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Uncovering Authentic Branding: Aligning Core Values with Business Growth
Episode 16 • 23rd October 2024 • Business Ignite Podcast • Business Ignite Podcast
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In this episode of the Business Ignite Podcast, hosts Ethan Walker and Samantha Reed discuss the nuances of branding for everyday individuals, not just large companies. The conversation is based on insights from an article by 95Visual, which highlights the pre-existing nature of one's brand and the importance of uncovering inherent qualities and passions. The hosts explore forming a concise mission statement by tying together core values, talents, and childhood interests, and emphasize the practical application of these concepts. They discuss public speaking as a genuine connection tool, strategic online presence for engaging with communities, and the value of sharing unique perspectives in thought leadership. The episode concludes with the significance of lifelong learning and the power of authenticity in building a memorable personal brand. Listeners are encouraged to start embracing their authenticity and passion to share with the world.

00:00 Welcome to the Business Ignite Podcast

00:16 Understanding the Essence of Branding

00:43 Identifying Your Core Values

01:26 Connecting Passions to Your Brand

02:48 Putting Your Brand into Practice

03:07 Public Speaking and Authentic Connection

04:13 Building an Online Presence

04:43 Embracing Thought Leadership

05:25 The Importance of Lifelong Learning

06:07 Final Thoughts on Authentic Branding

07:42 Conclusion and Next Steps

Resources:

  • Developing Your Brand - This article outlines the process of developing a strong brand identity for your business. It covers the key elements, such as defining your core values, understanding your target audience, and creating consistent messaging. By developing a clear and compelling brand, businesses can differentiate themselves from competitors and build lasting connections with their customers. A well-developed brand fosters trust, loyalty, and recognition in the marketplace. https://www.95visual.com/resources/articles/developing-your-brand


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Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome back to the business ignite podcast, where we light the fire

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for business growth and marketing success.

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Your hosts, Ethan Walker, Samantha Reed,

bring you the latest trends, expert

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insights, and actionable strategies

to fuel your business journey.

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Let's ignite your potential.

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Ethan Walker: Okay.

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So you want to talk branding?

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Samantha Reed: Let's do it.

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Ethan Walker: It's like, everyone's

got something to say about it, right?

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Everyone and their cat's

a brand these days.

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Ethan Walker: What's it actually mean

for, you know, for us normal people.

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It's not just the big companies.

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For

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Samantha Reed: sure.

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Ethan Walker: So, this article from

95 Visual, Developing Your Brand.

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Samantha Reed: Okay.

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Okay.

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Ethan Walker: They actually break

it down in a way that, like,

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I get, you know what I mean?

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It just clicks.

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And one of the things that really struck

me was how they emphasize this idea

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that, like, your brand already exists.

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Samantha Reed: It's already there.

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You're

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Ethan Walker: not creating

something totally artificial.

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I

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Samantha Reed: love that.

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You're

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Ethan Walker: uncovering

what's already there.

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Samantha Reed: Uncovering those unique

qualities that make you valuable.

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Ethan Walker: Yes.

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Yeah.

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And they have this whole thing about,

like, identifying your core value.

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Uh huh.

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They use the example of education,

which, I don't know, that doesn't

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like totally resonate with me.

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But I get the idea, like, for you

listening, it could be anything.

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Samantha Reed: It could be.

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Ethan Walker: Maybe it's,

like, creativity or It's

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Samantha Reed: creativity.

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building

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Ethan Walker: connections.

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Yeah.

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Like, what is it that gets you fired up?

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Samantha Reed: Totally.

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And they don't stop there.

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Ethan Walker: Okay.

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Samantha Reed: They go on to connect

this core value to your passions.

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Okay.

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And not just, like, your current passions.

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That's what you mean.

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Like, they even go back to your childhood.

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Oh, interesting.

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Yeah, because these early interests Yeah.

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often reveal these innate passions.

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Talents and inclinations that

can be so valuable when you're

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thinking about your brand.

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I

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Ethan Walker: mean, that's kind of eerie.

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Because

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Ethan Walker: I think back to Like

when I was a kid, I would spend hours

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organizing my bookshelves, color

coded, alphabetized the whole deal.

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Samantha Reed: Wow.

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Ethan Walker: And now I help people

wrangle information overload.

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Samantha Reed: No way.

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That's amazing.

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It's like

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Ethan Walker: weirdly connected.

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It's all connected.

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So how do we, so how do

we pull all this together?

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Samantha Reed: So the article suggests

Leaving all these things together.

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Ethan Walker: Okay.

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Samantha Reed: Your passions,

your talents, your core value.

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Ethan Walker: Uh huh.

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Samantha Reed: Into like

a concise statement.

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Ethan Walker: Like a

little elevator pitch?

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Samantha Reed: Kinda.

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Okay.

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It's like a mission

statement for your career.

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Ethan Walker: I like that.

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Samantha Reed: Defining your specialty

and what you bring to the table.

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Which makes sense.

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Ethan Walker: Because it's about

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Samantha Reed: you,

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Ethan Walker: but it's more, it's

not just the words, it's how those

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qualities manifest in your actions.

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Samantha Reed: Yes, and that's where

things get really interesting, which

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we'll dig into after the break.

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Ethan Walker: So we talked

about, like, your brand DNA.

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Right.

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All those core values and stuff

that make you who you are.

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Samantha Reed: Totally.

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Ethan Walker: But, like, how do you

actually put that into practice?

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Ethan Walker: And this is where

I thought, the article got, you

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know, Like, really interesting.

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Yeah.

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Super actionable.

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Samantha Reed: It is.

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Which

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Ethan Walker: I love.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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It's like, okay.

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Yeah.

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I can actually do something with this.

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Ethan Walker: Exactly.

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It's not

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Samantha Reed: just theory.

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Ethan Walker: Yeah.

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And one of the first

things they talked about.

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Samantha Reed: Okay.

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Ethan Walker: Was public speaking.

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Samantha Reed: Yes.

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Ethan Walker: Which I

know for some people.

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Samantha Reed: Well, yeah.

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Ethan Walker: That's like.

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Samantha Reed: It's scary.

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The worst.

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Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: But they

actually reframed it.

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Samantha Reed: Okay.

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In

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Ethan Walker: a way that

I found really helpful.

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Well, they were saying like.

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Yeah.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: It's not about.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: Being Tony Robbins.

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Ethan Walker: You know.

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You

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Samantha Reed: don't

have to be like this big.

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Yeah.

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Super charismatic.

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Like over the top.

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Ethan Walker: Exactly.

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Yeah.

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It's more about like.

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Samantha Reed: It's about

connecting with your audience.

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Ethan Walker: Yes.

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Samantha Reed: Authentically.

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Ethan Walker: And like

sharing your expertise.

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Right.

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But in a way that resonates.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Like you were saying.

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Ethan Walker: Yes.

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With

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Samantha Reed: your core values.

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Ethan Walker: It reminded me of

something I read about Steve Jobs.

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Samantha Reed: Oh.

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Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: You know how he

was super into calligraphy?

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Samantha Reed: I did not know that.

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Ethan Walker: Yeah, like, obsessed.

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Samantha Reed: Wow.

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Ethan Walker: And then it turns out

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Samantha Reed: Okay.

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that,

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Ethan Walker: like, fed into Yeah.

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the design of Apple products.

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Samantha Reed: How so?

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Ethan Walker: Because it

made them not just, like

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: functional

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Ethan Walker: But beautiful.

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Samantha Reed: So it's like those

seemingly unrelated interests can

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actually like infuse your work

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Ethan Walker: with

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Samantha Reed: something unique.

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Ethan Walker: Okay, so

public speaking is one thing.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: What else

did they talk about?

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Samantha Reed: Well, they

talked about online presence.

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Ethan Walker: Which, obviously.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah, huge.

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Ethan Walker: Huge these days.

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Samantha Reed: Especially.

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Ethan Walker: But they didn't just mean

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Samantha Reed: They didn't

just mean like, have a website.

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Ethan Walker: Right, because

everyone's got a website.

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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It's more than that.

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Ethan Walker: So what did they say?

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Samantha Reed: It was about being

strategic with social media,

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engaging in online communities.

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Ethan Walker: Okay, so like actually

being a part of the conversation.

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Samantha Reed: Yes.

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Not just like, Not just broadcasting.

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Throwing

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Ethan Walker: something out there.

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Exactly.

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And like hoping for the best.

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Samantha Reed: Which I think ties

into this idea of thought leadership.

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Oh

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Ethan Walker: yeah,

tell me more about that.

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Samantha Reed: So it's not

necessarily about being a leader.

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Like, the world's leading expert on

something, but it's about being willing

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to share your unique perspective.

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Ethan Walker: Oh, I like that.

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Samantha Reed: Right, like

you have something to say.

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You

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Ethan Walker: don't have to know

everything to have a thought.

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Exactly,

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Samantha Reed: and that really

resonated with me because I think

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sometimes we can get caught up

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Ethan Walker: in

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Samantha Reed: feeling like we need to be

the expert before we can share anything.

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Ethan Walker: Oh, 100%.

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Samantha Reed: And that's just not true.

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Ethan Walker: No.

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Samantha Reed: You know?

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And I think that the more we can kind

of let go of that, and just share our

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unique perspectives and insights, the

more we can all learn from each other.

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I love that.

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And then the last thing they

talked about was lifelong learning.

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Ethan Walker: Oh, interesting.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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Samantha Reed: Which I thought

was a really good point, because

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it's like, You're never done.

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Ethan Walker: Right.

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Samantha Reed: You know,

you're always learning.

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You're always growing.

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So it's

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Ethan Walker: like building a tool kit.

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Samantha Reed: Exactly.

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For

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Ethan Walker: your career.

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Samantha Reed: Yes.

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Ethan Walker: And like

constantly adding to it.

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Samantha Reed: Yes.

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Ethan Walker: Okay.

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So we've got public speaking.

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Yeah.

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Online presence, thought

leadership, lifelong learning.

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Samantha Reed: It's a lot.

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Ethan Walker: It's a lot.

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Yeah.

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Where do we even begin?

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There's so much to think about.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: Where do you even start?

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Ethan Walker: Like if you

had to pick one thing.

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Samantha Reed: Okay.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Ethan Walker: From this whole

like building your brand thing,

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what's the most important?

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Samantha Reed: I think it

comes back to authenticity.

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Ethan Walker: Okay.

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Samantha Reed: Like we've been

saying, identify your core values,

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hone your skills, put yourself out

there, but none of it really matters.

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Unless it's genuine.

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You

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Ethan Walker: gotta be yourself.

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Samantha Reed: Exactly.

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Like it has to reflect who you really are.

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Ethan Walker: Not trying

to be someone you're not.

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Ethan Walker: Like, remember that

thing about Steve Jobs and calligraphy?

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: Imagine if he was like,

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Samantha Reed: What if

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Ethan Walker: No, I gotta fit

in with all the other tech bros.

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Samantha Reed: Trying to be all serious.

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Ethan Walker: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Apple products would be so different.

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Totally.

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Right.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah, it's

those unique things about you.

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Okay, that make you memorable

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Ethan Walker: not about being perfect.

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Just be yeah,

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Samantha Reed: it's like when

you embrace that Authenticity.

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Ethan Walker: Yeah,

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Samantha Reed: it gives you

this confidence and people can

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tell it's not arrogance, right?

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It's owning it

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Ethan Walker: Yes,

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Samantha Reed: you know

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Ethan Walker: owning your expertise

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Samantha Reed: exactly.

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This has

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Ethan Walker: been great.

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Samantha Reed: It's really got me thinking

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Ethan Walker: It really changes

how I think about branding

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Samantha Reed: me too because

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Ethan Walker: it's not just for Right.

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Like Nike or whatever.

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It's for anyone.

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It's for anyone who wants to like.

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Samantha Reed: Anyone who wants to

share their passion with the world.

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Ethan Walker: Yes, exactly.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: So if you're listening.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: And you're feeling like.

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Samantha Reed: What's one small step?

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Ethan Walker: Yeah.

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What's one little thing you can do today?

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Samantha Reed: To tap into that.

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Yeah.

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That authentic brand.

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Ethan Walker: Maybe it's like

dusting off an old interest.

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Samantha Reed: Oh, yeah.

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Yeah.

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Or like,

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Ethan Walker: writing

down your core values.

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Samantha Reed: Totally.

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Or even just sharing

your perspective online.

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Ethan Walker: Just get started.

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Samantha Reed: Exactly.

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The world needs what you have to offer.

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Ethan Walker: Love that.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: So good.

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Thanks

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Samantha Reed: for having me.

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Ethan Walker: This was great.

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We'll see you all next time.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for tuning

into the Business Ignite podcast,

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where we fuel your business

growth and marketing success.

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If you enjoyed today's episode,

be sure to rate and review us.

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It does help others find the show.

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Don't forget to follow us on social

media at Business Ignite podcast and

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share this episode with a friend.

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Keep the fire burning and remember,

your success is just one strategy away.

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Until next time, stay ignited.

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