36. Is it manifestation or is it your brand values?
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SUMMARY
We’re all for some good manifestation over here at Flaunt Your Fire, but we’re also going to get real with what can happen when you share your true colors to your audience. As we prepare to enter a new year it’s worth considering the role you have to play in reclaiming who you are and what you support.
IN THIS EPISODE INDIA IS JOINED BY HER PAUSE ON THE PLAY CO-HOST, ERICA COURDAE, TO TALK ABOUT:
The process of revisiting our brand values this fall,
What results we’ve seen after being more explicit about what we do and don’t support,
Whether all of our personal values belong in our brand values, and
How we’re helping business owners and teams more openly share the intersections of what they care about and what to expect when working with them.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Brand alignment starts with knowing your values.
Your values may evolve as your life and business do.
Thinking about your values isn’t relevant for where you are today; it’s also important to consider where we want to be.
Not all of your personal values need to show up in your business brand.
Sometimes when you try to figure out your values alone you can get stuck in the echo chamber of your own head.
Your values create a filter through which everything else goes through - your marketing, messaging, social media, and conversations.
When you’re explicit about what you support, you call in opportunities that go beyond the specific service or product you sell.
QUOTED
ERICA COURDAE
“There’s power in helping someone recognize their own level of impact.”
“The things that make people different don’t necessarily separate them.”
INDIA JACKSON
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that you can lay out brand values, put up a statement, and you're done.”
“Not every individual value needs to be a brand’s value.”
“How many times have we seen people writing their values and they’re written from the perspective of what we expect other people to do?”
“The more I thought about it I wondered, what does influence look like in action?”
“These values living on my homepage has been a bit of a screening tool.”
“People talk about the power of manifestation, but there’s something about being explicit about brand values that also manifests.”
Walk it like I talk it.
Together, in their efforts at Pause On The Play, India and Erica talk about brand alignment all of the time. And while they’ve guided dozens of businesses through their Implicit to Explicit Masterclass on values, they realized it was time to go through their own program and framework.
Erica admits to having fear and resistance when sitting down to reexamine her values. She was worried about what might happen if she realizes that nothing works anymore after aligning her values. But unless you set time aside, there’s no opportunity to see if things have shifted.
One of the biggest misconceptions about brand values is that once you identify them your work is done. You can put up a statement and you’re good.
But when you’re not engaging in this work at least twice a year, you’re missing out on the opportunity to align with any brand or team changes that have occurred.
Personal values vs. brand values.
Sometimes it can be confusing figuring out how to integrate everything you care about into your brand. The good news, India and Erica say, is that not every personal value of yours needs to show up explicitly as one of your brand’s core values.
An example of something Erica realized she is against personally is lack of consideration for others. She struggled to find a way to incorporate this in her brand values messaging. However, she found it showed up in the spirit of empathy.
India shares that she’s personally environmentally conscious and against throwaway culture and animal cruelty. Finding the direct connection was difficult until she realized at Flaunt Your Fire they refuse to design trash. When someone contacts them about designing disposable items, they try to create a more sustainable option.
When asked if this has shown up other ways in business, India admits 6 months ago she would have said no. But when reflecting on the last ten podcasts she’s been a guest on, she’s talked about this personal value every time.
Call your values into action.
When Erica went through the implicit to explicit values framework before, she came up with the values of: Inquiry, Diversity, Empathy, and Courage.
While the sentiment of these values is still present, she struggled because the explanation of these values isn’t as actionable as she would encourage her clients to be. That prompted her to change to her current set of brand values: Evolving Into Alignment, Transparency, The Goal of Equality, and Resilience.
Her new value statements are framed in a way that explains what she does and what you can expect when working with her.
How many times have we seen people writing their values and they’re written from the perspective of what we expect other people to do? We need to take ownership of how our values inform our own actions.
If people are looking to hire you, they should be able to know what to expect when they choose to give you their time, energy, and money.
Doing this also allows you to communicate to people what to expect from the business you are and the business you’re evolving into.
You don’t have to figure this out on your own.
One of India’s values used to be influence. She admits that she created this in the echo chamber of her own head, but the more she thought about it the more she wondered: what does influence look like in action?
If you’re trying to do this work by yourself you’re likely to get very different results than in community with others. That’s because of the level at which you’ll challenge yourself vs. someone else challenging you.
Through the Implicit to Explicit Values Masterclass, India and Erica have worked with solo business owners and teams. They’ve witnessed the range of awareness - from hyper-aware that you’re not doing enough to being unaware of the great things you are doing.
One thing that has surprised Erica is there’s always at least one person in the room that feels like they aren’t doing anything and someone else steps in to help them recognize their level of impact.
Teams have also come together and given feedback to their CEO and each other in a way they’ve never felt comfortable doing before.
Values as a filter.
Looking back, India believes her values were influenced by where she was at the time and yet they still feel accurate. One of the biggest benefits of having them on her website is that they’ve acted as a screening tool.
Erica agrees, saying that having your values front-facing makes it more clear what you’re going to get when working with someone and filtering out those that shouldn’t show up because they’re not in alignment.
Getting clear on your values also makes you more relevant when things are happening in the world and you need to take a stance. India and Erica have both been asked to do interviews they might not have been thought of for before. They’ve had visibility opportunities they didn’t have to pitch themselves for. And they’ve called in the right type of clients.
Your values are the filter through which everything else is guided. They inform shifts in your marketing, messaging, how you show up on social media, and what your conversations look like.
People talk about the power of manifestation, but there’s something about being explicit about brand values that also manifests.
If you’re new to this conversation, there are two ways you can identify and communicate your values:
Implicit to Explicit Masterclass: Expand your network and work alongside other business owners doing this work.
Private workshop for you and your team to build cohesion and unity.
Your Action For This Episode
SIGN UP FOR THE IMPLICIT TO EXPLICIT MASTERCLASS