Commitment & Engagement
Updated: Mar 21, 2022
The few weeks thoughts about authenticity have been popping up.
A quick scroll through social will give you tons of advice on how to be yourself, how to appear in the world, how to talk, how to act. It's bonkers what some people eat and regurgitate, though it is a way we learn.
Since 2022 rang in, I've been working full time on the startup medical cannabis dispensary & being a brand consultant full time.
An unfortunate side-effect is I've been quiet in the groups I value, the friends I've made in 2021.
You see, in 2021, I made a decision to put myself out there. Show up as I am, instead of holding an image.
It's been a simple transition. People like me. I love me. It was a weird story I rewrote.
Over the last few weeks, I got back in my groups, and here's what I found out:
Practice what you preach
Keep the door open
No strings attached
Offer your solutions
I'm going to hit each one in a story that provided me an aha.
I started working with my branding friend Amine and colleague. He's a freelancer designer in Algeria, and found me on Linkedin sometime in spring 2021.
He also is the founder of Brand Orchestrate. A community for brand strategy. It brings all types of folks. Entrepreneurs, business coaches, designers, creative directors, and strategists.
Before 2021, Amine and I caught up on Zoom, and he was so happy to be talking with me because I have the habit of keeping my head down and working.
He really wanted to make a strategy based product. I had tried it before and the awareness and offer I flubbed. So I was looking for redemption.
I shared with Amine that I wanted to reconstruct a business plan and make it into a branding tool for business people.
People misunderstand branding and business are one in the same.
I had been working on business planning for my startup so it was time to remove it from the cannabis context and reevaluate it in a broad scale.
80% of businesses fail within the first 5 years of operation, and it's because there is no plan.
Was there a need for this product? Check.
Another thing that got me going was the consistency and speed at which Amine participated. He was doing the work, and that provided me more energy to continue to pour into this endeavor.
Indeed, practicing is instilled in both of us.
Another thing which was wild to me was how open Amine is. He would introduce me to this person and that person, he shares his resources openly with the intention for me to understand what he understands.
Open door policy has been 100%.
The first 7 weeks, I went through the business plan and outlined sections and what they for, how to leverage them, and what the branding connections are.
During those weeks, we didn't know how to leverage the tool we were deconstructing, but there was one thing we'd say to each other, "at the end of the day, we'll have a better understanding of how business and brand are the same thing, and with context."
No strings attached. Do it for yourself.
Fast forward to last week. Amine suggests we need to bring our meetings live.
This has a four-fold effect: (1) we gain awareness around our business, (2) content is made, (3) we learn at the same time as the attendees of our live, and (4) the accountability between us leveled up.
It's only a matter of time until your business can become successful when you walk the path you forge.
Sidenote: check out Brand Orchestrate is your looking for clarity and connections in the brand strategy space. It's incredible who I am today because of them.