Personal Branding Secrets: Evolving Your Brand for Million-Dollar Success

Briana Dai [00:00:12]:

Welcome back. It is episode three of she Means Millions. I am here with the trifecta, and today we're going to be talking about personal branding and the power. Personal branding from the goats of personal brand development, particularly the OG over here.

Kym Yancey [00:00:31]:

I keep all of my stuff secret. That's part of my brand. Keep it secret. Don't give away all the tips. No.

Briana Dai [00:00:41]:

Well, we're giving them all away today.

Kym Yancey [00:00:42]:

We're giving them all away today.

Briana Dai [00:00:44]:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So go ahead, tell us everything you know.

Kym Yancey [00:00:47]:

Yeah. You know, people have different interpretations of brand, and let me tell you, the number one flawed interpretation is that you do it once or twice or it's your logo or it's, you know, or I do a video. What they understand is repetition is the key more than anything. You know, I tell people all the time, your, Your, your repetition is your reputation. I mean, it's what they see over and over and over again. You can't say one thing, but your repetition is something else. You know, I mean, Stanley, I mean, I gotta tell you, it is so crowded in the marketplace that, you know, people need to take more time to really look at their strategy. I mean, really.

Kym Yancey [00:01:41]:

You know, I know one of the things that I, I love about what we do in celebrity science is that nobody until they've come there has ever been in a situation where they're sitting in a conference room and everybody there around that table is there to focus on what they want, you know, because we always begin with the end in mind in terms.

Sandra Yancey [00:02:02]:

So for our audience that doesn't know what celebrity science is. Yeah, right. It is the ability for you to. To basically hire our team to help build your brand.

Kym Yancey [00:02:17]:

Right.

Sandra Yancey [00:02:17]:

The things that we take a lot of pride and ownership in helping people really learn how to stand out. And so we call. It's a division, it's called celebrity Science underneath eWomenNetwork within eWomenNetwork. And so thank you for that. And so it's really hard being in the middle and looking both ways and the mic not moving with me. But. Yeah, so it's a. But it's a division within eWomenNetwork where we take members, certain members opt in, reach out to us and say, hey, can you help me with my brand? And you lead all of that.

Kym Yancey [00:02:54]:

Yeah. And so let me fill in more of it too. In terms of what. What I share with you, I want you to understand the context from where it's come, where it's coming from. I owned an advertising agency for 15 years back in Ohio, and our clients included everything from car dealerships to theme parks to the division of Travel and Tourism. In fact, my agency was the only one that ever had two lotteries. Two different countries, Washington states, Washington, D.C. the D.C.

Kym Yancey [00:03:23]:

lottery and the Ohio Lottery. So lots. And what I discovered back then in those 15 years is again, people did not put the time. Especially Solopreneur. Especially Solopreneurs. Companies had a tendency to get more involved in a process, but where they really get into a strategy about, you know, when you arrive, what does that look like? Let's talk about what I mean by that. In other words, at the end, if I were to say to you, you know, at what point do you stand up and cheer or do you crack the champagne open because you did it. Whatever your you did it is, that's what we're striving for.

Kym Yancey [00:04:02]:

So let's be real clear about the end point. Not that you can't. Not that you stop at the end point, but this is a place where you celebrate, you know, and give thanks. A lot of gratitude. I got there because I remember, you know, I got to tell you, when our group, when our band. And I want to encourage you to check out sun on YouTube. S u n. Or you can just go to the website, which is Sun Band.

Kym Yancey [00:04:28]:

But here's the thing that I'll never forget. 1978, we had a gold album. And there we are at Capitol Records. We're all there with the president, Don Zimmerman, and we took the picture. Congratulations. We took the album and that was it. No, hey, we're having a party back home. Let's have dinner.

Kym Yancey [00:04:50]:

We're going to have a big dinner and celebrate. I mean, was it. It was pictured at Capitol Records with the president at Capitol Records, got the album. That's it. And I'm like, how many people do you know who's got a gold album? You know what I mean?

Sandra Yancey [00:05:04]:

Kind of like the super bowl team, they go back, they have the parade, they celebrate, you know, you know, we.

Kym Yancey [00:05:09]:

Did do, though, what we did talk about is, okay, this is gold, let's go for platinum. And that's good, that's fine. But, man, you just, you just accomplished something that was so unique. So in your business, with your brand, important that when we get started and it's important for you to answer that question, what does I've done it look like? Okay, and then you reverse engineer it. You know, you reverse do it. But, you know, you're in a conference room and I would encourage you, you know, not everybody is going to get in celebrity science. You know their set of circumstances. But you got to ask yourself, you know, who am I around from an advisory standpoint that I can ask to join me for two or three hours, that I want to talk about my business? In fact, it's kind of awkward just trying to imagine someone calling up their friends and saying, hey, listen, I'm really working on my brand.

Kym Yancey [00:06:04]:

I'm working on how I'm seen in the marketplace. I'm working on how people view me and what people say about me and about what I have to offer. Hey, would you join me for a focus group and be one of the people that I could sit down with? I mean, that just doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. But I will tell you that, you.

Sandra Yancey [00:06:25]:

Know, it's easy to take advice from people who really have no expertise in the very questions you're asking them. You know, I always feel like, you know, opinions are like, elbows. Everybody's got two of them. And, you know, it's easy to ask anybody for advice. And you have to be careful, really, on who you're taking advice from.

Briana Dai [00:06:44]:

That person's not your dream client or an expert in what you're doing, what you're trying to achieve. There's probably not the right person to talk to.

Sandra Yancey [00:06:51]:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:06:52]:

But, you know, I want to know that. So if you were sitting here, my question would be, what does it look when you crack the champagne bottle open and say, I did it? Can you articulate what that is, exactly what that is? This is what I want to feel. And then everything is built off that. That's the destination, your first destination. You reverse engineer from there. In terms of. Maybe I need to do video. Okay, great.

Kym Yancey [00:07:19]:

What kind of video? You know what I'm saying? Is it, you know, is it, you know, you're deciding on the level of the look, the style, and what it's going to say. How are you going to. You know, how little things from ranging from how you're going to dress. People understand the. That all those touch points set up your reputation, all of them determine. There are all kind of things along the way that I know that we've done that we didn't have to do, but we took the extra step to do this extra thing because it was important to the brand image in terms of what we were trying. In terms of what we wanted people to feel when they walked into the room. And it's amazing when I get reels from other speakers who want to, let's say, speak at our conference or speak at our events, it's incredible the range of what is put into those.

Kym Yancey [00:08:14]:

In fact, there was a woman that I saw at this moment, I can't recall her name, but I looked at her video and I was so taken by her story and the way she articulated her story, but also the, the ease and comfort in her conversation. This is back to tone body language, you know, but the ease and, and the flow that this person had and their ability to connect with what I'm feeling, you know, to get in touch with my, my feelings and speak about the things that matter to me, you see. And so, you know, brand, I mean, branding is such a all encompassing concept, but when it isn't well thought out and there isn't a strategy for it, you'll feel like you're flailing. You know what I mean?

Briana Dai [00:09:09]:

You said something interesting at the very beginning of this. Just talking about how, you know, branding isn't just something that you do and that you accomplish and that you're done. It's constant. Your brand is evolving as you evolve. And that really resonated with me because I feel like I'm in the middle of that right now. You know, I mean, I am currently kind of rebranding myself, right. As not just the social media or the digital marketing girl and more of a leader, a business leader and a co CEO and so kind of bridging that gap. Can you talk a little bit about how people can kind of rewrite their story and evolve their brand and what that looks like, some of the methods or the science behind how people can help really evolve and rebrand without building something completely new and starting over?

Kym Yancey [00:10:01]:

Yeah, well, you know, it's interesting how I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a website to check up on someone and right there on the website there's some statement there. There's nothing that, that tells me nothing about who they are, what they or how they can help me? Yeah, you know, just. It's simple. But here's the thing is hit songs are simple.

Briana Dai [00:10:28]:

Right?

Kym Yancey [00:10:29]:

All right. There are all kind of symphonies and everything else with complicated music. But writing a hit song is simple. It's hard to write simple. Yeah, it's hard to think in those simple terms just in describing people. I'm always amused when I talk to someone. I say, let me hear your 30 second introduction. Oh my gosh, that's hard for me.

Kym Yancey [00:10:52]:

Oh gosh, I gotta think about that. Oh, that's one of the things I struggle with. That's one of the things you want to get down Right away is right away. What do you say about who you are and what you can do? What approach do you take? A couple approaches you can take. I'll give you one. One hopefully will change the whole way you look at an introduction. One is you can just say, oh, I'm an accountant. I.

Kym Yancey [00:11:18]:

Yeah, pretty much accountants. Kind of leave it at that. You know, I'm an accountant. It could be. It could be someone else that's into branding who talks about, you know, says hi. I'm a branding expert, and I help people, you know, brand themselves versus saying to someone. You know, how people struggle with standing out in the crowd, struggle with attracting the right clients, struggle with working with people that they enjoy. That's what I do.

Kym Yancey [00:11:57]:

I'm the guy who fixes all that. I focus. Focus on branding and relationship and the emotional way that you connect with someone so they want to do business with you and stay with you. All right, so there's no limit, by the way. That was under 30 seconds. Right, but you said. I'm saying you see the difference in terms of just, you know, how you package what you do in a way that makes the other person say, oh, I need to talk to you about that. I need to learn more and identify with their pain point.

Kym Yancey [00:12:28]:

Get to their pain point. Understand what you know is in. In their way and how you repeat that back to them.

Briana Dai [00:12:34]:

That's powerful. Speak to the pain point, not the solution.

Kym Yancey [00:12:37]:

Yeah, speak to the pain point. Speak to the pain point. So they know it's important that they. That you get me. You know what I'm saying? But this is. Listen, in the marketplace today. I mean, communication and the choices you make, there are so many things coming at you, you know, I mean, my gosh, just social media alone, just forget anything else. But just social media, it's a.

Kym Yancey [00:13:04]:

It's a river of. It feels like sameness anymore. It's almost. It's almost comical for me when I go on social media or Facebook or whatever, and I'm. It's ad after ad after ad after ad. Everything is about, you know, getting it done faster. And guess what? None of us are clicking on it for the most part, or we're registering for free things and not showing up for them. You know what I mean? And that's because a relationship, an emotional connection, a trust hasn't been established yet.

Kym Yancey [00:13:36]:

You know, it becomes for us, there's such an overabundance of that kind of marketing and communication. We become numb to it.

Briana Dai [00:13:44]:

Yeah, we just do.

Kym Yancey [00:13:45]:

We just become numb to it. And you'll go, especially if you're a marketeer, you might click on it to see what they're saying, but you aren't buying.

Briana Dai [00:13:53]:

Right.

Kym Yancey [00:13:53]:

You know what I mean? And I'm saying, you know, things, things now, you know, what do you feel when you see. Hear an event and the event is a dollar to register, it's just a dollar. You know, we all know the strategy behind that. I mean, it's about the email list, getting the credit card number. I. At least I have you in my system, you know, but how many people can afford. Do you see an attorney doing anything for a dollar?

Briana Dai [00:14:16]:

No.

Kym Yancey [00:14:16]:

You see what I'm saying?

Sandra Yancey [00:14:18]:

It's just what it tells me.

Briana Dai [00:14:20]:

It's just.

Kym Yancey [00:14:22]:

It's just your approach to packaging, about how you want to, you know, package yourself.

Briana Dai [00:14:29]:

Yeah. That's interesting. You know what else is interesting? So I'm on a journey to really build my brand. And so I reached out to an agent about representing me to pitch a book concept to get a book deal. And I was talking to her, and she was trying to help me come up with my angle because I don't have the biggest audience in the world yet. And so she's like, we need to use every piece of ammo that we have. Have you considered going by Brianna Yancey instead of Brianna Day so that you can really leverage that? You're a Yancey. And I would.

Briana Dai [00:15:02]:

I was kind of like, interesting. Maybe I'm just too close to y', all, but I didn't know that the Yancey name was that big of a deal. Remember, I called you and I was like, hey, so maybe it's my blind spot because I'm your daughter, but, like, are y' all like, famous thought leaders or something? And I'm just too close to you to know it because she's encouraging me to go by Brianna Yancey's because I would have a better shot at getting a book deal. And I. I didn't. I don't think I get it. And apparently y' all are kind of a big deal. Did you know that?

Sandra Yancey [00:15:35]:

No.

Briana Dai [00:15:36]:

You did.

Sandra Yancey [00:15:36]:

No.

Kym Yancey [00:15:37]:

You did.

Briana Dai [00:15:37]:

There's a picture of you and Oprah at our office. So I think, you know, but. But, you know, you two, both of you have built huge brands. People know who the Yancey's are, you know, so talk to me about the packaging of building your brand a little bit and your story, because you weren't really comfortable being in the front and center for a long time, and you were kind of thrust there.

Kym Yancey [00:16:01]:

That's an unbelievable Story. I mean, gosh, Sandra, how long were you just the emcee? You weren't even the emcee. We hired an emcee. And every now and then you would come out and say, no teaching.

Sandra Yancey [00:16:13]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:16:13]:

You absolutely didn't do any teaching.

Sandra Yancey [00:16:15]:

Feel like people wanted. Were at the conference for me, you know, I mean, I did the road, I did the roadshow. I mean, I went out and. And spoke at the chapters and then. And then, you know, invited them to come to the conference. And I felt like they already saw me.

Kym Yancey [00:16:31]:

Yeah, that was the thing. Oh, they've already. Why would they want to see me again?

Sandra Yancey [00:16:34]:

Why would they want to see me again? I know. Yeah. And then when somebody said. Then when somebody said, oh, no, Sandra, people, they, they want to learn from you. And then I said, well, then, Kim, can you go out there with me? And we had like the Donnie and Marie show. We built a table. Remember the table? And we came, came out together.

Kym Yancey [00:16:55]:

Right.

Sandra Yancey [00:16:56]:

I just wasn't comfortable being on that big stage by myself. I mean, I married a music man on a stage. I was the behind the scenes girl. I've always seen myself as a behind the scenes kind of person. You know, I don't have. Now I've come to appreciate that I'm really creative, but I'm not creative in the way y' all are creative. You know, I don't think you give.

Briana Dai [00:17:22]:

Yourself enough credit for your creativity.

Kym Yancey [00:17:23]:

Yeah, but.

Briana Dai [00:17:24]:

But you did start to take the spotlight more for sure within the company. But what do you think has been the biggest catalyst to your brand growth over the past decade?

Sandra Yancey [00:17:38]:

I believe that I got really crystal clear on what my purpose was and what my mission was. And I wasn't trying to always be all things to all people. I mean, if somebody asked me to tell them about myself, like, I do think you have to answer the question, what do you want to be known for? I mean, I would say that, you know, anybody and everybody that's listening should have that mic drop moment. I want to be known as the person who. What? Or Sandra Yancey is the person that. Or who. Right. And I.

Sandra Yancey [00:18:14]:

And I got really clear that I want to be known as the person that. It's going to make me emotional. That helped more women make it to the million dollar level than anybody else. I mean, I want that to be true. You know what I mean? It's why we try to double the women. We get to a million dollars every single year. Only less than 2% of all women in the United States ever make a million Dollars. It's a really big frickin deal.

Sandra Yancey [00:18:44]:

Once you get to a million dollars and your life changes, your business changes because of the revenue that you and the things that that allows you to do to continue to expand and grow, it's monumental, the shift that that actually creates. And so when I'm first meeting people or when I'm first going on a stage, or when my, my intro and that kind of thing happens, I mean I'm really focusing on always making sure that my commitment is getting women to the million dollar mark. And I want that to be tied to my no matter what else I do. That is the branding component that I want to be thematic across the board. Yeah, she's committed to helping women business owners get to the million dollar mark.

Briana Dai [00:19:31]:

So you made that declaration, but were there any like tactics or actions that you feel really helped amplify you into that thought leadership category? Because I think a lot of listeners would love to get to that place where they're known as the person. And you've, you have created that.

Sandra Yancey [00:19:50]:

Well, one of the things is I. Of all the things that I can talk about when I hit a stage and that kind of thing, I'm always thinking about what are some of the really critical things that I think really created exponential growth for me. And those are the things I choose to talk about amongst all the things I can talk about. I mean I've been doing this for 26 years now. There's a lot of things I can talk about, but I choose to pick the things that I know really move the needle for people. Yeah, when I'm developing a webinar, you know what I mean? I am like, I recently created a webinar called Run It Like a CEO. You know, five Keys to Creating Million Dollar Efficiency. Well, you know, as well as I know Brianna, there are a lot of things that we do in the eWomenNetwork that create efficiency.

Sandra Yancey [00:20:48]:

But I had to ask myself if I could only teach and share five things that will really move the dial to get them closer to accelerating their success and getting to that million dollar mark. What are just those five things? And so it really is for me always a chiseling, you know, to the core, you know, get to those few things because I think it's easy just to talk about all kinds of stuff. And I don't want to be a talking head about being a woman in business. I want to be a talking head about here's what will move the dial, here's what will make you more successful.

Kym Yancey [00:21:28]:

Yeah, you know the one thing I can say, Sandra, is I've really appreciated here in the most recent years how disciplined you are. I mean, I didn't really realize, because I was working on my thing, Working on my thing, how disciplined you are. I mean, you're a beast when it comes to extrapolating content and research and your own experiences and merging those things together to communicate a solution to help somebody else. You know what I mean?

Briana Dai [00:21:59]:

In a clear and impactful way.

Kym Yancey [00:22:01]:

Yeah, totally.

Briana Dai [00:22:02]:

Because I feel like I meet a lot of women who are really smart and they are really good at their craft, but they don't know how to communicate it in a clear and impactful way that you really leave. Like, wow, when she said this, that was profound. And that really stuck with me, you know, that that is an art, for sure.

Kym Yancey [00:22:24]:

Yeah. And, you know, I don't.

Sandra Yancey [00:22:26]:

I don't want you say this about podcasting, because before podcasting, you know, and Kim, you were there. We sold ABC Radio on having an eWomenNetwork show. So we had a show on the air for eight years. And that show. And that's why I tell every. All women that are in. That are in business, you need to have a podcast show.

Sandra Yancey [00:22:50]:

Because that radio show did more to help me to this day in learning how to hone my message, learning how to communicate succinctly, learning how to summarize, you know, what I had just said in case new listeners came on the air while we were at a commercial break, how to tease what's coming next so that they don't go away when you go to a commercial break, how to re enroll people in the conversation. Just the fine tuning that happened to me over those eight years are, I swear, skills that I use every single day. And having a podcast show is a great way to do that. You know, it's a great way to get. You just get better and better and better. It is the power of the iteration, doing things over and over and over again. And it's really easy for us to get tired of hearing ourselves. Right.

Sandra Yancey [00:23:56]:

But you got to remember, and we've talked about this, Brianna, you've really pushed me on this too, you know, mom, what. What feels almost simple for you, you know, is profound for other people. Don't forget, you know, the fundamentals, those core basics kind of things. And that goes with your brand. Don't forget your brand's fundamentals, the core things that you want to have it attached to your name, right?

Kym Yancey [00:24:24]:

Yeah. And you also. You have to be willing to look at what you're doing. And say one, this isn't working. This isn't getting the results that I'm looking for. All right? Who can I. Who can help me? Look at me and what I do differently. Okay? So very important.

Kym Yancey [00:24:41]:

This isn't working. This isn't getting the results that I wanted to get. Who. Who can help me rethink you. You reach a place where. And many people are in this place. They get stale. What used to work eight years ago, five years ago, isn't working today.

Kym Yancey [00:24:58]:

Now with AI it's changed. Changed it because it's AI One thing is it done in its most simpler form is that it's raised the bar for everybody. So a horrible communicator can now speak like an expert.

Briana Dai [00:25:10]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:25:11]:

And the expert is trying to amplify what they do. And AI is again raising the tide for everybody. Every boat.

Sandra Yancey [00:25:19]:

Make sure when you meet somebody that.

Briana Dai [00:25:21]:

You can talk the talk.

Sandra Yancey [00:25:24]:

Right. Because nothing works. Exactly. It's no different in a new, amplified way than people that have photos that have been so photoshopped or are from 15 years old. Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:25:35]:

And then you meet them in person.

Sandra Yancey [00:25:36]:

You go, I didn't even know that was you kind of thing. AI is doing that to people. People are like, oh, I've got this new tool, and I sound really good now in the written word and all of that kind of thing. But they haven't totally owned it and digested it. And now they're creating this fake person over here that can't live up to that. I'm telling you, you will make more money being your authentic self. Getting too true to your core. You know, being really clear on the simplification of your message.

Sandra Yancey [00:26:08]:

Remember Nike? They've made billions with Just do it three words. Simplify your message. Know that you have to stick to it over and over. You're constantly meeting new people. You don't have to constantly reinvent all the time. You need to own it, run with it. Know when things are changing, make those shifts and those tweaks and take off again.

Kym Yancey [00:26:30]:

Yeah. It is extraordinary how music plays into the success of an entrepreneur. And I'm gonna challenge everybody or give you a gift, depending on how you look at this. But we're all musical. We're all musical right here. That heartbeat is beaten in rhythm and time. You don't want that thing to get off, but it's got a tempo.

Briana Dai [00:26:57]:

I know that's right.

Kym Yancey [00:26:58]:

Yeah. You especially know that's right. But there's a temp. There's a temple to life. There's a temple to Business. And, you know, if you use music in some of your favorite musical groups as an example, you know, a lot of them have lots of music that you'll never hear because it's the music from the past that they created in their studio or in their bedroom, their writing, that that accumulation of those ideas resulted in one day, it clicks, there's a hit. And entrepreneurs need to understand that. You know, first of all, you know, if you stop because you did this campaign and it didn't work out for you, it's not the time to stop or to say that it didn't work.

Kym Yancey [00:27:44]:

Because what's involved in anybody saying something didn't work is. Well, what didn't work is the headline. Is it what you were offering? Was it stale? Was it done in such a way that people didn't take you seriously? I mean, why do you choose the hotels that you go to when you're going down the street and you have a choice, oh, There's a Motel 6 or I can stay at this luxurious Ritz Carlton or whatever the case may be? You're making choices, you're making brand choices. They're all around you. They're all around shaping you. But musically, the reason why I like people that tap into music is to understand. I know for us, we did three albums. I mean, we did two other albums before the third album.

Kym Yancey [00:28:29]:

And Capital gave us an ultimatum. I'll never forget this, told our manager, man, if this third album doesn't hit gold for us, this will be the last album out of your five year contract. Fortunately, it went gold for us, but it was the accumulation of what we did leading up to it. And the exact same thing happens with an entrepreneur. You know, if everything's the same with you. Now, the key here is if you got a concept that people really align with and you're presenting it in such a way that you're constantly getting, you know, you're filling up the room, then you're probably good to go. If they're buying your programs. But that's such a rarity to today.

Kym Yancey [00:29:17]:

We get stale, the messaging gets stale. The messaging doesn't seem fresh anymore. You know what I mean? And, and the first step is just admitting that, you know, man, my stuff is not fresh like it used to be.

Sandra Yancey [00:29:30]:

Even Tide puts out the new and improved every now and again.

Kym Yancey [00:29:34]:

Yeah, and, and you know, you know what? When I had my advertising agency, what, what we discovered is we ended up working with clients and deeper on their strategy more than anything. You know, I can't emphasize that that Enough. And with AI, all of them, it's. It's all wonderful. It's all great. You know, it's got. It's got. You know, it has its tremendous positive side.

Kym Yancey [00:29:57]:

Then as isn't it's negative fears. Right. But you still need a strategy for it. You still need to come up with the strategy that fits who you are and what you're about.

Briana Dai [00:30:07]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:30:07]:

You know, so I want to talk.

Briana Dai [00:30:10]:

About something, too, that I feel like we haven't really, like, gotten clear about is it's. It's about the evolution of your brand. When you rebrand, it's not a new brand.

Kym Yancey [00:30:18]:

Right.

Briana Dai [00:30:18]:

Like, especially for personal brands, we evolve. I think one of my biggest regrets is, like, I think it was like 2012 or 2011. I think Instagram was around 2011 is when it started. I want to say around that time. And I started an Instagram and. And then I got engaged, and then I started my own little weight loss journey. And I cultivated a pretty legit following, sharing my weight loss journey to get fit for my wedding. And it kind of became more or less a fitness account.

Briana Dai [00:30:51]:

And as I got into makeup and wanted to use Instagram to help grow that business, I decided, you know what? I'm going to just shut down this account and start a new account for makeup. Huge mistake. Because I evolved as a woman, I didn't become a completely different woman. If people wanted to unfollow me at that point, they could have. But when I invited people from that account to follow my new account, I had a much. A much lower conversion into the new account than had I just probably stayed on that existing account and let people opt out if they weren't interested anymore, I probably would have started at a much higher level than had I started from ground zero. And so I think people think, oh, I'm rebranding. I need to start completely new and create this new image and this new thing.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:37]:

It's like, no, you create a new reveal.

Briana Dai [00:31:40]:

Yes.

Kym Yancey [00:31:41]:

Yes.

Briana Dai [00:31:42]:

But you bring people along your evolution. You bring people along your journey. And so now, you know, since I've started that account, I have since evolved from makeup artists and hair stylist to entrepreneur, beautypreneur to entrepreneurs.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:56]:

You had the best line of all. Yeah, I love it. I went from making beautiful faces to beautiful brands.

Briana Dai [00:32:02]:

Yes.

Sandra Yancey [00:32:03]:

And it created this wonderful bridge. Yes. Because between the two.

Briana Dai [00:32:09]:

Because it does everything in your story and your evolution, when you look back on it, it does always connect. I say this line all the time, but it's a Steve Jobs quote. That I just so deeply resonate with. And it is. You can only connect the dots looking back. But when you do look back, every single step that took you from point A brought you to point B. And the line was, it's not. It didn't just get you to point B by accident.

Briana Dai [00:32:35]:

Everything connects. And so when you can figure out how to bridge that connection in your storytelling of your brand, it almost makes your brand more powerful to people.

Kym Yancey [00:32:44]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:32:44]:

Because they're like, man, I remember when she was just a makeup artist. Now look at her.

Kym Yancey [00:32:47]:

Right?

Briana Dai [00:32:48]:

And it's more. People are more invested, you know, because of that story and that evolution. They feel connected to you at a human level and that human personal touch.

Sandra Yancey [00:32:57]:

To do another show just on storytelling.

Briana Dai [00:33:00]:

Yes.

Sandra Yancey [00:33:01]:

Because I too, believe it's such a huge part of how people really do connect with you.

Briana Dai [00:33:07]:

Yep. And that is the essence of your brand, is the connection that people feel to it. It's that brand preference. Right. Why do you like Coke over Pepsi? Is it just the flavor? Maybe. But there's also other aspects to that preference. You know, burger king over McDonald's. Brand preference.

Briana Dai [00:33:23]:

It really comes down to your brand at the end of the day.

Kym Yancey [00:33:26]:

Yeah, yeah. You know, you didn't. You mentioned in and out. It's got lines all the time.

Briana Dai [00:33:31]:

Touche. And it's all the same. Burgers and fries and milkshakes.

Sandra Yancey [00:33:34]:

Same menu, same. It's not all this.

Briana Dai [00:33:37]:

Okay, but there you go. There you go.

Kym Yancey [00:33:40]:

But, yeah, but, you know, but that's. That is a good telltale sign for us in. In business, you know, look, look, I don't have to look at the competition in the burger market. I see it. But we have brand preference, you know, and our tastes change and evolve, and all of a sudden, you. There are four or five burger joints that you like. Those are the ones you go to.

Sandra Yancey [00:34:00]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:34:00]:

And the other ones, you know, that. I remember I used to be a big Wendy's fan. I hadn't had a Wendy's burger in forever.

Briana Dai [00:34:06]:

Right.

Kym Yancey [00:34:06]:

You know what I mean?

Briana Dai [00:34:07]:

You remember when In N Out came to Texas and that was like a big freaking deal, and people were so excited, like, oh, we got In N Out. Now in Texas. Like, we gotta go. And why is that? Because they had this really cool brand. It had this exclusivity around it.

Sandra Yancey [00:34:22]:

Now you can eat it in your car.

Briana Dai [00:34:23]:

Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:34:24]:

Here's a. Here's a placement.

Briana Dai [00:34:26]:

Yes.

Kym Yancey [00:34:26]:

Differentiate it and listen. And it also tastes good. I mean, you know, but here's the point. With all the chefs and all the People who are, you know, love making things. Any number of people could knock off In N Out Burger, but they haven't, you know, but, you know, have the opportunity to. They could do it. I think part of the other thing with. With branding for.

Kym Yancey [00:34:48]:

For people is, you know, look at others that are in your space that you're impressed with. That becomes your new set point. You follow what just happened. You're looking at other people in your space who are doing what you're doing or close to it, or many elements of what you're doing. That becomes your set point. That becomes. This is. This is.

Kym Yancey [00:35:09]:

Yeah, this is my new standard and my. What I'm looking for. I'm going to outperform this.

Sandra Yancey [00:35:14]:

But you.

Kym Yancey [00:35:15]:

You know what? Mark Cuban said this to Sandra when you interviewed him. He says, you know, most people just don't want to work that hard. The fact of the matter is.

Sandra Yancey [00:35:23]:

Great question. I said, so what do you think differentiates the people that make it to a million and the ones that don't? And like that without. I mean, without flinching, right? He looked at me and he said, most people just don't want to work that hard. And I. And I. I think people under. Underestimate the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.

Kym Yancey [00:35:47]:

I mean, all of it. All of this takes work. So let me tell you what the secret is. The secret is the fall in love with the journey, get into the journey, accept the fact that I'm gonna have challenges, things aren't gonna always go my way. This isn't gonna work or be as big as I thought it was gonna be. But I get to keep working on it. I get to keep carving out my space on my journey. You know, notice.

Kym Yancey [00:36:14]:

Listen, just. I want you to notice what just happened with this podcast in particular. We're doing a show about branding. Guess what I'm not doing. I'm not sitting here going through a list of tactics, right? I'm sharing ideas. I'm sharing vision with you. Because it isn't about the tactics.

Sandra Yancey [00:36:30]:

If that's all it took was the checklist, we would all have it.

Kym Yancey [00:36:34]:

Yeah, well, not only that, right? You know, I could say, hey, listen, here's this. Here's the CD or what? You know, here's the streaming app I've created. It's got all the answers to branding you'll ever have. Here you go. It's my gift to you. Yeah. You know how many people would listen to it if you had 100 people doing it? Be a fraction of people would even try and they will only get through a quarter of it or a third of it. It isn't about.

Kym Yancey [00:36:58]:

It isn't just that. That's what you have to understand about the human dynamic, the human system and how it operates.

Sandra Yancey [00:37:06]:

You know, it reminds me of I always tell people success is hard because you don't want to lie to people. But you know what's harder? Being broke. And you know what's even the hardest is living an unfulfilled life, knowing that you've lived your life not doing what you know in your heart you're meant to do. So pick your heart.

Briana Dai [00:37:25]:

Amen to that.

Kym Yancey [00:37:27]:

Yeah, man.

Sandra Yancey [00:37:28]:

Because she doesn't just mean business.

Kym Yancey [00:37:31]:

She means millions. And so we want you to subscribe. Tell them about it, Brie. Tell them about it.

Briana Dai [00:37:38]:

Subscribe. Make sure you share the podcast. Drop a comment for us. Let us know how you're liking this content. Can't wait to see you next week.

Sandra Yancey [00:37:44]:

On the next questions you have. What should we be covering?

Briana Dai [00:37:47]:

Yeah, let us know. Looking forward to it. All right, until next time. Bye for now.

Kym Yancey [00:37:51]:

Bye. Bye.