In this episode, we sit down with Tracy Ftacek, salon owner, educator, leader and creator of the on-demand beauty brand Pretty Convenient. Tracy shares her journey into salon ownership, why culture + communication has become her foundation for success, advice for new owners and so much more. You can find Tracy on the gram @prettyconvenientapp @tracyftacek. Thank you, Tracy, for sharing your story with us. We love you!
Celeste Gonzalez on Advanced Education + Persistence + Finding Her Rhythm
In this episode, Nina talks with Celeste Gonzalez, hair + make up artist, salon owner, educator and mama! Celeste’s story is a must listen as she shares her wisdom around being a newer stylist in the pro beauty biz and how her passion for advanced education has propelled her success in just two short years along with how she navigates finding her rhythm and staying out of the comparison game on social media. Thank you, Celeste, for sharing your story with us. We love you! You can find Celeste on the gram @celestethestylist.
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Your experience matters. We would be so grateful if you shared your experience with our podcast by leaving a review. It matters to us, and so do you. Thank you- Nina
Nina L Kovner On Client Shaming On The Socials
In this episode Nina shares her thoughts on putting clients on blast on social media and the not so awesome impact it can have on your business and brand, along with sharing a blog she wrote back in 2015 on the topic. A big shout out of gratitude to @erin.mills on the gram for inspiring this episode. You can find Nina and Passion Squared on the gram @passionsquared Thank you so much for listening.
You can also listen to our podcast on:
Apple Podcasts
Google Play
Stitcher
Your experience matters. We would be so grateful if you shared your experience with our podcast by leaving a review. It matters to us, and so do you. Thank you- Nina
Why Would I Follow You?
“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” Henry David Thoreau
I mean really, why? This is the question I ask myself daily, and one I believe we all must ask ourselves, online and off.
Why would I follow you?
Why would I book with you?
Why would I review you?
Why would I refer you?
Why would I talk about you?
Why would I work for you?
Why would I pay you?
Why would I come back to you?
If you cannot answer these questions with clarity and intention, its time to take a step back and look at your brand. This is your story. Your purpose. Your promise. Without those, you are not a brand. You are simply a business. One that can be easily replaced with the next “best” thing. The next “shiny object”. The next “lowest price”. The next “contest”.
Brands add value.
Brands make me feel something.
Brands speak to me on an emotional level.
Brands create revenue.
Brands have life.
Brands inspire me to take an action.
Why did you choose to follow Passion Squared?
Love + Awesomeness-
Nina
The Miseducation of A Brand
“A cool logo does not make you a brand.”
My life’s work has been about creating brands, building brands, growing brands and reinventing brands. And each day I see the term brand used, is another day my heart breaks a little bit more as the word seems to become more misunderstood. And don’t get me wrong, it is perfectly OK to simply have a great business, but a great business is not the same as having an awesome brand.
What A Brand Is Not.
A logo
A website
A URL
A trademark
A name
An Instagram account
A building
A paint color
A business card
A business
A product
A service
A sticker
Etc…
What A Brand Is
A brand is an entire experience. How I feel when engaging with you and the decisions and actions I take (over time) because of that feeling. i.e. click, call, book, tell my friends.
A brand is…
An experience
A feeling
A connection
A culture
A relationship
A story
Which ultimately leads to a decision and choice to take action. Over time. Again and again.
According to Seth Godin, the master of all things marketing and one of my most early mentors of marketing… “A brand’s value is merely the sum total of how much extra people will pay, or how often they choose, the expectations, memories, stories and relationships of one brand over the alternatives.”
Several elements go into creating a brand of long term value. And yes, brand identity (logo, colors, fonts, image, etc.) is a part of creating an awesome brand, but it is not the brand. Big difference.
You can have a beautiful logo and no brand recognition.
You can have a cute sticker but no brand value.
You can have a beautiful building but no clients.
You can have a killer Instagram following but no relationships.
You can have a beautiful paint color but no connections.
You can have a fancy, overpriced website but no visitors.
You can sell a product or service one time but have no repeat clients over time.
So let’s play a game…
When you think of Passion Squared, how do you feel?
When you chose to do business with, follow or subscribe to Passion Squared, why did you make that choice?
When you recommend Passion Squared to your friends, what do you tell them and why?
When you engage with a Passion Squared coaching session, workshop or class, how do you feel when you leave?
If you said you feel empowered, have more clarity, feel loved, inspired, informed, you trust me, it feels like I understand you; that is when my brand has created some form of value for you and you made a choice of exchanging time and money for that experience.
And know this… All the work I have done over the last 5 years building the Passion Squared brand got us to this point. Each move I make, each workshop I teach, each program I create, each story I tell, each piece of content I share, each blog I write, its all strategic. Its all by design. And quite frankly, it has nothing to do with my cool logo. Cause the reality is, I had the logo long before you chose to engage with my brand. And the logo was meaningless and had no value, without all the other efforts I have put into creating something of value for you, consistently, over time. Again and again.
However, when you see my logo, if you know my brand, it inspires a feeling. A feeling I work daily to create. You see how this works? It’s not as simple as someone saying, “I am going to teach you branding”.
Creating a brand of value is much more than a cute logo or a bunch of followers on Instagram. Remember that.
Love + Awesomeness-
Nina
PS: I also wrote about this topic a few years ago here.