Live from NYC! A Q&A With My Sister, Brittany
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Listen to Brittany’s episode on the story of Eden’s here!
Join us in celebrating our 100th episode! We're joined by Brittany, Victoria’s sister, for a recap on Circle Day at Squarespace headquarters and some rapid fire Q&A that you, the listeners, submitted.
Some of the questions we answered were how to overcome the fear of public speaking, how to overcome imposter syndrome and speak as an “expert” on a topic, what Victoria would do differently if she could start BrandWell over again, and favorite software to use besides Squarespace for your business. This episode is packed with experiences, insights, and tips you don't want to miss!
Wow! 100 episodes! [01:33]
It’s the 100th episode of The Branding Business School, formerly the BrandWell Podcast, and we’ve come a long way! Victoria started the podcast with the commitment of a year’s worth of podcasts, having episodes twice a month, and now we’re at 100 episodes, posting new content weekly! The podcast has become such a huge part of the online community.
An update on Eden’s, Brittany’s pop-up salad shop [03:47]
Eden’s is going strong, their customer base continues to grow. Summertime is a busy season for them, as people love a salad in summer. Their menu is diversifying with the addition of seasonal bowls. Brittany shares their experience with opening up a second pop-up shop for Eden’s this summer and a look into the future plans she has.
Brittany was on The BrandWell Podcast previously, where she shares the whole story of opening up Eden’s. You can find that episode here or feel free to check it out under Episode 66: How to Leverage the Power of Community to Build Your Brand With My Sister, Brittany Matheson!
48 hours in New York City [07:23]
Brittany met Victoria at the train station and they headed to the Squarespace VIP dinner at headquarters. It was a great opportunity to sit shoulder to shoulder with the developers that are currently creating the content that we use at BrandWell and for our clients. It was a cool experience to share ideas with people that can actually go and make them happen. On top of that, Victoria got to meet people that she’s looked up to from day one of starting BrandWell.
Victoria spoke on Thursday morning, and leading up to it, it was all a blur. She was nervous, but Brittany was her hype girl and all the other speakers were also encouraging. Victoria’s topic was “How to charge a premium for your offering”. Another unique opportunity that Victoria did at Circle Day, was offer brand consults to those that attended. During these consults Victoria got to help people brand themselves by differentiating, which is one of Victoria’s big things on branding. The rest of the day was spent listening to other speakers, hearing from the founder of Squarespace, and a lot of the people who make big things happen at Squarespace.
Throwing your hat in the ring [15:20]
This was Victoria’s first paid speaking gig, but that wasn’t necessarily why she wanted to do this. We have to get uncomfortable to grow and this speaking opportunity did make Victoria uncomfortable, but it also allowed her to stretch, grow, and meet new people. Connections don’t always have to be direct, you might meet someone and a few years down the road you guys partner together to launch a course, or when you’re too busy to take on new clients, you can refer to people you met at events like this.
Overcoming the fear of public speaking [17:17]
Overcoming the fear of public speaking might not be in the cards for Victoria, but she says that one of the best things to combat this is prep. She would go into her basement, pull up the presentation slides, and pretend that she was speaking to the room while giving her speech. She did this every opportunity she had, so she said this speech about a hundred times by the time she actually presented.
The day of her speech, Victoria realized that people respect you, and whatever happens on the stage, we’re all human. No one is going to criticize you the way you’re going to criticize yourself. But by the time she was on stage, Victoria was a lot less nervous.
Overcoming imposter syndrome and speaking as an “expert” on a topic [19:21}
Nothing will reveal your imposter syndrome more than creating a course or something. Victoria shares how building The Branding Business School has brought up imposter syndrome that she hasn’t felt in years. Victoria shares how she thinks imposter syndrome stems from the fact that there’s always someone out there that knows more than you, or has more experience than you, or makes more money than you. But you only need to know 10% more than the people you’re helping because at the end of the day, if you know more than them, you can still help them. Everyone starts somewhere, but that doesn’t mean that at your start you can’t still be respected. It’s about finding the people that you are best set up to serve, and this is all about niching down; branding at its finest. Knowing who you serve, staying in your lane, and serving them really well; that’s what will enable you to be a little more confident and position yourself as an expert.
What would you do differently, if BrandWell started over? [22:34]
While this is a loaded question, Victoria says that she would stop following a lot of people that had businesses like the one she was building. It’s hard to find a differentiator when everything you’re consuming is what you think you should be doing. Naturally, you begin to copy what other people in your industry are doing.
Favorite softwares to use in business other than Squarespace [24:35]
Canva. AI - it’s complementary to our skill sets. Loom - screen recording software that allows BrandWell to connect with clients and personalize their process without having to jump on calls all the time.
Final thoughts about Squarespace [27:14]
After attending Circle Day, Victoria has a renewed love for Squarespace. While it’s been the website platform of choice for the last five years, she has no intention of leaving. Getting to see the CEO talk to the Chief Creative Officer, to the head of production of all the product lines, and see that they truly care about the requests we all put in, was really cool. Victoria has so much respect for the company and is proud to be affiliated with Squarespace.
Key Quotes
“It’s really hard to niche down or find your differentiator when everything you’re consuming is from people who offer what you offer.”
Victoria Marcouillier
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