Embracing Your Pivot: How to Successfully Transition and Rebrand Your Business

Briana Dai [00:00:00]:

I went from making pretty faces to making pretty brands, and that became my through line. That became the thread that connected what I did to who I've become. Because I've shifted now into branding and digital marketing, I can't keep up with this. I need to create some kind of a platform where I can monetize off of the community without having to run myself into the ground doing all of these events. So I started a new company that I called it. Well, welcome back. I'm really excited about this episode today because this was actually something that was requested from one of my Instagram followers. And I love when you give me topic ideas for what you want to hear because you're the reason I'm even doing this.

Briana Dai [00:00:59]:

So shout out to Ro. I appreciate you and I love this conversation because I have lived it. I went from being a celebrity makeup artist to running digital innovation for an international company and people think that's a pivot. And I think that was actually just training. So let's talk a little bit about rebranding today because so many women find themselves evolving into somebody else wanting to go a different direction and they don't know how to bring people along. And it is a process. So I'm going to take you down a little bit of memory lane, a little bit of my background and how I feel like it prepared me and trained me for the woman that I've always ultimately stepped into and become and how I've actually brought my audience along in that journey so that you can do the same. So flashback to 15 years ago now.

Briana Dai [00:01:55]:

That's crazy. I was a celebrity makeup artist. I was working with some pretty heavy hitters. We're talking like Mariah Carey, Leanne Rimes. I worked with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. I did the COVID photo of the ESPN body issue. I worked with James Avery. I worked with Famous Foot footwear.

Briana Dai [00:02:17]:

And so I had a range of clientele, pretty, like I said, heavy hitters. And I loved what I did. And I really focused mostly in print advertising because we're in Dallas, Texas and there's a huge print advertising market here. And I did a little bit of TV and special events, but it was a lot of high pressure, high stakes and no do overs. And I've done makeup on faces you have definitely seen on magazine covers, on tv, under lights that don't forgive a single mistake. All right, that was my background and I loved that background. And people used to ask me, you know, I was always involved with Ewan Network back then. I, you know, was doing hair and makeup.

Briana Dai [00:03:02]:

And we at ewoman Network have a personal branding division of under our umbrella, and it's called Celebrity Science. And so I would come in and I would do makeup for the celebrity science class clients. And it's all about building the science of building celebrity. It's actually a very formulaic way of really building a primetime brand. And that is the specialty at Celebrity Science. And so with my celebrity makeup artist background, it was the perfect fit. And so I would come in, I would do hair and makeup, a lot of transformations and complete, like, re. Like makeovers.

Briana Dai [00:03:38]:

And it was a ton of fun. And being involved with EUMN Network in that capacity, I used to get the question all the time, you know, do you ever see yourself working in the family business? And I used to say, oh, heck no. I'm my own person. Like, I will never be a part of the family business. And it's just so interesting how time evolves and how we change as people. At the peak of my career, I started to realize I wasn't going to be able to build a life comparable to the one that my family has built in the industry that I was in. I was trading time for money. If I wasn't on a job, I wasn't making anything.

Briana Dai [00:04:16]:

And I wanted to build a company that I could actually scale and maybe even eventually step out of. And so I realized there was a huge gap in the industry because I grew up around the business. I understood a lot of business acumen that a lot of my peers that I went to cosmetology school didn't understand. And so there was things like, you know, invoicing and contracts and, you know, following up and marketing yourself. Little, little, little things that I picked up here and there that were really the things that catapulted me to working with some of these high profile clients that I was getting. And so I got inspired to start an educational platform for aspiring makeup artists and hairstylists so that they could really understand the business of beauty. Because at the time, nobody was teaching them that, you know, cosmetology school was the closest you got. They don't talk about the business, they talk about the skill.

Briana Dai [00:05:07]:

And so I started Makeup Artists Unleashed. And I was traveling all over the country doing makeup artist workshops where I would get them in the door with some fun, shiny celebrity makeup artists that would teach them some fun skills, right? And they would see that kind of. They get. They have that kind of, like, starstruck appeal. I want to come and see the headliner. And then after that, I take them for four hours, and I would do a business class, and they'd end up getting a certification in the business of beauty. It was amazing. And I started that.

Briana Dai [00:05:37]:

And then I started doing those workshops every other month. I was doing them all over the country. We did them in Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando, Austin, Houston, Dallas, I think a couple of others I can't even remember. And they were happening every other month. And because my market was mostly cosmetology students, they needed to have a payment plan because there were students. And so we had to break it down into three months. And so I was, like, marketing and working on promoting the next one while planning the next one and delivering one. And it was just.

Briana Dai [00:06:10]:

It got to be a lot. And I started to realize, oh, my gosh, I. I can't keep up with this. I need to create some kind of a platform where I can monetize off of the community without having to run myself into the ground doing all of these events. So I started a new company, and I called it Beauty Boss Network. And I'm like, this will be an online membership community for beauty industry professionals. And my parents were obviously coaching me through this because I was. I've always lean on them for wisdom and advice.

Briana Dai [00:06:47]:

I think that that's one of the things. If you have access to somebody who has wisdom, who's willing to share it with you, lean into those people. It might not be apparent. I'm blessed that it was, but I think that if you're not tapping into the wisdom of others, you're doing yourself a huge disservice. And so I was getting, you know, feedback and wisdom from them. You would think that I would have known what I was doing. And I think that they knew all along. They're like, we got her now.

Briana Dai [00:07:10]:

EWoman Network, Beauty Boss Network. They're bas the same model that I was creating, but it was for beauty industry professionals. And so fast forward, I was on my way launching Beauty Boss Network. We had a great launch party. I had a huge activation booth at the Ewomen Network conference, actually, where I brought four of my celebrity makeup artist friends. We were doing makeovers, raising money, doing a huge launch party right after the conference that I could leverage that audience and that attention and the people that were there for the conference, my celebrity makeup artist friends, to come and be headliners for a big panel at a really big, fun launch party. It was a huge success, and Beauty Boss Network was well on its way. But it was a lot of work, and I was developing a team.

Briana Dai [00:07:49]:

I had about six people on my team and I was, you know, bootstrapping it and I was really kind of struggling, but getting, getting along and having fun with it. It was, but it's, it is hard work building a brand from nothing. Bootstrapping, no less. And I was officing out of a empty office here at the corporate office at Eoma Network, I had an empty office. And so I would always hear, like little things going on. And I loved that I being in environments where I could learn from people who were doing bigger things than me because it helped me so much in learning how to grow. And so I was growing my platform a lot through digital marketing. I noticed that was kind of an area where, you know, we had a great digital marketing director at the time, but there were a lot of things that were pivoting right.

Briana Dai [00:08:39]:

Instagram was on the come up. And I was very proficient in Instagram and that kind of marketing strategy because flashing back to my makeup artist and hairstylist days, I was really at the peak of my game at this very pivotal time in the industry when, like I said, I specialized a lot in print advertising. And there was this point where you started to see a little bit of budget getting allocated to the social media campaign and the social media advertising side of things. And then the influencer marketing started to take off and then we started to see less budget going towards the print advertising and more going towards the digital. And I got to really be on the cutting edge of understanding how, how you get people's attention through digital marketing. And I had a front row seat to that. And it wasn't always about making a model look pretty. It was about making them look interesting and making them stand out and how to magnetize and grab attention and stop the scroll.

Briana Dai [00:09:36]:

I, I was on the cutting edge of that with some of the biggest brands. Like I said earlier, I think Famous Footwear was probably one of the first ones that had a designated team that was simultaneously printing for both or producing both print and digital marketing campaign. And the science behind it was totally different. So I had a very unique skill set. And there came a time when that director of digital marketing decided that she wanted to move home, be a grandmother. Her kids had grandkids and her kids had kids and she wanted to really step into that life more. And so my mom was talking to me as we do, because we were in the same building, officing pretty close to each other because I was renting a space in their office. And she was like, what am I going to do? I, you know, I need to find another Digital marketing person.

Briana Dai [00:10:29]:

And I jokingly, being very confident and bel first in that area, I was like, you should just hire me. And I watched her eyebrows kind of raise. And when her eyebrows raised, my eyebrows kind of raised because I thought that she was going to laugh. And that moment became like a inflection point. Like, wait a minute, I am basically building the same business within a smaller niche. But maybe if I joined forces and brought my unique skill set into the family business, I could be a huge asset over here and still do what I love and still be my own person.

Sandra Yancey [00:11:14]:

Do you feel like you're drowning in your business? Like you're doing everything and something has to give, but you're afraid it might be you? What if I told you there's a network of over 500,000 women entrepreneurs all dedicated to supporting each other. A network of women helping women. I'm Sandra Yancey, founder of eWomenNetwork, and I'm inviting you you to join us and become a member. ewomennetwork.com we can't wait to meet you.

Briana Dai [00:11:45]:

It took me a long time to figure out that it wasn't an either or. I could bring my skillset, be an asset and be my own person. And the hardest part for me in this transition was leaving the beauty industry behind. Because at this time, mind you, I'm bootstrapping this company. So I was still a makeup artist, I was still a hairstylist. I was signed with an agency. I was working with a lot of influencers, influencers in the Dallas market. A fashion blogger who's really famous now.

Briana Dai [00:12:14]:

I worked with a fitness influencer who's done pretty well for herself, all based in Dallas. And you know what was interesting is when I decided to leave the beauty industry all together and go all in on E Women Network, it felt very left field for people. It felt very like, did it not work out for her? Like, or maybe these were the thoughts that I was feeling and I was internalizing either case. It just didn't feel like people were understanding the connection. And this is the part where I think a lot of women struggle when they're switching industries or switching missions or switching anything because it feels like people won't understand me and why this is, to me, it made perfect sense. But from the outsider perspective, they're like this. There's no correlation here. There's no connection.

Briana Dai [00:13:06]:

But it was so connected. It was so connected because every single step in every single part of my journey really did lead me into what I'm doing now. When I think about the makeup artist days. Like, what it did was it helped me get really good at reading people really fast. Like, I could walk up to a stranger and make them feel so safe in just seconds, right? I could make someone feel seen when they sat in my chair. My whole job was helping people feel like they were their best self, right? Like the brand, the presence, and the image piece. I was building confidence and identity before I had the words for for it, right? Performing under pressure, like the live TV and the big events that don't wait for you to be ready, I had to earn trust quickly. Like, people let you into their personal space, and you have to really honor that.

Briana Dai [00:13:53]:

So all of those lessons of being a makeup artist and a hairstylist, coupled with building a brand, running events, securing sponsors, building a platform, building community, selling an offer, like, all of those things were preparing me for the ultimate pivot to step into the role that I'm in now. But everyone who knew me as a makeup artist and hairstylist had a very hard time understanding that correlation. So I really had to release the fact that there were going to be people who don't get it. You know, there are people in our lives that aren't meant to stay with you the whole time. There are some relationships that are around you for specifically specific seasons and specific reasons. And back then, I was definitely a lot more of a people pleaser. I really wanted to be liked. I really wanted to be understood.

Briana Dai [00:14:52]:

I really cared a lot more what other people think of me. And I've gotten really good at letting that go over the years because it doesn't have to make sense to anybody else. Your journey does not have to make sense to anyone else. Let me say that again. Your journey does not have to make sense to anyone other than you. That is the most important thing that you need to know, and you're gonna see when you rebrand that there's gonna be people. Like, for instance, that influencer that I talked to you about, I had kind of developed a personal relationship with her. You know, I did her makeup for her wedding, and we got pregnant at the same time, and she invited me to her kid's first birthday, and vice versa.

Briana Dai [00:15:36]:

Like, we had developed a relationship. But then sud, I'm not available to do her makeup anymore, and the calls stopped and the text messages didn't get responded to. You know, same with that fitness influencer. Like, I really developed a close relationship. Her husband and my husband hit it off because they were both really into health. My husband was a triathlon. Her husband was A bodybuilder. We spent New Year's Eve together, like, we had a real friendship.

Briana Dai [00:16:04]:

And then suddenly one day, I had no value in her life. And so you do, unfortunately, learn that there are some people that are your friends for the wrong reasons. And when you decide to pivot, they're just not going to be around anymore. And that was kind of a hard lesson for me to have to cope with. But then you make space for the people who do get it. Make space for the people who are cheering on the next version of you. And that is so much more important. And there's.

Briana Dai [00:16:31]:

So there's that piece of it of the letting go of the people that aren't meant to stay with you for your entire journey. And that's okay. And that goes for. For your social media audience, too, when you pivot. You know, I went from sharing hair and makeup on my. My social media all the time, because that's what I did. That's what I lived. Beauty industry events, beauty industry things like that was my world.

Briana Dai [00:16:52]:

Suddenly, that's not my world anymore. And some people didn't resonate with that anymore. But the goal is that, you know, if you're building a really strong personal brand, it's not about what you do, it's about who you are. And I think that's the difference between somebody that's built audience and somebody who's built a community. When people are not following you because of what you do, they're following you because of who you are. Your random part isn't random. It's actually your unfair advantage, because every single part of your journey has led you to the person that you've become. I'm willing to bet that if you're in the middle of a rebrand right now, there's a very distinct reason for it.

Briana Dai [00:17:38]:

You had some kind of a life experience or you realized a gap in the market that needed to be filled, and so now you're doing something different to close that gap. Whatever the reason is behind your rebrand, it wasn't random. I know that because that's not how life works. You don't just decide to stop this and start that. There's a reason. There's a calling. There's a come to Jesus, there's a. There's a reckoning of some kind that has led you down the path that you're going through now.

Briana Dai [00:18:04]:

And so your job is to tell that story, to bring people along your messy middle. For the longest time, my tagline, I think I had it for like three years because it took a while. I had cultivated a great audience who loved my beauty content, and suddenly I wasn't sharing that anymore. And I didn't just stop sharing it all together. I mean, hair and makeup is obviously still kind of important to me. I love to look put together. I love putting on makeup. I love doing my hair.

Briana Dai [00:18:36]:

I love extensions. I love lashes, love all of the things. And so that part of me didn't just go away. I didn't just become a different person. It's still a passion. It's still a part of who I am. It's a part of my story, Right? So my content shifted, and now I'm not doing makeup for other people. I'm doing my makeup for the office, and I'm getting ready for the office or my office events or I'm going and I'm speaking.

Briana Dai [00:18:58]:

And so I would bring people along and I would weave in beauty just to keep people interested. And my tagline became. And this is the part that I, I. That again, stuck with me for about three years was I went from making pretty faces to making pretty brands. And that became my through line. That became the thread that connected what I did to who I'd become. Because I've shifted now into branding and digital marketing, and that was, I think, the best thing was figuring out how I could bring my audience along, my journey, and I didn't lose that many. And you know what? One of my favorite things about the Internet is? Sometimes I'll.

Briana Dai [00:19:42]:

I'll share posts that are, like, every now and then, I think it's important when you're growing your audience that you have people that follow you at the point that you're at now, but they don't know your backstory. So I'll sometimes do, like, a reintroduction of myself. And I'll acknowledge, like, some of you already know this about me, but there's a lot of new faces here that don't know me. So for those of you who don't, this is my story, and I'll actually do a walk through memory lane. And one of my favorite things to do is to ask people, what part of my journey is did you start to follow me on? And it's amazing to me how many people actually do stick around. And it's because they're invested in you, not because of what you do. And that is so critical. That's why I'm so passionate about you building a personal brand.

Briana Dai [00:20:23]:

Because now, no matter where life takes you, that asset goes with you, no matter what. So know that your random Past isn't random. It is actually and truly your unfair advantage. And when you can figure out how to communicate that in one simple sentence, that becomes your tagline. You start to slowly trinkle away from the past version of you and really reintroduce a new version of you. And now most people have no idea about my past unless you hear me speak about it, right? But they're. They're here for the now. And I'd like to bring people along the journey because the journey is why I am so damn good at what I do.

Briana Dai [00:21:03]:

It's because of my uniqueness, my. My unique life experience that only I have. The things that only I could speak to because I've lived them. And those are the things that make me different than any other branding or digital marketing storytelling person out there. And so my challenge to you is to not hide your past, but to embrace your past and bring people along your journey. The worst thing that you could do is close an account and start a new one and just start and be like, I'm a completely new person. That version of me is dead. It's not.

Briana Dai [00:21:36]:

That version of you is not dead. That version of you made you the version that you are today. So own that version of you. The skills that you think don't count are usually the ones that are the things that set you apart. So stop apologizing for the resume that isn't a straight line. That winding road is the exact thing that makes you the only one who can do what you do. So save this Share this episode with a woman who needs it. And remember, she does not just mean business, she means millions.