.320
was multiple decades later. And again we had a very holistic,

619
00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:56.079
very inclusive relationship with the marketing director and many many,

620
00:36:56.079 --> 00:36:59.519
many layers of the organization except for the CEO. When

621
00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:01.760
it came to that meeting, we thought it was a

622
00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:06.800
shoe in. This man started to cry. He looked at us,

623
00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:09.119
he has looked at he looked as a marketing director

624
00:37:09.480 --> 00:37:13.800
and basically gave her the stink eye. And it wasn't

625
00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:16.639
our fault, but but he we had taken it way

626
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:20.000
too far for his comfort, and so we ended up

627
00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:23.360
really just doing a brand refresh, to be honest. And

628
00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:28.000
so what I learned from that situation was absolutely, always

629
00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:33.519
have a early meeting with the CEO. She doesn't have

630
00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:36.559
the time or the willingness to participate in the in

631
00:37:36.599 --> 00:37:40.280
the daily stuff. They have to be involved very very

632
00:37:40.320 --> 00:37:42.480
early on, and we have to hear it from them

633
00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:47.320
about what their vision is for the change. So that

634
00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:50.559
was a complete and utter, you know, waste of time.

635
00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:54.159
Just complete disconnect, right, he disconnect.

636
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.039
We really took it on as a brand redesign, and

637
00:37:59.079 --> 00:37:59.679
it wasn't.

638
00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:04.480
And there's an example of where someone was deeply emotionally

639
00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:09.119
connected to that organization what it had become because as

640
00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:11.000
you said, he started from the ground up.

641
00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:16.199
Literally, Yeah, this process is more emotional than most people.

642
00:38:17.880 --> 00:38:21.360
To use a smaller company example, was brought on to

643
00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:24.519
work with a founder of a twenty year old interior

644
00:38:24.559 --> 00:38:30.360
design company and he had the ultimate goal of retiring

645
00:38:30.920 --> 00:38:34.800
and wanted to sell the company to one of his employees.

646
00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:38.599
So the vision was to kind of bring his brand

647
00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:43.639
up to the current days esthetic and represent what he

648
00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:46.840
had grown his company into. I did a name change,

649
00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:49.199
I did a logo change. It was pretty big for

650
00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:53.840
him and very emotional. I mean, this is their baby,

651
00:38:54.679 --> 00:39:00.199
baby children, but you also have baby businesses and people

652
00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:04.280
can get very emotional about it and stuck. And also

653
00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:08.280
I love working with business owners who have business coaches

654
00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:12.639
because like I mentioned, this is this is you're moving

655
00:39:12.719 --> 00:39:16.079
into territory you're not at quite yet, and it takes

656
00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:20.800
a mindset shift to really be willing to be that

657
00:39:21.079 --> 00:39:24.639
business owner, that new business owner of that new company

658
00:39:24.679 --> 00:39:25.440
that we're doing.

659
00:39:26.679 --> 00:39:29.360
Talk about some of the fractional CMO work that you

660
00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.039
do and explain what that is to those folks in

661
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:33.639
the audience. I may not get that yet.

662
00:39:33.960 --> 00:39:37.280
Sure, Well, most of what we're talking about is the

663
00:39:37.400 --> 00:39:41.440
upfront stuff. Now, what do you do with the assets

664
00:39:41.480 --> 00:39:44.000
that we've created? The new logo, the new name, the

665
00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:47.159
new tagline, the new look and feel, the new website

666
00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:52.639
has to actually be used and updated. Every website that

667
00:39:52.719 --> 00:39:55.639
I build, you have to keep it fresh. You need

668
00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:58.119
to add more content, you need to change things as

669
00:39:58.159 --> 00:40:01.719
the business changes. So that's where the fractional CMO work

670
00:40:01.760 --> 00:40:05.000
comes in. I stay on board with every client for

671
00:40:05.079 --> 00:40:08.199
at least the first year to make sure the brand

672
00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:12.760
is being implemented and rolled out correctly. Because we design

673
00:40:13.039 --> 00:40:17.519
a basic brand guideline for colors, typography, the look and feel,

674
00:40:17.880 --> 00:40:21.599
and I do the first of everything, but to really

675
00:40:21.639 --> 00:40:25.840
have it be done correctly. Early in my in my business,

676
00:40:26.360 --> 00:40:29.079
I really just did the logos and gave it to

677
00:40:29.239 --> 00:40:33.320
the business. Then crazy things started happening.

678
00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:34.800
Oh get your heartbroken later.

679
00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:37.159
Yeah, I can't wait to put a Santa hat on

680
00:40:37.199 --> 00:40:39.719
my new logo. Oh, I can't wait to add polka

681
00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:44.760
dots to my green and blue you know brochure. It

682
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:48.360
just is crazy what people will do, so I try

683
00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:51.920
to protect them their brand as much as possible and

684
00:40:52.119 --> 00:40:55.360
keep the brand alive the way it was designed and

685
00:40:55.400 --> 00:40:59.039
the way they agreed to it. The first year, of course,

686
00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:03.039
is part of the proposal, but then they have the

687
00:41:03.039 --> 00:41:05.199
option to stay with me for years to come, and

688
00:41:05.239 --> 00:41:07.440
I've had clients for over a decade.

689
00:41:08.599 --> 00:41:12.199
Love it stay with me. Who are you know? What's

690
00:41:12.239 --> 00:41:15.000
the profile of your ideal client? I'm sure geography doesn't

691
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:17.719
matter a whole lot anymore, or maybe it does, but

692
00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:19.039
who is that ideal client?

693
00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:23.320
I am industry agnostic, but I love because of my

694
00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:26.639
house beautiful days. I really love working with companies in

695
00:41:26.679 --> 00:41:32.719
the home sector. So I've had furniture manufacturers and lighting designers,

696
00:41:32.760 --> 00:41:36.440
and the service based businesses that use those types of things,

697
00:41:36.480 --> 00:41:39.880
like the interior designer I mentioned or architects are good

698
00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:43.360
folks to work on their brands as well. So I

699
00:41:43.400 --> 00:41:46.360
would say the products and services for the home. But

700
00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:51.840
then I also love healthcare. Boston has a bazillion biotechs

701
00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:56.760
and other startups, small and large, but then you know,

702
00:41:56.800 --> 00:41:59.960
it could be a pediatrist or a yoga mat company.

703
00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:06.159
Again the products and services for health. So I am

704
00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:10.599
B and I'm also B two C in that health arena.

705
00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:14.159
I've done power bar companies. Oh yeah, we wanted to

706
00:42:14.159 --> 00:42:17.440
get into whole foods, so packaging and other types of

707
00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:19.440
more of the B two C world.

708
00:42:21.119 --> 00:42:22.800
Here's a question that you might have to think about

709
00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:27.679
for a second. What's the best lesson you've either learned recently?

710
00:42:27.840 --> 00:42:30.079
And recently is twelve months or so? Who knows, but

711
00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:33.400
or that you've taught somebody in that same time period

712
00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:35.800
best lesson you've either learned or taught.

713
00:42:37.639 --> 00:42:40.360
I think it's really important just to be out there.

714
00:42:41.199 --> 00:42:44.480
I'm talking really more business owner to business owner, right,

715
00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:48.079
I think. I mean some of my projects I've gotten

716
00:42:48.119 --> 00:42:51.960
standing in line at the same restaurant. That's how I

717
00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:55.400
got TJX. I was literally standing in line for a

718
00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:59.159
restaurant and somebody had a Bank of America pin on

719
00:42:59.199 --> 00:43:01.280
his lapel I said, Oh, I used to work on

720
00:43:01.320 --> 00:43:05.159
Federal Street, Da da da cha chat and his partner

721
00:43:05.199 --> 00:43:07.920
worked at TJX, and they invited me to sit down

722
00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:11.159
with them for dinner. And I was I was dining alone,

723
00:43:11.559 --> 00:43:17.320
and I think really being again eyes up and available

724
00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:21.320
and communicate. I think in this cell phone culture, and

725
00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:24.559
this is obviously way longer than twelve months, everyone has

726
00:43:24.599 --> 00:43:27.599
their eyes down. And you know, in the old days

727
00:43:27.639 --> 00:43:30.199
you'd be on an airplane and make a new client

728
00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:34.360
connection or in the lounge of the airport, everyone has

729
00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:37.719
their their their eyes on their phone. So I really

730
00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:41.639
believe that eyes up connect with people and you never

731
00:43:41.760 --> 00:43:44.079
know what could what you guys could make of it.

732
00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:47.000
I see you do a lot of public speaking.

733
00:43:48.440 --> 00:43:48.760
I do.

734
00:43:49.079 --> 00:43:50.599
How'd you get into that? And I've got a couple

735
00:43:50.599 --> 00:43:53.679
of topics I want some nuggets from here.

736
00:43:54.159 --> 00:43:58.360
Well, I was a TV actor in middle school.

737
00:43:58.360 --> 00:44:00.000
In high school, that does not surprise me.

738
00:44:01.360 --> 00:44:03.920
I was a fit and smile girl for Domino's and

739
00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:04.960
that paid for college.

740
00:44:05.320 --> 00:44:05.599
Wow.

741
00:44:06.119 --> 00:44:08.280
I am not shy in front of a camera.

742
00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:09.480
Uh.

743
00:44:09.519 --> 00:44:11.920
And I like to talk. But I also think that

744
00:44:12.199 --> 00:44:15.599
it's it's good, you know, promotion, and and it also

745
00:44:15.719 --> 00:44:19.079
helps me kind of know what I'm talking about because

746
00:44:19.280 --> 00:44:23.440
I get to practice. And I think that practicing is

747
00:44:23.760 --> 00:44:26.280
is always important no matter how old you are or

748
00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:29.800
how long you've been in the profession. Practice makes practice

749
00:44:29.920 --> 00:44:33.000
practice makes not perfect, but practice makes practice.

750
00:44:33.840 --> 00:44:37.000
That's it. Yeah, exactly, So a couple of nuggets. We

751
00:44:37.079 --> 00:44:39.039
hate our name, I just weren't. I was intrigued by

752
00:44:39.079 --> 00:44:41.440
these titles. We hate our name, but we're afraid to

753
00:44:41.519 --> 00:44:44.320
change it.

754
00:44:44.559 --> 00:44:47.960
Change like I Like I mentioned, Brandon gets very emotional.

755
00:44:48.159 --> 00:44:52.360
It's also disruptive, and it takes time and energy away

756
00:44:52.360 --> 00:44:56.400
from the business owner, and it takes more marketing dollars

757
00:44:56.599 --> 00:45:01.320
to communicate what the change is all about. Business as

758
00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:05.519
usual isn't very expensive, but if you're going to disrupt

759
00:45:05.519 --> 00:45:08.800
your business and send a new signal to the marketplace,

760
00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:13.760
that takes some time, energy, and sometimes some dollars. So

761
00:45:15.039 --> 00:45:17.880
that is probably where that comment came from.

762
00:45:18.280 --> 00:45:20.719
So it says five ways, but just one or two

763
00:45:21.119 --> 00:45:24.280
to build and authenticate brand, and in particular interest in

764
00:45:24.280 --> 00:45:25.599
the authenticate part.

765
00:45:26.360 --> 00:45:32.199
Oh authentic actually is what I'm authentic. Authentic. So even

766
00:45:32.239 --> 00:45:34.840
what I'm doing right now is creating an authentic brand.

767
00:45:36.039 --> 00:45:38.679
The business owner can really talk, and I'm a big

768
00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:42.280
fan of video. When the business owner can really be

769
00:45:42.440 --> 00:45:45.239
the face of the brand, that is a wonderful thing.

770
00:45:46.280 --> 00:45:52.119
We can polish messages, we can scrub and all that,

771
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:55.639
but having the business owner really be known and seen

772
00:45:56.199 --> 00:46:01.760
by their ideal consumers. I think is very powerful. Another

773
00:46:01.840 --> 00:46:06.320
way is for a smaller company is you know, to

774
00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:12.880
be more kind of vulnerable on social media and talk

775
00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:16.199
about what their what their interests are, or a little

776
00:46:16.199 --> 00:46:19.000
bit about their family or what drives them or motivates them.

777
00:46:19.599 --> 00:46:22.880
And again that's more of the kind of the softer

778
00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:26.000
side of the business owner than the stuff that you

779
00:46:26.039 --> 00:46:28.800
and I are doing. But you know, you started off

780
00:46:28.800 --> 00:46:32.000
this call with my kids. I mean that's wonderful. I

781
00:46:32.239 --> 00:46:35.199
you know, I'm a mom and being a mom is

782
00:46:36.519 --> 00:46:40.639
a nurturing kind of feature, and I bring nurturing elements

783
00:46:40.679 --> 00:46:45.280
into my business relationships. I nurture the business owner to

784
00:46:45.400 --> 00:46:47.920
really take those big steps that he or she needs

785
00:46:47.960 --> 00:46:48.280
to make.

786
00:46:48.599 --> 00:46:52.239
I love that, all right, last couple of minutes here.

787
00:46:52.239 --> 00:46:55.239
You've been involved with a couple of charities but or

788
00:46:55.440 --> 00:46:58.880
nonprofits New Arts Center. You've been involved for a number

789
00:46:58.880 --> 00:47:01.880
of years. In fact, you're currently or was an executive officer.

790
00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:05.119
Tell us about the organization, how you got involved, and

791
00:47:05.280 --> 00:47:08.039
a quick plug for why others should get involved in

792
00:47:08.360 --> 00:47:09.440
what drives them.

793
00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:13.199
So I'm actually off that board and the national board

794
00:47:13.199 --> 00:47:15.920
that I was on around the same time three year stints.

795
00:47:16.440 --> 00:47:20.679
It's so wonderful to volunteer, and I think that's a

796
00:47:20.719 --> 00:47:23.360
great opportunity to kind of get out of your own

797
00:47:23.440 --> 00:47:28.039
business head and give back typically with you know, some

798
00:47:28.079 --> 00:47:31.039
of the skills that you bring with you business. I'm

799
00:47:31.079 --> 00:47:37.400
actually interviewing for another board role, which is a organization

800
00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:41.519
that works with this kind of disadvantaged plots of land

801
00:47:41.760 --> 00:47:44.519
in Boston to beautify them and kind of make the

802
00:47:44.880 --> 00:47:48.480
neighborhoods better. The New Arts Center was in Newton. It

803
00:47:48.719 --> 00:47:54.599
is a wonderful organization that is for the arts, and

804
00:47:55.079 --> 00:47:58.199
they initially were just painting and ceramics, but we really

805
00:47:58.280 --> 00:48:01.559
started to look at them as a art center, so

806
00:48:01.719 --> 00:48:05.480
performing arts, culinary arts, you know, and really broaden the scope.

807
00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:10.639
Since COVID made online learning more accessible, really start to

808
00:48:10.719 --> 00:48:15.519
broaden beyond the Newton walls to nation and other countries.

809
00:48:15.920 --> 00:48:18.320
Very cool, All right, what's the best way for people

810
00:48:18.320 --> 00:48:20.360
to get in touch with you? I know, we put

811
00:48:20.440 --> 00:48:24.159
up your website agencybell dot com. One word, best way.

812
00:48:24.199 --> 00:48:27.599
I have a link on multiple pages just to connect

813
00:48:27.599 --> 00:48:30.719
with me, to create a zoom call to get to

814
00:48:30.760 --> 00:48:34.400
know each other. Of course, I'm on social media at

815
00:48:34.599 --> 00:48:38.119
Agency Bell one l some people like to put too.

816
00:48:38.199 --> 00:48:41.920
I only have one and LinkedIn. I love new friends

817
00:48:41.920 --> 00:48:46.519
on LinkedIn. Laura Souder on LinkedIn, and that's I'd love

818
00:48:46.559 --> 00:48:47.159
to connect.

819
00:48:47.599 --> 00:48:50.559
Well, thank you so much for the time. I've enjoyed it.

820
00:48:50.559 --> 00:48:52.480
I hope it was enjoyable for you too. Thanks for

821
00:48:52.519 --> 00:48:55.480
being here. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Kevin, and

822
00:48:55.519 --> 00:48:58.079
thanks everybody for watching and listening every week. This is

823
00:48:58.119 --> 00:49:01.639
a show about business, business challenges. Listen. If you've got

824
00:49:01.679 --> 00:49:04.159
concerns about the growth of your company, feel free to

825
00:49:04.199 --> 00:49:07.039
reach out to me on Facebook or LinkedIn at Winning

826
00:49:07.119 --> 00:49:10.480
Business Radio or drop me a note. It's Kevin one

827
00:49:10.480 --> 00:49:13.000
of my many email addresses I say every week at

828
00:49:13.119 --> 00:49:16.920
Winning Business Radio dot com. Our company is Winning Incorporative.

829
00:49:16.920 --> 00:49:19.880
We're part of Sandler Training. We develop sales teams into

830
00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:24.320
high achievers and sales leaders into true coaches and mentors.

831
00:49:24.519 --> 00:49:26.599
We're not right for everybody, but maybe we should have

832
00:49:26.599 --> 00:49:30.360
a conversation. Thank you every week to producer and engineer

833
00:49:30.440 --> 00:49:32.480
one one. Thank you so much for the job well done.

834
00:49:32.480 --> 00:49:35.320
Please join us next week. I'll be traveling, so it's

835
00:49:35.320 --> 00:49:38.800
going to be an encore episode. But again, Monday, September thirtieth.

836
00:49:38.800 --> 00:49:40.559
That's two weeks from today. I'll be live again with

837
00:49:40.599 --> 00:49:44.519
guest Tim Kanneely. He's an employer side employment law attorney

838
00:49:44.559 --> 00:49:47.519
with Foley and Foley. Until then, this is Kevin Helenan

839
00:49:49.440 --> 00:49:52.239
You've been listening to Winning Business Radio with your host,

840
00:49:52.360 --> 00:49:55.400
Kevin Helena. If you missed any part of this episode,

841
00:49:55.559 --> 00:49:59.840
The podcast is available on Top four Podcasting and iHeartRadio.

842
00:50:00.159 --> 00:50:03.840
For more information and questions, go to Winning Business Radio

843
00:50:03.960 --> 00:50:07.000
dot com or check us out on social media. Tune

844
00:50:07.039 --> 00:50:09.079
in again next week and every Monday at four pm

845
00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:12.639
Eastern Time to listen live to Winning Business Radio on

846
00:50:12.920 --> 00:50:17.159
W four CY Radio W four cy dot com. Until then,

847
00:50:17.519 --> 00:50:18.199
let's succeed

848
00:50:18.320 --> 00:50:21.960
Where others have failed and win in business with Kevin

849
00:50:21.960 --> 00:50:25.480
Haleanan and Winning Business Radio